Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Trusting God

“In God We Trust”

Great slogan that, as Americans, appears in our lives on a daily basis.

It’s our national motto. It’s etched in our currency, noted on license plates and written in the Star Spangled Banner.

Many people say it, but do they really understand it?

How do you know when you are really trusting in God?

You know it in your heart when that same heart is breaking under the weight of trials and tribulations, and your world seems to be crumbling. And at that moment, instead of praying to God to make it better, to take the pain away, and to make everything right again, you say “Your will Father, not mine.”

It is not about God making all the wrongs of life better, but trusting the fact that no matter how bad things get, how deep the hurt and pain is inside you, God will be there at your side and will not leave you.

John 16: 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

No More Political Parties – Change we CAN believe in

"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissention, which in different ages & countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders & miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security & repose in the absolute power of an Individual: and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty." — George Washington, September 19, 1796

I piss people off.

My 17, going on 70, year old daughter will attest to that little fact.

I don’t try to, but there comes a point when you need to speak up and state, unequivocally, where you stand on issues.

I think Washington, D.C. needs a dose of this.

The other day I got pulled into a sports conversation and I admitted that I have adopted the George Carlin position on sports:

I decided it's not necessary to suffer and feel crappy just because my teams suck. What I do now is cut 'em loose for awhile. I simply let them go about losing, as I go about living my life. Then, when they've improved, and are doing well once again, I get back on board and enjoy their success. Yeah, I know, I can hear it: diehard, asshole loyal sports fans screaming, "Front-runner!" Goddamn right! Don't be fuckin' juvenile. Teams are supposed to provide pleasure and entertainment, not depression and disappointment.

…. Why on earth would you place your happiness and peace of mind in the hands of several dozen strangers? Listen, folks, if they win, fine; if they lose, fuck 'em! Let 'em practice more.”

Does that sound harsh?

I hope so, because it is the truth.  I've talked about it before. Political Parties Explained.

Every day I turn on the TV and I become depressed. Why you ask? Because politicians have turned into Athletes.

Rather then practice more, they have adopted the status quo and now just point fingers at the other guy.

Remember when EVERYONE hated the Yankees?

Why?

Because they fielded the best team possible. Period. End of story.

Well, we, as Americans, have been duped into rooting for two opposing teams, but the fact that they both suck doesn’t seem to mean much to them. They just point their finger at the other team and expect you to believe them.

But they are lying to your face and worse YOU actually believe them.

I’m not going to get into who lies more, Republican or Democrat. I’m just going to give you one sample because I think it fits into the discussion we are having in America right now over the whole NSA issue.

In May 2006, then Senator Joseph Biden said

"I don't have to listen to your phone calls to know what you're doing. If I know every single phone call that you've made, I'm able to determine every single person you talk to; I can get a pattern about your life that is very, very intrusive."

"The real question here is what do they do with this information they collect that does not have anything to do with Al-Qaida? We're going to trust the president and vice president of the United States that we're doing the right thing? Don't count me in on that."

So, how exactly is that working out for you? Bet you'd love to have those words back, huh Joe?

You see, my point is this, both sides lie to you. Without remorse or fear because they know you will continue to vote by party lines. But what would happen if we did away with the parties? What would D.C. look like if we removed the political party finger pointing?

Wouldn’t it be a novel idea if we forced people to run a campaign based, not on which party band wagon they have hoped on, but the issues.

Honestly, how many of you ever bothered to find out where the “other” guy stood on issues before going into the polling booth? Most likely you voted the following:

PARTY LINE.

I’m not condemning you. We have been ingrained to think this way.

But have you ever wondered if that’s exactly why we are in the position we are today?

It can not be right when one party does it and then wrong when another party does it.

That’s disingenuous and if the people in “your” party are telling you “well it’s complicated” they are lying to you.

The complicated issue is that you got caught doing the same thing you railed against.

In other words “the other team really didn't "stack the deck, we just suck right now.”

I don’t know about you, but I am not going to vote by party any longer, I am going to vote by person.


There’s a campaign slogan I can get behind: PERSON, NOT PARTY.

Follow me on Twitter: @Huntzmanblog

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Benghazi - 9 months later and still nothing

White House: September 12th, 2012 - "......And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people."

President Obama then went to Las Vegas for a campaign event where he told the assembled audience "We had a tough day today as some of you know"

Now, I understand that the administration currently has a lot on their plate, mainly: NSA / Prism Scandal, IRS Scandal, Secret Service Prostitution Scandal, Fort Hood Work Place Violence Scandal, State Department Prostitution Scandal, DOJ Media Scandal, ATF Fast & Furious Scandal, GSA Scandal, Pigford Scandal, the whole Green Energy $$$ Debacle and oh yeah, and just in case you forgot, unemployment is still close to eight percent.

However, is it wrong to wonder what is being done to address the attack on our diplomatic facility and the murder of four Americans, including our Ambassador? Not to mention those injured.

Where is the outcry for justice from the left?

So far, all I have seen is a brave man, Gregory Hicks, former deputy chief of mission in Benghazi, demoted for having the audacity to speak the truth. While our vaunted UN Ambassador, Susan Rice, has been elevated to the post of National Security Advisor for going out and lying on behalf of the administration.

Justice? or Just Us?

When questioned about this Gregory Hicks made the following comments before Congress:

In hindsight, I think it began after I asked the question about Ambassador Rice’s statement on the TV shows,” Hicks said of the criticism during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the attack.

Hicks said he asked Assistant Secretary Beth Jones why Rice made the statements that she did on the 9/16/13 Sunday talk shows.

Her reaction was ‘I don’t know,’ and it was very clear from the tone that I should not proceed with any further questions,” he told lawmakers.

Jones eventually “delivered a blistering critique of my management style,” Hicks said, “and even exclaimed “I don’t know why Larry Pope [the top U.S. diplomat in Libya] would want you to come back.”

But what about Jones? On September 12, Jones had emailed Hicks and several other State Department officials stating that she told the Libyan government that the Benghazi attack had been carried out by a terrorist group.

I spoke to the Libyan ambassador and emphasized the importance of Libyan leaders continuing to make strong statements. I told him that the group that conducted the attacks, Ansar al Sharia, is affiliated with Islamic terrorists.”

But if she sent that email, then why did Susan Rice say what she did several days later?

Face it folks, it is one more lie you are being told. When are you going to wake up and demand that, if nothing else, we recognize that we lost four Americans needlessly?

Everyone in the administration has said “help would not have arrived in time…….”

My question is “How did you know when the attack was going to end?”

If we don’t get any other answers, we need to know whether or not the President of the United States, on September 11th, when he was notified of the attack, ever gave authorization to the United States Military to respond to Benghazi to help.

Very simple answer: Yes or No

They Deserve It !!!!!


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Thursday, June 6, 2013

Out of Touch - Washington DC

There are times when I jump up on my soap box and preach about how out of touch the folks in Washington, D.C. have become. Sometimes I feel as if I am preaching to the choir, other times I feel as if my pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

We are in a really bad place here. 40% of the country feels we are being lied to and 40% feel as if we are being told the "God's honest truth" while another 20% have absolutely no clue and think Ben Ghazi is that guy who was in the Iron Man 3 movie. I remember when I was young and the average "unsure" percentage was in the single digits. People seemed to be better informed.

Please watch this video, listen to the words being expressed. It doesn't matter whether you are an (R) (D) (I) (Whatever)......... you know what he is saying is true. I'm not a big fan of attorney's, but sometimes you find the one person who seems to get it.

Lying to ourselves has gotten us here, ignoring the truth is only going to make it worse.

D-Day - June 6th, 1944

When I got up this morning I turned on the TV, as I am habitually prone to do, and began watching the talking heads spouting off about one scandal or another that is going on in the swamp none as Washington D.C.

What I noted was that there was virtually nothing about what truly separates this day apart from all the others. I guess political scandal trumps all others.

For those who served and for all those lost at Pointe Du Hoc and Sword, Juno, Gold, Utah & Omaha beaches, a reminder that you will never be forgotten.

I can't help but wonder, as I watch the antics in D.C. and the disgusting "massaging" of the words someone said or didn't say, if those young men storming the beaches knew what would happen, would they have risked it all? Are we minimizing their sacrifice as we hold our elected officials to such a low  threshold.

Did the greatest generation give us the lamest generation?

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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Is Big Brother Actually Watching Us?

If you were born anytime over the last several decades, chances are you, like me, have read the George Orwell's book, 1984. Most likely it was a required read at school and you may have even done a report about it. 

Like most you probably hated reading it because you know, it's really old...... and never thought it could happen here anyway. But what if it already has?

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of reading the big, the premise is Big Brother is the enigmatic dictator of Oceania, a totalitarian state taken to its utmost logical consequence, where the ruling Party wields complete power, for its own sake, over its citizens. Everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities, and the people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you."

But when the book was written in 1949, this was basically avant garde science fiction. Sixty plus years later has fiction met reality?

Think that you are not being watched? That you have anonymity as you walk down the street or gather with your friends to watch a parade? Click on the link below to answer that question. When the screen comes up, double click on any area to see the area in greater detail.


Want to commit a crime while hiding in a crowd? Don't think for a minute that you'll have anonymity in a large crowd and the government won't be able to ID you! 

Mind you, this is just what can be done with a commercially available camera. Imagine what government and law enforcement have at their disposal!

The reason this scares me to the extent that it does is the fact that anything that can be used for the good of the common man, can also be used against him if safeguards are not in place to protect from abuse.

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