TIS THE SEASON TO FIRE LOSING COACHES ...

As the college and professional football seasons end, a number of coaches are hailed, retained, and some fired. The winners get raises and praises, the retained coaches get another chance, and the losers get sacked. 

When a head coach gets to choose his players and is given an unlimited budget, the team owner or athletic director expects a winning season. Like a business manager unable to earn profits, a coach unable to win games must be replaced by someone who can succeed. Why isn't this simple principle applicable to our government leaders ?

The head coach for our government is barrack o. obama, and Americans are the owners and financial sponsors of his team.  Here is a partial record of Coach obama's failures and lies:

1. He asked, and got billions of dollars for "shovel ready jobs". Check the unemployment numbers.
2. He assured Americans that the IRS was not targeting anyone. Check Congressional hearings which revealed a different reality for conservative groups.
3. He explained the Benghazi Massacre was the result of some inconsequential and insignificant movie. Check the facts from Congressional hearings.
4. He repeatedly speechified a theme of "focusing like a laser" on creating jobs. Check the results.
5. He told the world "obamacare " would be good for America, and "if you like it, you can keep your current health care plan." Another reality check.
6. He told America we got every dime back his team used to rescue banks and auto companies with interest. Check  the real numbers.
7.  He said he knew nothing of "Fast & Furious" gunrunning to Mexican drug cartels. Again, check the results of Congressional inquiries.
8.  He promised under "obamacare" our health care premiums would be lowered by $ 2500.
9.  He bypassed due process and instantly determined that a Cambridge Ma. white cop was wrong to ticket a black man, and a "white" Hispanic was guilty of killing a Florida black teen.
10. He promised the public a "transparent administration" and "five days" to look at every bill before it got to his desk. Check his record of midnight legislation, unconstitutional executive rulings, and orders of unelected & presidential appointed "czars".
11. He promised he was not "spying" on Americans. Check the findings of Congressional investigations. 
12. He emphatically proclaimed he did not know his uncle from Kenya was living here illegally. However on 12/5/2013 he admitted that he had lived with this uncle, and did know him. 

Soon obama will give us another stirring State of the Union address. Already leading up to this grand event his media hound dogs are bellowing his greatness and incredible accomplishments. Also, expect his political players to schmooze and heap praise on their "coach in chief."

In the real world based on his record and flagrant lies he has been a poor coach. Despite all the players he chose and the billions of taxpayer money he used, obama must be responsible for his record.

 Is it not time we fire this losing coach and his incompetent players ? 

SPY VS. SPY .. ..

All the current hand wringing and chest pounding over NSA & CIA security failures remind me of a funny old cartoon strip.

A long time ago Mad Magazine introduced two little guys in a cartoon strip entitled "Spy Vs. Spy." One spy was totally black and the other completely white. Both were heavily cloaked, and drawn as angular little fellows bent on destroying each other. Each installment displayed cartoons of one killing or maiming the other in some form of mayhem. Of course neither spy was ever killed, but relentlessly pursued gaining an advantage over his foe.

In the real world, I believe much of the fuss is a show, and part of the ongoing industry of spying. Sneaking a peek at your neighbors new grass seed, a competitors latest innovative toy, or another nations weapon system are all parts of the ancient practice of espionage. It's not unusual that our spies would want to listen to the private phone conversations of a German or British Prime Minister. As a matter of fact, it's likely their spies already listen to our leaders. The covert activities of nations spying on each other is a very old practice, and the only thing new are the occasional revelations. Truth be told, most nations probably want more of their national budgets spent on spying. While history shows many bad things happening because of spies, much of their activity is mundane surveillance and listening.

What our spies may gain as an advantage may be a temporary gain or a ruse put in place to counter our spying. If a real deep secret is uncovered it will eventually lead to greater snooping technology and newer inventions. I believe spying is necessary, good, and the more the merrier. As politicians proclaim "transparency" in government affairs should we not expect a world of revealed secrets ?  Should the likes of Snowden be condemned or praised ?

What we should really worry about are the press releases issued from governments feigning alarm or outrage over spying. Are their pronouncements related to truth or new layers of deception ? In my opinion, the sneaky little guys from "Spy vs. Spy" aptly characterize international spying where most tactical gains are quickly neutralized in the on going spy business.  

THE SMARTEST MAN IN AMERICA ....

OBAMA is surely the smartest man in America and possibly the smartest person on earth. Here's how I know this to be true.

First in the 2006 - 2007 campaign,  this inexperienced community organizer electrified the nation with speech after speech offering everything to everyone. With little business, government, or political expertise's he slam dunked a war hero and grizzled old politician (McCain) to win the most powerful job in America and the world. In his triumph he garnered practically every vote from Americans of color. He took a majority of women's votes. He won overwhelming support from almost every college student and their learned professors. He gathered multi millions in contributions from the elite in the entertainment world. He masterfully won the support and adoration of media biggies. He wooed millions from the pocketbooks of regular working folks and the financial tycoons of Wall Street. He did all this smiling and repeating a pledge of "Hope and Change".

After four years of no federal budgets, increased unemployment, foreign policy goofs, skyrocketing federal spending, a steady campaign of class warfare, increased taxes, more socialist programs, and ramming obamacare past all our enlightened Congress people and Supremos, obama hit the campaign trail in 2011. This time he easily whipped the other candidate holding a strong resume of government and business successes (Romney). In this second victory, obama got practically all the votes from the same people who elected him four years earlier.

Unless he convinces America to extend his presidency beyond constitutional limits, obama will leave office in early 2016. He will spend his remaining White House years campaigning for a fuller implementation of his failing agenda and his legacy. He will receive continued support from the fools who gave him the presidency.

After 2016 he will probably be acclaimed the greatest president of our era despite an eight year record of total ineptitude. If you do not sing his praises now or in the future you may be branded a racist or worse. 

TIS THE SEASON FOR STUFF ...

No matter your religion, culture or family practise the last month of each year is exceptional for all the stuff we give and get. Its the time of gift giving and in my world it becomes an annual crisis of stuff.

I have an attic, storage shed, and closet full of stuff accumulated over the years. Things purchased, inherited, and received as gifts become stuff difficult to discard. Each object in my collection has family history or a memory. The emergency is what should be saved and what should be thrown away. This is necessary to make room for the new stuff I will accumulate during the current holiday.

I have given a lot of good stuff to the parish thrift store and Salvation Army, but much remains to be recycled, re gifted, or trashed. Should I dispose of the board games received in 1959 at Christmas, but not played since 1981 ? Should I part with the colorful never worn holiday sweater received from a dear deceased aunt ? Is it time to part with my great VHS collection ?

The stuff, old and new, grows with each passing December. At times I curse the stuff as I stumble over heaps of it cluttering my living spaces. At other times, I go through boxes of my saved items and revel in the good memories associated with each piece. I wonder if I should have a huge garage sale in the spring, but shudder at the prospect of strangers demanding my precious items on the cheap. Perhaps I should re write my will and insure all my relatives receive a goodly portion of my saved stuff.  But, would this be considered a gift or curse by my benefactors ?

Should the burden and blessing of having lots of stuff be added to the established list of stresses some folks suffer during the winter holiday season ? 

PREACHING CLASS ENVY & CLASS WARFARE

Biden, Harris, Obama, Rev. Jackson, Clinton, Pelosi, Sharpton and a long list of democrats, progressives, and socialists continue to argue that poor people are poor because rich people are selfish.

 Entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners are constantly demonized as folks unwilling to hand over a larger portion of their money in taxes to fund government socialism. These anti free market and anti-capitalist demagogues seem very happy to war against Wall Street, large corporations, and small businesses. They wish to don the cape of a modern-day Robin Hood. While history and legends reveal a Robin Hood who stole from the government and re distributed to the people, government under democratic rule steal from the people and redistribute the wealth to guarantee votes, union support, and government loyalty in the next election cycle.

In my opinion, progressives are dead wrong, and actually destroy the fabric of our economy. Let me explain. When people earn wealth, it is because they have worked harder than other people. These rich people usually build businesses or careers which create desirable products or services. Then, these smart business people re invest part of their profits which creates more jobs and profits. Along the way successful people also use some of their earnings to buy and enjoy nice homes, clothes, and cars.

For low- and middle-income people, envy is a natural and good reaction. It should be a signal for them to positively channel their efforts to attain wealth. Other than winning a lottery or an inheritance, the majority of people who gain wealth use their brains or brawn. There are thousands of stories of very poor Americans working their way from poverty to affluence by setting goals and doing the things to reach those goals. Equally, there are thousands of stories of penniless immigrants becoming rich because of their efforts. The "American Dream" was not, and will never be a myth. However, the road to riches is tough and one must work long and hard. Progressives and socialists would have lower economic classes hate the rich rather than follow their example. It's called class warfare and it works in places were ruthless politicans prey on uninformed voters.

The class warfare battle plan tells everybody the nation's wealth should be shared among all people, and big government agencies can do the job.  We are told that the increasing gap between high and low wage earners is the fault of the greedy rich.  Of course, the real reason for the gap is an increasing number of workers quitting the work place and accepting government handouts. In fact. the era of the nanny welfare state is usually marked by chronic high unemployment and millions living on government charity paid for by the working tax payers. 

The problem is the democrat party. It has convinced too many people that their low economic state is not their responsibility, but the fault of the rich. After decades of federal welfare schemes and trillions of wasted dollars (LBJ failed War on Poverty) we continue to have too many people mired in poverty
and this is what the democrat/socialist party wants.

Somehow democrat party bigwigs cannot or don't want to understand that government cannot create wealth. Too many politicians fail to realize that government bureaucracies cannot run anything better than the private sector. Profits are simply not in the vocabulary of government people. Our nation's economic superiority was built on individuals taking chances on their dreams and plans, and not on government schemes.

If you think our federally managed postal system, Amtrak, Obamacare, IRS, or other federal run plans are good, then you will support wealth redistribution. However, if you think welfare and class warfare make the nation strong then you've probably overdosed on the poisonous liberal Kool aid which seeks to kill the greatest economy the world has ever witnessed.