My daughter (Kelly) was in college when she announced she wanted a kitten.  We had previously euthanized our previous cat which we had for about 14-15 years.  And, of course, she wasn’t going to declaw this kitten because it was “cruel and inhumane.”  And, I might mention, she was unable to take Leo back to her apartment at college, so it was suggested we keep him until she finished school and she would take him then.  By the time she finished school she had met her future husband and upon graduation she moved in with him.  (This is where the story takes a distressing turn.)

Her new beau had a nice leather sectional which was quickly pointed out that it would not become the playground or resting place for a cat with claws.  This is the exact moment in time when Leo’s foster home became his permanent residence.  We now have a cat past the age where it was recommended this procedure be done.  Now begins the end of the destruction of our furniture (or so I thought).  Leo had been doing some scratching on the sofa and chairs but it wasn’t too noticeable at this point.

Since Kelly couldn’t have Leo she promptly goes out and rescues Daphne from a local shelter.  Since the same problem with claws and furniture exists in Daphne’s new home…you guessed it, she is quickly declawed.  So I now have a 17 pound, male tomcat WITH CLAWS and she has a docile, female kitten with no claws.  She has been unable to explain to this day about the seeming contradiction to this situation.

Even before the permanent move into our household Leo was decidedly my cat!  He did such a thorough job of “adopting” me that I really came to enjoy the little guy.  I would put him on a leash and let him outside and stay with him so he wouldn’t run off.  He is a house cat but he likes to go out and lie under a bush and watch birds, rabbits, squirrels, or any other activity in the neighborhood.

Now mind you, I will tolerate cats but I am not a cat fancier.  I have always had allergy problems with them and as I said earlier I could easily consider my life complete without pets.  Leo had to be on my lap while watching TV, sleeping between my feet at night, and playmate during the day.  As a kitten he was quite active and would let me know when it was time to play tag, hide and seek, chase the string, or whatever he wanted.

In a nutshell, this is how I came to be the reluctant owner of a cat.  The eventual addition of a dog to our family has some familiar notes and I will reveal that story later.

Back in May my daughter delivered my first grandchild (a boy) and I find that he is a pleasant distraction from all the “noise” surrounding us.  He was born about a month early and after a difficult delivery and worrisome few days in the neonatal intensive care unit he has developed into a perfectly healthy baby.

I am truly concerned about the future in this country for his generation.  And it seems that with each new generation of politicians, they get less concerned about the legacy they are leaving for our grandchildren.  (Darn it, I’m already pulled back to an annoyance.)  But as I see it, it is my job to fill him with hope for the world he will be moving into as he grows up.

I have forgotten a lot about the details when my daughter was his age but I do remember I couldn’t stop myself from just watching her when she slept and I find it an enjoyable activity now with him.  This stage he is in right now is not what I would consider one of my favorites.  I look forward to when we can wrestle, read, throw a baseball, ride bikes, etc.  The diapering and tending to infantile crankiness is best left to his mother, father, and grandmother.  But I will say I do enjoy feeding him.  There must be this unconscious thought that if I am a source of food and gratification that will help tie us together.

He appears to be a very happy baby as he seems to smile at just about everything.  Fortunately for my wife and me they live only a couple miles away from us so regular visits are a common occurrence.  It would be tough not to be able to witness his weekly progress.

It will be my intent to focus on this more pleasurable facet of life from here on and leave the gut wrenching, jaw gnashing squabbling over the more absurd side of public life to others.

545 vs. 300,000,000 People

- By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility tothe House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? John  Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.

If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it’s because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy”,”inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.  They, and they alone, have the power.  They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.  Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.  We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess.

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it is up to you. This might be funny if it weren’t so true.

There is still room for disagreement on this topic, though.  Unlike his comment on the Cambridge police acting stupidly he declines to go “public” with his thoughts on West.  Why is that?

Taylor Swift showed great class during this unfortunate event.

As I was watching that news conference and he spoke those words I yelled out, “I can’t believe he said that!”  And sure enough, the next day the incident became top news.  For all of the Obama disciples out there, the President of the United States must be more diplomatic than that.  Prior to the remark he admitted he didn’t know all the facts of the case.  Yet, he felt compelled to say something I’m sure he regrets now because it shows a bit of his rascist views (remember all those years sitting in Rev. Wright’s church?) 

Yesterday the President went to the press briefing room in the White House to try to quell the uproar he created and he made the following comment: 

“This has been ratcheting up, and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up,” Obama said of the racial controversy. “I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could’ve calibrated those words differently.”

First, let me say I’m pretty sure his staff made sure he was properly prepared before he went into the briefing room and uttered this statement.  But, let me break this statement down:

and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up,” Obama said of the racial controversy.  (I would question his use of “helped.”  He created the national attention to this incident.)

I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. Crowley specifically.  (There is no question he was maligning the Police in this incident.  For crying out loud, he said they acted “stupidly.”  That is NOT a compliment.)

And I could’ve calibrated those words differently.  (This translates to “I wouldn’t have said that if my damn teleprompter was telling me what to say.”)

He also said during that briefing:

“The fact that this has garnered so much attention, I think, is testimony to the fact that these are issues that are still very sensitive here in America.”  (And here we have the President of the United States stoking the fires.)

I submit that this is why they don’t let him speak any more than he has to without teleprompters.  His handlers don’t want us to know who the real Obama is.  We are getting a good look at his radicalism and more and more at his racism.

I sure hope he is using his beloved teleprompter when meeting with other world leaders or he will create more animosity towards the U.S. than George Bush could have in three terms.

Every day makes me more and more sick.

NUFF SAID!

What schmucks the voters of this country are.

He couldn’t even get his cabinet and top White House posts in place without a painful display of disregard for those earlier promises.  Not to mention the blatant thumbing of the nose at the American people.  If members of the Washington elite don’t expect they have to pay their taxes what are we really going to do about it.  After all they write the laws.  And the laws are written to insulate themselves from the same expectations set for us.  But to flaunt it by parading one tax cheat after another as potential members of the Saviour’s administration is just mind boggling. 

I would think anyone being tapped by Obama’s administration would want to do some extensive soul searching (and tax review) before consenting to be  considered for a post.  They probably should check their domestic staffs for proper documentation, too.  And then they should run as fast as possible from the train wreck that is developing in Washington.

Oh well, none of this stuff really matters because Obama is here to save the day.  I know because he kept saying it over and over.

Please register your vote in the following poll.  I will re-run it in the future to see how attitudes change.