Al Groh - Help Us Help You

The state of UVa Football seemingly has been one of transition for the past several years. We are yet again in a true transition as members of the current staff exit and are replaced for the 2009 season. Maybe if for the same reasons that Barack Obama won the election I suspect that these moves will be well received. They represent significant change for a fan base was ready for change, any change that will give us hope that we can be consistently competitive with the top programs in the ACC. I am a hopeless Cavalier fan, no matter how frustrated I get, no matter how many times I am left with hanging expectations, I will always come back for more. There is always next year and with it hope for a better outcome. However I am worried about empty seats at Scott Stadium. I am concerned that the home field advantage is not what is was just a few years ago. I am worried about apathy setting in on this program like a thick fog.

So here are some suggestions Al Groh, help us help you improve the state of UVa football. The first point is going to be cathartic for me and seemingly negative, but a constructive suggestion nonetheless. It has to happen, this way there is too much pent up frustration that has to diffuse into space. Then we can move on with other more ideas that have nothing to do with the past but are all about the future of this program we love.

First off Al, stop with all the NFL program crap. We have heard it over and over and it does not resonate with the UVa fans. While there is less NFL-like garbage revolving around the program there is still too much. We are finally over the fiasco of building an NFL-type of defense around "jumbo athletes" who are too slow to keep pace with our competitors from VT, FSU, and others. The college game is a speed game. 6-7 270 pound kids are defensive ends in college not OLB's. I love watching Florida and LSU play football, they are all about speed. Get speed into the program and get it on the field in the right position. Always have someone on offense who is the fastest player on the field. Florida, LSU, WVa have won lot of games with this as part of their program. Also, dump the "one voice of the program" garbage let the fans see and hear from the staff. Help up build a relationship with these people. Help us like them and support them. These folks are professionals and if they cannot have a relationship with the media and the fans, then they are in the wrong job. As mentioned before, speed kills in this game, and if you do not have it, you get killed. Quit slotting players based on NFL potential. Vic Hall was a better high School QB than Ron Curry. He has been a pretty good CB for the past three years, which is a travesty. The fans want to win games at Scott stadium much more than they want to watch UVa graduates in the NFL. This is not an NFL program, don't run it like one, don't slot players like one. The fans hate it when you do and the results have not been stellar to date. I feel better, and hopefully that was was a constructive rant, though I know a rant when a write one.

Second, Al, I know you are a tireless worker. I suspect your staff is as well. Please spend great time and effort creating a visceral relationship between the fans and the program. That includes everyone in the program. We have some great coaches and great personalities that no one knows. We have some fantastic talent coming back next year. I want to hear about it. Go out on a limb, risk some locker room bulletin board material for next season, but tell us why we should be pumped about next year's team. Tell me how good of a defensive backfield we will have with Ras-I Dowling, Chase Minnefield, Chris Cook, Corey Mosely, Mike Parker etc. There is scary good talent back there. I want to hear just how freaking good they are. I want to hear that the staff is giddy about two total stud shutdown corners with a potential third all in the same backfield. I want to hear how good our running backs, and WR's can be next year. We all know the talent is there. Beat the drum, let us know that this is a program that can go places in 2009. Quit with the milk toast comments. Quit worrying about saying anything that could be construed as over the top. Go over the top, the fans are dying to support you and this program, just light the fuse and I promise we will make the noise for you.

I know you understand this about our fan base and out University. We have to run things differently at UVa. We do not want Apparel Management majors at UVa. We want student athletes. We want kids who will represent us and the University well. We understand that there are kids that are high academic risks at UVa. If you have to pass on those kids, pass on them. In fact, when in doubt, pass. We understand. We want it that way. However, if we are going to be the college football program that has kids who belong at UVa, make a big deal about it. Talk about it, sell it to the fans and the media. I think that when a players picture and bio is posted on the jumbotron, his major should be listed in bold and if he has a 3.0 gpa or better, that would be posted as well. If we are going to be the university of real student athletes, let's point it out every chance we get. It will not take long for the fan base to figure out that if only 3.0 gpa's are posted, and your GPA is not posted, then you must have one below 3.0. Who is going to want that known to the fan base? Create some competition on the team to go with public acknowledgment of how well these kids are doing in the classroom as well as the football field. Make a big deal about this. I want to hear about kids who graduate from this team who go to graduate school, become coaches/teachers, or go to work on Wall Street. Connect us with what UVa does especially well - graduate smart kids who do well in professioanl life.

Similar to the second point, tell us the stories of the kids in this program. I am not talking about stuff that is personal that should not be discussed, but I would bet that there are a dozen stories of kids on this team over coming obstacles, gutting out injuries, persevering through a family crisis that would warm the hearts of the fan base. Tell us the stories about these kids. Tell us why we should pack the stadium to cheer them on to victory, even against the longest of odds. Don't be so distant with your team and so closed with every tidbit of information. I promise that any bit of competitive advantage you may give up with this information will be returned many times over with loyalty and commitment from the fan base.

Al, everyone that supports this program is hungry for winning program. However, unlike many programs, style matters to UVa fans. We want to win the right way. Help us help you bring the results we all want by connecting yourself and your program with the fans. George W Bush is not the worst president in United States history. He is a man of deep convictions who has, by an objective measure, done many things right. However, he is one of the worst salesmen on the planet. He has no clue that packaging the message matters and that being right does not guarantee success. Don't make the same mistakes that "W" has made. The message and how it is packaged matters. Selling the program and all the personalities in it matters, especially to those who support this program with their checkbooks in addition to their time. Spend time letting us know that you care about the fans and how they feel. Make the connection between all this program has to offer and the fans. You do not have to change who you are, you do not have to be a back-slapper, joke telling glad hander. However, become outward facing. Let us know why you are as committed to these players as you clearly are. Help us be just as committed.

Back when the UVa program was giving FSU all it could handle at Scott Stadium, Bobby Bowden commented on time that no one talks about the game day atmosphere at UVa, but that when he was in town, UVa was as tough a place to play as any. Help us make that game day excitement the norm. Make us feel part of the program, part of the advantage, and part of what makes UVa special. You can do it, I am certain, but we need you out here creating those connections. We aren't watching the NFL because we don't care about it like we care about UVa.

Republicans Got What They Deserved

Now that the election results have settled in, one thing is clear as a bell, the Republicans got exactly what they deserved, especially those in congress. The republicans are supposed to be the party of small government and fiscal restraint. Let's just cut through that clutter and state that they failed miserably on both counts, and when performance is that bad, why should the Republicans have felt that they deserved more time to do what...more big government and big spending? Compounding their performance problem is an ethics hangover from the midterm elections. My expectation is that all elected officials should be of high character, not easily led astray by greed. Those expectations generally go unmet by representatives of both parties, however, the republicans, it seems to me, got fat and lazy in their short stay as the congressional majority. They exuded the type of cronyism that regular Americans detest. Several got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Their place as leaders of this nation, representing conservative, maybe ever libertarian values will have to be re-earned over time before they can be trusted with the car keys again.

To their credit, and most of this falls to President Bush, there has not been a terrorist attack since 9/11/01. This is no small feat. Many have tried and all have failed to bring terror back to our shores. Al Quaeda is a mess, almost all of their top brass are dead or in prison. Iraq is on the cusp of total victory, representing a toehold of democracy in a highly unstable region. Kudos to President Bush and the leadership in Congress for this success over time. Anyone who denies this success is simply a leftist zealot beyond reason.

However, as the economy crumbled, as the government largess grew, as cronyism became part of republican politics as usual, the victory of defending the country has become obscured. The republicans have only themselves to blame. The good will and political capital they could have banked over the past 4 years was vastly over drawn. Repairing the damage will take time. It will take years of doing the right thing. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd have given the republicans a nice start on the way back to good health through their "anyone but me" finger pointing on the Freddie and Fannie scandals. Obama and his gang have a pile of good will to spend over the next four years. It will be interesting to see if he can leverage it, or if Pelosi and Reid burn through it like....well, like republicans.

The New New Economy

Whatever happened to risk/reward? Assume some risk, take some chances, put up some capital, and reap the benefits, if they come. The higher the risk the greater the reward. That used to be the deal. Apparently not anymore. I think the equation is now something like, the more irresponsible the decision, the bigger the bailout.

If the government is going to backstop every failing business in the United States, then why do we need an equity market?

Is anyone else worried about the sustainability of the bailout frenzy? We are bailing out most large banks and strategic insurers. We are discussing a bailout for the US automakers, homeowners who borrowed too much money and credit card holders who cannot pay their bills. Just about everyone who is strapped for cash is apparently bailout-eligible. We can print all the money we want, it doesn't mean it will be worth anything. We can float all the bonds we want, but it does not mean that anyone will buy them. Anyone remember stag-flation?

Why can Toyota and Honda make money selling small cars and the Big 3 can't? Maybe the UAW has something to do with it. Maybe artificially high wages and rich benefits for life have something to do with it. The Big 3 will never be competitive until they get the UAW monkey off their backs, which means they will never be competitive.

Remember Eastern Airlines? Remember when the Union decided it would rather take the airline down rather than give in to management? When was the last time anyone was on an Eastern flight? The Union got their way and everyone lost. Organized labor has outlived its usefulness. It has been reduced to being a drag on the real economy and the icon of the new, new economy, where no one can fail, and and guarantees of guarantees result mediocrity at best and implosion at worst. Feel better? Me either.

Malcolm U. "Buck" Pitt...Thanks-a-Lot

I found out a few minutes ago that Malcolm U Pitt, Jr...aka "Buck" Pitt to anyone who ever was lucky enough to go to Camp Virginia, I found out that he died early this afternoon. I am not sure that Buck would want a lot of fan fare surrounding his death. I am not sure he would want to see a lot of downtrodden looks and despondent mourners. That was not his way. I think that second to my dad, Buck Pitt and his best pal Petey Jacobs had the most profound "adult" influences on my life to date. Buck and Petey, reinforced all the things my dad was trying to teach me about fair play, sportsmanship, doing the right thing even when no one is looking, humility, giving 100% all the time...and a host of other qualities that I still strive to fulfill. Buck Pitt was a living testament to all the things my dad was trying to teach me as a kid and as a young adult. He was 3rd party evidence that the qualities that mattered, did in fact exist in the world and they mattered more than I could imagine.

I am not expert on Buck's life by any stretch and there are many people who knew him far better than me. However, I was one of the lucky few who got to learn from him and see him live his life by the principals he held dear. He came from a generation that took care of business. They did not talk a lot, they didn't have to. Buck let his actions speak for themselves. He was not a self promoter and was always happy to let others take center stage, yet he was always there, supporting, teaching, listening. Buck came from a generation that believed in hard, clean competition. While I never saw him play, I know that on the football field Buck Pitt would knock your lights out with a clean hit during a play, and then help you up and tell you "nice play". He played hard, he played to win, and he played by the rules. His victory was not to be interpreted as your defeat. While I know he wanted to win on the athletic field as badly as anyone who ever played sports, he also did not want have his victory leave his opponent feeling like someone who lost.

Winning was important to Buck Pitt, but the way you played the game mattered more. The world needs more Buck Pitts and Petey Jacobs. While I fear we may not find many more like them, I am heartened by knowing that there are thousands like me who were privileged to know them. They taught many of us the right way to compete, on the sports field and in life.

"When the great scorer comes to mark against your name, he writes not if you won or lost, but how you played the game." I doubt a lot of people have heard this message before, and even fewer heed its call. I know where I learned it. I know who lived it. I am sorry we lost him but eternally grateful to have known him.

Buck Pitt, for what you did to help me and thousands like me, Thanks-a-Lot, we can never repay the debt, but are better for having it.

An Obama Victory and the Economy

I want to be on the record a week prior to the election. This election looks like it is going to tilt in favor of Barack Obama and the democrats. It looks like we are simply haggling over how big of a majority the democrats will hold in both houses of the legislature and whether or not pusillanimous, left-wing, ninnies like Al Franken will be swept into office along with Obama.

What I want on the record is....I will bet what is left of my entire portfolio, which is not a very big bet any more, that as soon as Barack Obama is in office, and maybe even right after the election, the tone of the economic news will change, and change dramatically. The tide of economic bad news washing over the working folks in this country will begin to subside and miraculously, the the economy will cease to be the worst since the Hoover administration. We have seen this in the past. Almost immediately after Bill Clinton won election, the economy that at the time was the worst sice the depression according to the press, was suddenly out of recession and the "economy stupid" which propelled Clinton to victory was on the road to recovery. To his credit, and with the help of the republican victories in 1994, Clinton stayed out of the way of the economy and enjoyed a rising economic tide for the vast majority of his administration.

Part of me is looking forward to an Obama victory so the hourly bludgeoning of our economy by the mainstream press can abate. Obama and his buddies are going to get a tremendous head start on getting the economy back on track from the press. Negative stories will fall from the headlines and hopefully the general feeling of economic helplessness will begin to recede. However, my fear, and candidly my expectation, is that an Obama administration along with a big majority in Congress will tax the producers in the country to the point of breaking. There is no way that rational and motivated producers in this economy can stand the barrage of income redistribution that is headed their way.

Let's enjoy the rays of media sunshine after the Obama victory. I suspect that it will be the eye of the hurricane. Once Team Obama unravels the capitalist fabric of this nation, it will take years, maybe generations to repair. Mark those words too.

Global Warming...Life's Little luxury

It is funny how global warming has dropped off the front pages of the paper like the value my of now meager portfolio. It seems to me that if the threat of global warming was killing polar bears as we speak, if we were less than ten years away from irreversible global doom, if the rising tides were going to wash across the streets of Manhattan, then shouldn't the global warming alarm be sounding just as loud when the Dow is at 9,000 as it is when the Dow is at 14,000? The alarmists seem to have been pushed not just below the fold, but off the pages altogether. Maybe global warming isn't quite as bad when people are more worried about the mortgage than the polar caps. Never mind the data that show the oceans actually cooled over the past few years...that never stopped the global alarmists. But the Dow dropping into the tank, now we have something a little more pressing to occupy our time.

I guess when $ 4.00 coffee at Starbuck's is no longer an affordable luxury, global warming isn't either. Maybe Al Gore is too busy trying to figure out to recoup his losses to blab on about his latest weird science. If nothing else I hope he is bawling out Barney Frank and Chris Dodd for being asleep at the switch. I guess he lost more in any given day than I did over the past month. When you have that much at stake, the polar bears are probably better swimmers than we thought.

"The Wealth" versus "Your Wealth" Obama doesn't know the Difference

Whether or not one favors or opposes Barack Obama there are things about the senator that are undeniable. Senator Obama makes very few mistakes on the campaign trail. He chooses his words very carefully, and he means what he says. So when Senator Obama tells a plumber in Ohio that "when we share the wealth everyone is better off" there is no doubt in my mind that he means what he says and believes in his heart that if we share the wealth we will all be better off. The problem with Mr. Obama's statement is that he refers to "the" wealth, as though wealth were a public asset, like federal parks, public waterways, and interstate highways. I guess this view of wealth as a public trust should not come as a surprise when one considers that Barack Obama has never worked in the private sector of our economy, the part that creates wealth. He has always worked in the part of the economy that relies on the wealth created by others. If Obama understood how wealth is created, he would have rephrased his comment to state "when we share your wealth everyone is better off". That would have been an accurate statement to Mr. Plumber from Ohio, but I am pretty sure that is something that Obama does not understand.

If I figured out a way to hack into Warren Buffet's account at Berkshire Hathaway and took $ 100M and gave them to the most destitute in the Richmond area, I would be a thief and should go to jail. However if Barack Obama and his tax and spend pals in congress decide to take 50% more of the money I earn on a monthly basis and give it the most destitute in Richmond, it is called "sharing the wealth". Maybe Obama and his Ivy League friends can explain the difference to me, because I can't see it. Obama meant what he said to that plumber, he just said it in an way that demonstrates his lack of understanding of free market capitalism. He is going to spread the wealth, yours, mine, and that plumber's. If Obama is going to pick my pocket, I wish he at least understood what it was he was really doing.

Liberal Democrats and Celebrities...Dumb and Dumber

Some people can throw a baseball 95 mph. Some people can hit a golf ball 350 years with a high degree of accuracy. Others can run faster than the wind blows. These people's talents result in unequal outcomes in terms of their ability to perform in the professional sports business. As a result people with these talents earn salaries and bonuses that make them among the richest people on Earth. Some people are smart. Some people work very long hours and sacrifice pleasure for the sake of their work. Other people are very effective leaders and motivational communicators. These people are often successful in "the real world". They have jobs and do things better than their competition in the market. These people are called "the rich" by demagoging liberals. For some reason equal opportunity and equal rights to liberal democrats, including the likely next president, means that results in income and wealth should be as close to equal as possible. We should share the wealth. I am at a loss for words when our next president and the rank and file of his party are essentially socialists, who, in an effort to ensure their political power, work tirelessly to take money from those who have earned it and give it to those who have not. Some people are smart. Others are not. There is very little correlation between being one of the smart people and being a member of the US Congress. In fact, many of these people are either dumber than the average dolphin or they are so blinded by ideology and the lust for their own power that they will say anything and do anything, no matter how moronic. Very sad times for the pathetic state of our leadership...or lack of leadership.

It would be funny if it were not so sad that celebrities confirm all that most normal and thoughtful people think of them...that they are self absorbed, shallow stooges who should keep their mouths shut when they are not reading a script, singing a song , or chatting mindlessly in the privacy of their own homes. It is kind of sad when people think you are an imbecile, it is really sad when you prove it every time you open you mouth to comment on topics which you do not have the mental capacity to understand. When we want a celebrity to comment on the root cause of the financial crisis and the viability of the proposed solutions, we will ask...in the mean time, chomp on your tofu, count the shoes in your closet, and ponder the ramifications of next year's hem lines. Leave thinking to people who are equipped to do it.

Barney Frank & Barney Fife - What's the Difference

If anyone has listened to Barney Frank recently and at the same time watched the meltdown of the financial system, one can't help but think that barney Frank is about as effective as a member and now leader of the House Finance Committee as Barney Fife was as deputy sheriff of Maybury. Neither Barney's had the slightest idea how to do their jobs, neither had the gumption to admit their shortcomings. and when times got tough Barney Fife tended to shoot his pistol off in his holster. Barney Frank shoots his mouth off and makes himself look as silly as his alter ego. The biggest difference between these two is tat Barney Fife's incompetence is intentional and makes us laugh. Barney Frank's incompetence is a result of his blind partisanship and makes us poorer. America loved Barney Fife. Americans who understand the financial crisis in America loathe Barney Frank. Frank has earned the nation's ire. He was asleep at the switch as his pet projects Fannie and Freddie crumbled taking the US financial system with them. Frank blames everyone else for his failings. Does anyone wonder why no one respects the US Congress. Barney Frank is leading the move to the bottom of the barrel, and he is the only one in the country too obtuse not see the obvious. What a loser, how can this guy still be in congress, he is a disgrace to us all.

Washington Observations & Suggestions

It looks to me like Barack Obama will be the next president. If I could tell Obama just one thing, it would be to remember that no country has ever taxed its way back to prosperity...never happened never will. My biggest fear is that he will be obligated to the left-wing socialist wing of the democratic party - the folks that hate corporations, that hate profits, that hate people who are successful and who have never held a job that requires business acumen. I am fearful that his obligation to them will force his hand to tax the people who make our economy work, at a time when the economy is in its most fragile state in 75 years. His plans for tax increases will wreck the economy with 100% certainty.

It is amazing, or pathetic, that Barney Frank has red ink all over his blubber-laden body, but according to his self absorbed rants he has no responsibility whatsoever for the financial crisis. It is truly remarkable that the chairman of the house finance committee could be either so irrelevant or so weak that he has had no hand in financial affairs for the past two years. If he did not wear the stench of rotting investment portfolios slaughtered directly or indirectly by the Freddie and Fannie failures, he might have a shred of credibility, but he does, so he doesn't. What a putz. He has no clue his "who me? the other guy did all the bad stuff, I did all the good stuff" attitude is why most of America despises the current members of congress.

I was so disgusted to see that the members house of the representatives were admittedly swayed in the vote for the financial bailout package by the upcoming elections. Huh....maybe they could just vote for what is right, what is best for the country, not what is best for their election chances.

Does anyone in the mainstream media understand that this crisis is not a failure of capitalism, but rather further evidence that central planning from well-intentioned do-gooders? If banks are coerced to lend to people who cannot possibly repay their loans....why is anyone surprised when they don't? Sometimes these liberal elitists who want to appear so so smart, do things that are so so dumb.

Keith Olbermann = SNL Fives Times a Week

You've probably never heard of Keith Olbermann. He hosts a lightly watched commentary show on an irrelevant cable network. However, if you have never watched his show, I highly recommend it. Keith unwittingly hosts a 60 minute Saturday Night Live sketch every night of the week. If you like "Weekend Update" on SNL, you will love Olbermann. His manufactured outrage at anything conservative, anything Bush, now anything Palin, and his attempts to insult his rivals who trounce him in the ratings is a riot. Olbermann is either a total moron or a comedic genius...maybe he is a little of both.

No one watches MSNBC or the Keith Obermann laugh machine, which is truly a shame. In a time of national concerns about economic conditions, rising oil prices, and terror fascists, Keith is a ray of humor five nights a week. His insights are as deep as the best thinking from Rosanne Rosanna-Danna. After Sarah Palin's speech at the RNC, Keith managed to deliver the following line "well, if you like that sort of thing, then you liked that" really Keith. If I like chocolate, would like like a Nestle Crunch bar? One of his latest rants includes a treasonous accusation that John McCain is holding out on a plan to secure Osama Bin Laden's capture, that McCain's promise to follow Bin Laden to the gates of hell indicate that he has a plan and the wherewith all to capture Osama, but he will not let us in on his plan unless he is elected president. His disdain and camera turns as he tries so hard to look Ivy League is pure comedy. I hate to burst Keith's haughty bubble, but his buddy John Kerry also said that if he were elected president he would find and capture Osama bin Laden...after reading him his rights and getting him a lawyer no doubt. Anyway, I don't recall the fake or misdirected outrage at John Kerry when he made an almost identical campaign pledge. That's okay, no one holds comics to much of a "truth standard". Anything for a good laugh is what I say, and Olbermann delivers in spades, 5 nights a week.

When you are channel surfing away from the shows you want to watch, give Olbermann 5 minutes of your time, you will get a great laugh and you will double his ratings.

The "Would you have a beer with this person" Credential....

I have, since I became of legal drinking age, frequently used the hypothetical "would I want to have a beer with this person" as a test of my true feelings about a public figure. I recognize the many shortcomings of this analysis and that no one but me cares whether or not I would want to have a beer with a public figure. However in this election year, when the dung is flying like it had wings, I thought this was a good non-partisan topic and a good record of my personal vetting of those in the political square.



Bill Clinton. I never voted for Bill Clinton. I liked some things he did as president, disliked others. As our president, I detested his lack of conviction for anything but his own political fortunes. However, would I have a beer with Bill Clinton, you bet I would. Imagine the stories that guy could tell. I also bet that we wouldn't have just one beer and might even start getting into the scotch before the evening was over. I guess there would be a lot of cutie girls hanging around as well. Would I have a beer with Bill if his wife were to tag along? That is a high tariff to pay, and frankly I think that it would take all the fun out of the event, so Bill Clinton solo...you bet! Beers and cigars. Bill with his betrothed...not so much.



Another guy I think would be a blast for beers, but who I am guessing is more likely a whiskey drinker would be James Carville. While he is a pit bull's pit bull in the political arena and I rarely am backing his candidate, I love his conversations, his analogies, and his ability to emote such pure disgust for his opponents. I think he is smart, funny, and on the wrong side of the political aisle, but would he be a great drinking buddy, without question.



While she might not have time as the mother of five kids and the governor of Alaska, I have to think that Sarah Palin would be fun to chat with over a beer. I bet she drinks beer and likes it. I would like to hear her hunting and fishing stories and how she toppled the entrenched and corrupt republican pinheads in her state. Sarah Palin would easily pass the beer test, but she might have to leave early to tend to all that is on her plate.



Barack Obama....I know I am not voting for him, I disagree with many of his ever changing positions on the issues. However, I think he is sincere in what he is and I think he would be a great person to have a few drinks with and debate great pie in the sky issues. I am guessing he be a rather philosophical conversationalist, so I may have to get my points in early in the night while I am still on my game rather than after the third pitcher.



John McCain...I have the utmost respect for John McCain. Do I want to have a beer with him....maybe not.

I cannot imagine having a beer with Joe Biden. I think it would be one of those conversations where I spend a lot of time admiring the art work hanging on the wall as I quietly sip my beer, looking for either a way to enter the one-way conversation or a way to go home.

Obama's Political Brilliance is Truly Stunning

I am not sure who was the first person to say this, but the last person I heard say it was my dad...a republic is in trouble when the the mass of the population figures out that they can get money by voting for candidates who will take money from someone else and give it to them.

Barack Obama is now proposing an additional tax on the oil companies to fund a $ 1,000 check for "working" families. This has to be the best campaign gimmick ever. Obama is offering every "working" American $ 1,000 for their vote, which is not that brilliant by itself. The political brilliance comes with his plan to make the oil companies pay for his walking around money. Obama is buying votes at $ 1,000 a clip and it is not going to cost him a dime. You have to appreciate the sheer political brilliance of this move. However, as a citizen of this country that one day my be led by this rookie, it sets the standards for ethics at a new low. I guess Obama is a new kind of candidate after all, one whose audacity would make the Clintons blush.

Barack Obama - Not Getting the Most of His Ivy League Education

In a speech today, Barack Obama refers to the United States as living under "the tyranny oil". Is this the most ridiculous thing Barack has said ever, or just this week? Tyranny of oil? Is he serious? What in the world did the learned senator study while he was at Columbia? We know it wasn't economics or finance, but I guess he also passed on a course on the history of American Business too. Just to fill in the gaps of his swanky Ivy League education, oil has literally been the fuel that drove American economic growth over the past one hundred years. It has been cheap and accessible powering our cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes. It facilitates directly or indirectly everything we have enjoyed from an economic growth perspective since the turn of the last century. It is only the political hi jinks of oil and energy production in general that has created the problems we face today. If we in fact live under tyranny, it is not the tyranny of oil, but rather the tyranny of over zealous environmental ninnies and the weak-kneed politicians who cannot stand up to them. When considering our energy predicament today, the accurate conclusion can never be drawn that we are suffering from a shortage of energy sources, we are suffering from a lack of political courage and the leadership to do what is best for the country, instead of what is best for the next election cycle.

Ironically, Barack Obama plans to make his first visit to Iraq under the umbrella of safety provided by the troop surge he vehemently opposed and publicly stated was not working...until it became politically fashionable to recognize that it was. I never thought I would miss Bill Clinton, but Barack Obama makes me pine for the days when biggest presidential shortcomings were spotty marital decency and an over active, fraternity-boy libido.

I wonder how Barack plans to get to Iraq, maybe it is on a flying carpet which will certainly be part of his "green initiative" if he becomes president. If it was not going to cost us all so much dadgum money in higher taxes and an economy in perpetual recession under the ever-regulatory eye of a president Obama, it might almost be fun to have him in the white house for four years just to see what goofy ideas come out of his mouth next. Who would have thought that a graduate of Columbia and Harvard could seem so pedestrian in his thought process? Takes a little of the shine off those universities if you ask me.

Vernon Baker - The American Hero Everyone Should Know

The word "hero" get batted around a lot, probably a lot more than it should. If anyone does something that smacks of selflessness they are quickly dubbed as a "hero". I guess there really is not anything wrong with that. In my view it devalues the term a bit when an admirable act on behalf of others is enough for a person to earn hero-status. Every one has their own definition of what a hero really is. I am not sure I can put my definition into a short pithy statement that does justice to those who truly earn recognition as a hero. However, I am confident that while I may not be able to describe what a hero is in terms that accurately describe the attributes of such a person, I do know a hero when I see one. If you want to read about a hero, do yourself a favor and read the book "Lasting Valor" about Vernon J.Baker one of many unheralded African-American "buffalo soldiers" who fought in World War II.

I think an attribute that often, but not always is present in a person deemed to be a hero is lasting performance over time. Certainly a person who rescues a child from a burning building performed a heroic act and may even be a hero, but often times that type of action may be more reflexive than anything else. Vernon Baker lived in a time when many things in America were stacked against him, including the law of the land which in many ways relegated him to second class citizenship. Baker's story accurately portrays the daily life of a kid and then a young adult where life was unfair, in the truest definition of the word. There were times when Baker was mad, there times when he was dejected, there certainly times when he had enough justifiable frustration to knock some one's block off, but he didn't. When the time came to do his duty, for a country that had stacked the deck against him, Vernon Baker and his fellow black soldiers did their duty. In Baker's case he and many of his colleagues performed their duty with such daring, bravery, and effectiveness that they were awarded the nation's highest military honor, The Congressional Medal of Honor. The only catch is that they were recognized for their accomplishments, for their magnificent performance under fire by President Clinton, not President Roosevelt or Truman. So Vernon Baker, the only non-posthumous recipient, lived for over 40 years, knowing that he had served his country with rare distinction yet was not recognized for his heroics because he was a black man in a white man's army during World War II. It seems to me (and probably if it were me) that this might be a source of bitterness over a lifetime and could drive a great deal of discouragement and resentment towards the country and the people for whom I and my friends had risked our lives. If you are interested in the detailed story, please, read the book. You will read the story of a true hero, a story that I wish more people in the United States knew.

From my perspective, it is not just the acts of courage and bravery that make Vernon Baker a national hero, it is the conditions under which her performed them and his reactions to the injustice of his lack of recognition. Mr, Baker is a hero, not just because he was a tremendous soldier. He is a hero because he was able to persevere through decades following the war to lead the successful life of a man of great character in addition to his great courage. His is an inspiring story. Maybe that is a critical credential for heroism. I don't know, I cannot put it into words, but I know one when I see one and Vernon Baker is an American Hero in the truest sense of the term.

Letter Response

I think Connie Farone-Maslock's panic stricken letter of June 30th to the Richmond Times Dispatch informing us that as a state employee, she does not have enough money left to pay for insurance, medication, or car payments after she is done paying her gasoline, electric, and telepone bills is symptomatic of the problems of modern America, which is oblivious to the opportunities that surround all of us. Ms. Faraone-Maslock commutes from her home in the beautiful Northern Neck to her job in Richmond every day. She believes that she should get relief from the State government to help fund her commute. Why should she get relief when she has so many options available to her? Assuming she is a good and skilled employee, she could get a job closer to home and would save hundreds on gasoline each month. She could work for a promotion or look for a higher paying job. She could take on part time, home-based work to earn additional dollars. She could move closer to her job in Richmond. No one is owed a home in the Northern Neck and a cheap commute to work in Richmond. The point Ms. Faraone-Maslock misses in her letter is that she lives in the land of opportunity, and before the Commonwealth steps in to meet her need in time of crisis, she should exhaust all the options available to her. It is my strong belief that if she does this, she will not have to write the RT-D again asking for a handout.

I am thinking that this is not going to get published...I also wanted to let the author of the letter know that most people are in fact in the middle class...by definition. Middle class can fluctuate in its affluence, but most people are middle class. I know this fact did not support her request for a handout, but sometimes facts are, well, inconvenient.

Oil Hits record Price...Thank you Congress, Thank you Democrats!

Oil hit a record price today because a backwards, 2-bit country like Lybia is pondering cutting its oil production in response to US actions against oil producing nations. Let's see....Lybia, a country that has an economic output smaller than Delaware and relevance on the world stage somewhere between Madonna and Jerry Springer can ponder cuts in oil production...and quickly pile on to the soaring energy prices in the US, driving up prices of just about everything in the United States.

Anyone see a problem here? What if the Saudi's, Venezuela, or Iran also pondered oil production cuts? We would be wishing for $ 4.00 gasoline.

So who is still against drilling in the ANWR, the arctic wasteland and offshore, in the same neighborhood as the soon to be erect Chinese rigs? If you like being held hostage by Lybia, you are going to love what Venezuela and Iran have in store for the world oil market.

Thank you Congress, thank you George Bush, and Bill Clinton for this mess you have created. If you will get off your asses and lift the drilling bans in areas we know contain vast reserves, the private sector will clean up your mess, like it always does.

Obama, the 1960's Liberal

Is there any doubt among voters what they will get with Barack Obama? He is a late 1960's early 1970's radical with a good haircut and a nice suit. Underneath the wrappings, he is as left wing as politicians come. He will tax achievement, he will depend on words and process to solve problems, he will send us chasing our tails in search of the panacea for global warming.

I guess that is okay with everyone, because it looks like Obama will be the next president with a filibuster proof majority in congress. Okay, Barack, here are the keys to the world's biggest and most productive economy. Here are the reigns to the most dominant military force the world has ever known. Here is the presidency of the world's only super power, let's see that you and your pals in congress can do with it. So what do we know Obama will do? Let's kick off a list:

Well, first off, we know he is going to tax anything that is profitable. Anyone making over $ 250K is rich and apparently needs to give more of their earned money to others who have not earned as much. Oil companies need to be taxed for their "windfall profits". I guess Obama doesn't understand that running a business where profits soar in response to increased volumes of business is really not a windfall, but rather income from operations, so I am not so sure I buy into Obama's definition, but oil companies will pay up, big time. Obama will increase or lift the limit on social security taxes, but then he will give money back to those who are not "rich"...and keep the money of those who are. So we know on thing for sure. Obama and his demmy friends in congress will tax the crap out of achievement...the thing that really makes our system better than everyone else. So we can conclude that there will be less achievement, less income to tax, and less profits to tax. I know I will have less income with Obama's plans. I may have to take my kids out of their current schools because money I earned is being directed to someone else who did not work as hard as I did, is not as smart as I am, or is not as effective in creating value that the market demands. Sounds like a great deal for whoever gets my income, but not for me and I will adjust my behavior accordingly.

We also know that Obama will not drill for new sources of oil. He will not support drilling off the coast, he will not support drilling in the wastelands of ANWR. He will not support more oil refining capacity and he will not support rapid expansion of nuclear power generation. Lastly Obama certainly will not allow exploitation of our massive coal and shale reserves. Instead, Obama is going to invest in green technology and green jobs. He is going to strongly support conservation and cap greenhouse gases. No polar bear will drown under the Obama administration, no matter how much it costs us in productivity, higher energy costs, or lost competitiveness in the world economy. We can take that to the bank, or at least we can feel good while we are counting the money we used to have.

Obama is going to meet with and negotiate with terrorist regimes who despise all Americans including Obama - though I am sure they find him much more useful than say general Patreas or any other member of our armed forces. Obama apparently has a plan for negotiation that no one has ever considered and is keeping it a secret until after the election. Obama has a panacea for world hand-holding efforts that he is going to implement for global peace. I think it will kick in right after Hugo Chavez stops laughing so hard his head explodes after "negotiations" with the world's most naive Commander in Chief.

Obama is also going to get us out of Iraq, and the sooner the better. I know when I am on the 10 yard line getting ready to score a touchdown, I usually like to punt the ball to my opponent rather than stuff the ball down their throats. Liberals are not hung up on this winning thing. As the Leading Liberal-in-charge, Obama does not want to send the wrong message to the world by winning in Iraq. Let's pull out so the citizens who supported us (again) can get gassed and have their heads chopped off by a formerly defeated al Queada on theJihadist.com.

So far everything sounds great right? Anyone see a recession in that strategy? I know I do, maybe even worse. I am not sure which of Barack's policies will have the devastating effect of on our economy as we saw with Smoot-Hawley, but he has it in there, the challenge is deciding which suicidal economic policy will send us over the economic cliff. When we get there, and my former business has been ruined by high taxes, government mandates for healthcare benefits, sky rocketing energy costs, I am going to sit back and rake in the benefits and dollars that Barack has in store for the new-poor. The only problem with this plan, is that there won't be any dollars, because no one earned them. The cost to do business was too high, so as a rational consumer, the former achievers in this country said "fuck-it", Obama wants to give me a hand up, I am going to take it...and I'll take mine now.

Any one see the problem yet? This left wing radical will put this economy on the road to ruin by essentially letting people vote to take wealth from someone else and give it to themselves. He is going to be the source of $ 10/gallon gasoline. He is going to withdraw US forces from conflicts around the world where we are currently fighting and winning, making the heretofore ultimate foreign policy sissy, Jimmy Carter look like a George Patton.

This guy is a train wreck and we are getting ready to let him have the controls. Get ready for a ride to economic oblivion and all the fun that goes along with it. At least we won't be putting much CO2 into the air, because our economy will be flat on its back. The Chinese and Indians will more than pick up the slack for carbon-based emissions, so no worries there. I think they will also be laughing an slapping their knees, thanking their lucky stars that we were pompous enough and dumb enough to elect the most incompetent president in modern times.

For those ready to vote for Obama, have fun spending my earnings while you can. You are going to need them to put a gallon of gas in your car or pay your power bill. But don't get used to spending my money, because it won't be there for long. Obama wants us all to be equal no matter what. After all, he wants to reward work not wealth. What 1960's radicals don't understand is that if we follow their plans, we won't have either. If I don't get the wealth that is a result of my work, why would I do it? Call me self-serving, but I can do a lot more good bringing value to the market, building wealth that I can dispose of as I see fit instead of working my ass off so some clown in Washington to build a bridge to no-where. Seeing the problem yet? I am guessing not. Thanks a-lot in advance Obama supporters, you ruined the economy, turned and ran on those who depended on us abroad, and have kept our arctic wasteland intact while keeping us dependant on foreign sources of energy. You have made the people who detest us and want to kill each and every one of us wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, and have given them the lubricant to get their killing machine started. If this is what you really wanted, this is what you will get. Don't come crying to me when the shit hits that fan, because all you are going to get from me is a big fat "I told you so and where is my government check". I am good at what
I set my mind to do, so if we are all going to feed at the government trough, I am going to be a hog in the land of the oinkers. You have been warned.

Well, Tiger Woods Did it Again...

At least he made it close this time. Tiger Woods, bum knee and all, still managed to best the best. There are many supremely talented golfers on the PGA tour. I would submit that there are a few that have equivalent physical talents to those of Tiger Woods. However, where Tiger separates himself from the field are his mental talents and his thinking man's approach to the game. When he is on this game, his physical skills combined with a level of focus and concentration, unmatched in golf, is an unbeatable combination. Mickelson, Els, Singh, Goosen can all rip drives as long or longer than Tiger. They all can stick irons to tap in range. They can turn long par five's into eagle opportunities. However, no one can do it like Tiger can when all the chips are on the table. Love him or hate him Tiger Woods, more often than not is money, when it counts.

Thankfully he did not run away with the US Open. His bum knee kept things close and a journey man almost took home the big prize. But was there ever really any doubt on the final day who would take home the title? At least there was suspense and drama this year. No 10 stroke blow out with everyone else playing for second place. I am grateful to Tiger's bum knee for that.

The downside though is that El Tigre is done for the year, and as much as I despise the 10 stroke Tiger blowouts, it will be a hollow victory for the winners of the majors for the rest of 2008. I hope Tiger gets better and is ready for 2009. As much as I hate it when he ruins that majors with a blow out victory, they are a little empty with out him there.

Send Home the Clowns

The Commonwealth of Virginia has a transportation problem borne of two sources. First, the state is growing. The economy is bigger, the population is bigger. Virginia, as the northern most right-to-work state is an attractive place to work and to live. Second, the Virginia political class has spent money like drunken sailors for the past 10 years. No hand out too big, no tax increase ever enough to satisfy the spend-thrifts in the legislature and in the governor's mansion. Mark Warner "reformed the tax code" with help from big spender republicans and raised taxes through the roof. New governor Tim Kaine, despite promises to the contrary is fighting hard to raise taxes even more. The clowns in both branches of government and from both parties are in this for the long haul....anything that enhances, extends, or promotes their political careers. That is the real objective of the vast majority of political climbers in Virginia government and is the fundamental problem for those of us who have to live with their electioneering garbage disguised as policy.

I heard a radio interview with a republican delegate discussing the transpiration challenge facing Virginia. A solution was proposed...the content of the solution is not relevant...the radio host asked what about "solution A" as proposed by one of the senior state senators? The response was "that sounds like a proposal from someone who does not face an election for over 3 years". Well, isn't that interesting. The merits of the idea are really not relevant, but the impact on one's re-elections chances...now that is the top priority when considering policy decisions and the future of The Commonwealth.

The Framers of our constitution did not have this in mind when crafting this great experiment. The notion of careerist politicians would have been anathema to each of them. Yet here we sit, with "leaders" whose primary objective is to further their political careers on the backs of those they ostensibly represent.

The fix to the Virginia budget problems as well as many of the Federal issues is to term-limit out these folks, two terms in the House, one term in the Senate....and go home. I think that many politicians are self-absorbed enough to think that we really care about their careers and that we want them in their positions of power until they are good and ready to call it a career. Short term, self serving policies are responsible for much of our political mess. Until we are willing to send the bums home, don't expect much to get better...they have to face the voters and need to get in all the pandering they can...no matter how dearly it costs us all. See the problem?

Obama...Oh Boy....Here we go...

When was the last time a nation taxed their way back to economic prosperity? hint: never is a good answer. Think about that before you vote for president.

When do you think the news networks are going to point out that the surge in Iraq has been a raging success? It is a shame that we waited so long to add the needed military fire power to capture and kill the insurgents, but we did it, it worked, and we are on the cusp of winning a war that many, including Barack Obama declared lost. I am sure he is getting ready to point this out in his next speech...or the one after that.

Does anyone really think that if we add protectionist legislation to the list of old ideas we want to re implement that manufacturing jobs will come back to American shores? Those jobs are where they belong, where labor is cheap and plentiful.

Barack Obama stated that the policies of George Bush have pushed millions into poverty. Really? When unemployment has been at historic lows for the past 5 years, home ownership is at historic highs, despite the press fixation on the mortgage "crisis", and we have been on a path of economic growth for the past 6 years, yet millions are suffering and in poverty? Sounds like made-up electioneering to me. Hey Obama, there are over 300 million people in the United States...if 99% are have jobs, own their homes, and are living the good life, guess what, there are still millions who are not. It is called the law of big numbers. We live in a country of over 300 million citizens. No matter how well things may have gone or may be going you can always find millions down on their luck. Also, the law of diminishing marginal returns says that it will be more costly for government to raise the next person out of the ditch, so guess what, they shouldn't, it's not the government's job and it costs too much stinking money.

What the hell is Obama talking about when he says he will invest in green jobs? Why should the government invest in any jobs? What is a green job? This guy is not looking too bright any more or he is getting real bad advice.

"I believe that America's free market has been the engine of America's great progress. It's created a prosperity that is the envy of the world. It's led to a standard of living unmatched in history. And it has provided great rewards to the innovators and risk-takers who have made America a beacon for science, and technology, and discovery…We are all in this together. From CEOs to shareholders, from financiers to factory workers, we all have a stake in each other's success because the more Americans prosper, the more America prospers.”
— Barack Obama, New York, NY, September 17, 2007

Isn't that quote hilarious? Barack believes in the free market so much he is going to kill it...strangle it with more taxes and "green" regulation, kill NAFTA and the Colombian Free Trade agreement. He is going to take the great rewards from those who have earned them through the free market and give them to those who have not. We are all in this together, so let's make sure that the shitter smells the same for everyone when we are all sitting there wondering what happened to the free markets that Obama killed. Sorry for the rant, but I cannot take the pandering from this guy any more. He is looking more clownish with each passing day. Lord help us!

Not a Tiger Woods Fan, for the Right Reason

I am not a Tiger Woods fan. I am awed by his accomplishments, I am impressed with his physical gifts, but most impressed with his mental toughness and concentration ability that is unmatched in the history of golf, maybe in the history of professional sports. So what is my problem with Tiger Woods? Why am I not a fan? The answer is easy, I do not watch a lot of golf on TV, but I almost always watch The Majors. Tiger Woods has in the past completely ruined the majors by essentially lapping the field...making Saturday's "moving day" the day when he blows by the field and Sunday's final round a boring battle for second place. I know he does not always make chumps of his PGA rivals, but he has done it enough that I root against Tiger Woods, not because I don't like him and don't admire his game as well as his constant dedication to improving his already spectacular game. I root against Tiger Woods, at least for the first three days of the major tournaments, so the last day will be worth watching. I look forward to golf's majors tournaments. Watching Tiger Woods increase his 5 shot three round lead into a 10 shot pummelling of the field just is not that much fun.

However, this year Tiger is injured. While he is on track to be back in time to play in the US Open, there is a risk that he could miss the tournament. Pondering the possibility of a Tiger-less US Open, I must admit, is much more unattractive to me than the prospect of another 10 shot Tiger Woods victory. Winning a Tiger-less major in golf's Woods-era, would be like having 2 extra games to break Babe Ruth's home run record...there would always be a cloud over the victory..."congratulations Mr US Open winner on your victory today...do you think you would have won if Tiger had played?" Sorry, but the question would have to be asked.

So I am a reluctant anti-Tiger fan. However, we need him back for the US Open. I am rooting for Tiger's speedy return and hope that he comes to the US Open in great form. So while I truly hope there is a full field for The Open, I hope my reward for backing Tiger's speedy and full return is not another Tiger blowout. I have seen those already. They bore me. I think I may be able to get on the Tiger Woods wagon when he is 45 or so and having to keep up with the wonder-kids of the next golfing generation. He will probably only win the US Open of 2020 by a stroke or two...which would be great fun.

Expectations and Reality

Do you think the Founders of this nation considered the prospect of an ignorant electorate with no vested interest in society electing equally ignorant representatives to the highest positions in the federal government?

I think that a flawed assumption of the founders is the assumption of an informed electorate. I think that there was an assumption of basic literacy. I think the Founders incorrectly assumed that the electorate would have an understanding of economics and history. Clearly this is lacking in today's America. Listen to the expectations from voters that the president is responsible for and should fix high gas prices, that the government should provide most if not all basic services, and that everyone is essentially owed a base standard of living. There is little to no sense of history, how we got where we are as a nation, mistakes we made as well as things we did right. This makes for an electorate susceptible to the latest political snake oil salesman promising government programs and benefits well outside the bounds of government responsibility and government's ability to pay.

The political class is not in much better stead than the voters they court. When presidential candidate Barack Obama cites the Roosevelt/Churchill/Stalin meeting at Yalta as an example from history that validates his ridiculous idea to meet unconditionally with the leaders of Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela. the clear axis of evil in the world and clear enemies of the United States, something is a little amiss in how we have implemented the ideas of the Founders. Maybe someone should point out to Barack that the United States, Great Britain, and The Soviet Union were allies in World War II and that the meetings in Yalta set the table to open a second front against the Germans. It was funny in "Animal House" when John Belushi asks the question "was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?". It is not that funny when the likely democratic presidential nominee confuses who was fighting who in the second world war.

Somehow I think that Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and Adams has higher expectations of our political leaders and for the electorate in general. We may have a hard time finding a lot of voters who know the relevance of Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and Adams. I wonder if Barack Obama knows that they were on the same team?

Can I ask a dumb question about Obama?

If Barack Obama's mother is white and his father is black, why is he the first African American candidate to be his party's nominee for president (assuming there is no Clinton diving catch to seal the democratic nomination)? Frankly, I don't care whether Barack Obama is black or white, I think his policies for this country will send it into an economic tailspin in short order. However, I find it odd, and almost a little racist that the press and everyone who writes about Obama refers to him exclusively as "the first black candidate" or the first "African American candidate". Isn't this a slap in the face of his mother and her family? Why does the white side of his family defer to the black side in the eyes of the media? I honestly don't know and I really hope that his race plays no factor in whether or not he is elected president of the United States. I think the time has come when the US will readily and easily accept and embrace a black man (or woman) as president, I just think that Barack Obama is the wrong man, black or white, for the job based on his leftist views, inexperience, and poor judgement. I would love to support Condie Rice or Colin Powell for president. I wish someone could talk JC Watts into re-entering the national political scene. However, it strikes me as odd that the Obama's black father makes him black and his white mother, still makes him black.

In an ideal scenario, a candidate's race wouldn't enter in the thought process for political office, but "firsts" will always be noted by the press. The time will come when the United States has a minority as president. I hope when the time comes, though it will be duly noted in the press, it will be an after thought in the hearts of the voters who elected him....or her.

Energy Crunch, What Energy Crunch. Here is the Answer

I had some time to kill in between dinner and a new episode of "Deal or No Deal" so I thought I would go ahead and solve this energy crunch that has manifest itself with gas prices approaching 4.00 per gallon. Ready? Here we go, Green light to off shore drilling and oil exploration in ANWR Announce plans to authorize permits to double the nation's nuclear power generation capacity Announce plans to double the nation's oil refining capacity Remove the shackles from America's massive coal reserves and exploit advances in new clean coal technology. Over the long term this plan would demonstrate America's actionable resolve to become far more energy independent over the long term. Over the short term this new found resolve would take the wind out of the oil speculator's sails which would result in siginificant and immediate price reductions in the cost of crude oil. Let's face it, absent political constraints, this is not a hard problem to solve. We need to make the most of the resources we have, we need to remove the self-inflicted constraints to our energy independence, and let the market delivery technology-based solutions over time. Think about the efficiency of our politcians. Here is a workable plan to solve the energy problems we all detest, developed while waiting to watch "Deal or No Deal" and I still have time to get some ice cream.

The Wrong Chickens

Jeremiah Wright, the America-hating preacher and mentor for Barack Obama is right about one thing, the chickens have indeed come home to roost for the United States. The problem is that reverend Wright had the wrong flock of chickens. Wright had his head up his rear when he was talking about the American foreign policy chickens coming home to roost on 9/11. No the chickens that have come home to roost are the ones that the United States congress hatched by refusing to allow off-shore and ANWR drilling for gas and oil reserves. The chickens coming home to roost were hatched when congress bowed to hippie environmentalists by not investing more in clean coal technology and new nuclear power facilities. These chicks are indeed in the roost thanks to weak-kneed, spineless congressmen and women who focused on their re-elections instead of leading this country.

As oil prices race past $ 120/barrel on their way to $ 200/barrel in the near future and gas prices hit $ 5.00/gallon in 2009, when will the American people demand that their leaders actually lead through this crisis and take demonstrable action to exploit our massive energy reserves? I am all for alternative energy and am certain that there is a technological solution to the energy crunch we face today. However, the ultimate solution(s) to our long term energy needs may be several years if not decades in the future. The answer to our energy needs is not growing in an Iowa cornfield. We have seen what a debacle that governmental stroke of brilliance has become.

Want to get out of this energy box? The answer is so strikingly easy, one would think that even politicians in Washington cold figure it out:

Use our massive coal/shale reserves; build new nuclear power plants; drill in ANWR and off shore; double our refining capacity over the next 10 years.

Done, problem solved. If we announced this energy program, oil speculators would dump their positions, oil prices would drop sharply, and in 10 years we would be masters of our own domains. I solved this problem in 5 minutes after dinner. The dopes in Washington still can't find their asses with both hands and a map. Anyone feeling better about the clowns "leading" the charge? ....me either.

Uhhh, Okay, I Guess So...

For all of the tapes we have heard from Senator Obama's pastor railing on the United States and making hateful comments about the United States...this is a church right? I didn't hear much about saving souls, getting to heaven, and loving thy neighbor. Call me crazy, but I don't go to church to hear a political hate speech. Aparently Reverend Wrigth hates America, hates Jews, hates whites, and sympathizes with those who kill innocent Americans. Obama has been a pupil of reverend Wright for 20 years and is just now figuring out that Wright holds radical and incindiary views? Who does Obama think is the dummy here?

Hilliary Clinton has been able to let everyone else do her bidding on the Reverend Wright issue, so she has turned her considerable mental capacity towards the economic challenges of the coming year. In a typically rear-view-mirror fashion, Hilliary proclaimed that had she been president over the past year she would have averted the present economic turbulence by increasing government regulation and oversight in the financial markets. Really? So when has increased government regulation and oversight helped foster economic growth? The answer is "never" and this would have been the first time in history. Uh, okay.

Change For America - the speech that, sadly, you will not hear

I envision an America of independence, one where the relevance of government is lessened and the power of the individual is maximized and leveraged for competitive advantage. This sounds like yet another platitude, but what does this really mean?

It means an America where citizens are free to cut their own path, earn a living and keep the lion's share of their income. In my America, Americans keep enough of their income so they do not have to rely on government for healthcare but can afford to choose their own healthcare. In my America, government mandates, regulation, and bureaucracies are limited to bare minimums so the free market drives down healthcare costs to market rates that are affordable and efficient for everyone.

In my America, people keep enough of their earned income so they do not have to rely on the government for retirement incomes. In an America where people keep the rewards of their labor, an "opt out" option for social security would be the preferred choice for most once they realize that they can do far better for themselves than the paltry returns of the American ponzi scheme.

In a truly free America, parents have real choice where to send their children to school and are freed from the shackles of failing public school systems. Choice at the family level will create great flight from failing schools which will trigger a fierce competition for parent's education dollars between public, private, and religious schools. This will be a boon to the efficiency of the American K-12 system with the ultimate beneficiary being the students and families who get to choose the best option for their education from a variety of alternatives.

In a truly free America, the government gets off the back of its citizens about what they eat, whether or not they smoke, and with who they are in a committed relationship. What someone eats, smokes, and who they sleep with at the end of the day is no concern of those in Washington, state capitols, or local city halls. I am not sure that America needs to call homosexual relationships "marriage" because it is certainly different than the heterosexual union in marriage, but in a truly free America, committed people of the same sex need to have legal recognition under the law, out of decency if nothing else to provide rights of survivorship, next of kin, and power of attorney when situations arise. When these folks decide to recognize their relationship in a legal bond, they should be able to serve beef tenderloin, and chocolate eclairs and smoke Marlboro Lights at their reception if they choose.

In a free America, American traditions of generosity and philanthropy is the first layer of safety net for those who fall an hard times and minimalist government programs are the layer of last resort for those who face overwhelming problems.

In a free America, Americans are free to fail, and are free to right themselves and try again. In a free America, no one is held back to the pace of the "least common denominator" to avoid hurt feelings or offended sensibilities. In a free America, Americans self-limit their success by their willingness to work, take prudent risk, and their God-given abilities. No one is guaranteed any level of success, nor is anyone prohibited from full participation in the American Dream.

I know there are issues that are not addressed in this rant, but this would be a nice start towards a better, freer country. It would be great to hear one or two of these points in the presidential conversations over the next several months, but I am not holding my breath. If Obama really wants change, he ought to try this sort of change, rather than the change of government where we all are forced to depend on an inefficient, poorly managed, and ineffective central government. Want to give American hope for the future and reason for optimism? Then leave them alone, let them carry on their lives, and stop trying to shove well intended, ineffective government programs down their throats. How's that for change?

Losing the old fashioned way, giving it away.

My team was down by 3 touchdowns early on in the game. It seemed like the game had just started and we were getting waxed. We were losing the battle on the field and were losing the support of the fans. We were hearing boos from the home team crowd we thought would support us. Instead of cheers for any play we made that was remotely positive we heard jeers. However, in the locker room at half time we gathered ourselves. We altered our game plan, made some position changes, and rededicated ourselves to getting back into this game and turning an embarrassing loss into a win. We were playing harder than we had ever played. This was the game of our lives. We started to win back the support of our fans. We cut into the lead. We made plays, forced turnovers, gained ground, and put the ball in the end zone. We tied the game in the 4th quarter with a big touchdown run. Our defense turned forced a turn over and we were driving for the winning score. We were in the red zone in a tied game and were looking like were were going in for the winning score. Then the call came from the sideline. "Punt the ball away" What? Punt the ball away? We are in the red zone. We are getting ready to score, if we are going to kick the ball, let's kick a field goal and win the game. "Nope, the next play will be a punt".
We punted, and we ended up losing the game, snatching defeat when victory was in our hands.

Does this sound like the dumbest thing you have ever read? Listen to Hilliary and Obama's plans for the war in Iraq and explain the difference to me, because their plan for Iraq is the dumbest thing I have ever heard...and their tax and trade policies set a pretty high bar for the dumbest things I have ever heard, but this one takes the cake.