Category: Journal

Journals, long columns/posts.

The Final 4 Have Arrived… With 3 To Go!

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Yep, it’s that time of year again, which happens every four years anyway. Presidential debate time! Last Friday was the beginning of the big three (plus 1 for the VP debate on Thursday), we’ve been waiting to see for so long… since King Obama thought it best not to have 10 throughout the campaigning period. One word: unprepared. Unprepared for debating… unprepared for handling tough questions and certainly and undeniably unprepared for running the Presidential office and this fabulous country.

So, we had our first deb… our first argu… our first. Ok, I have no idea what happened last Friday, because all I saw were two guys at separate podiums agreeing with each other and forgetting their lines. I was extremely disappointed when the racing gates were finally lifted and the bucking broncos were set free. Honestly, much bucking was not had and broncos… they were not. They both looked exhausted and that doesn’t bode well for McCain, since he’s already perceived as a man on his death bed. It also didn’t help that he made fun of himself, when he referenced his age-old pen.

Not much was said… and what was said had already been established. When it came to economic issues, McCain faltered. He had chance after chance to call Obama out and be on the attack, but never did. He seemed weak and like he was going to lose. Obama didn’t really do any better, since he was supposed to crush McCain in economics. He made some weak points and pretty much steered clear around the issue of the $700B bill that was to be voted on over the weekend (and didn’t happen until Monday of this week).

The issue of foreign policy and international relations allowed McCain to recover his footing. With the forgetting of a fallen soldier’s name, Obama was put to shame. Of course, McCain still missed some jumping points, where he could have pummeled Obama to the ground, but I suppose we’ll have to wait for the fireworks in the next debate.

I came out of this thinking that both candidates debated poorly. They both showed their weaknesses and they both failed to bring their emotions to the forefront, allowing us to see who they really are and to see what makes them heated. I’d love to see McCain get angry… to show America that he can and will be a strong leader. I want to see someone who believes in what they’re doing for their country. I don’t want to see a repeat of last Friday, where neither candidate looks prepared to be President nor look like they care to be there. I want to see McCain talking down to Obama, as if he were a child who doesn’t know any better… because that’s exactly what he is; a child. He’s an arrogant, ignorant, two-faced liberal, who shouldn’t be running for President, due to the fact that he’s only there as a liberal politic tactic.

Anyway… Palin vs. Biden is going to be on Thursday. Hopefully we’ll see some life come out of that one! Here’s a schedule of the upcoming Presidential debates. I hope you watch them and I hope you get to know who these candidates really are:

1. First Presidential Debate: (Result: TIE)
Date: September 26 “ Site: University of Mississippi “ Topic: Foreign Policy & National Security “ Moderator: Jim Lehrer “ Staging: Podium debate “ Answer Format: The debate will be broken into nine, 9-minute segments. The moderator will introduce a topic and allow each candidate 2 minutes to comment. After these initial answers, the moderator will facilitate an open discussion of the topic for the remaining 5 minutes, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment

2. Vice Presidential Debate
Date: October 2nd “ Site: Washington University (St. Louis) “ Moderator: Gwen Ifill “ Staging/Answer Format: Debate will consist of both foreign and domestic policy questions asked by the moderator. Format will be similar to the presidential debates.

3. Second Presidential Debate
Date: October 7 “ Site: Belmont University “ Moderator: Tom Brokaw “ Staging: Town Hall debate “ Format: The moderator will call on members of the audience (and draw questions from the internet). Each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond to each question. Following those initial answers, the moderator will invite the candidates to respond to the previous answers, for a total of 1 minute, ensuring that both candidates receive an equal amount of time to comment. In the spirit of the Town Hall, all questions will come from the audience (or internet), and not the moderator.

4. Third Presidential Debate
Date: October 15 “ Site: Hofstra University “ Topic: Domestic and Economic Issues “ Moderator: Bob Schieffer “ Staging: Candidates will be seated at a table “ Answer Format: Same as First Presidential Debate “ Closing Statements: At the end of this debate (only) each candidate shall have the opportunity for a 90 second closing statement.

The Sky… er the Econo… er Wall Street is Falling! Right?

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If you live in the United States and you’ve purchased a house in the last year or so, then you probably know that the housing market has been on a downward spiral, leading to the inevitable “failing” economy, or what I had heard earlier… an economic mushroom cloud.  Very clever.  Even if you haven’t purchased a house outside of your means, you’re still feeling the bite of the insidious Wall Street snakes.  Your 401K may be in disrepair, the stock market has plummeted and 1% of Americans have failing mortgages…

Yep… 1%.  That is the approximate percentage of what’s causing this economic turnaround.  And no, they’re not wealthy people… they’re regular Americans who were raised with the idea that living outside their means was perfectly acceptible.  These bewildered citizens were given the choice to open a $0 down, interest only mortgage.  They jumped at the chance, thinking they could make double their money in the after market, since housing prices were skyrocketing.  Of course, a lot of these people were in disbelief that the infamous housing bubble had been reached, thinking that prices would continue to soar.  Well, this bubble burst about 6+ months ago and now people aren’t able to sell their homes, aren’t able to pay their mortgages and since that’s the case, these wall street companies are in trouble and the rate of foreclosures are at record highs.

The talk of another great depression is afoot, because of 1% of America!  Can you believe it?  I can’t.  I also can’t believe that the companies of wall street, especially the ones we’re talking about: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Merrill Lynch & Co, are the cause of this recession “soon to be depression.”

Who’s to blame?  The Americans who bought into the idea that an interest only mortgage was ideal?  Or perhaps the companies even offering such a “deal?”  How about both?  Actually, let’s point the finger toward the people who foresaw this coming and actually jumped ship before chaos hit.  Let’s point the finger at the corrupt CEOs of these companies that first, thought it would be a great idea to pull one over on the American people, offering this phenomenal “deal,” and second, knew the outcome of their actions and ignored to warn America.

While we’re at it, let’s point some fingers over at the politicians in the government, since they had some dealings with these companies and assuredly (well, assumingly) had an understanding of what was going on.  Investigations are underway, so hopefully we’ll find out who, specifically (and truly) are/were involved and who were responsible.  I can say that the CEOs that left prior to their company’s destruction are completely negligent and unethical.  They should be charged, tried and sentenced.  Look at what happened to Enron… why should this be any different?

So, all said and done, many Americans are in trouble.  Personally, I am not… but many are.  Actually, I don’t really know anyone in trouble, per se, because I don’t know many ignorant or stupid people.  Just saying…  Most people I know are pretty responsible and not “corrupt,” as it were.  They also didn’t buy into the super $0 down, interest only extravaganza.

Anyway, with the 1% of the population in trouble, and the crumbling of these enormous financial corporations, leading to 100s of thousands if not millions of lost jobs (many employees, by the way… who are quite wealthy as a result of working for these financial institutions), the government wishes to deem this as an economic crisis.  Yes, I agree that it’s an economic crisis for many people in the United States, but not for everyone.  To top it off, they want to bail out the majority of these corporations, excluding Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch & Co (which sold itself to Bank of America to prevent their demise).

How would the government “bail” out these companies?  By offering up a $700 Billion bailout package, distributed between the companies.  Rumors are flying rampant about the Democrats in congress, who are also seeing to it that some of their programs be shadow-funded, using this bailout as a cover.  Awesome. ;]  If that turns out to be true, the verbiage will obviously be melded into the final document, so misconstrued that the everyday person wouldn’t even be able to figure it out.  That’s my guess, anyway.

What’s funny, is that the government, since at least 2005 can be held responsible for this catastrophe.  In 2005, the issue of placing a reform on these financial companies (namely Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) was being discussed and voted upon.  While most republicans voted to reform regulations to prevent the current devastation, Democrats voted against, saying that there was no evidence of a downward spiral.  It’s obvious that there were and are Democrats in Congress/Senate… government as a whole, that benefited from this decision.  While executives and politicians were making bank on these interest only loans and an increasing housing market, Americans were being taken from behind and finally lead to an economic downfall.

That, to me, is corrupt and some would say treasonous.  These politicians and executives, who got out at the last minute, before the crumble, should be held accountable and should face the consequences of their actions.

That being said, a free market system is a free market system, and we should leave it at that.  Government should not get anymore involved than they already have.  The tax payers should NOT have to bail these corrupt corporations out… and it IS more than a bail out.  These people will get even more wealthy as a result of this, while our taxes will more than likely rise, our debt will increase by about $1 Trillion… and it’s already at record highs (not that that’s far from typical).

The fact that President Bush is actually trying to push this bail out package is really disconcerting.  I’ve voted for him twice, in hopes that he’d do the right thing for this country.  My main reasons for doing so were because I believe in our cause for fighting terrorism and liberating countries that are under the rule of ruthless dictators, hellbent on demonstrating their power.  My other reasons had to do with securing our borders, keeping America(ns) safe and upholding the constitution from a conservative point of view.  I expected that he would remain strong and hold fast with his conservative values, even in the wake of a democratic congress.

President Bush has done a terrific job at handling the War on Terror and securing America… with the exception of securing our borders.  More and more illegal immigrants are plowing through our borders on a daily basis.  Regardless, his stance on social issues within the United States has faltered and I’m very disappointed.

The economy has remained strong for quite a while, even with a war going on and ensuing national debt being incurred, but now he turns a 180 and almost bends over for the democratic congress and Nancy Pelosi (who elected her to be Speaker of the House, anyway?!).  A conservative turned democrat, President Bush now poses that the government should take hold and rescue the economy, essentially ignoring the relevance of capitalism, which is the only reason we have one of the strongest economies in the world.

To say that I’m flabbergasted is an understatement.  Government needs to get its hands out of the pockets of corporate executives and they most certainly should not bail out a failing company.  How many companies are build up and eventually fail without government assistance?  Why should Lehman Brothers be excluded from the bail out?  If they’re going to do this, why make any exceptions at all?  We’ve heard of socialism and communism, right?  For all the talk that the United States does, concerning the disbelief in socialism and communism, and the fact that we cherish our constitutional rights and free market society, this is a real kick in the face to governments around the world, as well as the citizens of this great country.

Given the chance, the economy can and will turn around… the market will correct itself – it always does.  We need government to take a step back and let the people of this great nation (who absolutely make it great) fix it themselves.  We can do this…  trust me.  Don’t make the mistake of doubting the free market & the people of this nation.  When we set out to do them, we can do phenomenal things.  This is but one challenge in the course of many and we can overcome it.  Don’t let government play a role.  Call or E-Mail your congressman or senator.  Even if you support the bail out, make your opinion known.  Tell your representatives how you feel.

You see, that’s what they are.  Representatives of the people.  The government is of the people, for the people and by the people.  YOU have the power, but politicians want you to believe that THEY have the power.  Don’t let them control you.  These factors only come into play when their positions are threatened.  Tell them, when you call, that you won’t vote for them for a follow-up term.  America needs to take her country back, and that’s up to you!

Economy failing?  Bull… Corporations making wrong decisions leading to their demise.  That’s what’s happening.  America is full of entrepreneurs and self starters.  If you don’t like the way things are done or how a company is run, you start a better one up, you make changes, you compete… that’s our way.  The people losing their jobs will find new ones, they’ll start their own companies up, etc.

People losing their mortgages is no small thing, but these people knew what they were getting into.  Interest only loans?  Really?  Who thinks that’s a good idea?  Especially when you’re “purchasing” a house for $500,000 and only get paid a $60,000 salary… let’s think about that…  We should bail these people out, as well?  They’re living outside of their means, making a mistake… something they will certainly learn from.  Let’s have the people take some responsibility of their own for a change.  Let’s get the hell back on track.  If you ask me, these people… this 1% of the population deserves the outcome of their mistake.  That’s life… that’s the world.  Get real and live it.  So they have to live in an apartment for a few years… so what?!  I’ve done it, my family members have done it, friends of mine have done it…  Why is this 1% so deserving of a $1/2 million house?  Pah… such arrogance, or maybe I should use the recent hot word “hubris.”  There, now I feel like I fit in.

This will all turn out better in the long run, but a bail out is not the answer.  ‘Nuff said.

Abortion… From an Adoptee Point of View

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Ever since Governor Sarah Palin was announced as Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain’s running mate, the argument of Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice has resurfaced with a life that nearly dwarfed the importance of the fight against terrorism and the recent 9-11 anniversary. Governor Palin’s views on adoption vs. abortion have evoked an extreme reaction from the liberal left, merely because she doesn’t agree with the decision/outcome of Roe v. Wade.

How dare she have her own opinion?! How dare she, a woman, be responsible enough to rear a child with down syndrome? How dare she allow her daughter to be responsible enough to follow through with child birth and… ready for this?… get married?! Who does that!? Especially in this day and age.

Ahh… you know the world is coming to an end, when a 17yr old woman actually takes responsibility for her actions. The world, my friends… is in peril. We also know we’re in trouble, when a working woman also wants to have children…

At least, that’s what traditional (aka extremist) feminists would have you believe…

Sheer poppycock! Poppycock, I say! Liberals are jumping all over the Palin family, based on ridiculous claims and actually utilizing a moral compass. Amazing! Still, it amazes me even further to know that women of the feminist movement are jumping on the bandwagon. Whose side are they really on?

From one adopted person to everyone else… allow me to give you my thoughts on the subject of Pro-Life/Pro-Choice, (Roe v Wade) and adoption/abortion.

But first, a few facts to acknowledge (borrowed from Guttmacher.org)…

1. Approximately half of all pregnancies in America are unintended. Four out of ten of these are terminated in abortion. 22% of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.

2. Forty percent of pregnancies among white women, 69% among blacks and 54% among Hispanics are unintended.

3. In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions occurred.

4. Each year, about two percent of women aged 15-44 have an abortion; 47% of them have had at least one previous abortion.

Yeah… 1.21 million abortions in one year, in one country… OUR country. 47% of which, were irresponsible women who didn’t think twice about doing it again – making the same mistake again. If you ask me, there’s something very wrong with that.

This country’s moral compass has been critically going down the tubes over the last 10-15 years. When the country decided that it was “ok” for Bill Clinton to have sexual relations in the White House with someone other than his wife, and then it was “ok” that he lied on the stand and whilst impeached… I knew something was certainly wrong with the way things were going. Amongst liberals, he’s touted as being one of the best presidents we’ve had. That’s laughable. There are definitely more reasons than just this instance of betrayal to dislike the ex-president of the United States, but that’s a subject for a different day.

I digress… Back to the subject at hand. Abortion. What a touchy subject. Pro-choice vs. Pro-life. Typical Conservative vs Typical Liberal. Is there a right decision? Is there a wrong one? Maybe there is no answer to this perplexing question, but at least you an get the perspective of someone that’s been adopted right here… right now.

I used to be pro-choice. In fact, I was all for abortion or adoption up until I actually grew up. Once I matured, I started thinking about politics and life in a different way, from a different point of view. I started to see moral injustices from both sides of the aisle; liberal and conservative. I started seeing inconsistencies in arguments and a widdling down of everything that makes America great.

Now, I’m pro-life with some provisions, of course. Here’s the reason why I’m pro-life, and to me, it really is just common sense…

The legalizing of abortion has really only made an additional excuse for women to behave irresponsibly. I’m not saying they’re irresponsible or responsible all the time, nor does this apply to everyone, but I’ll explain.

By looking at the numbers I cited above, you can see that many women, usually teens to young adults, are unintentionally becoming pregnant. Why would you think that is? Most are probably having unprotected sex, either because they’re partying too hard and forget or just have enough faith that becoming pregnant will never happen to them. Still, there’s another percentage of those women that just don’t seem to care. They see pregnancies as another chance “thing” that occurs sometimes on behalf of having a good time… having sex.

Now, I’m all for a good time and I do enjoy sex, but even married I still have protected sex and I always have. Why? Because I’m not ready for a child. That’s called being responsible in my book. Having made abortions legal has given women an easy out. They’ll have unprotected sex, because it “feels better” (and it does) or for whatever other reason that they think of. Women, in this day and age, literally have no fear of commitment or being held responsible for something, because they no longer have to.

What would happen if we kept abortion legalized, but added some stipulations to it? For one, victims of rape would be one exception to the rule. And two, if a woman’s life/health were to be placed in danger due to the pregnancy. The only reasonable time, I would think (and according to most medical professionals that I’ve heard from), to perform the abortion would be within the first trimester.

Ok, so why victims of rape?

I think it’s important to note that rape is a horrible offense and anyone that’s been raped will have to live with the memory of that attrocity for the rest of their lives. In the instance that a rape victim is impregnated, she has no control of the situation and couldn’t have stopped it from happening. As horrible as it is to think about, I do believe that a woman that would potentially keep this child would live to regret it for the rest of her life. Any time she would look at her baby, adolescent, teen, college student, adult… she would always be reminded of her assaillant… her rapist. The person who took her freedom away and violated her. Who knows how this would affect someone? Maybe she would neglect the child? Maybe she would treat the child as if it were no different. I don’t know and I’ll never pretend to know, but I do believe the woman should have a choice in this instance.

Why should the health of the mother supercede that of a the unborn baby? This should be completely up to the woman, as it’s her health and her life. She should have the final say, since it has everything in the world to do with her livelihood. Even in the case where a woman did not know until the third trimester, that the birth of her baby might kill her, she should still have that choice. This, I believe is the only moral exception to the 1st trimester rule.

Won’t women still have unprotected sex and still try to have abortions underground? Isn’t this what lead to Roe vs Wade? Well, if abortion were still made legal with these exceptions/stipulations, doctors could still practice legally. They would have no reason to go underground and the medical organizations and government responsible for upholding the medical ethics code and standards could regulate these doctors. Doctors operating under the radar would obviously be prosecuted and could stand to lose their license.

The American people need to wisen up. They need to create and utilize a new moral compass that everyone can agree to. Morality needs to be brought back into the United States. In order to do this, however… a passing of a law is not enough. Parents, teachers and children need to be educated, as that’s where this starts. The government cannot legislate morality or even responsibility, they can only provide the means to lead a moral and responsible life.

Thus, sex education should incorporate various protective and preventative measures: condoms, abstinence, birth control pills/shots, etc. Schools should teach children about the benefits and importance of adoption and it’s effect on society. They should teach and deglorify abortion and show that it’s not all it’s made out to be. It has repercussions, both physically and mentally, scarring people for the rest of their lives. Adoption should be taught and seen as a responsible action for someone that can’t care for a child themselves.

It starts in the class room, but it doesn’t stop there. Parents need to become involved. There’s been so much neglect and ignorance in the United States over the past several years and it certainly shows. You can see the results, publically, in any school, at any mall and pretty blatantly in Hollywood. Kids are looking up to Britney Spears, Madonna, and Paris Hilton, when they should be using their parents as role models. Parents must also be responsible and they need to teach their children a moral code to live by; they need to be strong role models.

You may think I’m being a little too harsh. However, I do believe that responsibility is a non-issue for young adults and even older adults. I think that most teenagers are apathetic towards pregnancy and will continue to have unprotected sex and continue to be irresponsible until certain actions are taken. Reform the abortion laws, increase sex education in the homes and in the schools, get teachers and parents involved with the children, and hopefully we can turn this country around.

Would I pass a law to ban abortion completely? No. Would I pass a law to reform abortion laws? Probably.

What would you do? Why am I right or wrong? You tell me. =]

In the Beginning…

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Welcome to Polidiotic.com! If you’ve made it this far, then you must be sick of the typical political banter being thrown around from liberal extremists and “reformed” republicans. You must be looking for a point of view that doesn’t distort the truth, nor has an ulterior motive/agenda. Perhaps one that you can agree with and one that makes sense, for the most part, to the normal, everyday person. The person that works a 9-5 job, doesn’t make 100s of thousands/millions of dollars in salary and works hard. Someone that has a realistic outlook on life and believes in the American lifestyle and dream.

I, nor the people I associate with (so far), don’t have any political affiliations. The business I work for, SMS Direct, is a Direct Mail Marketing company and actually does some mail shop jobs for the DNC and RNC, as well as several other organizations and for-profit corporations. What that means, is that they’re a bipartisan company with employees both republican and democratic, conservative and liberal…

Why did I tell you that? To gain your trust and to show you that I’m a regular person just like you. I’m married, I have a dog and just purchased my first condo. My wife and I have a mortgage and are paying off two cars. We have responsibilities just like you.

I am, however, a conservative. I truly believe that our constitution, when written and signed, was for the benefit of our society and aims to allow us to grow as a country and remain free. It allows for us to take responsibility for our actions, to deal with the consequences and to make the best of our lives. America has more rights than any other country in the world. We have the greatest economy on seven continents, because we live in a free market society based on capitalism, and in my opinion… we have the greatest and most patriotic people on Earth – for the most part.

Then, we have over-compensated America-hating, God-hating liberals that want nothing more than to make our society like every European country in the world… Free health care for all, more government control for businesses, more government control over our lives, less personal responsibility, higher taxes, a declination in economy and energy. These people don’t wish us to grow, but to deteriorate into a socialist/neo-communist regime.

That’s why I started this blog. I’m sick of liberally biased media. I’m sick of hearing complaints about our amazing society. I’m sick of people not taking responsibility for their actions. I’m sick of people wanting the government to bail everyone out. I’m sick of the two-faced politics, where democrats ignore every misdirection or negative campaign tactic they use, and attack Republicans for releasing facts that incriminate democratic politicians. I’m also sick of hearing the argument that Fox News is a conservative outlet and safe haven, when at least 50-60% of the commentators, analysts and contributors are actually liberal. I’m also sick of liberals using Fox News as their go-to, when arguing their point about politically biased media outlets. They can name only ONE news organization? It’s pathetic.

That’s where I stand. I’m sick of the bull and I’m here to voice my opinions, as well as the facts. No, I won’t be traveling around the world to interview politicians and find out different views of people that may or may not matter, but I’ll do the research to clear up any information that I think might be news worthy. I’ll also do my part to clear up any biases and miss-clarifications. I’ve seen too many biases, blatant lies, misdirections, misleading news, and hate-filled remarks to remain closed down in hermit status.

Why “Polidiotic.com,” you ask? Why not? It’s my answer to the idiocies in politics and media. That’s what the news and political industries/fields have turned into. Polidiotics.

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