It is an image that makes me angrier than I have been in a long time. Muntadhar al-Zeidi, an Iraqi "journalist," stands up and throws his shoes at the President of the United States. That's right, he took his shoes off and threw them at  a foreign leader during a farewell press conference. A couple of things that Mr. Muntadhar al-Zeidi may be interested in remembering; The person that you just threw your shoes at is the same man that made sure your country was freed from the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein. Had President Bush ignored and appeased Saddam, as his predecessor President Clinton did, you would not be writing your personal opinions in a newspaper. You would be writing exactly what the Iraqi government wanted you to write. President Bush sacrificed public approval to make sure that your country had a fighting chance in hell to achieve a democracy in which you could bask in newfound freedoms and civil rights. The action of one "man" takes all of the American sacrifices and stomps them into the mud. Several liberal leaning talking heads are comparing this ignorant journalist to Joe the plumber. Comparing a man who decides to throw their shoes at a person who presided over the freeing of a terrorist nation, to a person who calmly and politely asked a pertinent question on the campaign trail is quite a stretch. Even for the likes of Keith Olbermann. I guess, in the liberalist media's minds, the comparison is well deserved because they view Joe the plumber as a man who challenged what the media was spoon feeding us. He was a problem for the Democratic party. They view a shoe throwing journalist as a problem to the Republican party. The sad thing is the fact that the anger I feel when I watch this dispicable act replayed on television is not shared by all. I was not angry that the shoe was thrown at George W. Bush, but am angry that the shoe was thrown by an Iraqi journalist at an American. I guess that is the difference between our country and many other countries around the world. Our citizens will throw their lives at terrorists to try to make the world a safer place and in return citizens of those countries we are trying to make safer throw their shoes at us. The only gratitude that I get out of this story is the fact that I know there is a special place being reserved for Mr. Muntadhar al-Zeidiand and I pray that there are no shoes in hell. Have fun Mr. Muntadhar al-Zeidi, it has been nice knowing you!

Make your plans now. Make sure that you reserve a date, in the near future, to visit Governor Rod Blagojevich in federal prison. It would be nice for everybody who has been "served" by Roddy, as the governor of Illinois, to show our appreciation to the man by stopping by his cell on our next visits to the federal pens. The only unfortunate reality of his almost certain prison time is the fact that the taxpayers will continue to pay the bill for his comfort food and recreational yard time he will receive in the prison. The fact that he is being accused of trying to sell a senate seat, reports are coming in that the highest bidder was probably going to be Jesse Jackson Jr, is only paled in comparison to the fact that the American citizens have let this type of crap happen. We continue to hold our elected officials to a low standard of productivity. We continue to allow a non transparent government to shape our laws and regulations. We continue to let the greedy spend our tax dollars without justification and we act like we are surprised when stuff like this happens. It scares me to think that this corrupt act by Governor Blagojevich will pass, with time, and no new standard will be set by the American people. We have to tell our officials that we are sick and tired of this "same old political" circus. If you watch the news programs, read the newspapers and listen to what is happening in our very own government, you have the duty to call and write your officials to tell them what you think. To do anything less than that is to tell our leaders that the issues are not a big deal to you. When will we, the people, realize that things like this are happening because we are letting it happen. We must stand up and stop them in their greedy tracks. We must voice our opinion, no matter how many people disagree with us and must continue to pressure our leaders to adopt a more transparent form of governing. THEY WORK FOR US. We are their bosses and can fire them from their positions every time we walk into that voting booth. If you acted in such a greedy, dishonest way at your current place of employment, you would not be the least bit shocked when you were summonsed into the bosses office to sign your pink slip. We should hold our government officials to the same standard of accountability. It's the only way we are going to get ourselves out of this free for all, pay to play form of government we have gotten ourselves into. Mr. Blagojevich says that he has no plans on resigning his position of governor of Illinois. To him I say, that's fine, we have made the plans for you, sir. Here is your pink slip!

Thanksgiving is over now, and I have had time to reflect on all that I am thankful of. My mind instantly drifts to the time I spent living with my mom and dad. I have always had a pretty good life. I was able to spend my entire childhood growing up with two parents that loved each other dearly. My mom and dad are an excellent example of what marriage is really about. Helping each other through the tough times in the lives of one another and always showing love to their children. The love that they showed me and my two sisters was not an endless supply of money, but was instead a steady homelife. Dad would work countless hours either on the road or at the office to provide all of the necessities to his family. We all didn't get brand new cars when we turned sixteen, but instead we were given approximately twenty one years of common sense, compassion for your neighbor, hard work and honesty will get you where you need to go education. I guess you could call it the Stratford Drive University. I am proud to be an alumni! Now, don't get me wrong. I didn't always agree with the course of study that my parents laid out in front of me. In fact, I usually found a way to argue just about every one of them. I did not understand why I could not have a free car when I turned sixteen. I did not understand why I was not allowed to stay out without my parents knowing where I was going. And, I certainly did not understand why my father ever let my little sister start dating. I still vow, to this day, that my daughter will be single until she is retired. My two sisters taught me that looking out for someone else was part of everybody's duty as an honest person. Whether it was picking up my little sister and driving her home when I saw her walking down the street with a boy, or talking to my older sister when times got tough for one of us. My little sister gave me a reason to be a big brother and my older sister gave me a reason to be a little brother seeking advice. My mother taught me that  patience is a virtue when you are a parent. I still cannot beleive that I made it all the way through college without her knocking any of my teeth out. It's not that she didn't want to I am sure. It's simply that making your point through  virtue gets you further. I can still remember as if it were yesterday, walking out of the hospital room after my daughter was born. Simply out of instinct, I walked straight to my mom and dad, hugged them and bawled on their shoulders like a little baby. It says a lot about the bond between parent and child when a moment like that, in front of several people, just seemed like the natural thing to do. To this day, I still say I love you to my mom and dad as well as my two sisters. The words are not simply protocol. We mean it! To my mom: Thank you for being an example to me in days past and future. I admire your strong will and convictions. I love the fact that you don't always have to have the most expensive pleasures in life and admire you like you will never know. I love the fact that you could get ready for work, even though I was asleep in front of the heater on the bathroom floor. Most of all, thank you for raising me with enough patience so that I may also raise my children with a steady hand. I could not have asked for a better mom. Even though you ran onto the field during one of my flag football games! Oh, and one more thing, thank you for acting like you enjoyed it when I made you that nasty looking homeade ash tray. I cannot beleive that was actually a grade school project! To my dad: Thank you for teaching me what a dad is supposed to do. Nothing should be given without certain sacrafices. It was a lesson that will pay dividends for my entire life. Thank you for instilling in me the lesson that everything is attainable through hard work. You have given me a leg up in today's world becasue of your example. Thank you for showing me how to love your wife. Thank you for talking to me when I was having some pretty challenging times. Your advice was priceless and that meant more to me than I have ever told you! You are a great example to go by dad, and I am proud to call you dad. Oh, and one more thing, thank you for  teaching me that it is ok to sleep with your own brother on the couch. George, scoot over. To my two sisters: Oh boy, here we go. You guys are great! I love the fact that you two had to share a 6 by 10 bedroom while I got to hang out in my 6 by 11 bachelor pad. I often think back to the days of passing messages to each other's room with a coat hanger. I enjoyed silly stringing your room and will never forget family band practice. Mel playing the saxaphone, trying to impress that "Fat Matt" guy and me blowing as hard as I could so mom would just tell me to stop. Denise, I absolutely loved embarassing you as much as I could during our high school career. I though that if I could embarass you enough, maybe the boys would just stay away! Mel, you were always so generous to me. You would always let me pick any item out of your room if I would simply leave. Boy, you taught me! Oh, by the way Denise, you do not give the right away to somebody who is in the turn lane on a highway! I love you all!

At what point and under what circumstances does the government owe it to a private sector company to bail them out from financial turmoil? Never! When the government starts to pump money into the businesses of the private sector, they are ignoring the fact that the consumers have already spoken. If a business makes decisions that render them unable to compete in today's market, that is just the way it goes. The business has to make the decision to either make changes that will enable it to compete in the market or can simply close down shop. It is harsh, I know, but it is simply the way life goes. Or at least is the way life used to go. While I do feel sorry for the people that will lose their jobs if the automobile industry fails, life does not guarantee no pitfalls in your journey through it. If we decide to bail out every business that is on the brink of bankruptcy, how will we ever make progressions as a society? The automobile industry has continued to manufacture vehicles that are inefficient when it comes to fuel efficiency and dependence. If the auto industry is not allowed to suffer for their bad business practices, why would they ever make the decision to produce vehicles that the consumer wants to buy? Let's take this philosophy and apply it to another industry. If a burger joint makes a burger that nobody likes to eat, should we give them taxpayer's dollars to make sure that they stay open for the business that they do not receive? Of course not. The burger joint can either produce food that people will pay money to eat or they can close. Simple as that. The consumer "votes" everyday with their dollars. They decide to spend their votes at places that provide good service and great products! As far as the auto industry is concerned, the consumer has decided that they do not want to spend their money on gas guzzling vehicles. They want vehicles that are fuel efficient, safe and come with a decent price tag. Ford, Chrysler, and GM could not or would not provide that, so the consumer bought from someone else. They, in essence, voted with their money and the results of that vote have just came in. To Ford, Chrysler and GM; Produce a vehicle with excellent MPG or one that runs on an alternative source of energy. If not, we will continue to take our dollars elsewhere. At least the dollars that the federal government lets us keep!

President elect Obama says that he wants to shut down the controversial terrorist detention camp, Guantanamo Bay, and bring all of the suspected terrorist to the United States to face justice. My initial reaction is simple. Are you kidding me? Unfortunately, he is not kidding us. He really wants to do it, and my guess is he will do it. Maybe I am just too simple minded, but I can see no possible good coming out of transporting 250 suspected terrorists, who hate America, into the United States. That would be like bringing Osama Bin Laden into the United States so that we could talk to him. Why do it? It makes no sense. He wants to take terrorists, who want to kill us, and bring them into the United States so that we can house them in our own jails? We can't even create the room necessary to house our own criminlals, let alone foreign terrorist criminals. Why give them the opportunity to breathe U.S air? Why give them the opportunity to spread their idiotic rhetoric in our own country? Keeep them in Cuba, where the only Americans they come in contact with are armed military personell who have been mentally and physically trained to deal with them. This is a classic case of what is to come. Mr. Obama is simply appeasing his left wing counterparts. The issue is very simple, I think. Why would you want to bring murderers and terrorits into the country? We already have enough of them amongst us as it is. Why add more confusion and trouble to the situation that has caused us so much pain in the first place? He wants to make sure that the terrorists get a fair shot at justice. Yeah, Mr. Obama, whatever.

Is the current democratic party that is pushing for a multi billion dollar bailout of the automobile industry the same party that was criticizing the republican party for "catering" to big business? Why is it such a bad idea to let big business save their own money, via lower taxes, but it is such a great idea to hand big business billions of dollars in tax money? We will wait for an informative answer Speaker Pelosi. I have a weird feeling we will be waiting for awhile! To me, the answer is pretty simple. The government, when ran by the liberal democratic party, wants to make as many individuals and corporations as possible dependant on the government for money! If we would lower the tax burden on corporations, which in this country is among the highest corporate tax rate in the world, we would be allowing these big corporations to save more of their own money and would not have to give them taxpayers hard earned cash! Seems like a common sense approach, doesn't it? Pelosi says no to tax cuts for the corporate world, but wants to say yes to a multi billion dollar bailout to those exact same corporations. Get real you left wing zealots. Get real!