Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is the day we give thanks. Looking around, one would think that Thanksgiving has pretty much degenerated to nothing more than a family gathering at the most on an extra day off, but not much more. I wonder how many folks out here even remember the true meaning of this holiday. So many kids I see now haven't a clue, nor do many of our citizens grasp what this holiday means and why we should be so thankful. For those who do care, however, for those who understand, this holiday is so much more than family thankfulness. It is a time to give thanks for everything our country stands for as well.

When the pilgrims came over, they faced many extreme obstacles. A severe winter and unfamiliar surroundings combined with having to fend for themselves was a daunting task. yet, they persevered. They made friends with the Indians and with their cooperation and help survived. Thus, came the day of Thanksgiving.

Enough of the very brief history lesson from my little world. The main point is what is it that one should be thankful for in these crazy stressful times? I've thought about this alot and here is my little slant on it.

First and foremost I am thankful for my wonderful wife of 35 years, our kids and grandkids and all the people throughout my life, parents, etc, who have been there for me. Family and friends are one of the most cherished things one can have and I am blessed.

Once one gets passed the obvious family thing though, what else should we be thankful for. Many people in this country are to busy with their own insane (in my view) agendas to even remotely stop to be thankful for this country and the very thing that gives them the right ot be who they are. This saddens me to no end. Therefore, here is what else I am thankful for.

I give thanks to the founding fathers, the men and women who gave us the basic foundation of this wondrous country. Everything we are stems from their efforts and sacrifices and they did in fact sacrifice so much more that many folks want to admit to. Thanks to them, I have the right to express my opinion without fear of prosecution, that is at least I do at this moment. The fact that there are people in this country who feel our leaders should be allowed to stifle free speech is abhorrent to me. To many people have sacrificed the ultimate to give me and everyone that very basic right.

I give thanks to the wonderful men and women who comprise our military, the best in the world. These people selfishly give of themselves yet so many people in this country openly despise them. How can this be? Thousands have given their life and blood for our freedom yet so many cannot find it in their hearts to give them thanks?

I give thanks to the people of this country who still hold true to her core values. These folks, patriots all are at the forefront of trying to restore our core values to their rightful standing.

I don't want to be long winded here, so I hope you all get my drift. We have so much to be thankful for and so much to fight for.

Finally, I want to give thanks to the United States of America, my home! Despite our apologetic leaders open disdain for her, our country is in fact the greatest country this world has ever seen. While our leaders now openly work to tear apart our very fabric, the main population refuse to march lockstep to the Pied Piper in the White House. Instead they have chosen to look deep inside their history and themselves and have chosen to stand up and be counted in the fight against the the cancer that is seeping through our government and country. To those brave people. I give my profound thanks!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

A Soldier's Plea For Resposinilty By All Of Us!

I saw this on the “ Maggie’s Notebook Blogsite”. As I read it, I thought of my son-in-law who is at this moment in Afghanistan as well as my father and step-fathers, Veterans from WWII who sacrificed so much as did countless thousands to give us and defend our country and her liberties. This is one of the most powerful things I have ever read! It is an indictment of an electorate, well deserved that has failed in their most sacred duty to their country. That is taking their right to vote seriously! Because of that one fact, this country is on the edge of total destruction both morally and financially. The men and women who have fought for us do not deserve what is now happening here in the U.S.

Please read this letter and remember exactly what it is that these men and women stand for. Duty, Honor and Country. They fight for us! They sure as hell do not deserve seeing their sacrifices all for naught as the Leftist leaders of this country whittle away the very rights these fine men and women have fought for! God Bless You Major Banzet! And thank you for you service and sacrifice!


By MIKE BANZET: WHY I QUIT

I never expected to write this letter, but my Mom e-mailed me to get information about my career for a writeup on Veterans Day, and as this is the first such holiday in 22 years when I will not be on active duty, I felt compelled to let you know why I decided to quit.

Quit is a strong word, I know. Everyone I’ve talked to has repeated that I’ve had a marvelous career and that I’ve retired with honor. Maybe that’s true on paper; I guess that it’s reflected by the record. But that’s not how I feel. I feel like I’ve quit. And because I’m not a quitter, I feel I have to explain why — not that anyone is asking, but because perhaps they don’t know to ask.

Briefly, my career had been a representation of the promise of this country. Starting out on the lowest rung of the rank ladder as an F-4G Wild Weasel crew chief, continuing on F-16s and the F-117A Stealth fighter in Desert Storm, then a small part of Desert Fox as a nuclear Maintenance Officer and finally a pilot that took part in numerous deployments in Southern Watch, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. I finished up an awesome year on the ground in Iraq, and was selected to receive a coveted “Definitely Promote,” assuring me of promotion to lieutenant colonel. They don’t pass out many of those. My dreams were right in front of me. All I had to do was grab them. And then I retired. Why?

Atlas Shrugged.

I had chosen, freely, to place my life between those that would do harm to the U.S. and those whom I would protect: her citizens. I had always believed in the best of America and the people of her lands; that despite occasional missteps there was a general “rightness” to our way. I lived that belief for 22 years, leading and following warriors into combat. I’m certainly no war hero; my brothers in arms have seen far more combat, more intense and personal than I. But I have become acquainted with death in a way that I hope you never do. My last tour, on the ground in Iraq was where my heart started to be hardened towards you, the electorate, and culminated in this letter, written two days before our elections. And here’s why.

You’ve elected officials who, for partisan points, spoke openly that the “…war is lost.” I happened to be in a dining facility in Baghdad that day, filled with the (mostly) young faces of (mostly) Army men and women. CNN was on the TVs, and things got very quiet when this elected official continued on, railing that the mission that some of these very people were here to do, had “…failed.” Yet, they would be donning their body armor, strapping on med kits and weapons, mounting HMMVs or MRAPs and heading outside the wire, ensuring that the newborn democracy in Iraq, purchased with so many lives, would be safe another night. The newly re-invigorated insurgents would be waiting, teeth bared back in a hateful smile, gripping the IED detonator, the RPG launcher, or the AK-47s to ply their trade with new energy, because the Senate Majority Leader had said they were winning.

You elected officials who continually defame and berate military members, whether it is the observation that if you’re not too bright, you’ll get “…stuck in Iraq” (this from a guy who has two Purple Hearts for self-inflicted wounds, and known for throwing someone else’s medals away in protest), or the calling of combat Marines cold-blooded killers (in a war; before trial). You’ve elected officials in the role of commander-in-chief who “loathe” the military, while using ROTC deferments and special treatment to avoid military service that the less “connected” take as a responsibility. On the basis of “change,” you elected someone who had close, ongoing associations with people who were part of an organization that tried to kill us [U.S. military] on our own soil.

You elected officials that promised to take property from some Americans, and give it to you, merely because they had more than you did. Those Americans that these officials have labeled as the “rich” are your neighbors, who provide jobs and pay far more in taxes than you ever will. That means they are already subsidizing your lifestyle choices; you just want more of their property without the responsibility of risking your wealth and labor to get it. You would rather hire someone to take it from them. And you have.

Yet these same officials from this same party are the wealthiest group of people in both the House and Senate. They have offshore accounts, forbid unions in their businesses and use every tax loophole they can find with their armies of accountants. But you keep sending them back to those jobs, because they promise to steal from some Americans and give to you.

You elect officials who openly embrace illegal activity; but they don’t have to live with the consequences. Other Americans pay the price. You support “sanctuary cities” and open defiance of federal law, including supporting administrations who sue our sister states as they desperately try to control a crime epidemic by supporting federal law. You support an administration that leads a party that gives a standing ovation to the leader of a country that exploits our kindness and actively encourages law-breaking in our country while insulting our fellow citizens who dare to try to enforce the law. Check out your elected officials; did they stand and applaud the racist diatribe of the president of Mexico? Did they join the attorney general and the head of Homeland Security in applauding this gaping hole in (homeland) security and law? Do you have locks on your doors? Why?

You elect officials who are openly racist, decrying that “White folks’ greed drives a world in need…” and that their own grandmother was a “…typical white person.” Someone who sits in admiration as their pastor (small p; no capital letters for racists), in a church he attended for 20 years, slanders the United States as the “…U.S. of KKK America” and delights that the 9/11 “…chickens have come home to roost.” Someone who refused to denounce a paramilitary, racist organization that placed its members in front of polling places armed with billy clubs, and yelling racist, threatening epithets. On video. And the Attorney General did nothing.

Oh, wait. The Justice Department is now apparently, under sworn testimony, the Department of Racial Payback. And you continue to support the party that supports this blatantly racist behavior because they say that they will stick it to “the man” on your behalf. A Nation of Cowards? I don’t think so; the courage of this breathtaking racism is without equal in modern times. One would think that you would use your votes to eradicate these racist policies from the U.S. But that assumes eradicating racism is your aim. It’s not, or you would be as incensed at this blatant racism as you would if sheet-covered whites were there. But longtime Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd’s old gang has been rightfully disgraced and shamed into a virtual non-existence. Thank goodness that 52 percent of you discourage that kind of behavior.

But you don’t. You support the tactic of using the epithet of “racist” as the cudgel of choice for racists who don’t like policies that conservatives advocate. Don’t like illegal activity? Racist. Your party insists that to provide a photo ID — proving you are who you say you are — is not only too much of a burden to ask a voter to bear, but it’s racist as well. This not only terribly insulting to all races, but when the burden of proof to rent the DVD “Second Hand Lions” (amazing movie!) is higher than that required to vote for someone who has control of nuclear weapons or deploying men and women into harm’s way, there is something wrong.

It doesn’t end there. Don’t like a particular female’s policies? Sexist. Yet, you support politicians who prey on 20-year old interns, seduce underage male interns, and, as a double bonus, support a person for the Supreme Court who says she is “wiser” than white people because of her race and sex. And any opponent of hers must be sexist and racist. Yet the prevailing double standard makes “bitch” an acceptable term for a conservative grandmother with the temerity to want to stop illegal activity. And “whore” is acceptable terminology for any conservative woman.

Sarah Palin seems to be a nice person, the kind you would love to have as a neighbor, regardless of her policies; but you insist that she is stupid and vile. She is ignorant and inexperienced, clearly not ready for anything, as holding a variety of elected and appointed positions culminating in the governorship of Alaska clearly doesn’t hold up against… an organizer of race-based communities. Sexist, if a conservative said those words about a liberal, but because she is not pro-killing-little-kids, 52 percent of you decided she was worth vicious ad hominem attacks that continue to this day. Not just saying that you disagree, but saying she is evil. You support it all. All because the folks that practice this abhorrent behavior promise to give you free health care stolen from other Americans who haven’t paid their ill-defined “fair share.”

My oath was this: “I, Mike, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

I took that oath seriously. But you have responsibilities, too. You should take them seriously.

Mike Banzet, a retired major in the U.S. Air Force, is a 1986 graduate of Flathead High School in Kalispell, Montana.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Presidential Arrogance and Veterans Day

I want to address two subjects today, our completely out of touch President and Veteran’s day.

As we all know, President Obama is on this India/Indonesia trip supposedly to attend the G20 summit. First off, in my view as always this summit will end up with the rest of the world sneering at the President and in effect telling him to “take a hike” as is usually the case. And as he is towing along something like 3,000 people and what not I see this as just another waste of taxpayer money as he rewards his Marxist friends, nothing more, nothing less. BTW: I was taken to task in my last post when I carped about the cost, supposedly inflating the cost figures as I took them from the news accounts I was reading at the time: Please note my comment from that post. “One other thing, The President is leaving on a trip that in some stories I've read will cost the American taxpayer 200 million a day (again, I do not know the true costs, but as the Navy is also involved the cost has to be horribly high). 3000 people are needed for this trip?” I state that I in fact do not know the true cost of the trip yet I felt it was horribly high. As is usually the case, the hard left morons only use the words they want one to see against the writer, not the truth. This brings me to my first point of the day.

The President is out there as usual basically bad mouthing the American public. By that I mean he as are his cohorts in his administration and his propaganda arm, the MSM are telling the world how stupid the American public is. Heaven forbid he should ever admit his policies are boneheaded and wrong! No, better to call us common people dumb, illiterate, scared, racist or whatever rather than face up to the truth! A few quotes I found in the news:

As you see in this first quote, the President has his propaganda ministers working in full force. I don’t say this as a joke! He and his kind are open in their hostility towards the electorate. They call us stupid. Amazingly, they don’t get it yet! We are paying attention now!

From Drudge: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) has questioned the intelligence of the newly elected members of Congress. "If you look at the U.S., you look at who we are electing to Congress, to the Senate, they can't read," Bloomberg told a reporter while in Hong Kong for the C40 summit. "I'll bet you a bunch of these people don't have passports. We're about to start a trade war with China if we're not careful here -- only because nobody knows where China is. Nobody knows what China is."

The next two quotes are from our so called leader. As you can see, he is blaming the other side for in effect misrepresenting his policies. Pure and simple, the man, a hard core socialist is blaming the dumb electorate for not understanding or listening to his message.

From Obama interview: “I think the Republicans were able to paint my governing philosophy as a classic, traditional, big government liberal. And that's not something that the American people want.”

Well, at least he supposedly realizes we do not want big government. NOT! Moron Alert! All he’s doing is saying what he thinks we want to hear. He sure as hell doesn’t plan to change. He goes on to say in every interview in some way that he alone knows what is right and not matter what the lip service he pays, he will fight the evil Right. As he says below, he is unable to make us understand. Forget the fact that all he’s done for two years is talk down to the electorate. Good Lord! He had an unstoppable majority with which he should have been able to force his entire Socialist agenda on us yet he couldn’t! The people understand Mr. President. It’s jackasses like you that don’t.

“Making an argument that people can understand,” Mr. Obama continued, “I think that we haven’t always been successful at that. And I take personal responsibility for that. And it’s something that I’ve got to examine carefully … as I go forward.”
Last thought on this. His statement below is disgusting at best. He, to my knowledge has never referred to any other religion as great. And his view of Jihad is so out of touch with reality As to be childlike for want of a nastier word. This clown who refuses to admit that Muslim Fanatics are responsible for this is as usual cow towing to the enemies of this country.

“The phrase jihad has a lot of meaning within Islam and is subject to a lot of different interpretations, but I will say that first Islam is one of the world’s great religions. More than a billion people practice Islam and an overwhelming majority value their obligations to a religion that reaffirms peace, fairness, tolerance. I think all of us recognize that this great religion in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted by violence,”

“A religion that reaffirms peace, fairness and tolerance”! And this president and his followers think we the American public are stupid? This is absolutely beyond pathetic! I could go on, but I’m sure everyone gets the drift. Our President is an embarrassment to this country and in my view a traitor to our ideals.

Thursday is Veterans Day. As such, I want to first touch on another idiotic example of the Commander in Chief and his disdain for our military before I do my small part to honor our fighting men and women.

The other day, the President while in India gave a tribute to the people who were massacred by Muslim Terrorists in Mumbai. That anniversary happened to coincide with the massacre at Ft. Hood, a crime perpetrated by a Muslim terrorist! I swear, I have looked all over and have not seen one word from this scum bag in the Oval Office or his Marxist brethren as to Ft.Hood. Not only do they refuse to use the correct description of the person who shot these people (Muslim Terrorist for you lefty idiots out there) but the President of the United States could not even bring himself to acknowledge the one year anniversary of this heinous act! To this day, the government refuses to address a basic fact. Muslim Extremists, better known as terrorists want to kill us. And this president doesn’t give a damn! How dare he try to force his views on us and ignore not only our fighting men and women, but to also give short shrift to an episode that in many ways defines what is going on in the world today. This guy disdains our military and his country!

In past posts, I have mentioned my father, my two step fathers, my old man (F.B Lantz) as I call him, an employer who took me under his wing and I think helped make me the man I have grown to be and my son-in-law who is at this moment in Afghanistan. I wish to add to that list my brother Larry who served in both the Navy and Army. Proud soldiers and Veterans all. Over the years, I have been around magnificent people who have served in our armed forces. One note here. I tried to enlist in “69” but was rejected due to medical reasons. I only point that as I have been taken to task more than once with the “you never served argument” so what gives you the right to comment from our lefty friends. They are correct. I did not serve in the armed services.

As such, I cannot relate to what our service men and women have gone through. I can however tell anyone who wants to listen that I honor them all. I have been lucky enough in my life to have been surrounded by good honest men and women who have served. They never have asked for our thanks. They never have thrown it in my face that they served. They all to a man or woman simple felt that they did what they thought was their duty to God and Country. And yes, God is an important part of that.

These people in my discussions over the years with them only ask for one thing. “Please do not throw away everything our fore fathers have given you. Please do not waste what we have fought for. Please remember you live in the greatest country in the world” Again, this is what I feel the message is from them.

I and everyone in this country owe so much to our armed services. I thank them. I honor them. On this Veterans Day, the greatest gift we can give is not only recognition and thanks, but to disavow the course being taken by this anti-military government. Our military does not deserve that! They deserve our praise. They deserve our honor. They deserve our thanks. May god bless them all!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Election Thoughts and The Impending Depression

Something of extreme importance occurred yesterday which I will address after I throw out my post election comments.

This past week's elections, while having a rather good result, still leaves a lot to be desired. First and foremost, what in the hell is wrong with the people in Nevada? Hell, these folks don't even rate a Moron Alert. One of the reasons I left New Jersey was because the idiots there would always vote to shoot themselves in the foot, raise taxes and overspend. Those numb skulls had never met a tax hike they couldn't support. Well, the voters in Nevada managed to out dumb New Jersey! For that matter, the same can be said for the nimrods in California also. A state that is beyond bankruptcy elects the very people that drove them to the edge. I hate to think Biden was correct in his view that the electorate is stupid, but you sure have to wonder about the Democrats as to that. I for one am disgusted by my fellow Nevadans. As the stories of voter fraud flood in, the fact is we have only ourselves to blame. As usual, the electorate idiotically returned an entrenched politician to to the fold.

This election was a repudiation of the socialist policies advocated by this rancid administration. But do you think our so called President got the message? NOT! After he cried and moaned how he didn't get his message across to the people that only his asinine policies could save us, he once again claimed he would try to find compromise with the other side. Can one say "Crock of Shi.."? Who's this guy trying to kid. Moron Alert! The man is a committed Socialist. He intends to deliver this country to third world status. He does not in any way shape or form believe in the American way of life. His arrogance is astounding! After the most pathetic (maybe Carter was worse in this respect) press conference I have ever seen, one in which he, in my estimation basically told the American to blow it out their you know what! And if any one thinks for one minute this man is going to back down, forget it. He will pretend to play nice and continue to blame the other side as his policies further destroy our country. Lame ducks, executive orders, all will come into play here.

One other thing, The President is leaving on a trip that in some stories I've read will cost the American taxpayer 200 million a day (again, I do not know the true costs, but as the Navy is also involved the cost has to be horribly high. 3000 people are needed for this trip? That's 2 billion dollars for a ten day trip and for what? I notice the majority of people going with him are pretty much the same radical crowd he surrounds himself with. I'm assuming this clown will once again demean our country, apologize for our exeptionalism and once again remind the world that he will save it from us evil Americans. Personally, I find it hard to respect the man in the Oval Office. He surely does not represent me and I surely do not want him to. He is an embarrassment to our country and our way of life. In my view, he is a traitor. I feel that with every bone in my body.

While waste is apparent as in this trip, it and everything else going on pales in comparison to the horrible thing that was announced yesterday and how convenient that the President is escaping the country rather than have the balls to explain why he advocates devaluing our dollar by close to 20% This isn't a joke folks, this is fact!

Explanation. The Fed announced yesterday it is going to buy 600 billion dollars of bonds or in effect debt. This on top of 1.2 trillion dollars already spent for this. They call it "Quantative Easing". Can you say Bull Sh...? Basically, the Govt. is buying up it's own debt. But how exactly are they paying for this? Easy answer here folks. They are printing more money. In other words, in effect they will print 1.8 trillion new dollars. As there is nothing to back this, the dollar will shrink in value. Goods and services will cost more! In other words, we will suffer!

The Fed had promised not to "monetize" the system. Moron Alert number 2. They lied!!!
They said this has never been tried before. They lied!!! Germany, Argentina and countless other countries have printed money to cover debts only to bring on hyper-inflation. Beranke has openly admitted this sd to help raise stock prices. Gee Whiz. Sounds like the late 20's all over. The government today says the risk of a double dip recession is gone. No Shit Sherlock! (excuse the French) They aren't mentioning the coming depression. You kno,. the one that past history has always shown would happen when governments continually print unbacked money to cover their reckless spending. The Weirmar Republic (Germany) did this and look what that led to!

History! Why do we never learn from it? Why do our government officials constantly lie to us? Quantative Easing is nothing more than printing worthless money. We rename it or repackage and say it's never tried. The morons in D.C. in turn hope they can convince the public of this deception. And history repeats itself as one way or another they spend us into oblivion! When are we going to stop this?