Why I'm interested in politics. Part 1

I've always had a keen interest in politics.  Not because I think of it as some "sport" where there are winners and losers, or because politics has any real "intrinsic" value.  Quite the opposite, I'm often disgusted by politics, and in how ideals are often trampled under the feet of expediency.

I believe in core values.  Whatever those values may be, I can respect someone who stands for his values above all else.  I'm a conservative with definite libertarian streak.  Or maybe I'm a libertarian with a definate conservative streak.  Either way,  I try to put those core values above everything else.  And I can respect anyone who has core values as well, even if those values are opposed to my own.

For instance, I have very little problem with a communist who comes right out and says he or she is a communist.  Or a socialist who comes right out and says he's a socialist.  Even if that person is running for political office.  I, or the majority of the nation, don't have to agree with communism or socialism.  In fact, we can be vehemently opposed to either ideology, but the person is still just a person, and if he or she is honestly and openly working towards their goals, they'll get no harm from me.  I might fight them "tooth and nail" in the war of ideas, but we could still possibly go and have a beer together afterwards.

When it became apparent the Barack Obama was likely to win the Presidency, for instance, I came to accept the fact that perhaps my nation was ready for some form of socialism.  By the time the 2008 election rolled around, I was pretty convinced that Obama was, indeed, to some degree a socialist, and that there was enough evidence, right out there in public, for anyone who was paying attention to come to the same conclusion.

I don't like it, I don't want it, but if the majority of the people want it, and outvoted me, then so be it.  (I still have the satisfaction of knowing that Barack Obama did not win in my county, even though he did win in my state.)

What I can't stand, on the other hand, is when a person claims to represent "American Ideals", when I know good and well that the "ideals" that person represent are so far from the ideals this nation was founded upon as to be likely entirely foreign to the founders of the United States.

This nation was founded on the ideals of limited government power, and maximum freedom for the individual.  I happen to be one of those who believe that this nation was created by divine inspiration.  In other words, our founders came together under divine guidance, for the very purpose of creating the United States of America, and the United States of American was created for the very purpose of being a beacon of hope and inspiration to the world.

The United States was also created by a nation of rugged, self-sufficient people who for the most part knew how to take care of themselves.  Even the folks who were "city dwellers" could go out in the country and shoot and deer or a turkey, and put meat on the table, if need be.  They knew how to do that.  Even the "city dwellers" made things: silversmiths, furniture makers, woodworkers, builders, iron workers, gunsmiths, seamstresses, butchers, bakers, candle-stick makers, etc.  Pretty much everyone who was anyone could make something that was a salable product with his or her hands.  As a result, the United States was created with the idea of self-sufficiency in mind.  It was believed that there would always be people who prided themselves in being able to take care of themselves.  Thus, the United States was designed for people who could take care of themselves.  Government was supposed to pretty much stay out of the way and let people do what they wanted, barring "doing what they want" was an infringement upon their neighbors freedoms.

I suppose it's in this belief that the "libertarian" streak shows through in me.  I'm for the legalization of marijuana, for instance, because I don't believe someone smoking a joint in the privacy of his or her own home is an infringement upon my rights.  I'm also open to the idea of legalization of other drugs, for the very same reason.

Today, I see our nation perilously close to tipping into an area fully unknown, and undesirable to, the founders of this nation.  Now that close to half of this nation receives subsidy, in one form or another, form the other half of the nation, I see serious danger ahead.  What's going on in Greece today should be a "wake-up call" to all Americans, but it would seem we're still too busy watching television, or listening to music, to notice that the very conditions that have caused the unrest in Greece are what the United States seems to be joyfully rushing headlong toward.

What really gets me, is when someone, like our current President, can stand up and with a straight face declare that his ideals are our nation's ideals, simply because he got the vote of a little more than half of the nation's people.  He wraps up his big-government, wealth-redistribution, and quest for more government control in the U.S. flag and sells it to us like snake oil that will cure all our ills, when we, as a people, KNOW that what he's selling is not what built this nation, nor what made this nation great.  And when he can get over half of 50 Senators, and over half of 435 Representatives, to buy in to his "Hope" for increased expansion of government into our lives, to the point that congress will blindly vote for a bill based solely upon President Obama's promise of what's in that bill, it gives me great cause for concern.

So, I will continue in future writings to expand upon this subject.  Maybe not in the next article, maybe not in the one after that.  Who knows what might pop into my head tomorrow, or what nation might riot next, or what Hollywood celebrity comes out of the closet as a conservative who supports limited government.  Maybe next time I'll talk about horses.

Stay tuned, and don't forget, you can join in and make this a conversation just by pointing your little computer arrow at the word "comments" just below and to the right of these words, and pressing the button on your mouse or touchpad...then type in how YOU feel on the subject.

Ms. Rivers, you're my hero!

Comedian and television personality Joan Rivers was recently asked by Kerry (good name!) Picket of the Washington Times about several current issues facing our nation.  Her responses were quite interesting.  It's hard to find someone in show business who expresses such candor, unless they're either drunk, lambasting former President George W. Bush, or punching some paparazzi in the face.
When asked about the apparent drift towards a "redistribution of wealth" philosophy here in the United States, her reply was fairly plain spoken:
PICKET: "In terms of government today, we're seeing this share the wealth philosophy ... this redistribution of wealth ..."
RIVERS: "Yeah ... really thrilled about that. Go f*** yourself. Could I be any clearer? I worked all my life...all my life, and no one has given me a penny. I have paid every tax. The whole thing, and I pay my way. I don't want to give my money to a third-generation welfare family ... sorry. Go out and go to work."
(In the context of the interview, it does appear that Rivers' invective is directed towards the idea of wealth redistribution, and not towards the interviewer!)
More of the interview can be found by clicking here.

The United States Flag is insensitive...in the U.S.A.?

May 5th, most folks know from their grade school social studies class, is "Cinco de Mayo" in Mexico, a holiday which commemorates Mexico's military victory over French forces in 1862. A modern Google search of "Cinco de Mayo" brings up numerous references to the idea that the holiday is primarily celebrated in the United States, and is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico itself. This wasn't the way it was taught to me all those decades ago. Perhaps the modern explanation has to do with some revisionist history, but discussion of that is for another day.

On May 5th of this year, some high school students at Live Oak High School, in Morgan Hill, California, thought it would be a bright idea to wear some some bandannas and t-shirts with various incarnations of the United States flag printed on them. They didn't have anything made especially for the event, but merely wore off-the-rack stuff available for purchase at most any national department or discount store.

These five high-schoolers were summarily asked to either change shirts, turn them inside out, or go home for the day, after Assistant Principle Miguel Rodriquez informed them that the display of the American flag on that day was insensitive to the Hispanic students at the school.
They were told that on any other day, the wearing of the shirts would be appropriate, but not on May 5th, here in the United States.


Students sent home for wearing Red, White, and Blue.
As reported by several sources, hundreds of students at Live Oak High School wore the colors of Mexico on May 5th, including some who drew Mexican flags on their arms or faces.
This is the United States of America, not Mexico. That we here in the United States celebrate the holidays of foreign lands at all is a credit to our heritage as the great "melting pot" of the world, where folks from all nations who dreamed of freedom and opportunity could come and become Americans. Becoming American doesn't mean you forget your heritage, but it does come with the responsibility of learning, honoring, and celebrating a new heritage, that of the United States. If people with ties to other lands wish to still honor the traditions of those lands, no problem. When those traditions take the place of established American tradition, big problem!

The fact that some adult administrators at Live Oak High School took the position that the American flag was somehow incendiary is an indication of just how warped our nation's system of education has become.  Perhaps administrators were only taking heed of the violence erupting in cities across the United States by those who are opposed to Arizona's new illegal immigration law, but the open celebration of allegiance to the United States should never be banned out of some misguided effort to "keep the peace".  If a student chose to pick a fight with someone because they were celebrating their heritage in a peaceful way, then that student should have been summarily dealt with, up to and including arrest and criminal charges. 

To the credit of the Morgan Hill Unified School District, they have issued a statement disavowing the actions of Live Oak High.


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Al, The Magic Amphibian.

Former Vice-President, Academy Award winner, and Nobel Prize Laureate Albert Gore Jr. must really have money burning a hole in his pocket these days.  After finding his niche as a Tennessee huckster in what has become perhaps the biggest shell game of all time, the Climate Change Industry, he's apparently given up all pretense, and simply just doesn't care if anyone believes him anymore.

He's recently purchased yet another multi-million dollar mansion. This time, on the coast of California, directly overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Perhaps I should cut Gore some slack, and merely accept the fact that he's only human, and probably suffers the same short attention span and limited memory capacity of the average U.S. voter.

Maybe one of us should give him a call and gently remind him that he himself stated, in his award-winning movie "An Inconvenient Truth", that the coasts of the United States, indeed the world, are in imminent danger of being flooded by a 20 foot wall of water, as the polar ice caps melt away over the next few years from what by now, according to ole' Al himself, is an irreversible, man-made catastrophe.

Think he can still get flood insurance?

My sentiments exactly...

"I'm 63, and I'm tired."  By Robert A. Hall

   I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired. 

        I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

        I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes."  Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money. 

        I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Christian people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela.

        I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to. 

        I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois. 

        I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

        I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004. 

        I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance. 

        I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.

        I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana. 

         I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next?  Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"?  And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the citizens we need. 

        I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave?  Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close.  So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear. 

        I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois, where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet. 

        I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor. 

        Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

        I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

        Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter. 

 

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. 

There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on! 

This is your chance to make a difference. 

An Apology to Millions of Americans, Perhaps?

New York Mayor Micheal Bloomberg, and media pundit and former Mondale campaign manager Bob Beckel, both stated on national television that they believed the recent attempted bombing of Times Square was perpetrated by an angry right-wing extremist:

New York Mayor Micheal Bloomberg says Times Square bomber mad about Obamacare

Democrat Strategist Beckel says bomber "Right Wing Militia"

Do you think they will apologize now that it's been learned that the suspect, Faisal Shahzed, was a registered Democrat?

Counting Ghosts

We've all seen and heard the incessant commercials on television and radios extolling the virtues of filling out our U.S. Census forms accurately and in a timely manner.  After all, failing to provide the much needed data to our Federal Government promises dire consequences for our communities:  Buses will become overcrowded, traffic will gridlock, schoolteachers will be overwhelmed (as if that hasn't been a consistent problem pretty much all of my life), government services will be underfunded (tell me how government services can be properly funded in a nation that is already broke?), the creeks will rise, there will be famine, pestilence, the moon will become as blood, etc. etc. etc.

I'm all for the U.S. Census.  Every decade we should count heads, see who's moved where, which areas are gaining population, which are losing, figure out where we've been wasting money on services for a population that's vacated an area, and figure out where our money could be put to better use helping an area that seeing much more growth than in the past.  All this data could be put to good use by our Federal, State, and Local governments in properly planning our nation's future...if our governments were interested in properly planning anything, that is.  It seems our governments current "modus operandi" is to not plan for anything, but rather govern by crisis.

I lived in the New Orleans, Louisiana area for a couple of years about a decade before Hurricane Katrina devastated the area.  During my residency in "The Big Easy", we had several hurricanes blow by, thankfully not doing much harm.  Despite the common knowledge that for the most part, southern Louisiana appears to be about a foot above sea level, the extent of hurricane planning went like this:  Watch T.V. and see what the talking heads had to say about the incoming weather.  Then, take their advice and head down to Schweggman's, Winn-Dixie, or my favorite, the Piggly-Wiggly about two miles up the highway, and utterly decimate the canned goods, bread, and bottled water aisles.  Clean out the battery section in order to keep the flashlight and portable radio going.  That is, unless everyone else got there before you, then all you could do was think:  Yessir!  I'm going to get the jump on them next time!  Then head back home, hunker down, and hope for the best.  Don't pay no mind to all those pumping stations and pipelines you passed by on the way, that you know are charged with continually draining the lowlands, pumping the water uphill and over the levies into the Mississippi River.  And don't mind those levies, folks.  They're made of dirt, and dirt's been around forever.  Anyone who's ever tried to scrub the mud stains out of the knees of denim jeans knows that dirt is one tough substance (Except when compared to the ocean, I guess).  Don't worry about the fact that there is only one major highway that heads due north, inland, and to higher ground, in a couple hundred miles!  Or that half a million people might need to get on that highway pretty danged quick if the bread, canned goods, and portable radio happened to be getting wet because there wasn't a roof on the building anymore.  Or walls.

But I could ramble on about hurricane planning, or the lack thereof, for quite a while.  Most of us know what eventually happened to New Orleans when the "big one" hit.

But wait!  There's always our nation's energy policy to look to for a fine example of proper planning!  Uh...  Wait.   Never mind.  Our nation hasn't had an energy policy since, what, the Kennedy administration?  Or was it WW2 and Roosevelt?

How about an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?  Surely, our government would have a contingency plan in case a platform exploded and underwater pipelines began leaking hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude into the crystal blue waters around Pensacola Beach, Florida.  Or threatened to wipe out the Gulf's seafood industry.  Surely our leaders would know what to do, after all, we had the the environmental disaster of the "Exxon Valdez" spill in Alaska to learn from,  surely we would never allow something like that to happen again.  Right?  Right??

Along the lonely, open expanse of the Nevada/California border, perhaps one hundred and fifty miles northwest of the gambling mecca of Las Vegas, and not too far from the northern end of Death Valley, lies a little, vacant group of broken down stone walls.  Dotting the hillside overlooking the scene are a few ruined remnants of the mining era gone by:  A couple of long-abandoned headframes standing guard over the tops of empty holes in the ground, holes which plunge hundreds of feet below the surface into underground workings once populated by miners long since departed to that great gold mine in the sky, where they have hopefully finally found that next "big strike".

Here lies Stateline, Nevada.  Once a comparatively thriving little place out in the middle of nowhere.  It's a long ways from anywhere today, imagine what it was like at it's founding in 1881.  Today, it takes hours and hours of desert driving on dusty and little traveled dirt roads to arrive on the scene.  Imagine traveling there by horse, stagecoach, or on foot in 1891, ten years after the towns founding, only to find the glory had already passed.  The mines had already played out, as was often the case in those days of limited technology with which to get the gold from the rock, and difficult conditions in which to ship the mined materials to somewhere they could be profitably used.  By the year 1900, Stateline, Nevada, was entirely abandoned.  The stone walls, built of the abundant local rocks, stood silent, already stripped of anything made of the much more scarce wood, which could be recycled into the building of the next "boom town" on the desert.

There is one standing, fairly complete structure on the western edge of the old townsite of Stateline, Nevada.  A two room cabin built much later than the rest.  I'm told it was the house of later caretakers of the Stateline mines, who attempted to once again open the mines using "modern" technology (compared to the 1890's), only to find the stubborn rock continued to hold it's riches...if there were ever really any riches there in the first place.

This building, too, is now long abandoned.  However, it's been spared the fate of the rest.  Volunteers maintain this cabin as an emergency shelter for the infrequent passer-by who might be exploring the area.  It is quite inviting to the traveler, who, miles from anywhere, might be caught in a sandstorm, deluge, or even snowstorm in winter.

I visited Stateline, Nevada, in the middle of April, 2010.  Perhaps three weeks prior to writing this.  I took refuge in the shelter of the four walls and solid roof, intact windows, heat generated by the wood stove, while the wind, sand, and even snow raged outside overnight.  It would not have been a good night in a tent.

On a nail, next to the front door of the isolated, single cabin in the "town" of Stateline, Nevada, which hasn't resembled anything even close to a town for well over one hundred years, was a familiar white bag with the red and blue lettering.  Inside the bag, left behind by a dedicated government worker, was a blank census form, apparently to be filled out by the ghostly permanent residents of a long abandoned community who's one-time inhabitants long ago traveled on horseback, stagecoach, or on foot, away to the next great gold strike across the desert, and who long since have abandoned the earth itself, leaving it to living.

It's heart warming to know that our Federal Government, master planners that they are, have kept Stateline, Nevada, in their hearts, and wish to see to it the ethereal spirits inhabiting the vacant structures that dot the old main street get their fair share of the public services afforded by the largess of deficit spending.

I'd hate to see the buses become overcrowded.  Or traffic come to a standstill. 

 

Arizona's Border Mess

The Federal Government has no interest in protecting our international borders.  For decades, the United States has had a revolving door policy when it comes to people illegally crossing our southern border with Mexico into the United States.

Indeed, it would appear that most of what the U.S. officially does concerning illegal immigration is designed to waste money and manpower.  Republicans and Democrats have each taken no real stand on the issue.  They don't answer the tough questions, they dodge the issue, or they will voice their concern, but never back that up with real action.  Projects to secure the border are started during one administration, and then halted in the next, after millions, or hundreds of millions, are already spent.

In the meantime, the U.S. Border Patrol is stretched too thin, has their hands tied, and all too often Border Patrol officers themselves are charged with crimes when they do take action perceived by critics to be "too harsh".

The citizens of the State of Arizona have had enough.  They demanded that since the Feds weren't doing the job they are Constitutionally bound to do, that they would take it upon themselves to either attempt to clean up the border mess themselves, or force the Federal government into doing it's job.

Arizona, like the Federal Government, is broke.  The difference is Arizona cannot print more money like the Feds can.  The Arizona government has to make it's money the old fashioned way, by taking it away from people through increased taxation, which is something the people of Arizona are simply not in the mood for.  

Imagine:  Mr. Arizona Politician, standing before a packed town hall meeting, explaining to already overtaxed voters that he's proposing another tax increase, because providing health services for non-citizens is breaking the system, and the cost of law enforcement has exploded exponentially because of the additional crime resulting from the spillover of the Mexican drug war into the U.S., which recently resulted in the death of a fellow Arizonian who's family has been ranching in the southeast part of the state for a century.  All this, because the Federal government has refused to do it's job protecting the border.

Now, imagine a lynch mob.

To paraphrase Popeye, the Sailor:  "Arizonans have had all they can stands, and they can't stands no more!"  The Arizona state legislature, in a feat of remarkable speed and efficiency, actually listened to the will of it's citizens and passed legislation aimed at picking up the slack where the Feds have dropped the ball.  Someone needed to start that ball rolling again.  Polls show fully 70% of Arizonans support the measure, and nationwide polls show well over 50% of U.S. citizens nationwide support the measure.  And this with overwhelmingly negative reaction, and sometimes downright harsh criticism, from the usual news media talking heads.  However, once again, our Federal government is remarkably tone-deaf and indifferent to the will of the people.  President Obama has shown little interest in the situation, other than to criticize Arizona for taking action.  Obama's solution is, apparently, to continue to allow the chaos, just as George W. Bush did before him.  There's been no real leadership from either party in Congress concerning the situation.  Arizona Senator John McCain's recent conversion into a strong border control advocate rings hollow to anyone who's paid any attention to John McCain in the past, and his conversion likely has as much to do with conservative J.D. Hayworth nipping closely at his heels in Arizona's upcoming senatorial battle, as it has to do with any real fundamental change in McCain's core beliefs.

Now that President Barack Obama's early pretense of being a "uniter" has been shattered, and his radical idea of change has hit home with a vengance, with unsustainable budget deficits on the horizon, joblessness still high, the economy still sluggish, and with the truth of increased health care costs coming in the wake of "ObamaCare",  a good portion of the nation's populace is on it's last nerve.  We're in no mood for "business as usual" from our government.

Real "change" will be when our government actually listens to the people, and takes action WE request, rather than telling us what's good for us, and doing whatever they want regardless of what we think.  The United States wants the border situation fixed, once and for all.  There is absolutely nothing racist in that.  Indeed, polls show a good portion of U.S. citizens of Hispanic origin support tighter control over the border as well, especially those who immigrated here legally, and who appreciate, and even revere, the U.S. citizenship they worked so hard to achieve.

How about those of us who were lucky enough to be born here try a little appreciation and reverence for the U.S. citizenship we hold by birthright?

Arizona has taken the lead.