Teapot Tantrums

Good Connections

I’m blessed to be surrounded by very intelligent, savvy people. I spent one weekend a month for the past four months (kinda like the military reserves, huh?) at a lodge outside Turner, Oregon, learning how campaigns work, how fundraising happens, learning more about the Constitution, learning about Republican party history, how to network better, and having the most stimulating conversations concerning the issues of our day.

I love my family, don’t get me wrong. But they really don’t “get this” … they put up with me and my postings on FaceBook (FB), they put up with me going to politically-themed meetings, they put up (barely) with me bringing up political issues at home … yes, they roll their eyes. But this is something I care deeply about.

A dear friend said, “It’s like politics has become your religion or something.”

No, politics has not become my religion. My “religion” is Christianity, my faith is in Jesus Christ as my risen lord and savior … my cause has become to get up, speak up, and take a stand … to wake up the Narcoleptic American Sheeple … to get them to pay attention to what’s going on and get concerned to the point where they begin to take a stand and speak up, too.

I realize that this concern can cause some anxiety. I’ve had my share of anxiety since I “woke up” … and once you wake up to what’s going on around you, you can’t go back to sleep again. I’ve tried. I’ve taken “time off” …. a “break” from current events and the American political theater … I eventually come back after having read some nonfiction books to give my brain a break … but I can’t shut it out completely.

There’s tooooooo much going on. There’s too much at stake. There’s a risk in going back to sleep, and I’m not prepared to take that risk.

People will say to me, “Hey, you’re a Christian. Christians don’t pay attention to or talk about politics. They’re supposed to love everyone and not judge anyone. What do you think you’re doing? All you’re supposed to be doing is loving everyone and praying all the time.”

Yes, I’m a Christian. I’m not *of* this world, but I live in it. While I believe we’re supposed to love people, I don’t believe we’re required to love everything they do. Yes, I pray for people. Heck, I even pray for Barack Obama (and his good health) … I pray that he’ll have one term, that we’ll be delivered from him and what I believe are bad intentions for our country, and that he’ll have a change of heart and mind. I pray for our leaders that they’ll come to their senses and actually *lead* with *wisdom*.

As for judging … c’mon … face it … we all make judgments every single day. Whether you judge for yourself that you’d prefer to cook or order take out, to wear long or short sleeves that day, to have a glass of wine or a glass of soda … to let your child partake of risky activities … you’re making judgments. Making those judgments keeps us alive. Hopefully you’re making positive judgments, but you’re making judgments.

Don’t confuse that for passing judgments. I may judge for myself and my family those behaviors that I don’t want them to emulate because I think they’re detrimental. But that doesn’t mean I’m passing judgment on those that practice those behaviors. That’s between the person and the courts … or between them and God. If I choose not to associate with people who practice what I consider to be bad behaviors, that’s not passing judgment on the person, that’s judging whether I want to be around that behavior.

Should I sit down, shut up, play nice, and “go along to get along?” No, I don’t think that’s productive. There’s time for relaxing (that’s when I listen to a favorite TV show or movie and work on a crocheted doily … they can be very challenging). But I can’t do that all the time.

I have family members that believe I should share nothing but pleasantries or family news here and on FB. They think I shouldn’t share quotes I find, even if I find them interesting …. Because they might cause discomfort in those that read them.  For example, my daughter shared with me a quote by Oscar Wilde that said, “To lose a parent is tragic. To lose both just looks like carelessness.”  OK, I really enjoy a good play on words … that said, I still have three of my parents (I got them the old-fashioned way – through the broken-home system), so I didn’t take it in the classic sense of having “lost” one’s parents in death … well, not entirely. The first part yes, the second part no. However, this family member (and his sister) decided I was horribly insensitive. I didn’t make the original quote; I simply shared it. But, apparently, it was insensitive to share it with anyone else. Perhaps I shouldn’t share my favorite Groucho Marx quote, either, ‘cause it might be insensitive to dog lovers. (“Outside of a dog, a good is man’s best friend; inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.”)

Nope, I’m paying attention; I’m sharing whatever I find. Here you will find an eclectic mix of news, humor, tidbits, occasional personal stuff, links, YouTube videos … I don’t set out to make people angry. If people get angry at what I post here … personally, that’s on them. Anger is just as much of a choice as are happiness, depression and boredom. It’s time to quit choosing to accuse those around us of *causing* us to feel a certain way. Your feelings are your choice. (That’s something I have to work on every single day.)

But lately, I’m surrounded by other Republicans, all of them Conservatives (thank God!), and most of them intelligent and able to discuss Constitutional issues, national issues, regional issues, social issues … from differing perspectives and histories, not always coming to the same final conclusion … and all without coming to blows. I’ve yet to see a Conservative launch himself or herself across the table at someone who disagrees with them. I’ve yet to hear Party A devolve into personal attacks because Party B challenged a statement and Party A ran out of arguments. Party A regroups and comes back with another observation to support his/her position …. And we learn from each other and we grow.

So, I’ve been networking, learning from others, and continuing to “learn what I already know” … well, at least I hope I am. I’m glad to be able to understand more fully what I’ve always believed and to know why I’ve believed it and how to communicate it more clearly.

As of last weekend, those weekends came to an end. I graduated from the program (and forgot my completion certificate at the lodge … with the group picture in it!), and I’m going to miss those dear people sooooo much … Greg, Rick, Trudy, Gladys, Jaynee, Tyson, Becky, Rose, Marshall (*such* a bright young mind!), Jeff, Kerry & Stuart. And a special thanks to Ames & Dama for putting us up .. and putting up with us!

Learning What I Know

I’m not a "young chick" anymore, and sometimes I guess you could say I’m kind of stuck in my ways … at least that’s what my kids try to tell me. At my age (hey, I'm not decrepit just yet!!!), someone with an opposing viewpoint isn’t going to convince me to go against my principles, convictions, and what have become my natural inclinations.

I know what I believe.

I’m comfortable being a Christian, Conservative, Republican woman. My faith in Jesus Christ is important to me because I know that without Him, I would have a very different life … and likely not a good one. My faith informs my Conservative leanings because it most closely meshes with my beliefs. Some might say that I’m more of an old-fashioned woman, a traditionalist … that works for me, too. I’m a Republican because the tenets of that party fit best with my Christian, Conservative beliefs …. And because I believe the Democrats are dead wrong on just about everything.

But I know what I believe, and don’t feel the need to go into extreme detail here because it would take *way* too long … But I’m also enough of a grown-up to know that it’s important to make sure I know what I believe is really what I believe.

Likewise, I've always known what I know ... so much has been common sense salted with wisdom gained through the years ... but I also know that what I "know" isn't always what I *know* .. so I took steps over the past few months to make sure I know what I know.

I'm getting there.

 

Wow! What a ride!

After mediocre hit counts because I've been busy (and microblogging on FB more than I should) I had a huge influx of traffic last week!  Going from daily hits in the 20s to 50s range to .... get this ... ***5,135*** in about 48 hours (over 5,100 in about 24 hours) ...

What happened to generate that kind of traffic? Well, someone put this post from 2006 on Reddit.com and it took off like wild fire ... for quite a while there (after I became aware of it) I spent a *lot* of time in the top 100 web sites.

Seriously ... a little ole part-time contributor like me ... Reminds me of the time Deb Schinder linked to me (as an example of a right-wing nut job) and I got a ton of traffic ... but only a fraction of this in comparison. And to think that little post, which still gets me reliable hits every single week (right along with the one about Katie Couric & the sniper), got traffic volume like that nearly four years later.

I guess I'll just keep on pluggin' away.

This Is Your Wake-Up Call

Hello, America – This is your wake-up call! It’s time to get up, speak up and take a stand!

I began blogging in 2005, when my “blogfather” asked me to stop commenting on his blog posts … long enough to put my “gift of gab” to use in posts of my own for our candidate for the governor’s race. Sadly, Jason Atkinson didn’t become our governor, but I did become a blogger … someone who is opinionated in searchable print … on the Internet.

What I’m passionate about, is waking up America … those narcoleptic sheeple out there.
Sheeple are the people who don’t think for themselves, don’t pay attention to what’s going on, follow others because it’s easy, and are so stupid they are, as a friend calls them “four legs looking for a way to die” (or in this case two legs).

Narcolepsy is a sleeping disorder in which people fall asleep … unexpectedly and easily … and sometimes with bad timing. They’re hard to wake up and can be hard to keep awake.

In the early days of World War II, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto wrote in his diary, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." …. Yep, they woke up the giant sleeping sheep … but one with narcoleptic tendencies and too little resolve.

As far back as World War II, many Americans suffered from “social narcolepsy.” They’d go along to get along, nap their way through life because it was “easier,” didn’t talk about politics and religion because they’ve been taught that it wasn’t nice … and it took something big to wake them up … these giant sleeping sheep.

In World War II, American Liberals didn’t want to get involved in Europe, because “it wasn’t our war,” but when Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor woke the giant sleeping sheep, we bonded together for a common cause, and the vast majority stayed together for our national survival. But we won the war, rebuilt Japan, liberated the concentration camps, life went on, and the giant sleeping sheep hit the pillow again.

In the 60s, liberals and communists in our colleges and universities were carefully converting our young people to their Leftist ideas … and it took the threat of our social fabric ripping apart to rouse the grownups. Some sheep woke up for a while to try to figure out what was wrong with our young people, and others decided they’d try out the doobies and swinger parties and see for themselves what the kids were jazzed about… and dozed off again.

With the Vietnam War, we Republicans roused enough to try to help the oppressed in southeast Asia fight for their survival, but communists in ivory towers, the kids they’d converted, and the liberals who wanted to get along and share and make everything “equal” … well, they woke up, too … with the goal of stopping the war at all costs, through any mean. They learned how to fight nasty within our own borders, and Republicans learned how to deal with their nastiness and with names like war monger and baby killer hurled at them wholesale … in public … on nightly news clips. But eventually, we withdrew from Vietnam, got our POWs back, and the sleeping giant got drowsy again.

In the late 70s, we were blessed with Jimmy Carter, the Iran Hostage Crisis and the Misery Index, and the sheep woke up long enough to usher in the Reagan Revolution, the Moral Majority, and a brand new generation of conservatives (including me). But the economy improved, hair got big, and we finally got rid of disco music … and the giant sheep drifted off again.

But then came 9/11 … and the giant sleeping sheep got a very nasty wake up call.

When I saw the second plane hit the second tower, I knew my life had changed forever. The sleeping giant roared awake. We banded together and worked for a common cause. We had common outrage, mourned together, shook our fists together, and many of us celebrated together when US troops went into the Middle East to root out the terrorist training camps, captured Saddam Hussein, and searched for Bin Laden.

But it took longer than expected , was messier than desired, Leftists politicized the war for their own gain, John Kerry “reported for duty” … and the sheeple took another nap and keep on sleeping still.
Why shouldn’t we just let them sleep? Because the giant sleeping sheep have functioned so well and so comfortably, stayed in their drowsy state for so long that they actually learned how to *vote* in their sleep.

They say “you get the government that you deserve” … unfortunately, this time we got the government the Leftists deserved.

They didn’t think for themselves, believed what the talking heads wanted them to believe, ignored plain facts, didn’t believe us when we told them what The One himself actually said when he thought no one was listening. They voted for Barack Obama en masse … because he spoke in comforting words and platitudes that made them feel good and didn’t make them think … or because it was “time we had a black president,” without any thought to his qualifications – or lack of them - and voted based on his skin color alone … or because they wanted to “teach those Republicans as lesson” … or because they thought they’d get a free ride and he’d take away all their troubles.

But it wasn’t for the lack of bloggers like me trying to get the word out. We posted on our blogs, on FaceBook, on Twitter … tried to warn people right and left what would happen, didn’t shut up. (I even got kicked off a knitting web site for being too conservative and vocal about it!) The giant sleeping sheep didn’t listen.

But they’re starting to listen now. They’re finally getting that wake-up call. They’re paying attention and experiencing “buyer’s remorse” in droves, embarrassed by their “historic” choices. It’s been painful for many ... but it’s important to get the giant sleeping sheep finally, fully awake.

If you’re awake and aware, you can see what’s coming at you, you can take a stand. You can defend yourself, your family and friends … you can try and help defend your country. It’s time to get up, speak up, take a stand, and *do* something positive for the good of yourself, your friends and family, your country.

If you’re sleeping, things can happen around you without you noticing, until it’s too late to do anything about it. Your society can change, the US can become something you’d never in a million years recognize as *your country*. If you’ve slept through it, didn’t try to do something, you don’t really get to gripe. You get to (or may be forced to), sit down, shut up, play nice, go along to get along … and go back to sleep.

The local fish wrap and network news are there to give you just their side of the story … I’m happy to provide what I can of the other side. So I’ll keep posting. … much to my family’s chagrin … about Conservative and Constitutional issues, what the government’s trying to ram down our throats this week, about the social engineering the Leftists are trying to slip past us yet again, and warnings from friends who immigrated here from communist countries and are seeing disturbing similarities to the places they left.

I want you all to stay awake, and I want the giant sleeping sheep to wake up and stay awake with you, so we can hit it head on … together.

That’s why I blog and will continue to blog .. until the day they load my duffel bag onto the truck headed for the re-education camp.

Is This Impeachable? I'm Thinking It Just Might Be!

We've long known that Dear Leader Mr. Obama our current president has long had ties to Kenya ... hey, he campaigned for the thud Odinga, who belongs to ObaMao's same tribe ... and we've know for quite some time now that he likes to meddle where he doesn't belong (see above and here) but now we know that he's been putting both of these thing together, by meddling in the political affairs of Kenya.

Wake Up, America! It's time to get up, speak up and take a stand! Please share this with friends, family, neighbors ... post it on Facebook & Twitter .. post it on your own blogs. This is an impeachable action, and one that might actually slow the man down!