Writing my representative

Representative Boozman:

I am writing to voice my displeasure with your recent vote on the economic bailout bill. There are conservative solutions to the issues that our nation is facing. Why not propose a cut in corporate or capital gains taxes, along with federal budget cuts in order to provide the needed liquidity to our economy?

Frankly, I think that the problems we are experiencing today are a direct result of Washington interfering with the free market, and today we are sliding ever closer to a socialist state because of it.

Please do not compromise on our conservative values.

Thank you,
David Bellomy

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I don't know where you stand on the bailout, but either way, I encourage you to voice your opinion here to your representative in Washington.  Remember... THEY WORK FOR US!

Common Sense

First of all, I'd like to send a shout out to all of my comment homies up in the hood! One of you mentioned that the addition of Sarah Palin has prompted you (as a woman) to get involved in your local government.  Way to go!  The sudden popularity of Gov. Palin has confirmed in my mind something that I have long suspected...  The average American citizen can do a better job running this country than the career politicians in Washington.  Could you imagine what common sense in the White House, Congress, and our court system would do for our nation?  Political elites have long distanced themselves as the "governing class."  My hope is that normal folks around this country will start rising up to answer the call to public service and affect REAL change from the local level - all the way to the Federal level.  I certainly have had the thought of getting involved, myself.

Palin Article

Ran across a great article on Sarah Palin.  Check it out!

McCain's VP pick

So, I've been letting this one marinate for a little while before making up my mind on what I think about John McCain's choice for vice-president.  Turns out, I like her a lot more than I like McCain.  Let me talk about Governor Palin for a moment, and we'll swing back around to Senator McCain another time.  Here are the three main reasons that I like her:

• Motivation
  I get the real sense that Palin truly is a public servant who feels compelled (or called, if you will) to the offices that she has held.  In a way, she strikes me as being the inverse of Barack Obama, who has carefully calculated the fastest course to the presidency.  I may be completely misreading her on this, but I get the feeling that she doesn't really give a flying crap about her "political career," but simply wants to help make things better, which brings me to my next point...
  
  
• Principles
  She operates out of her principles, rather than the circumstances of the day.  Sarah Palin says that she is pro-life and the decision to have her son was not even a decision in her mind because her principles guide her actions.  SHE REALLY BELIEVES WHAT SHE SAYS!  Her principles include ideas like, "tax dollars belong to the people", "Americans have the right to bear arms", and "environmentalists should not be allowed to compromise our national security."  These principles have resulted in the following actions:  She sold the private governor's jet on Ebay and chose instead to drive, in order to save taxpayer's hard earned money.  Sarah Palin is a member of the NRA and a pretty good hunter too.  She also supports drilling in ANWR and has fought for a pipeline that will help America gain energy independence.
  
  
• Experience
  My favorite thing about Palin is that she is not a typical career politician.  She happily served her small local community for a decade before appearing on the state scene.  The fact is, that every person on the planet has life experiences.  Mine are different than yours and hers are different than 95% of the politicians in Washington.  I don't understand how congress has a 9% approval rating. ...NINE PERCENT!!!  And yet, the widely accepted profile for a presidential candidate is that they have experience in Washington.  Seems to me that voters need to elect more local people, who have common sense and share their values, to run our country.  If we keep doing what we've always done, we're going to keep getting what we've always gotten!  I love the fact that she has no experience in Washington.

The biggest issue that I have with Sarah Palin is unions.  Every time I here her say, "my husband is a proud member of the American Steel Worker's Union," I just cringe, close my eyes, and wish that she hadn't just said that.  She seems to be a dead on conservative on so many issues, but this one is just completely out of left field.  It's like getting a new pastor who's doctrine is completely on target and every single thing is wonderful except for the fact that he smokes 2 packs a day.  Is that a deal breaker?   Well........  Maybe?........  I don't know.

I feel that unions are a big reason why several industries are being driven overseas.  They are self-serving and short-sighted in their demands on businesses.  I'm afraid that I can't get on board the union train with her, however this wouldn't likely be a deal breaker for me.  In fact, if she were on the ticket for president, I'd vote for her in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, Palin is not running for president, and I don't know if I can vote for McCain.  I know most of you probably think I'm nuts for that, but I'll explain my case next time.

By the way, I have no idea if anyone is reading this, so please leave a comment so I'll know if the past hour of writing this post was a waste of time.  Thanks!

You took a date to prom???

Last night, we had some of our favorite friends over for dessert.  Now, for some reason, we are surrounded by friends who are the fit, athletic type.  Of course, I’m allergic to activity, period.

In a prior conversation, the “fit” wife mentioned that she had never gotten along with a non-athletic person as well as she gets along with me, before.  (That’s code for, “you are my first fat friend.”)

Keeping this in mind, here’s an excerpt from our conversation:

• Fit Guy:  “So how do you like the new mini-van?”
• Allison:  “It’s ok, but isn’t sporty enough.  Your car is sporty.”
• Fit Guy:  “Are you kidding me?”
• Dave:  “Yeah, I drove a car like yours to my senior prom.  I think it is pretty sporty”
• Fit Girl:  “You took a date to the prom?”
• Dave:  “Yeah, heavy people have dates too…  Of course she had to do it as part of her community service hours.  Or maybe it was a dare or something.”
• Everyone but Dave:  Multiple rounds of laughter.
• Dave:  Cries on the inside.

That was fantastic!  Her name was Misty and she was a lovely young lady, and NO, I wasn’t related to her!

This whole “fat friend” thing takes some getting used to.  :-)

Random is my middle name

I added a little widget on the right that displays the albums I have purchased from iTunes.  Am I the most random fella on the planet or what?  “The Meters” album is my favorite right now.  Click the album to preview.  I can already name 3 people who will immediately roll their eyes, 2 who will laugh out loud, and 1 who will be mad that I spent money on it (sorry honey!)  :-)

By the way… iPhone voting (see right bar) ends on Friday morning.  (because I’ll be at the store at 8 AM.)

So far, I think I would feel a little insecure if I got the white one.  We’ll see, though.

Reading…

I’ve never been much of a reader, but lately, current events have persuaded me to take some personal responsibility for knowing what is going on in our world. 

Recently, two subjects have grabbed my attention:

1.  The US economy.  In an election year when neither mainstream candidate seems to align with my conservative values, I have a real concern for where the liberal (progressive, left-wing, socialist… take your pick) economic agenda will take our economy.  One fascinating read for me was, “The Forgotten Man” by Amity Shlaes.  It’s a sobering historical account of how the US entered the Great Depression, and how misguided policies by the president at the time (FDR) served to prolong the depression many years beyond what the rest of the world experienced.  Unfortunately, our current political, social, and economic climate is eerily similar to that of 1929.

2.  The progressive movement in our country.  After reading “The Forgotten Man,” and learning about some disturbing political movements that were active at the time, I decided to dig a little deeper into the origins of the “progressive” movement that liberals are so eager to identify themselves with these days.  This second book is called, “Liberal Fascism” by Jonah Goldberg.  I know the title and picture on the cover evokes some powerful emotions in people, but I assure you that he isn’t equating modern liberals to nazis.  The flavor of this read is more closely aligned to the notion that fascism comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes and Hitler / Mussolini were part of an extreme variety.  The author argues that modern progressive ideas are generally mildly fascist in nature, however nowhere near the level of the bad guys mentioned above.  He calls it “fascism with a smiley face.”  (Which we should still run from as a people!)  I’ve just started this one, but I’ll be sure to come back with my final verdict, however I can already tell that it will be a worthwhile read. 

 

Fascism:

"A philosophy or system of government that is marked by stringent social and economic control, a strong, centralized government usually headed by a dictator, and often a policy of belligerent nationalism." (From The American Heritage Dictionary)

Honestly, I didn’t know what the word meant (and this is just one definition,) but the idea is that the government is big and the people are small.  This is exactly opposite of how our founding fathers designed this country to be, but listen to our candidates (including our current president) talk about the “programs” that they want to put in place that will essentially make our government bigger.

Because I’m in the car for an hour and a half each day, I normally listen to audio books, as I prefer to love on my family while I’m at home.  So, the pictures above will take you to the iTunes store, or you can easily find the books at Amazon.com.