Dear Mr. Penn, my grandchildren will have no shame

Even when I had a regular chance to watch movies, I never got caught up in the awards season as those obsessed with Hollywood do. If it was a good movie, great. If not, oh well. I've been out of college now for 8 years, and my life has changed dramatically with having a family. One thing I really understand, now that I have kids, is how hard it is to protect them from the world and its influences. One of those influences is that from the entertainment world and the message they broadcast.

And My God helps me do that. Even though I am not a citizen of California, I was pro-Prop 8. I believe that marriage should be defined as that relationship between man and woman. Sorry, Mr. Penn, but I disagree with your message. God made man and woman to be partners together, to worship their Creator.

It is not because of hatred that I disagree with you Mr. Penn, it is because My God says this is how it is supposed to be. I will raise my children to understand how and why God made us, and I pray that they will do the same for their children. And I hope my family realizes that it is not a message of hating people, but of the act. Yes, I do realize that we shouldn't hate people, but hating the act is different.

I increasingly become annoyed at those in Hollywood who think that they are so popular because of their social beliefs and values. If you want to be a mouthpiece, then run for public office.

Lets Make a Plan to Make a Plan

CNN had a story this morning about how divided President Obama’s first 30 days in office have been. During the campaign season, Obama planned to bring both parties together and transcend Washington politics. Unfortunately for Obama, the entrenched divisiveness of DC politics is bigger than he is.

Obama’s first major act, closing Gitmo, ran headstrong into cries from the GOP wondering what to do with the prisoners housed there. There was absolutely no plan forthcoming from the administration about what to do with the prisoners once Gitmo was closed. Even congressional reps that wanted the base closed didn’t want them brought to prisons in their district. It seemed Obama just wanted to make nice with Muslim nations, no matter the cost to U.S. security.

So far, the only plan that the Whitehouse seems to have is to not have one.

One of the funniest moments so far was the first press conference by Treasure Secretary Timothy Geithner. Even when Bush fumbled through speeches and tripped over his own words, at least he tried to look confident. At a time when citizens want to see the people in charge of the nations economy look confident, Geithner looked like a deer in headlights at his press conference. There seemed to be no organization to his plan on spending $70 BILLION dollars. He might as well have said, “We are going to spend a whole lot of money. We just aren’t sure how, yet.”

Today and tomorrow, Obama is focusing on the economic recovery of this country. He is heading a budget conference today to discuss the ballooning deficit and how to reduce it. Tomorrow night, he plans to give his first address to a joint session of Congress. Hopefully, he’ll introduce a plan.

The Recession-Proof Government

So when President Obama says we all need to change our lifestyles to reflect the dire economy, this does not seem to apply to him and his Democrat cronies. A CNN investigation (I’m as shocked as you are) found out about a trip that Senator Nancy Pelosi took to Italy on a military charter. There are three major issues with this trip.

The timing of this trip couldn’t be any worse. Instead of giving the American people a debate we deserve on the $800 BILLION stimulus bill, she was trying to get out DC. The final vote was taken Friday afternoon, and she left Monday. One of the (if not the biggest) spending bills in this country’s history and we couldn’t get a real debate on it. She treated this bill like a grenade, just toss it and hope it gets close enough to do some damage.

But she didn’t go by herself. Her delegation also included Reps John Larson (D-CT), George Miller (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Anna Eshoo (D-CA). I guess Republicans or anyone not from one of the most liberal states in the Union were not invited.

Another issue is her responsibilities to her constituents. Instead of being available to the citizens she represents for discussions on the stimulus bill, she was on the other side of the world talking to the Italian Prime Minister about the Middle East, global economic issues. Let’s not forget that this is not the first time that Pelosi has taken it upon her self to represent the entire country in an overseas trip. In January of 2007, Pelosi wound up in Iraq to meet with Iraqi leaders. She also wanted to “thank the troops.” The White House needs to realize that there are other people that get paid to do this. They work in the State Department, and also the White House, of course.

Pelosi’s arrogance in thinking that she is the CPM, Chief Policy Maker, is absolutely absurd. Anyone that paid attention to the stimulus debate knows that Obama was just along for the ride while Democratic Senators and House Reps were crafting the legislation. The only thing Obama really participated in was telling the media that without it, the world would end.

While the rest of the country and many businesses are being forced to downsize, and some of us lose our jobs, the Democratic administration keeps chugging along. Pelosi’s Italian Job cost the taxpayer a few grand for the plan charter. No telling what other kind of “expenditures” were charged on the ground. But not just for her, but also her entire entourage. And President Obama is just as guilty. He recently jetted off to Colorado from DC just to sign the stimulus bill. He wanted to highlight “Green Energy” at a museum in Denver. Then he went to Arizona, a state hit hard by the housing melt down, to announce his housing rescue plan. Of course, he could have done this from the White House. Obama even created a new Cabinet position, his Chief Performance Officer.

While the rest of the country’s businesses are cutting costs and laying off employees, the Pelosi/Obama administration continues to spend as though there is no tomorrow.

BBCW: Video of Rick Santelli and his Obama Descent for Paying "Losers' Mortgages": Suggests "Chicago Tea Party in July"#comment-form

BBCW: Video of Rick Santelli and his Obama Descent for Paying "Losers' Mortgages": Suggests "Chicago Tea Party in July"#comment-form

Attorney General Holder stirs the melting pot

As much as I may disagree with President Obama’s policies or world view, I can give him credit on one thing. He ran his campaign without injecting the race card. That doesn’t mean his supporters did it, but he personally never brought it up. It wasn’t even brought up with his Cabinet picks, until Eric Holder did it himself. Niiiiiiice.

From ABCnews.com:

"Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot in things racial, we have always been, and we, I believe, continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards," Holder said at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. "Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial.

"This is truly sad. Given all that we as a nation went through during the civil rights struggle, it is
hard for me to accept that the result of those efforts was to create an America that is more prosperous, more positively race-conscious, and yet is voluntarily socially segregated."

If Holder is so worried about voluntary segregation, maybe he should be the first to take the leap. Perhaps he already has. As a black person and the top law enforcement person in the country, I’m sure he lives in a nice gated community surrounded mostly by upper crust white people, not in the DC hoods.

My point is, we live with and around people that share our same values and people that we feel comfortable living around. If I choose not to live around black people, Mexicans, or Asians, it’s not because I’m racist, or a coward. For almost all of my college life, I had a black roommate, and we were great friends. Since Holder is older than I, and because of his stature, maybe he has seen more racism than I have and had to fight through more walls.

But if he wants to discuss a nation of cowards, maybe he can also talk about how companies are forced to hire inferior minority applicants to make sure they don’t face a lawsuit. Discuss.

The ACORN Strikes Back

Looks like ACORN is at it again. Savior Obama has come out with his Great Plan to keep people in homes they can not afford. Obama plans to throw more than $75 BILLION at this problem. This is separate from the stimulus he signed the day before. And with the pronouncement, ACORN has come like paparazzi to the Grammys.

Obama said earlier today, “In the end, all of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis," And then added more doom and gloom.

"And all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to deepen -- a crisis which is unraveling homeownership, the middle class, and the American Dream itself. But if we act boldly and swiftly to arrest this downward spiral, every American will benefit."

Who needs remade mortgages? Why can’t we just call ACORN in to chain some staffers to homes so the un-home owners will not get evicted? And who needs bankruptcy judges? Just call in some ACORN lawyers so they can renegotiate the mortgage themselves.

Why, they even have their own rep in the House.

The demand to end evictions and foreclosures received a huge boost when Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) recently told families facing foreclosure to stay in their homes. "Stay in your homes. If the American people, anybody out there is being foreclosed, don’t leave," she said on the floor of the House of Representatives.

This action by ACORN and others like Kaptur reeks of sidestepping normal laws to get what you want. Rallying public support against a county official because they are doing their job is an embarrassment to those that dutifully pay their rent or mortgage on time.

The local sheriff showed up with an eviction order, but the people helped block the eviction. ACORN organizers mobilized the media and public opinion against the sheriff's eviction order. ACORN lawyers worked with government agencies to negotiate a stay on the eviction, and the family was able to stay in the home.

Is this the change that was voted for? The American Dream was “work hard, and you’ll be rewarded.” This is “hardly work, and you’ll be rewarded.”

Tribune's John Kass on Burris Mess

Saw this on an another blog, Backyard Conservative. It was so funny, I though I would post it here as well.

Chicago Tribune's John Kass, "Blame for Burris Mess isn't Blagojevich's Alone"