On Being a Democrat: Donkey Hypocrisy

The Democratic Party, has for many years, touted itself as the party of tolerance and open-mindedness.  Look up democratic ideals in some Democrat Party manifesto and you find words like compassionate, progressive and fair.  Based on what I've seen over my lifetime, I'd have to add another word --  hypocritical.

Actually, if I could chose a few more word to describe a democrat, I'd include: parasitic, elitist and destructive.

I don't know if it's the delusional Occupy Wall Street crowd that has me riled up, but I just can't take anything the donkey party says anymore as being truthful. President Obama wants to tax the rich and then takes millions from Wall Street donors, Senator Reed lies about private sector job growth and the media doesn't challenge his assertions, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson gets on the air to talk about black economic injustice, then retires to a thirty-seven thousand square foot mansion worth $15 million.

So it's time we look at these hypocrites for what they really are, social engineers who manipulate our taxes, religion, race and the environment to shape a world of their dreams, while ignoring their own reality.

Courtesy of www.sodahead.com

Taxes.
Always a hot issue, but because of Obama's feverish attack on the rich, it's especially interesting to study the actions (reality) of democrats when it comes to paying higher taxes.  Recently some big time Democrats were saying that "paying taxes is patriotic" or "what you do to be an American."  In donkey speak that means poor children are starving to death and schools are going broke because the rich aren't paying their fair share.

Meanwhile, then-Senator Tom Daschle failed to pay more than $100,000 in back taxes, Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner also failed to pay taxes he owed, Senator John Kerry tried to avoid taxes on his million dollar yacht by building it in a low-tax state, and Representative Chuck Rangel  (the chairman of the House Ways & Means committee which spends our tax dollars!) was convicted for dodging taxes.  Not surprising, all of them said they had forgotten to pay their taxes until it became public knowledge.  And instead of being in jail like normal tax cheats, they continue to represent their constituents in Congress and the Obama Administration.

Outside of Washington D.C., super rich Democrats like rap producer Russell Simmons, rapper Kayne West and Hollywood millionaires like Bette Midler and Alec Baldwin called for fairness, saying that they would be happy to pay more in taxes.  That is, until someone asks them to send a check to Washington if they want to pay more.  At which point , these boneheads immediately pucker-up and say, "I WON'T SEND THEM A CHECK, BECAUSE I DON'T WANT MY MONEY TO GO THE THE BIG WAR MACHINE AND OTHER THINGS."  Uh, sorry, guys but you don't get to say where you're money goes and what it gets spent on.

On the other hand, wouldn't it be great if we could decide that our tax money wasn't going to pay for abortions, transgender sex operations and expensive oversea trips by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her entourage?

Hypocrites!

Religion.
Nothing separates dream from reality like the tolerance Democrats plead for when it comes to arts, literature, sexual preferences ... and religion.  You can't throw a brick in Wisconsin without hitting someone who will remind you about separation of church and state, before handing out a democrat registration card.   It's alright to put a crucifix in a glass of urine and call it art, but don't try to include a silent prayer at a high school graduation ceremony.  Every year there are lawsuits filed by atheist groups who say religious monuments can't be left on public land because it violates separation of church and state.

Why are liberals so afraid of religion?  And in particular, why do people who claim to be SO tolerant of things suddenly find it offensive to pray to God?  I'm still in amazement at the list of complaints filed in La Crosse court by members of a local food coop who wanted a monument of the ten commandments moved from a nearby public park.  "Even though I don't look at it, I still get ill thinking about that monument every time I ride my bike by the park," one atheist claimed.  Another moaned, "I can't sleep at night because of that monument.  I'm getting ill."

Is it because liberals refuse to acknowledge right and wrong, or a higher power that condemns their lies and misrepresentations?  I work with someone who said to me once that she was so appreciative of the things a pastor said for her mother's funeral.  I think it's one of the few times she had ever been in church, and it's probably the last time she's been there since.  So with her, religion is a necessity (and something beautiful) when someone dies, but every other day it's just another impediment to her way of life.

About the only time these hypocrites are comfortable with religion is when someone will say "But if Jesus was alive today, he would..."  As an example, I read recently that someone at CNN said that Jesus would be down at Occupy Wall Street because he was always on the side of the poor and disadvantaged.  It may be that Jesus often helped the disabled, needy and simple, but I doubt very much that he would appreciate the sinful lives many of these protesters lead.  In a Democrat's view, Jesus isn't someone to worship -- just someone to use as a roadblock to Republican efforts to promote self reliance.

More hypocrisy!

Cain -- not black enough?

Race.
The election of President Obama should have opened the door to better race relations between Democrats and Republicans, but it seems to have had the opposite effect.  Every time someone is critical of Obama, Democrats bring out the RACE card.  Ignore the failed policies, debt and socialist agenda -- people are just racists, who can't get past Obama's skin color.

I've said it many times before, but the only party that seems obsessed with skin color is the Democrat Party.  That applies to Hispanics, African-American or Muslims.  Some of the most over the top racial comments come from Democrats who are critical of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Juan Williams, Bill Cosby and most recently presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Liberal Harry Belafonte recently criticized Cain's comments about how racism isn't holding black people back:  Belafonte said, "It's very hard to comment on someone who is so denied intelligence.  Someone who has denied such a view of history."   This jackass continued, "Because he happened to have good fortune hit him, he had a moment where he broke through... does not make him the authority of the plight of people with color."

"The Republican party, the Tea Party, all those forces to the extreme right have consistently tried to come up with representations of what they call black, what they call the real Negroes," he said, citing Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell.  "Herman Cain is just the latest incarnation of what is totally false to the needs of our nation.  I think he's a bad apple, and people should look at his hole card, he's not what he says he is."

So a black Republican telling black minorities to pull themselves up and make something of their lives IS NOT what this county needs, huh?  I guess they would prefer to keep them dependent on government handouts and failed minority programs.  Democrats don't believe minority Hispanics and blacks are capable of taking care of themselves (think housing, education and marriage).  Therefore, someone with a positive message must be an impostor.

There is something seriously wrong with Democrats like Harry Belafonte.  And it isn't his skin color.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines hypocrisy as the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform.  I can't think of better examples than the actions of Obama, 1/2 of Congress and most of Hollywood.  Democrats, every one.

Occupy Protesters Need a Clue

As I listen to the crowds that are part of Occupy Wall Street, an image comes to mind:   a clip from NFL Films where the legendary Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi stands on the sidelines shouting, "WHAT THE HELL'S GOIN' ON OUT THERE?"

Who's to blame?

After watching some of the most drug-induced, Woodstock-inspired videos and news reports,  I'm convinced that Occupy (fill in the blank) protesters are clueless to why they are there, much less what makes the working world work.  Statistics indicate that these protesters are mostly under the age of 29.  College drop outs, unemployed youth and students made up the majority of the first Occupy Wall Street sit downs, but it has since been co-oped by labor unions, 1960's Vietnam era protest organizers and celebrity millionaire activists who want to "get down with the people."  Democrats by a wide margin.  Government-dependent, spoiled, and easily controlled through socialist and fascist mind speak.  The Communist Party USA, millionaire film maker Michael Moore, the American Nazi Party, billionaire George Soros and Acorn have put their stamp of approval on these protests.  Of course, the mainstream media are doing their best to make these camp-outs a legitimate news story, unlike the treatment they gave last year's tea party protests.

It's hard to take these people seriously, but someone has to do it:  so what is really behind these protests?  

It seems to me that all of this came to a head after President Obama vilified the rich (1%) by saying that they were not paying their fair share.  Sounds like another attempt to take from someone who has something and give to someone else who doesn't -- be it a job, good benefits, an education, a home or a paycheck.

For those who know President Obama's background, this is part of his plan, advocating a classless society through the removal of economic differences.  As he says in his book, Dreams From My Father:  A Story of Race and Inheritance -- "While we welcome the idea of a prevention [of class problems], we should try to cure what has slipped in .. we.. need to eliminate power structures that have been built through excessive accumulation so that not only a few individuals shall control a vast magnitude of resources as is the case now... "

University-educated youth have been taught this same drivel by liberal professors and are now acting upon it.  Making matters worse,  these students are graduating from college with no job prospects and big debts, leading to cries of unfairness and economic injustice.  With no concept of how money is earned -- and the amount of hard work needed -- they are asking for their fair share.

The age-old concept of fairness has been a staple of democratic politics forever.  As long as it doesn't apply to them, Democrats love to be seen fighting for the poor, the minority and the helpless.  Obama's JOBS bus tour continues to stir this pot, even to the extent that he recently gave the protesters a shout out at a recent campaign stop.

Responding to President Obama's lead, and feeling unfairly treated by banks, schools and the rest of corporate America, the Occupy Wall Street crowd is doing what it does best:  pitch a tent and wait for a hand out.  "Stop corporate greed!  Stop zombie banks, make financiers pay for the depression!" shouts a young woman in lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park, site of the New York city protests.  Someone next to her holds a sign that reads:  "Democracy, not corporacracy."

Let's look at some of their more "rational" (I know they're hard to find) complaints and put them to the test:

The Wall Street bailout. 
It's interesting that the Occupy crowd has chosen to take their fight to Wall Street rather than the White House.  It was Congress who drafted and passed the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) of 2008 that provided $700 billion to failing banks that contributed to the recession and cost an estimated $4,635 per working American.  Despite objections by over 100 cities throughout the United States and by a large margin of Americans, the Democrat-controlled House and Senate voted in favor of bailing out private banking companies with taxpayer's money.  And much to my disappointment, President Bush passed it into law.

I don't mean to pass all of the blame away from Wall Street, because they deserve plenty of it for selling these risky mortgages as safe investments.  But they dug themselves a deep hole by ceding to the demands of Washington to include lower lending standards for minorities.  In addition, it was Washington that proposed the eventual take over of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, both central to the sub prime mortgage crisis.

Protesters are also conveniently forgetting that President Obama took more money from Wall Street fat cats than any other candidate in our last presidential election.  More than $15 million in contributions to his 2008 election from Wall Street paved the way to friendly bailouts and financial reforms.

Share and share alike.

Student loans amnesty.
Where to get started on this one?  I think one of the funniest videos I've seen from this Occupy Wall Street crowd was one from a student holding up a sign that said "Pay for my tuition!"  He started the video interview by saying that he was there to fight economic injustice, but when asked about his sign, he said that he really thought government should pay for his education.  When asked why, he could only say, "I don't know, it's what I want."  What he wants?  Why not pay for his apartment and car while you're at it?  When pressed by the interviewer, he concluded by saying, "Hey, I can ask for anything I want, so I'm asking for a free education.  Why not?"

Um, maybe because SOMEONE has to pay for it (chances are, his parents are paying for it anyway).

About the only legitimate argument being made on tuition is a 1% Wall Street tax on all financial transactions (including stocks, bonds and derivatives) that would help pay off these student loans.  Legitimate, but not realistic.  This typical socialist thinking is found in comments like this one from a student who told Reuters Television, "I am going to start my life as an adult in debt and that's not fair.  Millions of teenagers across the country are going to start their futures in debt, while all of these corporations are getting money fed all the time and none of us can get any."  Ergo, tax the corporations that are making money and use it to educate the youth of this country.

What are we teaching these people in school?  Obviously not economics.

Jobs, jobs and more jobs.
A final argument coming from Occupy Wall Street is one complaining about jobs.  And I'm not talking about Steve Jobs, who was as CEO of Apple was as big of a capitalist as there ever was (God rest his soul).  There are people in Zuccotti Park who think our financial system is gutting standards, living wages, and jobs in the interest of earning a buck.

Criticism of something called "neoliberalism" is a staple of Occupy Wall Street protests.  A organizer of Occupy Wall Street had this to say:  "Neoliberalism is everywhere, robbing us of decent labor standards, social contracts, living wages and jobs.  It is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."  I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I think he was saying that we have a system in America that allows the 1% to enrich themselves by impoverishing humanity.  By sacrificing jobs, our standard of living and destroying the environment.

A more realistic focus should be on Washington where Obama and Congress have stifled economic growth -- AND JOBS -- by creating harmful regulations that are making the business of making business impossible.  That's not to say that I am in favor of letting Wall Street and other business owners write their own rules (as President Obama would have you believe).  

For example, I read that a chain of restaurants is leaving California because it takes almost two years to open a new restaurant due to lengthy and restrictive regulations.  In the state of Florida, it only takes six months to start a new business.  Guess where the new jobs and construction are going?

And earlier this month, Elizabeth Milito, senior executive counsel at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) had this to say, "America's small businesses, the backbone of our economy, are facing a huge challenge when it comes to understanding and complying with labor law.  Small business owners are left to contend with an increasingly punitive landscape of overlapping and sometimes conflicting regulations that even a labor lawyer would have trouble interpreting.  The result is a chilling effect on small business growth and hiring."  If we as a country are serious about creating jobs and boosting our economy, it is time for these Wall Street protesters -- and voters -- to start complaining to Washington about these harmful federal regulations.

These protesters need to put away their Guy Fawkes masks and get a clue about what this nation needs.  That means take a shower, get some decent clothes, get off the streets and get Obama out of Washington.

The Agony of da Feet

The weather is perfect for running -- low 50's, dry and no wind.  To warm up, Sean, Hanning and I run the short distance in Riverside Park from the Eagle to the Big Indian and back.   As I slow to a walk, my watch reads 6:45 a.m.  In half an hour I will be running the Maple Leaf  Five Mile race for the second time.  My primary goal, as always, is to finish without embarrassing myself.  My secondary goal is to run it faster than 47 minutes and 56 seconds.  That is my time from last year's race.  I tell myself that the last few months of practice will allow me to meet both goals, but self doubts won't let me relax.


My blogs occasionally endeavor to chronicle my attempts at running -- nothing major, just a 5K and most recently a 5 mile race during La Crosse's Oktoberfest.  At my age, now 52, my body doesn't always respond to what my experienced mind tells it to do.   My wife would probably tell you I don't respond to her comments either, but that's another story.

 

In basketball, I've suffered enough sprained ankles, broken noses and dislocated fingers to know better.  But I still drive the lane hoping to finger roll the ball into the basket, still box out a bigger player attempting to rebound a loose ball, or still set a rib-bruising pick to give a teammate an open shot.  Despite the pain, I still go back with the dream of making the winning shot and bragging rights for another day.

In running, I'm still learning the sport and its effect on my body.  To date, and through three races this year, I know this much:   it all starts with my feet.

Without good feet and proper footwear you won't enjoy running enough to stick with it.  I find it disconcerting that each foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles and 19 tendons.  Of the 26 bones, seven are in the ankle.  That has the potential for a lot of things to go bad when you think about it.


I decide that for this race I would listen to music.  Something that rocked -- like "Everybody Wants Some" by Van Halen, "Like a Stone" by Audioslave or "Banshee" by the Young Dubliners.  I have put together my Maple Leaf playlist and am determined to run harder than last year, using the tunes on my Ipod to keep my feet and body moving.

As the race begins, I give Sean and Hanning (his college roommate from China) high fives, and take off.  Having warmed up before, my legs feel better, my ankles loose and my feet light as I round the first turn and head up toward the causeway.  The runners are packed together, so I decide to sprint around a number of slower runners by staying to the right where I can see an clear path.

The route being taken is the same one that is used by the Maple Leaf Parade, arriving some 4 hours later.  Chairs, tarps and sleepy bodies occupy much the route, some of them having been there for more than 24 hours.  The smell of Oktoberfest hangs in the air like a long pass from Aaron Rogers to Greg Jennings.  Smoke from charcoal grills and the aroma of black coffee find my nose as I run toward the one mile marker.


Fortunately for me, my feet have been able to weather the daily beating they get when running, walking or dancing.  Which, given my feet and their high arches, is something of a miracle.  I've had occasional trouble with my knees and ankles, but never my feet.

I was reading an article the other day that discussed a new trend in running called barefoot running.  Actually it isn't new, since humans would walk and run without shoes long before shoes were invented and worn on the foot.  And in many poorer countries barefoot running is still common.  The concept of running barefoot looks at how the lateral edge of the forefoot strikes the ground.  Running in padded shoes typically alters this pattern, leading to repetitive stress injuries.

 

An alternative to running with no shoes is barefoot-inspired footwear like Vibram Five Fingers -- shoes which use minimal padding and separate the toes to give the appearance and sensations of running without shoes.  This new style of shoe, while not all that common at the Maple Leaf Race, did appear on a few runners that were participating in the half marathon.

Along with a man wearing a dress.


The song that plays in my ear buds is "Surfing With the Aliens" by Joe Satriani.  It is an image that hits home as I pass the half-way mark of the race and head back across the Black River bridge.  As I pass approaching runners on my left, I start looking for familiar faces.  Is my son behind me, or has he passed me by like the rest?  Where is Hilby, who I play basketball with?  I hadn't seen him pass me either, but with over 850 runners in the race, it wouldn't be hard.  

The stark looks I get from those on the sidelines make me wonder:  why am I here?  There are a lot of runners today, and I am finding myself getting passed by almost all of them.  Not that I'd ever think of myself as a good runner.  But getting passed by an overweight white guy wearing a knee brace is rubbing me the wrong way.

I decide not to stop and catch my breath, instead I push myself along the third and fourth miles of the race.  There's a bridge that spans the railroad tracks near Monitor Street that sucks the life out of you just as you're wearing down from 30 minutes of running.  Sweat continues to run into my eyes as I crest the bridge and start down the other side.  The drumming of my heart is loud, despite the music in my ears.  Even with the cool temperatures, my shirt is soaked with sweat and a side ache is starting to cause me some trouble.


Another aspect of running that must be dealt with is pain.  I think all exercise comes with some discomfort, depending on how hard you push it.  Sometimes the pain comes during the exercise -- other times it comes after you're done.  When I train in the morning, I can usually expect my feet and ankles to hurt the first twenty minutes.  I suppose that comes from basketball.  Stop.  Go.  Jump.  And go again. Stop, and run the other way.  The constant change of directions has taken its toll on those 204 bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles.  With  running, it's always one direction and -- depending on the traffic -- non-stop.

So by the time the sun is lighting up the sky, I'm beginning to feel loose enough to enjoy the morning's jog to it's ultimate finish.  The pain is forgotten and the joy of having accomplished a morning of practice fills me with hope for another day of work and family.  It's not until the following morning as I get out of bed that my ankles and feet feel the pain from the other day's run.

For me, physical pain and mental boredom is the challenge that comes with running.  I've mentioned the obstacles that keep many people from running a race like a 5K or 5 mile.  Like all challenges in life, however, you have to overcome pain to achieve things you never thought you could.  With me, it's running.  I'll never be very good at it, but I'll give it my best every time I try.


Eight minutes later I spot my wife and two friends who have decided to walk the 5K portion of the race.   I slice through the spot between my wife and Paul and curve back to the right.  As I start the race's last mile, I am determined not to let all my training during those dark and cold mornings go to waste.  I'll be damned if I am going to let my sore feet, tired legs and aching side slow me down.  Gasping for breathe, I push on.

Suddenly from out of nowhere, my son pulls up next to me and smiles.  I could be mistaken, but he doesn't look tired AT ALL, and all the sweat in the Carlson family seems to be on my body, not his.  It's almost like he's on coasters as he effortlessly runs past the Oktoberfest southside grounds. 

As we arrive together at the final turn of the race, I can see the finish line full of cheering faces, waiving arms and an occasional camera. Sean stretches his gait and pulls ahead of me, easily finishing his first Oktoberfest race.  Eight seconds later, I join him smiling from ear to ear.

I can't explain the reason why some people run.  But for me, it's overcoming another year on the calendar.  Nothing is as easy as it used to be, but running the Oktoberfest and Festival race in the spring are two more way to turn back time and reveal a new me.

Mission accomplished, and a new goal for next year:  45 minutes or better.