Bush Derangement Syndrome Ravages Vermont

It’s cold outside in Vermont this winter. As a result many have to spend more time indoors breathing recirculated air. This lack of fresh air is not good for anyone. But in Vermont’s case it has spawned an epidemic of Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS).

BDS was discovered by Charles Krauthammer. He first mentioned it in a 2003 article he wrote for the Washington Post about Howard Dean. Are you starting to see a link here? Dean was also the Governor of Vermont once, too. Maybe the geography of Vermont does not lend itself well to good air circulation.

Krauthammer is a former psychiatrist who earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He defined BDS as "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency—nay—the very existence of George W. Bush".

Thus the term BDS refers to a tendency by American liberals to blame President George W. Bush for virtually every ill in the world. It also refers to opposing a position advocated by President Bush just because he supports it, regardless of the position's merits.

The term reflects a belief that some criticisms of President Bush—for example, a description of President Bush as the greatest current threat to American lives—are of emotional origins rather than based on facts or logic. But then, that is what liberals do – they base their arguments on emotion, and not on facts or logic.

To liberals, results don’t matter. To them it is the intent that counts. Success or failure is irrelevant as long as the intent was good. This is what allows them to sleep at night.

So, let’s get back to Vermont. In a little town called Brattleboro, the Town Select Board has voted to put a town petition making President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney subject to arrest for crimes against the Constitution on their March 4th ballot.

It reads: "Shall the Selectboard instruct the Town Attorney to draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution, and publish said indictments for consideration by other authorities and shall it be the law of the Town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro Police, pursuant to the above-mentioned indictments, arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro if they are not duly impeached, and prosecute or extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them?"

The people of Vermont are perpetually angry at Bush and his administration. The Vermont State Senate voted last year to support impeaching the president and anti-war rallies are regular occurrences.

As I wrote in a previous blog on apologizing for slavery, here is another governmental body that is wasting tax payer money on ridiculous legislation instead of dealing with real problems their constituents face.

And here’s the kicker, the petition would have no legal standing since the town attorney has no authority to write an indictment and the police have no authority to arrest Bush or Cheney if either visits Brattleboro.

BDS has hit Brattleboro and has hit it hard. They have received a lot of comments on this measure. The vast majority of the comments have been negative. Rightly so! Yet, they seem befuddled and caught off guard by the predominantly negative reaction.

"We have some concerns about safety," said Town Clerk Annette Cappy. "After reading some of these e-mails, you can't help it."

Annette, I wouldn’t worry for your safety. BDS is not deadly. But it does make one vulnerable to the painful truth that BDS sufferers do not represent what real Americans think.

Kurt Daims, the resident who submitted the petition, said he was chagrined that the town and its employees were subject to ridicule. YGBSM!!

Kurt, I don’t know why you are so surprised but I’ll tell you why I think you and your liberal friends are receiving this level of negative reaction.

Real Americans find people like you laughable, at best; traitorous, at worst. You liberals hide under the umbrella of protection that is provided to you by the very people that you launch your vitriolic tirades and useless legislative actions against. You are filled with hate. And, for the life of me, I cannot figure out how anyone can have that much hate…how you people can wake up everyday feeling the amount of enmity that you do against the world. It must be hard to have that much hate to wake to each day.

That blind hatred for this country, and I don’t know any other way to describe it, makes you do ridiculous things and act in ridiculous ways. And I don’t understand why you ‘hate America first’ liberals despise the very country that has given you all of the freedoms and opportunities you have.

Why is it that you liberals embrace every socialist, communist and fascist regime around the world but will call America every name in the book? Those are the very regimes in which you would be less able, if at all, to exercise the freedoms you have in this country.

Try bringing up this resolution in Venezuela? I’m sure that Hugo Chavez would appreciate your freedom of speech.

So Kurt, and the good people of Brattleboro, VT, this is why you are seen as a pitiful laughing stock. If you don’t like America there is a socialist utopia not very far to your north that would love to have you. And I hear their government-run health care system is far superior to ours.

But you don’t need a good health care system to cure BDS. All you need to do is get out of Vermont and drive around America, get some fresh air, and see what real America stands for. It probably won’t change your mind but the fresh air won’t hurt!

A-6Dude

Because of whom liberals are, I offer the:

Dangerous Martini
2 parts vodka
1 part cointreau
The squeeze of a fresh orange
Champagne

Add vodka, cointreau and orange juice to a shaker with ice and shake till COLD! Pour into a cold cocktail glass and top off with champagne.

Not All Heroes Wear Uniforms

Lorraine Allard of St. Olaves in the UK is a HERO! She sacrificed her life to that of another. She wasn’t wearing a set of cammies with a bullet proof vest and helmet. She wasn’t wearing a doctor or nurse or paramedic uniform either. She wasn't a police officer or firefighter.

Lorraine Allard was a MOM and a wife. Her uniform in her last days was either her regular clothes or a hospital gown or something appropriate for her circumstances.

Lorraine Allard is as much a hero as any one else that made the ultimate sacrifice so that someone else could live.

Lorraine Allard gave her life so that her son could be born.

When she was four months pregnant she discovered that she was in the advanced stages of liver cancer. This gave her two choices: either forego cancer treatment and certainly die or terminate the pregnancy.

She chose to forego the cancer treatment that may or may not have saved her life so that her unborn child would be able to live. She then waited until her baby was old enough to be viable before scheduling her Caesarean section.

That was a selfless, courageous act!

I would like to think I would make a decision like that if I was ever faced with circumstances that required it. I hope I never have to find out. My wife and I have discussed this many times during the pregnancies that gave us our beautiful children.

Abortion was not an option for us. And that was not a decision that we came to lightly, but we arrived there very quickly. I thank God we never had to make that choice.

But Lorraine Allard, 33, did have to make the choice. And she chose to sacrifice her own life to let her fourth child, a son - their first - she and her husband named Liam, live. Liam was born on November 18th, 2007 and was a week premature.

Exactly two months later, Lorraine Allard died. She had begun chemotherapy but by then it was too late. The cancer was too advanced.

Lorraine Allard is a HERO! I only hope that if I ever have to, I can be as courageous as she was. I hope I never have to be.

And I am going to start a section on my blog to acknowledge Lorraine and other heroes out there. In keeping with the theme of the blog, Dirty Martini, I will call it the 5 Olives Award!

May God Bless Lorraine Allard and her family. She is a TRUE HERO.

A-6Dude

Westboro Wackos

The wackos at the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS are at it again. These are the people that have been showing up and protesting at the funerals of our fallen servicemen and servicewomen for the last few years. They blame the deaths of those heroes on the fact that this country is tolerant those that have chosen a homosexual lifestyle.

The irony of this is that they are disrespecting the honor and memory of the very same people that have sacrificed their lives defending these nut-jobs’ right to free speech.

Yes, they have a right to peacefully protest. But just because one has the right to do something doesn’t mean it necessarily needs to be done. And whoever is advising them on when and where to get their message out is giving them bad advice.

Yes, they have a right to voice their opinions. But they do nothing to advance their cause by protesting at the funerals and memorial services of our fallen heroes.

They’re going for a sensational impact since just sending out a press release stating their opinions isn’t enough. They must get out there and show that they have no respect for the lives of those that paid the ultimate sacrifice for their rights. And, their idiotic protesting shows no respect or compassion for the families, friends and loved ones of those that have fallen.

Not content to just go after the soldiers that have sacrificed their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, now they have targeted Heath Ledger because he played a cowboy that had chosen a homosexual lifestyle in the movie “Brokeback Mountain”. I never saw the movie and have no intention of doing so. As I said in a previous post, Hollywood “has taken up the liberal agenda of dumbing down society in order to make moral relativism the status quo.”

So why aren’t they out in Hollywood everyday protesting in front of each of the studios that make the movies that are offensive to them?

The answer is simple -- they are cowards.

At a funeral there will be only a relatively small number of people with which to contend. And, the people in attendance WILL be showing respect for the fallen and their families.

In Hollywood, they would be massively outnumbered. And those bastions of tolerance and diversity would not likely show the same traits to these wackos.

As I said, they have every right to do what they do. But they show no semblance of compassion or class. They are also judgmental. According to them, Heath Ledger and all of those dead soldiers are in hell right now.

And here is where they lose. Christians are supposed to be compassionate. I believe that the vast majority of them are. A normal person would not protest at someone’s funeral. These people are way radical. To me, the only thing they have over the radical Islamic terrorists that they don’t blow themselves up at funerals and kill many other innocent victims is that they don’t kill anyone.

I see absolutely NO compassion in their actions. All I see is hate.

And, who gives them the authority to know or determine where a person will spend eternity? I thought that was reserved for God!

These wackos are filled with hate. Luckily, for us, God is filled with Love.

Yes. God hates sin. But thankfully, He loves us sinners.

And, if they really despise living in a society where there are people that have chosen a homosexual lifestyle, then perhaps they should move to Iran. According to "Achmegenocide", Iran has no homosexuals.

There’ll be no martini recipe for these wackos.

A-6Dude

MLK Day an Insult?

I was struck by headline I read today, “M.L. King ally says U.S. holiday an insult.”

The Rev. Peter Johnson, a Dallas minister who says he marched with civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and is now the director of the Texas operations for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, says that MLK’s birthday observance holiday is an insult to his legacy. Rev. Johnson feels that the holiday should be on April 4, the anniversary of the date King was assassinated.

I am trying to think when we have ever celebrated the anniversary of someone’s death. Even when there was a holiday for Abraham Lincoln it was celebrated on the anniversary of his birthday, not the anniversary of his death. So now, the Reverend Martin Luther King is the only person to have a national holiday in their honor. No other person in American history has that distinction. We have President’s Day, which is for all presidents, but none of them are celebrated as individuals anymore. And wouldn't you know it, according to Rev. Johnson, it's on the wrong day.

Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed in 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as MLK Day, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed for the first time in all 50 states in 2000.

MLK Day was founded as a holiday promoted by labor unions in contract negotiations. The bill, by Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan), was introduced in Congress to make King's birthday a national holiday, highlighting King's activism on behalf of trade unionists.

So if I am to understand this correctly, the holiday was introduced and promoted by trade union supporters. I find that very interesting as it appears that this holiday’s genesis was as a bargaining chip in a contract negotiation, not necessarily to honor the work that Dr. King did for civil rights.

Regardless, Rev. Johnson then makes a very revealing comment: "We have ignored the essence of his life and the horror of his death," said Johnson. "We’ve allowed white America to escape the guilt of his assassination and we’ve allowed black America to drift back into a coma."

That comment is revealing in its blatant racism! There is only one person that should feel guilty about his death and that is James Earl Ray. However, Ray is now dead so that leaves no one living to assume the guilt. But Rev. Johnson thinks differently. White America must assume that guilt now.

So, Rev. Johnson, why should I feel guilty about something I didn’t do? And where I have plenty of things about which to feel guilty, MLK’s assassination isn’t one of them. But the reverend wants whites to feel guilty, still, about his death. Perhaps to him, all whites are guilty.

This is the kind of inflammatory crap that gets in the way of Dr. King’s vision of unity. It certainly doesn’t reflect Dr. King’s belief that we should judge a men by the content of their character and not the color of their skin does it?
A-6Dude

Black and White Martini
2 parts Vanil Vodka
1 part dark Crème de Cacao

Shake over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

My Contract with America

A local talk radio station host, Chris Core, had listeners call in early last year to see if they could define a new Contract with America. There were a lot of good ideas submitted and some that were not so good. So I started thinking about it and came up with what I will call My Contract with America.

In my almost perfect world the items below would be part of what I would change if I could. The list is not all inclusive. I took parts of the list from the radio show and added a lot of my own ideas.

I don’t write in legal-speak so most of these are just plain-language tenants I would like to see incorporated. I know that this would not be easy and some may need re-thinking but we have to start somewhere.

So, at a minimum, here is the contract I would make with America:

I Believe that America is the greatest country ever:
-Freedom is the root of that greatness.

-In general, government is not the solution to our problems, it is often THE problem.

Balanced budget:
-The budget of the United States Federal Government must be balanced every fiscal year.

All Federally funded programs must show a measurable return on investment:
-Government spending must be treated like household spending (without credit cards).

-Government spending must not exceed the amount of taxes taken in.

-Any program or governmental agency/department that receives federal government funding must show a measurable return on that investment (ROI). Those metrics will have to be determined for each recipient program/agency/department.

-Any program or governmental agency/department that receives federal funds and does not meet a defined measure of effectiveness will have a penalty applied in the form of reduced funding the next year.

-Repeated failure to meet performance metrics may result in total de-funding. Here’s why… Americans have to live within their economic means and so should the government. This means that taxes must not be raised just to have more to spend.

-Any new program or governmental agency/department designated to receive government funds must have a measurable ROI defined prior to receiving those funds.

IMMIGRATION REFORM AND CONTROL:
-The southern border between the United States and Mexico must be secured within one year by fence, personnel and/or electronic devices in order to stop illegal entry into the United States.

-Unless one of your parents is a legal U.S. citizen, a child born here is not automatically a U.S. citizen (of course, this last one would require a change to Constitution).

-Any children who have been born in the United States of parents who are illegally in this country (commonly known as “anchor babies”) will have to pursue the same path for American citizenship as any other immigrant wanting to become a U.S. citizen.

PROTECTION OF THE AMERICAN CULTURE AND ELECTORAL PROCESS:
-English shall be designated as the official language of the United States. All ballots for elections shall be printed only in English.

-Anyone who wishes to vote shall be required to provide verified proof of U.S. citizenship at the polling booth.

-NO government forms or business shall be conducted in any other language but English.

VOTER IDs:
-All U.S. citizens that are legally allowed to vote must provide proof of citizenship in the form of a birth certificate or other acceptable form of identification.

-This form of positive ID must be shown in order to vote.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE:
-This Congress will set a maximum of ten years by which time the United States must become fully independent of any foreign sources for its energy supply. We put a man on the moon in a decade and I think we can do this in a decade too.

-This will include, but not be limited to, expanded oil exploration and refining, and production of alternative sources such as nuclear power, ethanol, natural gas, solar, and/or wind.

CONGRESSIONAL REFORM:
-All bills must be approved or rejected solely on their own merit (that is, nothing unrelated to the intent of the original bill may be added). If you want a pork-spending bill then do it in the form of a bill that stands alone.

-There is no longer the ability to filibuster.

-All presidential appointments will receive a confirmation or rejection vote within 90 days of their nomination.

-No public office-holder may do business with, or try to influence, the vote of elected officials (lobbying) within 2 years of having left public office.

-Term limits will be set for all federally elected officials. House of Representatives will be changed to four (4) year terms and limited to three terms in office. The Senate will be limited to two terms in office. Unless running for President, no elected official shall serve longer than 14 years (total) in an elected federal office.

-Federally elected and appointed officials that choose to run for an office other than that which they currently hold must resign from their current office before seeking election for another office.

REFORM THE IRS and OUR TAX CODE:
-We will have an honest and open debate on migrating our current tax system to a flat tax, national sales tax or a similar form of taxation.

-Our current tax code is too complex and we need to move to a more simplistic plan.

A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD:
-All laws that apply to the rest of the country shall apply equally to Congress. This includes such laws as those enacted by the EEOC and OSHA.

-So that members of Congress may better relate to the average American, the Congressional pension plan shall be ended, and Congress will pay into, and receive, the same Social Security benefits as any other American.

-Congress shall receive no health care benefits that it cannot offer to each and every other American citizen.

I know that there are other areas that can be addressed and some of these may be incomplete. So, send my your ideas or recommendations. Then vote for me when I run for President ... why wait, write me in!

A-6Dude

Cigar Lover’s Martini
2.5 parts VS Cognac
0.5 parts Tawny Port

Shake over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Enjoy with a medium-to-heavy bodied cigar.

The End of Hollywood?

Julian Myers, a longtime publicist, is afraid that the end may be near for Hollywood. He feels that the WGA strike will be the doom for Tinseltown.

He sees people crossing the lines and believes that violence and even fatalities are probably inevitable.

"Does a dying Hollywood need a civil war today to hasten its erosion?" he asks.

I'm afraid Mr. Myers is worried about the wrong end to Hollywood. Of course, I don't believe that Hollywood will end. But I would like to see it become less relevant - and I think that it is heading in that direction.

I think Hollywood has taken up the liberal agenda of dumbing down society in order to make moral relativism the status quo. They are the mass marketers of immorality. I'm no prude, by any stretch, but they make movies and television shows that glamorize the various social ills of our society.

Hollywood used to be FOR America. It had stars like John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, and others of that genre, that actually loved this country. They made movies that showed America in a positive light. Now, we get movie after movie like Redacted, Rendition, In the Valley of Elah, The Kingdom and Lions for Lambs. They are all anti-American films - some more subtle than others.

These recent films, set against the backdrop of war in Iraq and post-9/11 security, have failed to win over movie-goers. They are scratching their heads and they can't figure out why.

I know why...Americans don't think of themselves as losers. At least, not real Americans.

I believe Americans are positive people. Americans are upbeat and believe in this country. Hollywood does not reflect America. Oh, they think they do and they try to engineer our social morals, but the recent spate of 'hate America' movies have been utter box office failures because Hollywood, like liberals, are out of touch with real America.

Americans, real Americans, believe in the greatness of this country. When was the last time a Hollywood movie had that as its theme?

So, Mr. Myers, Hollywood will not ever go away. I don't want it too. But Hollywood's demise, to whatever extent it will be, will not be due to a bunch of writers that want more money for their work and may resort to physical violence.

Instead, it's erosion will be from the fact that they forget that real Americans love this country and don't want to pay money for the anti-American garbage that they overwhelmingly produce.

A-6Dude

And in keeping with the theme of this post I give you the Hollywood Martini:

6 parts Gin

1 part Goldwasser

1 part Dry Vermouth

Shake over ice and strain into cold cocktail glass. Garnish with bleu cheese stuffed olives

Quotes: They Really Say These Things

Every once in awhile I will collect a montage of priceless quotes. Feel free to comment on them too. This will be fun!

1. “The war in Iraq is the biggest disappointment for us, I mean the inability to stop the war in Iraq," Pelosi, 67 and in her 11th House term, said in a recent roundtable interview. At the beginning of 2007 she believed Republican support for the war would erode. It didn't. In fact, it solidified as the U.S. surge that began in the summer helped reduce the violence.
"They have stayed wedded to the president on this," Pelosi said.

WOW! Madame Speaker, have you ever considered that real American’s don’t like to quit and don’t like to lose? I guess it’s just too bad for the Democrat Party that we are reducing the violence in Iraq. We certainly wouldn’t want to confuse that with any sign of success, would we?

2. “The titans of the major media don’t see themselves as in need of reform. They think the voters have to be reformed, not the media.” —Brent Bozell (so this one wasn't a stupid quote but worthy of mention for its accuracy).

Perhaps they should look at the latest polls on how American’s feel about the job the mainstream media does. Our President is polling higher.

3. “It’s getting lonelier all the time at the top for America, which with a corporate tax rate of 35% is one of the few developed nations left with a rate of more than 30%... Foreign leaders have learned that, in a world of easy global capital flows, high tax rates chase away investment and entrepreneurs.” —The Wall Street Journal

The Democrat Party wants to be like Europe and the rest of the world so perhaps they should get on board with and lower the corporate tax rate. Wouldn’t that rile their base?

4. “There’s no doubt about it. And there’s no way to read it except as a rebuke to President Bush.” MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Barak Obama’s caucus win in Iowa.

Hey, Chris: Bush was not on the ballot.

5. From the Class Warfare Department: “There was a statistic that came out this week from the Congressional Budget Office which was just stunning to me. It said that in the last two years—from 2003 to 2005—the increase in income for the top one percent exceeded the total income of the bottom 20 percent. Given that, what would be wrong with letting the tax cuts for the top one percent expire and plowing that money into education?” —ABC’s George Stephanopoulos

George, how do you cut taxes for people that don’t pay them? From the IRS website: Here is who pays taxes – The top 1% of income earners pay 39% of all taxes; the top 50% of income earners pay 97% of all taxes; the BOTTOM 50% only pay 3.46% of income taxes!

The bottom wage earners already pay less than 4% of income taxes. Yeah, let’s stick it to the ones that already pay the brunt of the bill. That makes sense.

6. “Bush Won’t Visit Yasser Arafat’s Tomb” —Jerusalem Post Headline

Darn that President Bush not going to the grave of a terrorist.

7. “George Clooney Boycott Threat to Oscars” —Times (London) (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto)

And that's a bad thing? I say anytime we don’t have to see or hear Clooney is a good time.

8. More from the Class Warfare Department: “[Last week’s] jobs report confirms what most Americans already knew: President Bush’s economic policies have failed our country’s middle class.” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Madame Speaker, how does a failed policy give us 24 quarters of uninterrupted economic growth? How does a GDP grow 3.8% in a quarter with a failed economic policy?

9. “Of course he’s sexy. He seems to be flourishing and following his calling. It’s just the most enviable thing in the world, like watching a beautiful racehorse run.” —actress Uma Thurman on Al Gore

Uma, maybe all of that fake blood in the Kill Bill movies hasn’t been cleaned out of your eyes. The word ‘sexy’ and Al Gore do not fit together.

10. "The economists can argue about it, you can see them on TV," Senator Clinton said, discussing her economic stimulus plan. "The statistics are one thing. The stories are something altogether different."

That’s right, Hillary, don’t let statistics and facts interfere with the gloom and doom soup kitchen economy the Democrat Party wants us to believe is out there.

A-6Dude

And here's one from my martini library you'll love:

Heavenly Coffee Martini

1 part Vanil Vodka

1 part coffee liqueur

Shake over ice and strain into cold cocktail glass. Garnish with coffee beans.

Apologizing for Slavery or Pandering?

Slavery is a big stain on the history of civilization as a whole, not just America. The idea of slavery is repugnant. Unfortunately, it still exists in various places around the world today.

New Jersey is considering legislation to apologize for slavery. Four Southern states (Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia) have already done this and I am not sure I understand why.

How is writing legislation to say ‘we’re sorry’ for something we abolished in 1866 relevant to anything today? There are plenty of other issues that our lawmakers need to address that are of significance. This isn’t one of them.

What about something meaningful for the blacks in NJ? How about their education? How about those Democrat legislators do something about helping those that rely on the government for their livelihood break that dependency? I doubt they’ll try to do that – the Democrat Party needs them dependent upon them for their seemingly inevitable vote.

So with that in mind the New Jersey Democrats feel that since those four Southern states can apologize for slavery then why can’t a Northeastern state. New Jersey was the last Northeastern state to abolish slavery (1846) and after 162 years some liberal lawmaker feels that they ought to apologize for it. It will make them feel good about themselves and will accomplish absolutely nothing. It’s irrelevant and non-productive.

First of all, slavery was ended about 140 years ago. There is no living person that was a slave back then. There is also no living person that was a slave owner. So, as I see it, there is no one that can deliver the apology and no one that can accept it. Thus we have a waste of legislative activity.

I’m a huge fan of Dr. Walter E. Williams, an American economist and a professor at George Mason University. I’ve heard him a few times on the radio and have a couple of his books.

For those of you that don’t know of Dr. Williams, he is black. He is also one of the smartest people in the world. He offered an interesting thought on this issue in a TownHall.com piece entitled “Regrets on Slavery” in response to Virginia’s legislation to apologize for slavery. He says:

“Isn't that nice? I agree that slavery was an abomination, but I'm going to be even more generous than Virginia's General Assembly. I regret the murder of an estimated 61 million people whom the former USSR executed, slaughtered, starved, beat or tortured to death. I also regret the Chinese government's slaughter of 45 million Chinese; Hitler's slaughter of 6 million Jews; the Khmer Rouge's murder of 2 million Cambodians; the half a million Ugandans murdered by Idi Amin's death squads; the million Hutus and Tutsis murdered in Rwanda's genocidal bloodbath; and slavery that still exists in the Sudan and Mauritania.

All of these, and many more, are horrible injustices at least as horrible as the slavery that existed in the U.S. But after all the regrets and apologies for injustices, what comes next? Let's examine Virginia's statement of regret with an eye toward what it might mean.

I can personally relate to the Virginia General Assembly's declaration. My great-grandparents were slaves in the Virginia cities of Chase City and Newport News. The General Assembly's statement of regret for slavery means absolutely nothing to me. If anything, it's nothing less than a cheap insult and capitulation of white delegates to black hustlers. Possibly, the whites who voted in support of the declaration were mau-maued into it or they felt guilt over our history of slavery. In any case, they should know that their actions mean little in dealing with the day-to-day plight of many black Virginians -- which has nothing to do with slavery.”

With the exception of some of the statistics that may be different, he could apply his comments to what the NJ Democrat party wants to do today.

In another piece, Dr. Williams offers another point of view on slavery.

“Thank goodness for slavery. If my ancestors hadn't been slaves, I wouldn't have grown up in the richest country in the world.”

And he is right. I’ve been around the world and I’ve yet to see a place where blacks, or any other minority for that matter, have the same opportunities that are enjoyed in this country.

What this is really about is white guilt and pandering to the black voters. However, guilt implies that you did something wrong. I was not part of slavery; no one alive today was part of the slavery of blacks in America. Therefore, I am not guilty and I will not allow myself to be made to feel guilty.

Since I am not guilty I have nothing for which to apologize. Nor do we, as Americans, owe an apology to anyone living today for an abomination we abolished 140 years ago.

A-6Dude

For the New Year, the Leap Year Martini

8 parts GIN OR VODKA
2 parts SWEET VERMOUTH
2 parts ORANGE LIQUEUR
1 part LEMON JUICE

Add ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake until container is too cold to hold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist. Enjoy!

Voter IDs

Next week the Supreme Court will hear arguments for Indiana’s voter ID law. Georgia’s similar law will be affected by their decision, expected sometime in June 2008.

The Republicans want this law in effect to prevent voter fraud. I agree. In Virginia, I have to show my driver’s license every time I vote. I don’t have a problem with it. I smile, show them my ID and then go cast my vote. It takes about 15 seconds of my time.

To me this makes great sense. Voting is reserved for U.S. citizens. Why should it be a problem to verify your citizenship status and eligibility to vote? I have to prove my citizenship status every time I get a new job and for a host of other events in my life. So why is it a bad thing for us to prove we’re U.S. citizens when we vote?

The Democrats say we’re disenfranchising the poor. How? It is not hard to prove you’re a legal citizen. It takes little effort to get a copy of your birth certificate if you don’t have one.

The Dems only care about this because it is the poor that usually vote for them. After starting the War on Poverty 40 years ago the Dems still cannot declare victory and yet the poor seem to follow them like sheep. And this has created a section of our population that has become dependent on the government for their well-being.

Just think about that for a minute – the Dems started a war 40 years ago and have spent over 7 trillion dollars on it and still have made no real progress. Why do the poor in this country continue to follow them?

And if there is no requirement to prove you’re a legal citizen of this country then illegals can vote and that the Dems want – to create another permanent underclass of people that are dependent upon them for their well-being. That’s just what they’ve done to the poor in this country.

To me this is a no brainer. Even though it is part of a voter fraud preventative measure, it is also an issue of right and wrong. Voting in America is a right of U.S. citizens and they should be able to prove, and have no problem with proving, that they’re legally eligible to vote.

A-6Dude

Here is the classic Dirty Martini as I make them:

2 parts premium quality Vodka

Vermouth mister

olive brine

olives

Shake Vodka over ice till the shaker is too cold to hold. Strain into ice cold cocktail glass. Add about a tablespoon of olive brine and spray 2-3 mists of vermouth over vodka. Add olives and drink.