Parallel Universe

Do you ever feel like the world is passing you by but thankfully you're in a much better place because of it? During an episode on a recent gameshow approximately 54% of the featured participants had no idea the symbol for the Democratic Party in our country was the donkey or in more affectionate terms the jackass. I talked to a fellow some time ago that believed "women's suffrage" referred to boisterous husbands that mistreated their wives by cavorting at late hours with loose women. My favorite story is the PETA lady that was caught buying packaged hamburger at a supermarket. When asked if she was a member of the organization she responded with resounding affirmation. She didn't believe the package of ground tissue in her shopping cart came from a slaughtered animal. This is how it starts you know. We begin losing the country when we give up on ourselves. No one has the desire to learn or to forge critical structure by building understanding through personal responsibility. Every social structure starts with the basic self and ties into community bonds and henceforth an intricate web forms across the country and globe. Instead of spreading blossoms like flowers, we hide our faces from the sun and the end result is a withering from within. Pretty soon we are so awash in our own apathy we elect a Congress to lie, cheat, and steal from us while we sit in recliners with glazed eyes watching American Idol.

The statistics in America indicate that approximately 75 to 87% of citizens profess a belief in God. The same statistics show that the dominant religion in the United States is Christianity. History tells us that our form of government is framed by the Judaeo-Christian belief structure and applied common law and so on and so forth. Why is it that the 15% of those that claim to be atheists or at the very least loud agnostics get all the media attention and favorable rulings from circuit court judges? Thou shalt not erect nativity scenes at schools or on public property. There will be no Ten Commandments erected on public property so that the 2 in 1000 atheists walking up the courthouse steps don't faint with visual offense. One reason for all the ignorant ballyhoo stems from the law consuming itself with petty and utterly futile technical complications. ACLU attorneys manage to lose the meaning of intended arguments within the jargon of modern litigation. In other words, the law no longer resembles a process with a start and finish but is now construed strictly within the realm of farfetched technical interpretations of the words themselves. It kind of parallels Bill Clinton's remark during his impeachment deposition. You remember the old "it depends on what the definition of is is." What? My head wants to explode. My dog understood him but I could not find a translator. A judge, a prosecutor, and a defense attorney could watch a defendant jump over the table and murder the court reporter and he stands about a 65% chance of an acquittal do to technical squabbles over evidentiary discovery forms and someone failing to read him his Miranda rights. Let's just cut through the fat. If a majority of people want Christmas trees and nativity scenes and this same majority believes in the Christian God then let there be trees and baby Jesus scenes. I thought in a democracy the majority rules or at least it is supposed to.

The loudest, fewest, and oddly enough most televised atheist opponents decry the practice and wail in misery as they see the church and state fusing into one beaming white robe. What nonsense and nincompoopery. What a spineless copout! The nativity scenes at schools and Ten Commandments representations on the court house lawns have nothing to do with the separation of church and state. First, they are historical and cultural elements with significance in relation to our country's historical journey. Second, separation of church and state means (for all you secularists that thrive on the media's representation of left-wing interests) only the following. The government cannot and does not force a particular religion upon you. You and the members of your atheist family will not be forced to memorize the Commandments or play one of the wise men in a school Christmas play. The government and religions do not publicly fund one another. You can continue your atheist tradition and you will not be jailed or fined or subjected to unwanted proctology examinations. If you find offense with symbols of Christ and other pieces of our history, simply close your eyes, vomit if you must, or leave the country for Antarctica and/or Siberia. You could try being an atheist in a Middle Eastern country but I have a feeling you'd rather be an atheist here and continue railing against time honored traditions in a variety of newspapers and television outlets not controlled by the government or a religion. In fact, relish in a system that glorifies your minority opinion with a majority of editorial slant.

I know it would be terminally harmful for you and your children to see scenes of love and family and possibly to be influenced by the awful tenets on the tablets of Moses. You and yours may find yourselves exposed to reminders like "thou shalt not kill, steal, covet, or bear false witness against your neighbor." Yeah, I think the country and her citizens would really suffer in seeing these responsible reminders. What kind of argument is that? Remember the majority of a populace and not a minority of its trial lawyers and activist judges should determine public policy on issues of historical and cultural significance. And by all means please stop being offended at what the majority finds worthy and unoffensive. Besides, maybe I'm offended at your offense at my beliefs you are offended with in the first place. Does that put anyone on defense? Just shut up and take relief in knowing CNN or NBC News is sure to cover your perspective and not mine.

Former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger

I know you may be wondering why in the world I am writing about President Reagan's Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. No, it doesn't have anything to do with his integral participation in the Strategic Defense Initiative (STAR WARS) nor does it have anything to do with his participation and subsequent indictment in the Iran-Contra Affair. His support for our military and the complete restructuring of the country's defense systems under his monolithic budgets will not enter into our conversation. He was a publisher and later the chairman of "Forbes" but it is not relevant here. Secretary Weinberger died last year at the age of 88 years and for all intents and purposes his service to the country was over by 1990 save for his various written works on military issues and as a guest commentator on cable news programs.

I sometimes mention my addictions only in close company but this one I'll share in the open and expansive blogosphere. I love airplanes. I love to fly them, study their flight characteristics, and I especially like to drive my wife nuts by dragging her to the approach end of a runway and forcing her to watch the takeoffs and landings. The medication intended to help me cease this behavior works infrequently and the therapist gave hope the boot long ago. I am an aviation nut and this one little thread ties me to the secretary forever.

The other day I was watching a local airline's Beechcraft 1900D turboprops ferry passengers up, up, and away from the terra firma. A few years ago I too flew a 1900D for an express airline on the east coast. I spent most of my time flying passengers from Bar Harbor, Maine to and from Boston's Logan International Airport. One evening while filing a flight plan for our return leg to Bar Harbor, a gate agent informed me that Mr. Weinberger and his wife had tickets for this particular leg of the flight. Having grown up in eastern Montana this certainly became a big deal to me. As a Reagan loyalist I knew all about Weinberger and I wondered how or if I should approach the former secretary. I mean come on. This man was privy to the nation's secrets, presided over defense and CIA briefings on the Cold War with Russia, and dined and sipped coffee with the Gipper himself! This was as good or better than a chance encounter with any movie star (except perhaps Rachel McAdams or Charlize Theron, I digress). Caspar Weinberger was at the center of all the cloak and dagger activities mentioned in a Clancy novel. He held the office of Secretary of Defense in the mightiest country in the world and was a breath away from the red button! I had to at least say "Howdy."

The airline's staff escorted Mr. Weinberger and his ailing wife to the plane ahead of other passengers in the gate area. As he approached the ramp near the aircraft's entrance he didn't look as large and didn't seem as powerful as he had in all those televised briefings and press conferences. His wife needed a motorized cart and airline personnel including the flight crew needed to provide assistance to get her seated properly in the cabin. I remember shaking his hand and telling him it was nice to meet him. His handshake was firm and his voice resonated quietly in humble tones. He thanked me for helping him and I noticed that while his physical appearance and presence diminished with age he still possessed that twinkle in his eyes.

"Well, that was neat," I thought to myself. "Dad will flip when he finds out I met Caspar Weinberger and am actually piloting him to his home in Maine." Then that uneasy twinge tweaked me in the gut. It's my leg to fly the airplane. It's my takeoff and my landing in Maine. God, I don't want to screw up and make this a rough flight in any way. I'd been greasing the plane onto the runway like butter this past week. It shouldn't change now, or should it?

I usually did not break out into a sweat when flying but this night I did. In some sordid way I wanted to ask the other pilot to land just in case of a botched landing. I could then smile and just shrug my shoulders and roll my eyes behind the other pilot's back. At the same time I wanted the glory of a hearty "thank you" from my esteemed guest after another flawless approach and touchdown. The pressure was on but I thought my skills and confidence surely would save the day. We broke through the clouds on our descent and slowly but surely the lights of the city and later the airfield came into full view. The air was smooth and we seemed to be ahead of schedule. A short sigh escaped me as I banked onto our final approach and adjusted the glide path at three degrees. The flaps and gear were down, locked, landing lights on, and all other items on the landing checklist complete. This is easy. The ATIS weather indicated light and variable winds on the field. Caspar will not remember a flight and touchdown this smooth even with his recollections of flights on Air Force One with President Reagan.

BAM, BOINK, HOP, HOP, and SCREECH went the 1900 as the weight came off the wings and onto the wheels. I think I knocked two of my own fillings loose. I almost didn't have the heart to engage the reverse thrust and brakes used to slow us down. As professional airline pilots we usually didn't comment on bad landings while still in the aircraft. It is kept strictly business and we proceeded with after landing checklists and the like. I could see the captain's smirk in the afterglow of the instrument panel. I only prayed that Mr. Weinberger and his wife suffered no fractures or concussions during my less than perfect arrival. The degradation and humiliation stifled my breathing. How could that happen? I might complete a landing like that once a month and usually in some sort of heavy weather. Oh, the humanity of it all!

My mind raced to find a way to quickly pen a note and tape it to the captain's back indicating "he did it." To my surprise and blessed relief Mr. Weinberger smiled and thanked me for the flight home. The other passengers thrust daggers into my torso with the wicked looks of displeasure cast upon me while they exited. The Weinberger's would deplane last and the captain and I would help him retrieve his wife's motorized cart from the baggage hold at the rear of the plane. The orange fluoresence of the sparsely separated street lamps cast a dim, glazed, and utterly inefficient amount of light on the process at hand. The motorized cart now stood on its wheels but Caspar and I continued to fiddle with the key and small ignition sequence used to make the small machine whir to life.

It then hit me like a brick or at least a hard landing. Here I was with a man who at one time was one of the most powerful men in the world. He held the ears of presidents; ears straining to decipher complex military secrets. He planned some of the most covert operations of military and intelligence professionals. Here I stood in this dimly lit parking lot with a now quiet and soft-spoken gentleman trying without success to unravel the mystery of the starter of a motorized cart. There were no red buttons, special forces personnel, no sophisticated rocket technology or state of the art missile hardware; just me and Caspar Weinberger on a cool, breezy, and all but deserted Maine tarmac. It kind of reminds you of just how small the world really is.

Let's Not Argue, Right is Right

I watched a news snippet last night where the chairman of Planned Parenthood visited my city to raise funds for the organization. It never ceases to amaze me how an organization like this spins its personna to make itself as personable and friendly as possible. She praised Montana's Democratic senators and governor for their support of a woman's reproductive health and a woman's reproductive RIGHTS. It always seems odd to me that they never bother mentioning a woman's, and a man's for that matter, reproductive RESPONSIBILITIES. The dumpsters in this country remain littered with the remnants of the innocent. Future doctors, lawyers, scientists, sons, and daughters destroyed so as to minimize the impact and responsibility on a sexually active lifestyle.

It remains the same old Neanderthal argument. Where does life begin? Does life begin at conception (of course it does) or at some other arbitrarily determined point in space defined by a consortium of experts? Apparently the scientific community, including abortion providers, believes they will not be sure that whatever is growing in that woman's womb is a human being or infant child until it presents and delivers. Perhaps the doctors in consultation with the female patient are sweating test results hoping that the growing baby doesn't morph into a jackalope before the last trimester. Perhaps they are not sure it is a human or that it will stay human. Perhaps they are petrified of the following words, "Congratulations Ms. Wilson, it's a platypus." Perhaps it is a porpoise or moose or bicycle and the sexually irresponsible couple may retain the right to terminate the pregnancy just in case it turns out to be the latter. Boy, that argument really makes you want to hang your hat on the advances of modern science doesn't it! So if my dog understands that it is a live human baby growing inside its mother the scientific community surely understands it.

I need someone to make a philosophical argument as to why I could not walk up and bludgeon the ailing grandfather of an abortion physician. What is the difference? I believe the lines blur little if at all. Those that committed violence and murder at abortion clinics against doctors and staff deserved their fates. Why is it that those within the walls of the same clinics commit violence and murder with seemingly no repercussions? It would be nice if someone would just say it. Murder is against the law but not all murder. How can I banter for the end of abortion and support the death penalty? Easy. It has to do with freedom. Convicted(in DNA cases) murderers possessed the freedom to CHOOSE whether or not to proceed with their intended and subsequent actions. A growing baby has no voice and no choice. They must suffer the intended actions of others.

All I can say is fate has a way of sneaking up on you to render justice in due course. Perhaps it would do abortion providers good to remember there is a power greater and more just than that of mankind.

On a much lighter note, I want to thank my wife for posting for me while I traveled this past week. After reading her words and recognizing her talent for writing, I will no longer invite her to pontificate on my blog because she possesses far too much ability and I can't stand the thought of someone stealing my thunder. She can start her own d_ _ _ blog!

A Mormon For President?

Ok.... I can't stand it.... One last post before the hubby comes home. I hope that he elaborates on this one because I know he feels just as strong about this as I do....

I heard on the news that Mitt Romney was going to run for the presidency. Well I know nothing about him and probably wouldn't have listened to the news clip about him if they hadn't said something about "Can a President be a Mormon?"

Oh my Lord in Heaven! I can't believe it! I suppose this is going to be the beginning of the end. If this fellow gets elected I know it will. Everything this country has worked for and all the changes over the years for women and their rights as human beings will all go down the drain. I hope that everyone does their homework on this one. If those women out there that know nothing about him vote for him just because he is a nice looking man... Boy are they in for a rude awakening.

The Mormons paint this picture of how good they are and what wonderful lives they live. They claim to be respectable people. They cover up and sugar coat everything to hide what really goes on behind their closed doors. The men believe that women are there to serve them and raise children. Historically many of the men sexually abuse their female children and the cycle continues and has ever since the cult they live in was started back in the 1800's. This is no true religion believe me. They make up the rules in their cult and change them on a regular basis to fit whatever so they won't break the law. Make no mistake, Mormons are not true Christians.

A friend of mine loaned me a book written by Martha Beck called "Leaving The Saints". Before I even finished it I was outraged by how she was treated as a child and adult by the Mormons in the modern world that we live in. Go to her website and check it out. http://www.leavingthesaints.com/index.html I have read other books about those women that have lived in the true Mormon cult and finally were brave enough to leave. Notice I said cult because that is all it is. If they were truly Christian people they wouldn't be living the way they do.

Please do your homework on this fellow, Mitt Romney. It will truly be the beginning of the end if the Mormons take over our country!

Signed..... Mrs. Montana Conservative

The Art of Writing

In my opinion my husband is a talented writer. He took English Literature and writing classes in high school. After we were married he decided to get his college degree and took some tough English classes and was told that he had a talent for writing.

That got me to thinking about my education and the English classes that I took way back when in high school. I remember in Junior High my English teacher was a very strict fellow. There wasn't any fooling around in his class unless you weren't afraid of the wooden paddle with holes in it that he kept on his desk. I remember that even though he was strict in class I still liked him for a teacher. There was something unique about him. Never could figure it out but after I graduated from High School, I found out that he committed suicide. He had hung himself in his basement.

I had a Creative Writing teacher in High School that I admired. He was a quiet, gentle man. He was soft spoken and very nice looking. I remember when he and he wife moved to the small eastern Montana town where I lived. She was my 4Th Grade teacher. I thought they were the neatest couple. Both were teachers and they were young and just starting out in life. Then in High School I took a Creative Writing class not really knowing what I was getting into and struggled through it. I remember that even though I wasn't the best writer he wasn't critical of anything that I had written. Years later I found out that my Creative Writing teacher was a homeless man on the streets of one of Montana's largest cities. I couldn't believe it. My whole image of this handsome couple was broken. I learned later that he drank all through his teaching years and his wife finally told him if he didn't quit drinking he would have to leave. He left and lived on the streets. He was alone and died of cancer.

Then I had another English teacher in High School. I can't quite remember the class but I think it was Novels or something. I can remember reading these books that I didn't have a clue as to what they were about and having to talk about them. He was a modern, hip fellow. He dressed really neat and had longer hair which was not as common for teachers in our small town. He was different than anyone I had ever been around. Well, I found out later after graduation, probably at one of the class reunions, that he used to have students over and they would smoke marijuana together. After that I realized that is why he was the way he was!

Now how strange is this that I, in my eastern Montana hometown, would encounter these three English teachers in my years of being in school? Actually as I sit here and think about a few other teachers that I had during my school years, there weren't too many of them that didn't have something different about them. Was it just a melting pot of throwbacks that couldn't make it in the larger school systems or is it as I get older I realize how complicated people's lives really are? I don't remember too many ill effects that they had on me over the years. I may not be the writer that my husband is but regardless of my English teachers, I may not have been a writer anyway.....

Signed..... Mrs. Montana Conservative

Happy Birthday Tucker!

I woke up in the middle of the night as I usually do and this time all I could think about was my husband's blog. I thought ... Oh dear, he will be home today and I am going to have to make up for yesterday's blog. I remembered him saying that I could write about anything and one of his suggestions popped into my head.... "Blog about the dog chasing his tail!" So that got me to thinking about the dog. My husband says that I am the one that made him the way he is. He is neurotic..... Tucker chases his tail before he eats. He is almost 130 pounds so it is quite a sight. But eventually he gets around to his eating. On a bad day I have to hand feed him. I know the dog is thinking that I am a sucker and how hilarious it is that I am handing him one kibble at a time. Back to the reason why he is neurotic and him chasing his tail..... Hmmmm, I don't remember teaching him how to do that! Well anyway.... he is five years old today. Guess I will have to do something special for him! Happy Birthday Tucker!

Signed.... Mrs. Montana Conservative

Valentine's Day

Once again I am going to attempt a blog at my husband's request..... So what do you blog when it is Valentine's Day and your husband isn't home? Well I could complain that he isn't here and that I didn't get the chocolates, roses, jewelry and all those material things that women expect from their husbands on Valentine's Day but I think I will use this time to tell him that I appreciate him and love him very much.....

My husband is out on the road working very hard. I know that he cares deeply for me and would give me the world if he could. He is the most kind, generous, loving person that I have ever known. He has a big heart and is a very sensitive person. We have been through some rough times but have always been close and worked through these hard times together. He is my soulmate and my very best friend. Besides all that, he is my sweetheart!

So when he gets home and reads this he is going to change the password to his blog website and I won't be allowed to do anymore blogging for him unless I pass it by him first. But you know..... it will be worth the look on his face while he is reading it!

Happy Valentine's Day Sweetie! Love you!

Signed..... Mrs. Montana Conservative

Remembering Our Soldiers

My husband asked me to post in his blog while he was out on the road and not able to post on a regular basis. He told me to put in a recipe or something.... Well that doesn't even compare to some of the material that he writes about. I am not a writer but I told him that I would think about it if I found something that made me mad enough to comment about. Well it happened this morning when I was reading the local paper online. Here goes.....

There was a funeral scheduled for a young man in Eastern Montana who served in the military and died over in Iraq yesterday. I don't get into all the political reasons why we should or shouldn't be over there but I do believe that those that go and serve our country should be given our country's respect for their willingness to serve our country. My father served in WWII and my husband's father in Vietnam and also his Great grandfather in WWI. These people are to be admired and looked up to for their service to our country. They came back to their homes after some horrible experiences while in the military and managed to live out the rest of their lives with some sort of normalcy.

Back to the young man's funeral...... I couldn't believe that I read that the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka KS was going to show up at the funeral and protest. I had to continue reading because it made me mad to think that they were going to disrupt this funeral because they didn't believe in the war in Iraq. Well I was surprised to read that they were protesting because "they believed the soldier's deaths were God's punishment for America's acceptance of homosexuality". I almost fell off the chair! Can you believe that? To come all the way to Montana to protest in a small town for that reason! You don't want to hear my opinion's of homosexuality but I certainly am not going to go and protest at a soldier's funeral and take away from his time of respect. What is this country coming to? The more I hear, the more I believe there are more weirdos and lunatics out there than I care to know about. It is a scary thought.

Back to the funeral of the young soldier..... May he rest in peace and know that there are those out there that really do respect him and appreciate that has served in our country's military.

Check out this new update about protesting at funerals.... http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=6190862

Signed..... Mrs. Montana Conservative

Illegal Immigration, For the Umpteenth Time

I scrolled through an article describing the deaths of three illegal immigrants on the Arizona-Mexico border. Arizona governor Janet Napolitano promises to get to the bottom of the activity with an ensuing investigation and proper law enforcement action. A snippet of truth entered into the article when it mentioned the illegal immigrants were probably gunned down by rival smugglers. Of course the corrupt, chaotic, and inept Mexican government blames anybody and everybody but themselves for our illegal immigration and border security problems. In a way they are quite right. Our government's lack of action and reform on this issue is nothing short of disastrous.

I sure am glad my proposed illegal immigration and border security initiatives haven't received the coverage I hoped they would. I am not sure how the Mexicans say "hate monger" in their native tongue and I wouldn't take the time for a translation. For those of you who have unfortunately missed out, I will repeat my proposal for the last and umpteenth time. First we make the impossible task of rounding up the 11 million illegal immigrants in this country possible. With all the money illegal criminals from Mexico are bilking from local government entitlement programs and healthcare funds sweated out by legal taxpayers, that money would be better spent on a massive law enforcement roundup and handcuffing rodeo.

Next our merry, multimillion numbered, non-taxpaying, non-English speaking band of illegal takers shall be gently coaxed south towards the Rio Grande by law enforcement officers with an excellent command of the ENGLISH language. Under the supervision of American forces these same criminals will construct a forty foot high wall that is 12 feet thick lined internally with rebar, steel, and pipe supports. You will not chip away at this wall. The wall starts in the Pacific Ocean and ends in the Gulf of Mexico. There will be one crossing suitable for pedestrian and vehicle crossing in each state (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas) and one crossing only. Each crossing will be manned by a division of Customs and Border Patrol personnel complete with roaming guards, infrared cameras, and long range weaponry capable of reaching out and touching someone at sufficient distance.

To further discourage illegal entry the south face of our newly constructed monolith shall contain crisscrossed rows of highly charged electrical conduit capable of jumpstarting the Sun if touched. To be fair and humane, warning signs in both English and Spanish shall be constructed along the path leading to each crossing. The signs shall be posted several times starting a mile in advance so that the devious minds trying to outfox my system have been fairly and properly warned of the dangers of illegal entry. For those that don't read and need a picture, you know like those deer crossing the highway signs, there will also be a sign indicating a mosquito flying into a giant bugzapper. That should just about cover any international liability cases. I would hope to conduct a quick test run of the wall and the effectiveness of the warning signs with any ACLU attorneys willing to volunteer their services for this public service endeavor.

Lastly, our rounded up illegal workers that so graciously helped us construct our wall will be given the first chance to use our newly constructed crossings as they make their trek to Mexico. If they want to come back they can follow a path to citizenship just like my ancestors before me did. That path includes having command of the English language before any application for United States citizenship is considered.

If you think this is too harsh, check out Mexico's policies on immigration in case you have the burning desire to pursue Mexican citizenship. My proposals are sugar and spice in comparison. At any rate, the border is a disaster and perhaps the only solution is a stark and menacing statement indicating that Americans are no longer willing to sacrifice their money and security to benefit the failed policies of a degenerate nation like Mexico. Our illegal immigrant problem is not our problem at all; it is theirs. I am tired of watching the disintegration of national policy at the expense of We the People. We are simply pawns in the political machine that chews us up and spits us out. Let's at least have the pride and strength to stand up to the country of Mexico. If we don't have the intestinal fortitude to protect our borders and the laws regarding citizenship, where are we going as a nation?

Direct versus Representative Democracies

I took some time to research these colloquial terms and find out about some of the nuances beyond each taken definition. In America we live in what is coined a representative democracy. In other words by way of the electoral college we elect representatives from divided districts to represent us as individuals and spend tax revenues in our best interests, or so we thought. The more people there are within a given geographical district the more representation that district receives. The more representation that district receives the more leverage, spending power, and pork "kickbacks" there are to return to the larger districts. Small states or should I say states that are "inhabitant challenged" like Montana generally gain some influence in agricultural and other rural entitlement issues because many people in populated areas simply don't understand that bread comes from grown wheat and meat comes from beef on the hoof. Besides, representatives from agricultural states are masters of playing up the nostalgia of the family farmer's plight. That issue is a whole other fight.

The reported benefits of our representative democracy seem to stem from fluid efficiency and minority protections. I am not so sure about the efficiency part because in Washington, D.C. it seems the only efficient actions of Congress revolve around the ability to stagnate and remain grossly inefficient. (maybe the Romans called this a juxtaposed paradoxical dichotomy?) The senators and representatives elected in each district supposedly keep the best interests of the majority that elected them in mind but all too often decisions and paths taken in Washington seem to trail the best interest of the politicians' political parties rather than the constituency back home. I can think of zero times a politician really cared about my opinion and cared to write or phone me as to how best serve my interests as a constituent.

A direct democracy basically means what it says. People control far more with their individual votes and have a direct say in the passing of laws and initiatives and allow the elected leaders to serve as more of a puppet with the voters controlling the strings. A single vote carries weight rather than appearing as a speck on the blotted mass of a majority canvas. I like that idea. At the time the framers of our Constitution decided on a representative democracy instead of a direct democracy, the technological advances of today seemed unfathomable and were in fact beyond reach.

It just seems to me that in this modern age of emailing, e-filing, e-dating, e-driving, e-gaming, and e-breathing that some form of government could take shape that would put the power back within the hands of the people rather than the politicians and their suspect loyalties. Why not divide the country into equal districts and use a modern computer program to devise a system so that each vote in each district is worth a certain number of points. Basically this is so that 200 hundred votes in a district in eastern Montana carry the same weight as 300,000 votes in a particular district in California. Then if voters in a particular district act lethargically no one is to blame but them for passed legislation they disagreed with. I know this example is oversimplified and I do not have the budget to commission a full study. Government waste and size would be drastically reduced and with the electronic gadgets available today you could cast your vote on the next spending bill or war declaration from your office or even the throne in your favorite bathroom. The point is, somehow the taxpayers have to take control of their country's interests and tax monies before self-serving politicians destroy the country. The modern political party system is a razing machine intent on the destruction of productivity, efficiency, and protection of the citizens and their property. The parties are now jackals consumed with the pursuit of each other leaving the nation's business behind. The threats to our security stalk ever closer in the night.

Give me your opinion on direct versus representative democracies. Please take a second to fill in a comment. I'd love to hear YOUR opinions.

Hot Topics in Early February

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House- I watched a report on CNN's Glenn Beck program regarding the new transportation for House Speaker Pelosi. What a sham. Apparently her staff lobbied for a reconfigured Boeing 757 to be used as her transportation. I guess the luxurious, fast, and technologically superior Gulfstream V that the previous speaker utilized simply didn't measure up to the stature and standards of Ms. Pelosi. Her staff cited security concerns and desired an aircraft that could fly nonstop to Ms. Pelosi's home in California. So now the taxpayers can multiply by about a gazillion times the amount necessary to ferry her highness about in lavish luxury. I am glad to see she is standing by the Democratic ideal of sharing the pain and living the life of the ordinary citizen. If she wanted to feel the financial woes of her middle or lower class constituents and make an example of her service in Washington she should go Greyhound.

Anna Nicole Smith (1967-2007) I cannot turn to one single news or cable news channel and find out about anything important in the world. Instead I find anchors, field reporters, and journalists reporting live from the medical examiner's office in Florida awaiting results from Ms. Smith's autopsy. How did she die? Why did she fight so many battles? Was she distraught over the recent drug-induced death of her 20 year old son? Was her death an overdose? What was her real bra size? Did she really use hair extensions? Who is the father of her baby? WHO CARES??? The main stream media continues its fight to hang on to any semblance of reality with vaseline on its hands. The overblown news hype spent on this story equates in importance to a worldwide shortage of wood chips for lawn decoration. I'd much rather hear about the life and contributions of a fallen soldier or firefighter than Ms. Smith's self-induced malaise as she lay awash in the effects of moral relativism. Besides, her lawsuit to secure part of the fortune of her deceased husband's oil fortune wasted enough of America's brain cells to last us all a lifetime. Just seeing her passionately kiss her former cadaver-like husband would probably make a battle-hardened medic throw up. Let's demand more from the media and get on with things that make a difference in this world.

Hillary Rodham I Will Say Anything to Get Your Vote Clinton- In October 2002 she stood before Congress and said it was her conviction to proceed with defeating terrorism and stabilizing Iraq. This has nothing to do with how the war is fought and that is certainly subject for healthy debate. Now as she eyes the protein-stained carpet of the Oval Office for herself, she states to her frenzied and rabid supporters that had she been President in 2002 she would not have went to war in the first place. Wait, wait, wait. You said with Clintonian "conviction" that you supported fighting terrrorism in Iraq. In fact, Hillary said while visiting Iraq in 2003 that America must "stay the course." Now you feel we shouldn't be there at all? Speaking for me I cannot imagine a Commander in Chief that feels unabashed waffling is a compelling characteristic for the leader of the free world. I have said it a million times and will continue to say it again. Hillary is an old hippie with an anything goes attitude that suffers from no personal constitution or core beliefs other than those that bring her personal power and prestige. She swung wildy on the abortion issue from support of late term womb vacuuming to a more moderate position calling for more hugs and fireside chats. She is simply the worst of what politics offers. She is a person of power that legitimizes her decisions based on lies and deception to further her own agenda at the expense of the citizens that pay her and suffer the ill effects of her questionable decision making.