The State of the Union Address for 2008

I just finished listening the President's State of the Union address for 2008. It was a clear speech that spelled out specific bullet points. If you were paying attention to the TV coverage, you got a very good idea of who are the friends of you, the American people, and who are your enemies. By enemies, I mean people who would sacrifice the good of the majority of the people for the benefit of a small group or to forward their own interests.
I am specifically referring to the part of the speech where the President was discussing the Economic Stimulus Plan designed to put money back in our pockets. When he discussed the need to put the economy in the hands of the consumer, he first talked about the tax rebate that he is trying to pass for immediate relief. Next, he moved into imploring Congress not to let taxes increase and to work to leave the money of the American consumer in their own pockets. On each point, the Republicans stood and cheered about the thought of taxes not being increased or even being reduced eventually. However the Democrats tried as hard as they could to sit and not applaud. I told my wife, "Do you see the ones sitting down when he talks about letting us keep our money? They are the ones that want more of your money. They want a bigger piece of your paycheck."
I couldn't believe the brazenness of the ones showing so dramatically how strongly and passionately they wanted to increase taxes and take more of our money.
Another point was where the President was demanding a reduction in earmark and entitlement spending. Again, the tax-happy democrats sat like statues while the Republicans stood and cheered at the prospect of less spending in favor of small groups to leave more for the common good and protection of America.
Finally, I wonder of the hypocrisy of Nancy Pelosi has any bounds. If so, there was no evidence of such boundaries in sight. I watched her smile and shake the President's hand as I listened the liberal CBS commentators quote her comments such as "poor baby, even his own party has abandoned him" regarding the President. I want to leave you with a fact that illustrates the motivation and hypocrisy of that woman. Recently, Congress voted to increase the minimum wage for workers. The increase was effective for all workers except the fish cannery workers in American Samoa. You know the brands: Starkist and Chicken of the Sea. Both of those companies are subsidiaries of Del Monte, which is based in San Fransisco. San Francisco is in Speaker Pelosi's district. She used her clout to save a company in her district from the increased production expense of a higher minimum wage. Apparently, she is in favor of deciding what employers should pay workers unless it affects her wealthy constituents.
CBS had some guy who claimed to be some kind of historian to comment on the Address and President Bush's legacy. I had to get up and leave because the guy was such a buffoon and clearly so biased against President Bush, that he could not fairly evaluate the Address.
It is difficult to assess his legacy of the future. The best thing he did for our country, to my thinking, is to protect us from further attacks and to do the best he could to strengthen our nation's defenses. He did a great deal to mend the damage done by the Slick Willy's administration. We have people working now to stop further attacks and to keep the Taliban and Al Quaeda on the run.

Denton County Commissioner, Precinct 1

Commissioner White's people just came to the front door of my house. The guy had to walk by a couple of Hugh Coleman for Commissioner signs to get to my door. I hope the guy possessed sufficient awareness to know that Coleman is running against Cynthia White. He asked me if I was aware of Commissioner White's accomplishments. I told him that I knew Commissioner White.
The brochure he handed me is kind of interesting. The majority of information as to her qualifications have to do with her being a personal trainer, a singer in a garage band, and that she writes columns. The last column of hers that I read had to do with her battle with breast cancer. Anyone doing battle with that horrible disease has my respect and prayers for strength and healing.
However, being a personal trainer, garage band singer, and cancer patient hardly qualifies one to lead or even manage a government the size of Denton County's.
Hugh Coleman is an attorney who has actually worked to advise Denton County department heads, including the Sheriff, and representing the interests of Denton County in state and federal court.
Let us not forget the futile expense that Judge Horn and Commissioner White have given the taxpayers in their Quixotic quest to continue losing litigation against Tarrant County over the boundary dispute. We lost! Let's move on. We can move on by electing a new commissioner in precinct 1.
My problem with her and Judge Horn are the fact that they consistently are willing to sacrifice the well-being of county employees in order to squeeze funds into their pet projects. In my opinion, most of those projects are not as important as taking care of the people who do the work for the county government.
Hugh Coleman is a former county employee who has, like me, felt the sting of being overlooked by the holders of the county purse strings. I think he understands the priorities of good county government.

Sharapova Wins Aussie Open

It is over. Sharapova wins 7-5, 5-3.
Excellent game by two hard hitters.
I really thought Ivanovich had Sharapova on the ropes in the first set. She had break point and ended up losing the game on a missed drop shot. After that Sharapove regained control and took care of business.
Great tennis is fun to watch.

Australian Open Women's Championship Match

Ana Ivanovich

Maria Sharapova

Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovich are playing for the Australian Open Championship right now on ESPN2. I will stay with it as long as I can. I am a tennis fan, but the current guys are kind of boring. Federer always wins. Agassi finally retired. Roddick is a big baby. This match is very good. Two really, really good players going at each other. I used to play this game alot before I hurt my knees. I miss it.

This is a Shame for America

I fear the the future...
NEW YORK TIMES

January 23, 2008
Fred Thompson Drops Out of the Presidential Race
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MICHAEL POWELL
CORAL BEACH, Fla. — Fred D. Thompson, the former senator of Tennessee, dropped out of the Republican race for president today.
The decision came after Mr. Thompson’s third-place primary showing on Saturday in South Carolina, a state he had once hoped to win, instead underscored the weakness of his campaign.
“I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort,” he said in a statement. “Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people.”
Mr. Thompson’s advisers said he would not make an endorsement in the race.
Mr. Thompson, 65, rode in to the campaign powered by the high hopes of conservative Republicans who were disappointed with the field of candidates and hoped that Mr. Thompson — a television actor and former counsel to the Watergate committee — could rally conservatives behind him. But Mr. Thompson instead brought a phlegmatic style to the campaign trail, and his candidacy never took off.
His decision to drop out could potentially help Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, who has competed for many of the same voters. Some Republicans suggested that Mr. Huckabee came in second in South Carolina precisely because Mr. Thompson had siphoned off much of his support, permitting Senator John McCain of Arizona to win.
But Mr. Huckabee has moved to scale back his own campaign after his South Carolina showing, and has backed away from plans to campaign heavily in Florida.
Assuming Mr. Huckabee does not reconsider, Mr. Thompson’s withdrawal could therefore be a boon for Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who has aggressively sought to recruit Florida conservatives to his side.
Mr. Thompson had seemed to be a candidate from central casting, with his imposing height, his theatrical growl and a plain-spoken conservatism. Only last summer, he had many Republicans spinning dreams of Ronald Reagan resurrected.
“He has a presidential bearing,” Republican Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander said at the time.
He never achieved presidential traction, however. He ruminated for many weeks about whether to run. By the time he entered the race, much of the buzz had dissipated. His speaking style swung between folksy and laconic to the point of sleepy.
He played to loud applause at the National Rifle Association and picked up endorsement of anti-abortion groups. But rival candidates like Mitt Romney and Rudolph Giuliani rushed to refashion themselves as conservatives, changing a number of long-held positions that were more socially moderate.
That caused Mr. Thompson no end of frustration, but he never found a way to persuade Republicans that his bona-fides entitled him to their vote. And he drew considerable criticism for his flagging, flickering energy — some of his walking tours lasted just 10 or 15 minutes, and he often took few questions.
He drew just 1 percent of the vote in New Hampshire (fewer than the number of write-in votes), and finished fifth in Michigan.
Of late, Mr. Thompson cast himself as a country boy who would bring truth to Washington (in fact, he resides across the Potomac River from the capital, in McLean, Va). And in South Carolina, he talked more and more of his Christian faith, attacking gay marriage and abortion. But there, too, he found himself boxed in, as Mr. Huckabee, a Baptist minister, had laid a deeper claim to evangelical Christian voters.

Aaaargh!

Trying to write Chapter 5 of my book is killing me. Why is this so hard? I think I will skip it for now and move on to fixing Chapter 6 and 7.

Why do I like Fred Thompson for President?

I received comments that I published on a couple of earlier posts. The comments essentially want to know specifically why I like Fred Thompson for President.

I have never made any secret that I am for a smaller, less intrusive government. The current trend of the government (and of the voting populace, for that matter) is to look for people who will use government authority and taxpayer dollars to solve problems or issues that are not public in nature. People are looking to the government to solve the problem of higher gasoline prices, or higher prices of everything. Some people are looking to the government for some form of help to the automobile industry. Recently, the federal government has given tax dollars in the form of charitable contributions to people or groups that perform no government function.

Mitt Romney has made statements in his campaign that he would support government aid to an ailing automotive industry.

The government is too big. Its tentacles reach into too many areas of our private lives. We pay more taxes than we should. The government uses more money than it should.

McCain doesn't understand that the top 50% income earners in our society bear over 90% of the tax burden. He wants tax relief to the bottom 50% or less, but not to the top. That is socialistic thinking. He basically wants to divest earnings from those who have some success and give the money to those who earn less. That is wrong. The government should not be taking any more money than it needs to do government business, such as, building roads, paying employees, defending the nation, and other such legitimate government ends. Taking money from one citizen to give to another citizen to some charity is just a legalized form of theft. "Thou shalt not steal."

So far, based on what I hear from Thompson as he campaigns, his platform is essentially consistent with my thinking. Anyone will have trouble stopping the growth momentum of the federal government, especially with the Dem's in control of the House of Representatives.
He wants to fight the terrorists.
He wants to secure the borders.
So far, the government is taxing us into oblivion. I think he will work to stop that.
He wants to let private enterprise be private and not rely on government handouts. You know, the free enterprise economic system work. If a business can't adapt to the times, perhaps it needs to fail to make room for those with the foresight to put different means of transportation on the road.
I want to be free from government intrusion in my personal decisions. I don't want the government telling me what kind of a car to drive or where to set the temperature of my thermostat or even when and where I can smoke a cigar. I want to manage my own life.
I want to believe that my government, above all, is protecting me from foreign and domestic enemies. Fred Thompson seems to believe that, too.

I don't know if he can gain enough momentum to catch the others. Some commentators I have read seem to think he can. I hope so.

McCain scares me because he does not seem to understand economic truths. All of the Democrats scare me because I don't believe they understand the enemy enough to realize the need for strong military protection of our country. Giuliani (or however you spell the guy's name) should be running as a democrat because he talks like a socialist.