I was not the least bit surprised when I saw the Town Hall video of Congressman Joe Walsh yelling at his constituents. I’ve said before that he’s an Idiot. So, seeing him vehemently defending the banks in the wake of our economic collapse caused in part by big banks offering sub-prime mortgages to people they knew couldn’t afford to repay them was not the earth shattering shock to me that it apparently was to his constituents.

I was also not at all astonished about the revelation that he doesn’t “give a damn about public workers.” The man owes his children over $100,000 in back child support! He doesn’t have the strength of character to do right by his own kids! Why would ANYONE with half a brain expect him to care about anyone but himself just as a general rule?

Fun Facts about the USPS:

1. Its existence is mandated by the U.S. Constitution
2. With a minor exception of subsidies for the cost of sending materials to disabled or overseas voters, it has not directly received taxpayer money since the early 1980s
3. Under the Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act (which became law in 2006) it’s required to put aside money to pre-fund 80% of future retirees’ health care costs.
   1. No other Government agency is required to do this
   2. It amounts to approximately $5.5 Billion a year
4. The Post Office is the ONLY organization that delivers to EVERY Address in the United States.
   1. UPS & FedEx both rely on the USPS to complete deliveries in obscure rural areas they themselves DO NOT service.
   2. These deliveries include prescription drugs to seniors, shut-ins and Disabled Americans.

Think about that before you condemn the Post Office as too expensive or obsolete.

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I was going to call this one “Michael Vick is an Idiot” but then I realized Plaxico Burress is an “idiot.” Michael Vick is “Evil.” The term “idiot” simply doesn’t cover the depth and breadth of true evil that Michael Vick is…and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell can kiss my butt.

I HATE Michael Vick but I LOVE Football. I’ve watched it for as long as I can remember. I’ve watched football for so long, I feel like it is part of me. So it was with great sadness that I watched the events unfold around Michael Vick when his involvement in a dog fighting ring came to light. In my mind, his association with that inhumane activity irreparably stained all of his accomplishments in the game of Football. I don’t care how good a Quarterback he is, he’s a horrible human being and due entirely to his own amoral and criminal behavior, no longer deserves to breathe the same air as my Football Heroes. I am also sick and tired of hearing the “everyone deserves a second chance” BS. Don’t get me wrong, I was behind Plaxico Burress 100% when he came back. Why the dichotomy? Burress’s crime was victimless. The only person he hurt was himself. But, how many of the dogs that Sick Pig Michael Vick tortured got a second chance? I’m a firm believer in redemption so I’m not saying Michael Vick shouldn’t be allowed to earn a living.  I’m just saying that the world does needs ditch diggers too. Given the heinous nature of what Michael Vick did, I don’t believe the slate should have been wiped totally clean. By readmitting Michael Vick to the NFL and re-elevating him to his pre-conviction prestige and status, Roger Goodell and the owners in NFL have sent the wrong message to the youth of America.  They’ve said loud and clear that if you’re talented enough, you can get away with literally anything. In an era when professional sports figures are idolized and held before the American public as roll-models, it sickens me to see a sick evil man like Michael Vick back on the football field. I know I can be harsh, but there is something about that vile disgusting jerk that just brings out the worst in me. When I used to watch Football games I used to cheer good plays, regardless of who made it. It’s called sportsmanship. I can’t help myself, I love the game.

Call me Petty but now when I watch the Eagles play all I want to see is Vick get hit…hard…and when he does, I scream “Break his legs!” at my TV. I was beside myself with glee on Sunday night when he had a game ending injury. It felt like…I don’t know…karma. If it turns into a season or (even better) a career ending injury I say we put the Mo' Fo' in a sack and drop him in the Delaware River!

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http://signon.org/sign/congress-needs-to-take 

Congressman Southerland,

I have read the remarks you made in Tallahassee about what a burden it is for you to serve in Congress (with your $80,000 a year raise and all) since you were elected. I sympathize with you, sir. $174,000 simply isn’t enough to live on in this day and age. Especially when one takes into account your personal suffering – long hours, time away from your loved ones (being in Washington, away from them for two out of every three weeks and only getting the whole month of August at home to make up for it) and the treat your job poses to your life.

Lucky for you, I have a solution. Unlike, your counterparts in the United States military (who make less than 1/4^thof what you do, work long hours and spend months – sometimes years – at a time away from their loved ones and face the possibility of being shot, blown up or captured by our enemies worldwide) you have the option to simply walk away at any time. You can simply resign. Members of the United States Military are called deserters when they fail to fulfill their obligations and it’s still a Capitol Crime to desert during a time of war. But I digress…

If you truly miss the “good life” you had in Panama City prior to putting all that time and energy getting yourself elected to an unrewarding job in Congress, I suggest you stop wasting the American Tax-Payer’s time and money. GET OUT of Congress and go home!

I’ve been listening to Congressmen  & Women blather on since I got back from Afghanistan about the “spending problem in Washington.” Time and again you all talk about cutting spending yet, every one of you has failed to lead by example. You want EVERYTHING on the cutting table; Social Security, Medicare and the Military. If you want me to take you seriously, you need to put your Federal Wages on that table before you start talking about taking more away from the poor and middle class or the Military! As long as your wages, health care and pensions are OFF the table I assure you EVERYTHING is definitely NOT ON THE TABLE!

At $174,000 a year Congress can afford to buy their own Health Insurance on the open market just like you want senior citizens to do. At $174,000 a year you can afford a private 401(K) and put YOUR retirement in the hands of Wall Street like you’ve been demanding of everyone else. You can do all of that and take a pay cut too. That would show the American Tax-Payer that you’re serious and willing to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

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Eric Canter wants to offset the cost of disaster relief (i.e. Tornadoes, Earthquakes & Hurricanes) with comparable spending cuts…why not start by cutting Congress’s benefits and their federally funded health care!

I don’t know about you but I’m getting sick of Plutocrats in $2000 suits telling the elderly, me and the rest of the poor and Middle Class to “Suck it up.”

While we’re at it, let’s garnish Joe Walsh’s Congressional Wages to pay his back child support.

Get Off Obama’s Back! I’ve heard nothing but whining about his plan since his speech. Cry-Babies are all pissing and moaning about the same thing. “By the end of 2012, there will still be twice as many troops in Afghanistan as there were when he took office.” Well, Boo [Expletive Deleted] Hoo!

Do you know why there will be twice as many troops there as there were during the Bush Administration?

BECAUSE THAT’S HOW MANY IT’S GOING TO TAKE! THAT’S HOW MANY ARE NEEDED BY THE LEADERS ON THE [Expletive Deleted] GROUND, DUMB-[Expletive Deleted]! 

Do you know why Osama bin Laden escaped to Pakistan during the Battle of Tora Bora?

BECAUSE GEORGE W. BUSH SCREWED THE POOCH AND DIDN’T SEND EOUNGH TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN IN THE FIRST [Expletive Deleted] PLACE! THAT WAS OUR STATED MISSION THERE – TO CAPTURE OR KILL OSAMA BIN LADEN – AND WE DIDN’T HAVE THE MANPOWER TO GET IT DONE!

Unfortunately, Afghanistan had no known exploitable natural resources at the beginning so Bush let two morally bankrupt war mongers Dick [Expletive Deleted] Cheney and Donald “Dumb-[Expletive Deleted]” Rumsfeld distract him and turn his focus to Iraq…and all that oil.

I was in Afghanistan with a U. S. Army Transportation Company in 2009-2010. My Unit was at the spear-head of the surge. I spent the first three months looking around at Kandahar Air Field asking myself, “Is this the best we can do? We’ve been here for almost 10 years!”

Many people forget that before Obama, Afghanistan was Bush’s Forgotten War!

While there, my unit was tasked out in four different directions. We had four different missions running concurrently for pretty much the entire tour…and not enough soldiers or resources to get the jobs done without excruciatingly long work hours and very little rest...especially when running Convoy Ops.

It took 18 months to train, validate, equip and field the 33,000 or so troops participating in the surge (while at the same time maintaining the existing rotation of troops already scheduled) in Afghanistan. Common Sense dictates that it will take at least that long to bring the level back down! If Obama isn’t doing things to your satisfaction in regards to the troop withdrawal, that’s probably because he’s listening to Military Commanders and not pabulum puking politicians with alternate (not at all pro-military) agendas. You can’t just pick up and move 90,000 troops and their supplies and equipment (after spending 10 years entrenching them) overnight!

If you’ve never been part of the pre-deployment or re-deployment process (and let me just say thank you Nidal Hasan and his [Expletive Deleted] mini-mentor al-Awlaki for making a long, frustrating process at Fort Hood in 2009, even longer and more frustrating) and you’ve never had to recover a Military Unit following a deployment, then you have no concept of the tremendous logistical challenges have to be overcome in the best of circumstances. Ergo, you have no idea what you’re talking about when you say bring the troops home faster! Shut the [Expletive Deleted] Up and let the Military handle the withdrawal! 

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I will never understand the allure of taking pictures of your tingly parts and sharing them with strangers on the internet. I’ve never done it. I’ve always thought it was icky when someone sent me pictures of their tingly parts. I don’t know what my friends hoped to gain doing by it but it has always ended the friendship.

That being said, here’s my opinion about Anthony Weiner - What he did wouldn’t go in MY house. But, here’s the thing: He doesn’t live in MY house. I also don’t live in his district… I didn’t vote for him. Privately, what he did is between him and the woman (his wife) that he Does Live With! Professionally, it’s between him and voters of his district. I don’t see how what he does with his tingly parts makes him a less effective advocate for his district. It doesn’t change what he did and said to help the 9/11 First Responders Health Care Bill passed.

As Memorial Day passes, it has been almost a full month since the news broke about Osama bin Laden’s death at the hands of the United States Military. As a soldier, I couldn’t be more proud of the stunning demonstration of American Military prowess displayed in the killing of one of the most hated men in the world. We could have very easily used a Predator Drone and a few well placed Hellfire Missiles to eradicate that particular menace to Islam, faithful Muslims and the rest of the world. Instead, our best and brightest went in with surgical precision and greatly reduced possible collateral damage and accomplished their mission. They did it without losing a single warrior. It is that commitment and focus that makes the United States Military the best in the world.

I proudly wore the United States Army uniform for 7 years as I trained for and completed my deployment to Afghanistan. Our official mission was Force Protection. My personal mission was to make sure every soldier who got on the plane with me when we lifted for Afghanistan, got back on a plane alive and came home to their families and loved ones when it was over. In all honesty the Hearts and Minds of the Afghani people were a secondary consideration. I can’t speak for my Battle Buddies but in my opinion, as long as illiteracy plagues an uneducated general population, rampant corruption thrives in the Afghan Government, Military and Police and there are Billions of dollars to be made by Private Contractors that lofty goal remains pitifully unrealistic. So, the protection and security of my Battle Buddies was my primary focus every time I left the wire. We had some very close calls and several injuries but, fortunately everyone who left the wire with me made it back and everyone who deployed with me made it home.

This Memorial Day will be my first since I came home. I can’t help but reflect on the recent death of bin Laden and what it means. Since his death, the United States Congress tried to step-up the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and there has been conflicting reporting that the State Department had opened negotiations with Mohammed Omar, a Taliban leader and the man sworn to protect bin Laden. Are these examples of progress? I don’t know. Fewer troops in Afghanistan certainly represent fewer American targets for Insurgents. But does it mean more security for the Afghan people? Or, does it mean the Taliban will take over again? Again, I don’t know.

Here’s what I do know - in terms of the United States of America vs Osama bin Laden, the score is roughly:
bin Laden      9,000
U.S.A.             1
Perhaps I’ve over-thought it but it seems to me, we indeed won the final battle against bin Laden personally when he met SEAL Team 6, but we lost the “war” against him on September 11th, 2001.

Prior to 9/11 bin Laden’s goals were clear: Bankrupt America & Kill Americans. We lost the minute George W. Bush got suckered into putting American Service Members in bin Laden’s back yard. He played right into the terrorist’s hands. The former president further “screwed the pooch” when he failed to reinforce that Mission in Afghanistan. He didn’t have reinforcements to send to Afghanistan because he was to sending them to Iraq. He let Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld – the two most morally bankrupt American leaders to disgrace the White House in modern era – distract him with another war. Because of it, we lost bin Laden at Tora Bora in December 2001. There was no al Qaeda presence in Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion. Bush’s incompetent leadership facilitated bin Laden’s escape at Tora Bora and guaranteed targets for al Qaeda (Bush practically put us right in their laps) for another 9 years at great financial, emotional and physical cost to our Country. After almost 10 years of war and one bad decision after another by Bush and his administration, our economy is STILL circling the drain.
   3,000 Americans Killed on 9/11
+ 6,006 American Service Members between Iraq and Afghanistan (as of 2011 May 25^th)
= 9,006 to 1 (bin Laden)

There is really no way to even the score…it’s not like we can kill him again.
The statistics above are not intended to represent the complete total of all Americans killed by bin laden, al-Qaeda or the Taliban. Mostly because, I don’t have the heart to delve into the outrageously high suicide rate among American war Veterans that has accompanied TBI and PTS or all the “Accidental Overdoses” from multiple medications prescribed by Military and VA Doctors to “treat” the physical and mental traumas caused by multiple deployments. However, they can’t go completely without mention. I can’t forget them. The numbers above also don’t take into account the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, the U.S.S. Cole, or the thousands of Muslims killed by bin Laden before 9/11 or the “collateral damage” victims in Iraq and Afghanistan since the wars began. Nor have I calculated the thousands who continue to suffer in places like Somalia because a new generation of terrorist oppressors has taken a page out of the bin Laden/Taliban playbook.

Memorial Day is about honoring the fallen.  It’s about remembering the incredibly high cost of our freedom and democracy. This Memorial Day, let’s remember the lessons learned over the last 10 years.

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Say what you will about his policies, President Obama did in just over two years what that twit G.W. Bush couldn’t do in almost seven years! Remember the victims of 9/11 and Honor the Fallen since. 

 http://www.youtube.com/embed/B-420LU_Of0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen> 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-420LU_Of0  

Jean Klock Park sits on some beautiful lake front property in Michigan. It was a gift to the people Benton Harbor, Michigan from John Klock and his wife Carrie in 1917. It is one of the oldest public parks in Michigan and was named after John & Carrie’s daughter who died at a very young age.

"In taking an inventory of life, we all take stock of the circumstances surrounding the happiest moments. The giving of this park to the city of Benton Harbor has been to Mrs. Klock and myself, the happiest moment of our lives. The deed of this park in the courthouse of St. Joseph will live forever. Perhaps some of you do not own a foot of ground, remember then, that this is your park, it belongs to you. Perhaps some of you have no piano or phonograph, the roll of the water murmuring in calm, roaring in storm, is your music, your piano and music box. The beach is yours, the drive is yours, the dunes are yours, all yours. It is not so much a gift from my wife and myself, it’s a gift from a little child. See to it that the park is the children's.” - J. N. Klock, 1917

As Rachel Maddow describes (in the video linked above) Benton Harbor, Michigan is a small town of just over 10,000. It is 92.4% African American and the per capita income is about $10,000 a year…the lowest in the state. Benton Harbor is also the first victim of Michigan’s new Emergency Financial Manager law passed this year by the Conservative Legislature and signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder. What the law says is that the Governor has the right to appoint an Emergency Financial Manager OVER the duly elected officials of a community in financial distress. There is no question that Benton Harbor is in financial distress. However, putting a state appointee OVER the democratically elected representatives of the people in that community completely nullifies the last municipal election. The appointed EFM is taking all power to govern away from the local government. This action doesn’t help them. I don’t believe it was ever intended to help them however; it will further oppress and disenfranchise them.

The people of Benton Harbor have been fighting a development project for years before Governor Snyder was elected. Whirlpool and the other business interests in Michigan have been trying to build their golf course and luxury vacation homes in Benton Harbor since around 2003. The key drawback to the project is the fact that the golf course would annex a significant portion of Jean Klock Park…violating the terms of the park’s deed in addition to taking away John & Carrie Klock’s gift to the children of Benton Harbor. Rick Snyder and the Michigan State Legislature’s EFM Law is tailor made to gift wrap Jean Klock Park and hand it over to the developers…violating the Will of the People who oppose the project and have fought to keep their childrens’ park intact. The EFM by, taking the power to govern away from the local government now has the authority to swap the beautiful and scenic lake front park land with contaminated industrial land.

I have served in the United States Army Reserve for seven years with one single principle driving me: Freedom! The freedom provided by The United States Constitution.

A Bloody Revolution was fought to achieve Freedom. Many more wars have been fought and more blood has been shed to retain it. It is a beautiful and broad concept that can be broken down into many varied parts. In my opinion, one of the most sacred elements of our Freedom is the Election Process. Thru this process EVERY AMERICAN is represented. Our Forefathers took great care in framing our freedom in such a way that the process would be preserved for as long as our Great Nation stands. They put a system in place to prevent our Great Nation from becoming a Monarchy, Theocracy, or a Dictatorship. Today after much internal struggle and conflict as our country grew; the privilege of voting is extended to every American adult. It is a rite of passage that allows us to take part in the Government Process providing us with Self Determination. It allows us to decide who we want to represent us in our Government.

Now (thanks to the “Bait & Switch” tactics used by the GOP in the 2010 election – See my last blog for more on this) the People of Michigan (generally) and the People of Benton Harbor (specifically) are being robbed of that privilege by Republican Governor Rick Snyder and the disproportionally Republican Legislature. Yes, Rick Snyder and the rest of the conservatives in the Michigan state legislature were democratically elected, but they were elected on a lie. The Republicans promised jobs and a better economy. What they’re delivering is Union Stripping, Anti-Abortion Legislation and the soul of their state…right into the hands of big business…what they’re delivering is oppression and lies for the poor and Middle Class. What the Conservatives are doing in Michigan is not just a slap in the face to the people of Benton Harbor; it’s a slap in the face to America! Just like the larger Republican Party throughout our country the Republican Party in Michigan has become a Power Hungry, Corrupt and Morally Bankrupt organization who will do ANYTHING (under the guise of “building a stronger America”) to regain the power they wielded during the Bush years.

If you agree with me, I urge you to contact Whirlpool and the other business partners in the Harbor Shores Development Project and tell them so. I urge you to Boycott Whirlpool and the other business partners.

 www.whirlpoolcorp.com

Whirlpool Customer Care Center

2000 N M 63, Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2632

(269) 923-5000