Freedom of Speech

Isn't it great that these people live in a country where they can express their opinions? They actually think that anyone outside the US cares about their opinions. When you see the photos, you'll understand the mindset better.

Don't bother trying to respond. As the webmaster (?) says "I've also received a bit of hate mail. I would lampoon these people publicly, but the type of person who sends hate mail to a website is generally too easy of a target. Anyway, hate mail is how you know you've made it. Keep it coming, guys."

As I said, don't respond and give them any ammunition. They are young and just haven't grown up yet. Give them ten or fifteen years and most of them will see the light.

Good News for Blogs for Bush

In the midst of wondering the blogosphere, I wondered what Matt Margolis would do with Blogs for Bush now that the election is over. After all, this is Bush's second term, he can't run for president again and there is no higher office he can aspire to. The answer has been revealed.

Blogs for Bush will be reborn as GOPBloggers.org on Inauguration Day 2005. I think this is a marvelous idea. Matt and the others on the BfB team did a great job and I was proud to be a very small part of team by joining the blogroll.

The last number of bloggers I heard was when Blogs for Bush hit 800. The final count is 1375! This is equal to adding approximately four blogs a day every day for a full year. It's 115 blogs a month. Howard Dean was the Internet poster boy and Blogs for Bush had 15 times the number of blogs he had. And in case you were wondering, 25 times the number John Kerry had. Nice work, Matt!

I offer my congratulations to a great team. I would like to continue to be a part of this team if they will allow me.

How About Some Cheese with that Whine?

I did something I seldom do this evening. I watched CNN, specifically Paula Zahn. The premise of the show tonight was to determine why John Kerry lost the election. I didn't keep track, but I believe there were three Democrats on the show and one Republican. Doesn't matter how many or which ones, I heard the same from all the Dems: basically, it's Bush's fault. Kerry fought a great campaign and if the mean Republicans had just played fair, Kerry would have won. Good grief! The election is over. Why can't they admit that for whatever reason (and there are many) Kerry just didn't pull in enough votes?

Each was asked whether Bush got a "mandate" or not. Each one said (I'm paraphrasing here), "of course not. 54 million may have voted for him, but 52 million voted against him." Hmmm....voted against him. That sounds to me like even the Dems agree that Kerry just didn't have it, that instead of voting for Kerry, they were voting against Bush (the anybody but Bush mantra).

Each was asked who needs to be "reaching across the aisle" and each one said it should be Bush doing the reaching. Uh, maybe I'm stupid, but, why should he? Seems to me that since the Republicans have the White House, the Senate, and the House, maybe it's time for the Dems to do some fence mending. It doesn't matter who's "right" and who's "wrong", it's time to put America first. It's time to act like grown-ups and do what's right for America instead of asking "what's in it for my party?"

Paula also had a segment of people whining about Kerry losing. One man said he was moving, but "it won't be to a Red state." Well, as a resident of a Red state, I say, Thanks! We have enough sniveling whiners already living here.

My Two Cents On:

1. Exit polls. The early returns from the exit polls gave Democrats hope that Kerry would pull it out. I, myself, was very nervous and not at all confident, even before hearing what the exits had to say. So, either Kerry voters voted early or Bush voters lied to pollsters as they exited and skewed the polls. At my polling location, there was a man asking for all Democrats to "check in here" as they left the building. Maybe that was the problem: they were only getting answers from Democrats. In that case, of course Kerry was ahead!

2. Main Stream Media. We're tired of the lies and half-truths that are being reported as truth by the MSM. CBS in particular has been hit by decreasing ratings. MSM needs to remember that journalism can be defined as "writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation." This is only one definition, but they must remember that unless they are offering an opinion, this is the definition they should aspire to.

Tom Brokaw at NBC will be replaced on December 1 by Brian Williams, an announcement that was made a long time ago.

I'm betting that an announcement will be forthcoming from CBS that Dan Rather will be stepping down from his anchor position. He might go to a format where his opinion is appropriate, or to special reports of some kind. But I believe he will be leaving nightly news.

Peter Jennings stated "I'm a little concerned about this notion everybody wants us to be objective." Isn't that the role of the journalist as defined above? I want the facts so that I can make my own decision. Maybe it's time for a change at ABC as well.

MSM has to re-invent itself or it's toast. Very few people I know bother with network news or the print media. I read the online version of my local paper and depend on talk news radio and Fox News for my news information. The news division at Fox News is fair and balanced. Just remember that they also have shows that are commentary and opinion-oriented in nature (O'Reilly and Hannity and Colmes), and others such as Fox and Friends that are a combination of news, commentary, and entertainment. These are not "news" shows.

3. I'd like liberals to understand most conservatives never questioned your patriotism or love of country. I honestly believe that you believe your ideas are best and that conservatives don't know beans about what's right for America. I don't hold with the idea that liberals actually hate America and what it stands for. It might be true of some, but I refuse to believe all liberals hate America. I believe that many of your ideas won't work as well as you think they will. I believe that liberals are unwitting socialists, but that you honestly believe you know what is best for America and love America every bit as much as I do.

4. Evangelical Christians did not vote. Americans with a different value system than liberals (no better, no worse, just different) voted in higher numbers. You can put any label you choose on voters who elected Bush, but they are simply Americans who saw a man with values similar to theirs and trust him to lead America for another four years. People are generally attracted to people who are similar to them. We tend to vote for people "like us". Senator Kerry just didn't attract enough people "like him" to elect him.

5. Hatred spawns hatred and isn't good for anyone. If your life is consumed by hatred, people are wary and dismiss you with pity. My time is too valuable to be spent with people who live in the darkness of hatred.

6. Hollywood celebrities need to remember that they are paid for their entertainment value, not for their politics. Just because you have name value doesn't mean the rest of America cares about your politics. Some Hollywood names came up in a conversation the other day and the first thing I remembered were comments they had made about President Bush. They are as entitled to their opinion as I am, but I pay them for entertainment, not for their political views. Oh, and those of you who threatened to move if President Bush were re-elected? Pay up or shut up.

7. Terrorists: America told Osama bin Laden where, and how, to shove it. Don't threaten us. We have a president who isn't afraid to go after you. You started it, you brought it to us, and we'll finish it. Terrorists who kidnap women and men to force their countries to pull out of Iraq are murderous cowards hiding behind masks and religion. Terrorists are bullies and thugs who happen to be followers of Islam. They are using their religion because they hate. It's that simple.

8. America is the greatest country in the world. We are the most powerful and the most prosperous. We have been cast into the role of protector of the world and we take our job seriously. We don't use our power to take over other nations. If we did, the UN wouldn't exist, nor would France or Germany. People of other nations hate us because we are young, proud, and prosperous, and they are forced to ask us for help because they can't help themselves. We give billions in aid to other countries who then ridicule and backbite us. We've forgiven billions of dollars in debt. When we go to war, we do so because other nations need our help or we've been attacked. We rebuild nations and ask only for land to bury our dead. We continue to give aid and get ridicule and grief in return.

9. More than anything, moral values won the election. Some are saying that moral values were rated above and beyond all other issues, including the economy and the War on Terror and the war in Iraq. Moral values equates with character.

And, as I've said all along, it's all about character.

God Bless America!

Vacation!

I'm on vacation as of 4:00 pm yesterday afternoon. Hubby is at the doctor's as I write this finding out whether our vacation plans will remain or will be changed. Pop-in-Law has very generously paid for us to accompany him and sis-in-law on a seven-day, six night Caribbean cruise starting Sunday, so I'm hoping that we get good news. I really see no reason why we can't go, there would just be some inconvenience what with doing intravenous antibiotics twice a day and wound vac dressing changes three times a week, but it can be done. The doctors have been working hard to get him to where we can go, but until I heard it's a go, I'm just gonna wait.

If we can't go, I've already made plans for what we will do for the next two weeks. Mostly work around the house, but also a mid-week trip to Busch Gardens. I've lived in Bradenton for 22 years and have never been to the Gardens. I know, it's almost criminal, but I work for a living, and it's not been a big priority. It's an old saw heard from tourists: "What?! You live here and you've never been to (name that location)?" Another is "You live in Florida and have no tan?" I work for a living so I can't spend my days on the beach. Not that I like the beach that much anyway (more near-criminal thinking). We have season passes this year and have until the end of the year to use them. I refuse to lose the opportunity, so we'll be going sometime soon.

I'm not getting my hopes up, just in case. But, keep your fingers crossed!

Update: Good news! We're going! Hubby is off the IV and on oral meds and is off the wound vac for the duration of the vacation. Yay!!!

Watch This Site!

You'll notice I've made changes to my sidebar. I felt it was appropriate to do so now that the election is over. I plan to leave the Blogs for Bush blogroll up for another week or two or maybe until the inauguration. After all, these people had a lot to do with re-electing President Bush and deserve to have the recognition and a link at least that long.

I've also removed some of the links to the Bookshelf. Links to books about President Bush and Senator Kerry are no longer relevant for the reason they were orginally put up. I'm leaving links for Blogs for Bush merchandise because Christmas is coming and wouldn't it be fun to give a Bush T-shirt to your favorite liberal?

More changes will be coming over the next few weeks.

Of course, as always, I reserve the right as owner, publisher, and editor of this blog as well as the eternal right granted by virtue of being a woman to change my mind at any time and make any changes I want at any time.

Wicktory Wednesday

Actually, this is Thursday. I spent Wednesday evening recuperating from staying up way too late watching the election returns, not to mention that I had no opportunity for computer time to do a WW post.

Congratulations to President Bush and all his campaign workers from Karl Rove down to and including the newest volunteer for a well-fought campaign.

It might not be my place, but I would like to offer a few thanks:

Thank you to the volunteers for their time and efforts. Thank you to the voters, of both parties, for coming out to make their voices and choices known. It doesn't make any difference what party the vote was cast for, every vote was important.

Thank you to Senator Kerry for a hard-fought campaign. You put the welfare of your country ahead of your own ambitions and aspirations by delivering a gracious concession speech and ending the election. We can begin to rebuild a nation divided by hatred into one nation where we can all prosper and pursue to make this country a better America for all. You showed yourself to be the gentleman I hoped was there but couldn't see because of the campaign rhetoric.

Thank you to the bloggers. I won't say that President Bush couldn't have won re-election without you, but bloggers on both sides made a big contribution to the election by publishing both the lies and truth that came out during the campaign. A special thank you to the bloggers of Blogs for Bush. You proved that the truth is out there and that you can find it.

There is a list of Bloggers for Bush on my sidebar you might like to visit. Those bloggers should be very proud of the part they played in this campaign. You each made a difference.

Now, it's time to get to work and make the next four years the best four years in American history.

God Bless America!

Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don't vote.

-- George Jean Nathan

I don't know who George Jean Nathan is (I will, I haven't looked him up yet) but thought this quote was pertinent to current events.

Another quote: If you don't vote, don't complain - Me

As far as I'm concerned, if you didn't vote, you didn't earn the right to complain.