Say No

I know that I urge people to say no, a lot. I'm ok with that, but with breast cancer awareness month upon us I ask that you just say no to the Susan G Komen Foundation. Pick your jaws up off the floor, I know that was a pretty big statement to make. Did you know that Komen provides money to Planned Parenthood? Did you also know that Planned Parenthood by law is not able to perform any sort of cancer screenings -- which includes mammograms? They can recommend a doctor if you suspect you have cancer, but as a whole, Planned Parenthood is not a cancer screening center. I didn't know that until recently because it's very vague about the role they actually do play in women's health aside from providing contraception and abortions. If Planned Parenthood cannot perform cancer screenings, then why is Komen donating money to them? It doesn't make sense to me honestly. Shouldn't that money go to an actual foundation that does promote cancer research, screening, programs? I believe so, I also believe that if Komen wanted to donated money to clinics for screenings then they should visit legitimate clinics with legitimate cancer screening approvals and programs. But that's just me. So this October when you see fundraisers for breast cancer, think twice and research who you would prefer to give your money to, or not, it's up to you.

Busy Busy Busy

It was quite the weekend on the facebook page, lots of commentary and eye rolling on my part. If you need your weekend fix, go and like the page. Now onto the usual Monday morning catch up...

To all the people out there getting overly excited that a bill was passed by the House to protect military pay, don't go and spend that check already. Remember though, it still needs to go through the Senate and signed by the President. It will be very telling who will and will not vote for it so pay attention. The bill, which was passed unanimously by the House, is a good move and a huge relief for military families -- provided that that it continues through the proper channels without challenge.

Oh a shutdown, it's become a huge blame game all over the place. Everyone is getting in on it and I have been too. You can tell me all you want that it's the GOP and grandstanding Ted Cruz's fault if it happens and I will seriously just sit here, shaking my head and convulse with laughter. Please explain to me how you think it is justifiable to delay or completely exempt groups and companies from the onslaught of Obamacare, but not the masses? Since the Senate did not defund Obamacare, the House came back with a reasonable solution since they've been listening to what the public has to say (sidenote: Young Conservatives did a quick write up over the weekend and taking poll numbers figured that Obamacare is more unpopular than the war in Iraq, telling is it not?) and at least are trying to delay the start for everyone in order to work out all the details and get a better idea of how everyone will be affected and weed through and get rid of any provisions that will hurt the workforce, to include outsource jobs to avoid hefty taxes and fines. With Harry and Barry saying "Hell no, it's our way or the highway" and basically flipping the bird to the American people, how do you not blame those two for a potential government shut down? Clearly, conservatives have stated that their goal is not to shut down the government but they do want to fully defund the ridiculous piece of legislation that is Ocrapcare, er I mean Obamacare but they have tried to come up with reasonable solutions. End of story: this can only end badly for the American people, and the American people need to think carefully about who they are willing to put into office from here on out -- and hold them accountable.

Finally one last piece of the supposed for the people eye rolling news, the Texas abortion law is back in the limelight. Apparently forcing abortion clinics to have the same sanitary standards as a hospital or a free standing clinic (i.e. an urgent care office) and you know requiring a licensed professional doctor with admitting privileges to a local hospital to perform a surgical procedure clearly does more harm than good to women seeking abortions. How dare the state of Texas do everything possible to make sure that these women will be treated with dignity and respect and given a clean, safe place to obtain what I think is something absolutely heinous. And because we live in such a litigious society, what better thing to do than sue the state of Texas? That is exactly what Planned Parenthood, ACLU and several other groups are planning to do to block this portion of the bill. I'm sort of shocked they're not challenging the 20 week limit, but after the last hoopla and it came out and an overwhelming majority of Americans, including Texans, opposed anything beyond 20 weeks, they were right to leave that out of the suit. So instead, they're saying that having standards is not important and basically the bottom line is the money, by adhering to the standards set forth, these shady abortion clinics stand to lose a lot of money. It has nothing to do with proper patient care, if these people gave just a small damn about the situation they would understand that the Republicans who lead the charge on this do give a big damn about the people. I have said it before and I'll say it again, the Texas bill is one of the most fair compromise pieces of legislation that we have witnessed concerning abortion. I just hope that the judge who receives this case will just laugh and throw it out the window.

Keep up with the facebook page for ongoing snark concerning a potential shut down and other craziness and have a great week everyone!

Cookies For Breakfast

Usually I'm the momma who makes cinnamon rolls from scratch for my family for breakfast (and biscuits, and pancakes, and breads, and a whole lot more, I went on a weird kick during hubby's last deployment to try to get rid of as much processed food as possible) but today all B wanted was some cookies. They have oatmeal and peanutbutter so they can't be all that bad can they? (In case you're wondering, they're no bake fudgy cookies and they're freaking awesome). The point is, it's Friday and today is the day where if we can't defund Obamacare now, we're stuck with it and then no one gets cookies -- just a piece of fried mozzarella (which I'm sure is some vegan substitute fried in some non-peanut, non-transfat oil and breaded with some gluten-free bread crumbs), a couple of carrots and a few pieces of broccoli (thanks Rambling Mom for letting me know that's what your kindergartener gets for lunch from the school). And we like cookies in our house, if you post on the facebook how often does Meg bake I'm sure my pals will tell you I've always got something cooking, and as much as I would love to open my own bakery one day it probably won't happen between nanny state laws (you must provide calorie & fat content for your foodstuffs -- which isn't cheap to get analyzed), health department laws (I want to convert an old barn into my bakery, that alone would cost a lot, but then would it pass muster with the health department, or do I need to budget in some money to bribe the inspector?), and there's so much I worry about. But let's face it, with an active duty soldier opening up my own bakery right now is crazy but it's nice to dream -- assuming these crazy "lawmakers" don't entirely ruin it.

I'm definitely worried about the vote today. I'm worried that Harry Reid will get his way and we'll be stuck with Obamacare, even though the people have spoken and said that they don't want it. I wish that midterm elections were this year, maybe the threat of losing their seats in a month would spark more of these guys to pay attention to what the people want and not there own selfish agendas. Ha, I just had a funny thought run through my head. Why is it that the left likes to vilify the right as "old, rich white guys" when a vast majority of both sides are old, rich white guys? The lone black Senator is *gasp* a Republican (Sen. Tim Scott, SC) -- and he's already said that he's going to vote no on cloture, and that he wants to defund Obamacare, hopefully he stays true to this. It's definitely time for a shake up in both parties as there are far too many career legislators in both houses. Wouldn't it be lovely if the people demanded that they have term limits? Of course, I don't ever see that happening because they all like their positions too much. But how great would that be that you could only serve let's say no more than five terms in the House (ten years) and two terms in the senate (twelve years), and no more than sixteen years total in either house?

But for this morning, we'll eat cookies... And maybe go to the playground since it's finally nice out. Keep an eye out on the facebook page for reaction to a vote later. Enjoy your weekend!!

I'm Back. I Think...

Good morning! So I thought that I'd be able to get a post up yesterday but honestly, I was suffering from a political hangover and never got a nap in, I tried but it never happened. I would like to say though, thank you to anyone who shared my Open Letter, I really just wanted a way to vent and that it actually resonated with at least one person amazed me. And thank you to all my regular readers, you guys are the ones that keep me going (three in particular, and you three know who you are) and to any new readers, welcome!

Where do I begin? Oh yes, email, call, facebook, tweet, whatever your senators and urge them to vote no to cloture and to defund ACA (Obamacare, Ocrapcare, whatever you want to call it). Now that that is out of the way let's focus on an interesting little tidbit I ran across from the Heritage Foundation: If you're married, you will be penalized. Ok, the information being gathered is for married vs cohabitating couples with no dependent children. Table 5 shows the increase in personal medical expenditures for married couples and it's quite interesting. Am I shocked that married people are being penalized in this bill? Of course not given the legislatures who drafted this. Sometimes I know that I sidestep around what I really want to say and just let people come up with their own conclusions. Today? Today, no I'm going to tell you exactly what I think is the logic behind this. This is punishment because of the gay marriage debate. And because it's still, rightfully, a state's issue the federal government cannot mandate that all states must recognize and perform same sex weddings. However they can make it hard on the overwhelmingly majority of married couples who are different sexes. Crafty guys, real crafty. And we won't even get into why we're just now finding out about this given the fact that there's over 20,000 pages to the senate healthcare bill. There is no transparency with these shady senators. So if you're married, you're basically better off getting divorced and cohabitating. Except if you're military because then you'll lose benefits and stuff and it's just a headache. Way to go big gov!

Transparency, I know that every candidate goes all nuts and says "I will be the most transparent (fill in position) ever!" Obama said it, and unless denouncing everything as a phony scandal, dang he's doing a bang up job. No transparency, no give and take, just my way or the highway and don't you dare question me. Don't even question why his baby, Obamacare, is not good enough for him and his family. They have health insurance that they are keeping thank you very much, screw the people that won't be able to keep their plan and/or doctor that they like because it's being dropped by Obamacare. And now there's word that weapons and sensitive items were stolen from Americans training Libyan troops and may or may not have fallen into the hands of al Qaeda affiliates, just like the rebels in Syria that he wants to aid may or may not be our enemies. Oh and fast & furious, what? Noooo. And don't you worry that the IRS is handling who is and isn't enrolled in Obamacare, if you're deemed a wackobird by Jack and Harry and Nancy it's ok, you won't be taxed if you already have healthcare, or be audited.

Is it time for midterms? Hell is it 2016 yet? Time to stop drinking the Kool-Aid and realize that a lot of these career pols, a lot of these progressives (both sides) just need to go because they're not in it for the people, they're in it for themselves and their ego.

Quick Thought

We are fortunate the Tricare isn't really affected by Obamacare, with the exception that child dependents can be covered through the age of 26. It was until 18 unless your child could provide proof of attending college then it was 23. I think that's more than reasonable and think that overall covering kids well into the start of their adulthood is absurd. I went for two years without health insurance because I couldn't afford it and I was healthy so no biggie. Hubby bounced around the idea of getting out because he's just fed up with the politics and budget cuts and everything, I don't blame him but I went into full panic mode. The main reason he's reenlisting? We cannot afford civilian healthcare. My cousin and I, her husband is Army as well, have had this conversation several times. How do you justify giving up healthcare, despite it's sometimes crappy care, is affordable and not being affected by Obamacare the way the rest of the nation is. Did we get a waiver or exemption? I don't think so because our coverage really hasn't changed -- granted I know that some referral programs have been cut due to budgetary reasons and people are having to pay out of pocket, however not having to pay those expenses on top of let's say $400/month for family coverage that might not cover everything (i.e. maternity) isn't too shabby. I do know that retirees who are covered by Tricare will see their premiums go up because the government is trying to drive them to flee Tricare (where I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, they were paying give or take $500/year for themselves and their families to be cover) to go to the exchanges. You know, the exchanges that the President has exempted for himself, Congress, Supreme Court Justices, and Cabinet members.

But with the budget cuts to the military, some people who were expecting to stay and keep their Tricare are being given the boot so what are they to do? There's a definite hold your breath and see what happens with everything. It'll be interesting to see who comes through for the military and who comes through to help defund Obamacare.

PS - We're over 19 hours in, no catheters, no pink sneakers, and just speeches standing for the people and what the people want.

Make DC Listen... 17 Hours & Counting

If you've been keeping up with me on facebook or twitter (@morning_snark), you know that I've basically been following the great speech from the beginning. I hope that all Obamites take note, this is how a great speech is made, no um's, no uh's, no teleprompters.  I've been a Cruz supporter since he helped Rand filibuster the Brennan nomination, and I've made no secrets of desiring a Paul-Cruz ticket but ohmygosh, Ted Cruz is freakin' amazing. I slept about 3.5-4 hours early this morning but I can't seem to turn it off -- even my husband who isn't very political (I guess as a good soldier really should be honestly given the regs) became political last night. I will say that I do apologize if this post seems a bit off as I'm a bit sleepy still and that I'm trying to tune out Disney Jr while listening to C-SPAN on the laptop as I type.

Ted Cruz's critics have said that he's too extreme, he's lost his marbles, he's a wackobird, that he's out of touch. Just stop right there, if anything has shown in the last 17 hours it is that Ted Cruz is not out of touch with the American people. When more than 50% oppose Obamacare, when people are begging for exemptions, when people are realizing that their health insurance will go up if not completely dropped, when people realize that their hours will be cut because of Obamacare and there have only been a handful of Senators who have spoken out in the last 17 hours, two of whom are democrats who definitely do not support Cruz's mission. One of the big points he's made is that if Obamacare is so great, then why has its namesake given himself and other federal bigwigs exemptions? I love this because it's true, if it's not good enough for them then it's not good enough for the American people. Another point that has been repeatedly made is that Obamacare is not going to help job creations as employers cut back hours, stop opening new businesses -- he even cited White Castle.

Sorry, I'm hitting the wall. We know this is bad legislation. We know that Sens Cruz, Lee, Rubio, Sessions, Roberts, Vitter, Enzi, Paul, and if I forgot any I do apologize aren't off their rockers for wanting to defund Obamacare. They've even said that the Senate should just pass the House resolution and then go through and reform or completely scrap Obamacare in order to avoid a government shut down. And yeah I'm gonna be a blame shifter here because I feel that it's blame that is justly placed: If the government shuts down, it is the fault of the President and the Senate democrats and those Republicans who try to outcast those above named Senators for not coming to a better agreement and compromise and not listening to what the people want.

An Open Letter

To Whom It May Concern:

I'm over you. I'm over your petty fighting, whether it be fighting amongst yourselves or with those on the other side. I'm over you using our troops for political gain, for your social experiments, for all your dumbassery -- especially if you have never served, have never been married to a service member, or grew up as a military kid. I'm over you thinking that the military has it made, we don't. Many of us live paycheck to paycheck, not because we're horrible with money but because of the peanuts we get paid. While you sit up there in your cushy DC office, lunching on take out from The Palm or some hot new place in the District, not worrying about your personal health care because you can afford a private concierge doctor if you or your family gets ill, or worrying that the price of half soy-half coconut organic fair trade quart of milk in a recyclable box from Whole Foods went up a whole twenty-five cents, you have many families that are worried about if they're going to have enough money in their budget to cover the essentials from the grocery store, let alone being able to grab take out from Chik-fil-a or pizza on a Friday night. I'm sitting here trying to re-work our own household budget and thinking that I may have to give up my smartphone because if we could save that extra $30 in data fees, that could go towards something else, or how we're going to pay our car insurance which is going up almost $3 every month, which for an E4 with 3 years in, that $3 can go a long way. If we didn't have issues with our car I might not be as stressed out, but when you have an unexpected problem come up with your car that you're pretty sure you got ripped off on but you needed something at the time, it's stressful. But you don't have to worry about that do you? I'm sure it must be hell trying to find a private car company in the District though with the latest overseas import. I'm just thankful that we live on post because then we don't really have to worry about a landlord giving us the boot -- can you imagine though if our crappy privatized housing tried to boot everyone on post for non-payment? I mean, I'm sure you worry about your multi-million dollar Georgetown townhome being foreclosed on every night that you're losing sleep over it -- must be what's prompting you to vote the way you do and not fund the military.

I'm completely bias and selfish with this next bit. You can go ahead and not fund the rest of the government. I don't give a damn if you never fund another school lunch (seriously, from what my friends with school aged children have been telling me about public school lunches, you'd probably be doing these kids a favor) or put another satellite into space, just pay your first line of homeland security. In fact, you can go ahead and privatize the TSA and just get rid of the Department of Homeland Security all together, that might save you some money. Seriously, how in the world do you expect our troops to muster the morale to continue to fight for a country which won't even pay them? Do you really think that the guys down range are going to be focused on their missions when they're worrying about their families back home, making sure they're getting food, clothes & shelter? Hell no, so don't be surprised if there are more accidents and what not down range if you don't pay these guys. So let's go even further about our talk of defunding... I'm good with defunding Obamacare, it's crap legislation and had you all read it before lemming off the cliff like Nancy suggested and not read it, you would have never funded it. The government has no place in health care, the regulations now are fine, and it's not broke therefore don't fix it. We can also take away the salaries for one year of the White House if they make over $100,000, all Congress members' salaries (oh and those bonuses that they thought they so justly deserved) and any aide who makes an excessive amount of money, the Supreme Court justices and any clerks for them that make an excessive amount of money, the AG can get his salary cut too since he's worthless and lets guns run amok, John Kerry doesn't need his salary either. If we cut those salaries, just even for one whole year, think of how much money could be saved? Actually here's what it is broken down for just the three main branches of the government:

President: $400,000/year + $50,000 expense account/year

Vice President: $231,9000/year

Congressional Leaders: $803,700/year

Rank & File Senate Members: $8,352,000/year

Rank & File House Members:$7,516,800/year 

Supreme Court Chief Justice: $217,400/year

Associate Supreme Court Justices: $1,664,8000/year

Total: $19,236,600/year

 

I know that may not seem like much but it's something. Kind of like that $3 I wish I had that's going to my insurance company now every month. But when you add in all the other salaries and department cuts that I've thrown out there, it adds up to bigger numbers.

 

If we as citizens can manage a budget, do our job (if we're lucky enough to have one) and what not, but you guys still get paid even if you cannot even do your job -- unless it's to blame someone else for all the crap that has happened. It's ridiculous that you all act like freakin' second graders on the playground rather than adults. When I was younger and acting like a fool, I didn't get paid an allowance or have extra privileges. When I got a little bit older, if I didn't show up to work and/or do my job, I didn't get paid and risked getting fired. If my soldier husband doesn't do his job not only is he risking not getting paid, and his job, but he could end up hurting one of his battle buddies in the process. Quit being selfish and learn that this isn't about you and your wants -- especially when the American people tell you that they don't want crap like Obamacare or having to worry about being audited by the IRS because of a political affiliation. Shut up and actually listen to your constituents, all of them, not just the ones that support you. I'm so fed up with the government, and although there are a few shining lights within the vast system, they're few and far between and you idiots marginalize them even though they're actually doing what the people are asking of them.

 

Bottom line is, knock off using the military pay as a scare tactic, it's not cute, it's not funny -- it's dirty and it's wrong. I pray that if you keep doing it, someone in top brass will say to hell with you, we're not going to work until you pay these Joes, and if we get attacked it's on you, not us. And if you think I'm being ridiculous by saying that, stop and remember that military doesn't have these hot shot, big bucks wage negotiators or these silly unions to watch out for them -- ultimately that's the job of top brass, Congress and the President. So if you claim you support the troops, ante up because if you let the military be affected by the government shut down then it makes me wonder how much you truly care about the troops and their families.

 

In Regards,

Meg

Founder, The Morning Snark Report

One Overly Annoyed Army Wife 

 



Monday Monday....

Well, I'd like to say I'm surprised but I'm not. Go figure that his highness came out and politicized the shooting at the Navy Yard -- while memorializing the victims of this shooting. I think it's safe to say that by now we all know how I feel about gun control, if you don't check previous posts. The fact that he thinks it's ok to turn a speech remembering the victims of this latest tragedy into something political is his specialty, and again I beg of him, pay attention to Chicago. Where was his calling for the American people to become outraged and start crying for more gun control when eight people were murdered in Chicago over Labor Day weekend? But it's cool, keep on keeping on man. And we have Bill Clinton to thank for outlawing military members and civilians on posts to carry their personal weapons. It kind of blows my mind to think that if people could carry on post (which hubby hates that if we're coming back on post and need to stop at the commissary or whatever he has to go home first and lock up his gun and then backtrack to the PX; also it can't be left in your vehicle, we've had friends who live off post drop their shotguns at our house for the day to go shoot skeet after work so they don't get in trouble) that maybe Ft Hood and the Yard shootings wouldn't have been tragedies, that perhaps less people would have been killed or wounded. Maybe it's time for the top brass to lobby Congress to get rid of that stupid rule and let at the very least service members carry their personal weapons with them. I mean, they do have weapons training and routinely qualify and for the most part they are responsible with weapons (yes, we've all heard of the "accidents" -- which aren't really accidents but acts of negligence). My opinion, everyone needs weapons training and to learn how to respect weapons and yes even arm themselves since it's clear that the thugs will continue to be glorified.

Over the weekend there was the mall shooting in Kenya (I did a quick blurb about it on the facebook page last night) and there was a bombing of Christians in Pakistan. Right now the Kenyan shooting is getting more press because it targeted a place popular with ex-pats, and therefore non-Muslims. I know if you haven't heard you might think, why should that matter? Well it matters because the perpetrators actually let Muslims go free before they started to attack people. Well isn't that just a great big ol' act of kindness and humanity. As of this morning, it was still being reported that the only American victims were numbered at four and suffered wounds and nothing more severe. But guess what? The FBI is on it's way! Yeah, within 48 hours the FBI is already investigating what happened because it's also being reported that several of the gunmen came from the States. Awesome. So maybe if an American was involved in the attack on the consulate in Benghazi then the government would have acted in a much faster capacity, never mind that four Americans were killed in Benghazi. I know, details are rarely important to this administration but I'm over the whole broad picture when in reality details do matter in instances like Benghazi (and the IRS scandal, and NSA spying on the people, and guns being run in Mexico, I might need to add some new tinfoil to my hat). As for the church bombing in Pakistan, my heart breaks. I know that there's always going to be bad seeds in any religion, and honestly I don't care what religion you are or aren't, terrorizing and targeting people based on their religion is just sick. But of course, the administration doesn't want to really acknowledge that non-Muslims in Africa and the Middle East are being targeted because it doesn't help whatever ridiculous agenda they have.

And speaking of ridiculous agendas, YAY for House Republicans!! On Friday they passed a great piece of legislation that would keep the government running while defunding Obamacare. Of course O is threatening military pay (we're all just laughing at him, and I for one would be rolling if top brass down range said, yeah with all due respect, you don't want to pay the guys who protect this country and have a job to do and actually do their job, well then we're just gonna hang out and not go to work until you decide to pay them), and people are starting to panic and everyone who champions this horrible health care plan is already blaming the Republicans for shutting down the government -- even though the Senate has yet to vote on it. Ol' Reid is saying that backing the House bill is "futile" and that Obamacare will be funded no matter what, despite the fact that a vast majority of the American people do not want it. The best commentary on this came from Rep Cory Gardner (R-CO) and how Obamacare has screwed his family. Awesome. But you know, it's all about taxing people enough to make them give up and rely on the government for food, housing and healthcare. Clearly, we've strayed from the original intent of our Founding Fathers.

Oh, hey Rand's on Fox & Friends, time to go!

Pull The Trigger

I'm an advocate for safe, responsible gun ownership. I'm ok with background checks, and limiting those who have received inpatient and/or extended psychiatric care to having access to guns. I'm ok with children learning how to properly handle a gun, but don't think that they should be given free reign of it -- like not even leaving it out for cleaning, or whatever, and having live rounds easily accessible nearby (I've seen this happen and T had to basically pinch me to keep me from saying something). I believe that if you pull the trigger, you better be prepared to kill something or someone -- if not, then finger off the trigger. I believe that limiting law abiding citizens from having guns is the dumbest thing ever and basically giving a green light to criminals to go ahead and rob, rape and kill innocent people. I am fully behind having trained, competent teachers and administrations who feel comfortable with a weapon keep a weapon concealed in the classroom under lock and key. I also feel that every woman should shoot a gun and know how to properly use one for self protection. Now, what outrages me is yet again Chicago.

I woke up, was scanning the sites to see what I wanted to snark about today. International? Fluff? Domestic? Dumbassery? Oh! There was another shooting in Chicago. Am I shocked? Not really. Every few weeks there seems to be a small blurb about a shooting in Chicago. I think this one outraged me a little more because a 3-year old was shot in this one, which is basically the same age as B. But of course, where is all the uproar over this? I've pondered this time and again, this is the President's "hometown" so why doesn't he put pressure on Rahm and everyone he knows back there to get their act together? I think we all know why the media doesn't go after it but people should -- especially those who don't want to see Chicago style gun laws enacted in their areas (semi-automatic weapons ban, magazine capacity limit, etc). I just get so frustrated that the people who are so quick to back abortions, go to war with Syria, but will not stand up and say "Enough is enough, Chicago, you have three year olds on playgrounds who are being unnecessarily shot for what?" At some point, this glorifying of gang life and repetition of it needs to stop. And now we come right back into the whole, parents need to be parents, no matter how many jobs they have to work or parents are participating in that child's life. If you leave a child to be raised by a village that goes by some ridiculous gangland code, you will just spawn more gangsters and less productive citizens.

In addition to people getting on the people they elect, I guess to it helps to have legislators who actually understand how guns work and the proper safe handling. Remember when the gun control debate was raging in Colorado a few months back? I remind you of state Rep Diana DeGette who didn't understand that magazines are reusable. I always laugh when I hear that states ban "high capacity" magazines because a) you can just refill the magazine with more ammunition and b) once you're out you can just replace the empty magazine with a full back up. Do these people really think that banning more than seven rounds in a magazine is going to stop mass shootings? No, because those people will either have high capacity magazines or multiple magazines. And then everyone's favorite, Dianne Feinstein



A picture is worth a thousand words, right? This one to me is priceless. At the end of the day everyone needs to remember, criminals will be criminals and get their hands on guns in whatever way possible. Taking away guns from law abiding citizens will just end badly, with more crime. Or it can end like this.

Happy Friday!

Money Grows On Trees, Right? Right?

As we near October, I kind of hold my breath and count to ten every time mentions the government shutting down. Army wives are notorious for being worst case scenario gossips. They're also the ones hoarding twinkies and diet coke like the zombies are about to attack (personally, I prefer snowballs and we all know how that turns out in the real zombie apocalypse), screw legit stuff. Ok, enough making fun of Army wives (I do that enough in my daily life with my friends, and yes, I do realize that I'm an Army wife and yes, I do give a forewarning to them when I'm about to go all OSMW) but the fact is, there's some worry that if the government shuts down that means that we don't get paid. It's happened before and it's stressful, especially for the joes living paycheck to paycheck. And here's the best part, our military still must go to work every morning without getting paid. Sure, they'll get back pay and stuff once the government finally gets going again, but until then work without pay minions! We've already "suffered" the effects of the sequestration, I mean having the commissary shut down was inconvenient but we dealt with it, and the lack of towels at the gym, dang that was rough. Honestly, I've been to the gym twice since we moved to the post we're at and there's a Kroger down the street if we really needed groceries on one of the two days the commissary was closed. We survived the unnecessary with sequestration because let's face it, sequestration was just a political game in which the Administration was trying to intimidate to get their way and show that they do matter. In the end, it just ticked off a lot of the military community. But now here we are, a week and a few days out from October and there's a worry in the air.

As crazy as it may sounds after what I've just written, I'm ok with a government shutdown if it's because Obamacare will not be repealed. It's an atrocious piece of legislation that had lawmakers read before they passed it (Thanks, Nancy!) they would have realized that it won't lower cost of insurance, even the Supreme Court called it a tax, and it will eventually make our worldwide sought after healthcare non-existent. And given the fact that the last time the Senate passed a budget was in April 2009. It's been nearly five years since a budget has been passed. The federal government has been operating on continued resolutions for their funding needs. How big of a joke is it that this Administration basically has not passed a budget its entire time in existence? Getting the Senate to pass a budget a mere three months after Obama took office for the first time isn't a major feat. The major feat is that this Administration and its loyalists have been voted for again and again and lauded and glorified and they can't even pass a budget. What. The. Heck?! If we didn't budget in our house do you really think I'd have a laptop to blog on, internet to get it to you, a phone just incase I get an idea and have to post something on the go, a TV to watch crappy TV when I'm sick, a car to get to the grocery store, etc, etc, etc? No. No I would not. If we operated like the federal government we'd be screwed beyond screwed. But you know, who cares about the little people who had to forgo family vacations this year and the past few years, who can't afford a nicer car because the one they have is falling apart, who can't afford a whole lot because our budgets won't allow us. It's cool federal government, keep taking your fancy vacations, attending your fancy parties, sending your kids to private schools (even though you campaign and advocate for public schools like it was the end of the world), keep your health insurance now that you've been exempt from taking part in Obamacare, you keep doing fabulous things with money that we don't have because it's all about screwing the American public that loves you so much they keep reelected your dumb asses to Congress and the Presidency. Get your shit together, repeal Obamacare and for Pete's sake pass a damn budget already!

My Head Just Might Explode...

Sorry guys, Tuesdays we have MOPS and I'm battling yet another sinus infection, I promise I'm not completely slacking. So, when I'm feeling all sinus-y and crappy I just like reading tabloids and watching trash TV. Let's talk about Miley. The girl is a train wreck. Pretty sure I've stated that time and again. Anyway, she and Liam Hemsworth broke up, but let's be real, everyone saw that coming. She blamed it on him, he's been staying silent. Then she admitted to acting like a kid, but then blamed in on Disney. No Miley, plenty of Disney kids have went on to lead train wreck free lives. Take Hilary Duff for example of "Lizzie McGuire" fame. She's in the tabloids, mainly with her kid and/or hockey player husband. She didn't quit the lucrative show and go all crazy, she took on more acting jobs here and there and basically has grown into quite the class act in my opinion. Blaming your crazy, nekkid ways on Disney is not classy. Time for Miley to just go away.

John Kerry said Syria has a week to get their weapons accounted for and basically turned over to the international community for accountability. I just laughed. A week, a year, yeah we know all know that goes in this administration. And I'm sure he'll take a cue from his fearless leader and say he never said that, some time next year as the world spirals into hell and WWIII. And since when do we let Russia take the lead? Ugh. The whole thing is a total and complete mess but hey at least it's kept people distracted from all the other stuff, right?

I'll get to the shootings at the Navy Yard tomorrow. It's still too early to snark on it. It does piss me off though that people are using this tragedy to once again push for gun control laws. Hey dumbasses, every time you call for stricter gun control, Chicago should be thrown in your face. Right now though, I need to get some laundry in and take some Motrin and lay on the couch. 

Monday Morning Quaterback

I'm back! Hubby got an unexpected long weekend so I decided to just stow the devices til this morning. I posted on facebook and twitter here and there but nothing major. Today's just going to be a catch up post kind of day so let's go.

Benghazi. Ben Ghazi? That's a person right? No, no, no it's a phony scandal. No, wait it was a story shoved away and then everyone who helped to cover it up got promoted to big kid posts. One year and five days later we are still no closer to knowing what happened. Good for those in Congress who push for answers -- especially concerning Syria. I love that Rep Jeff Duncan (R-SC) challenged John Kerry (which I did a quick blurb about but here's a link with video and transcript) on Benghazi and said that it's relevant to military action in Syria. This administration had advance knowledge that things in Benghazi were starting to get hostile, but the State Department ignored those and the requests for more security and in the end four Americans died. Americans haven't died in Syria. I feel awful for the people of Syria, but I feel worse for the Stephens, Woods, Smith & Doherty families because their loved ones were absolutely unnecessarily killed. But you know, doesn't matter because eh, it's just a made up scandal by those damn tinfoil tea party crazies.

Here she is... Miss America. No it wasn't Miss Kansas. I will say, good for her for serving her country and having tattoos. But honestly, is it that big of a deal? I mean, Honey Boo-Boo is a freakin' pageant queen, and that is fairly unexpected (unless you're familiar with pageants in the South where every little girl is entered at some point). Is it the whole left trying to say, see this is what female empowerment looks like. Blah blah blah. Oh. My. God. I don't know, maybe it's just because we're Army and I see many females running around in uniform and doing well in their job, can hunt, and what not doesn't mean that Miss Kansas is an anomaly. But then again, maybe if Hollywood and the liberals actually understood the military then this wouldn't be a shock to them. Especially the tattoos, many a soldier, male or female, have tattoos.

Oh! Colorado. I'm sorry about the flooding Colorado. What I am not sorry is that anti-gun legislators were recalled and are whining about voter suppression. No, what happened wasn't voter suppression, it was the people exercising their right to hold a recall election and vote you out because they lost confidence in you. In fact, one guy who had a sign out detailing voting laws was claimed to be "intimidating voters." Really? It's nice that the voting laws were on display. Now, if we can get voters to present ID that would be awesome.

Now a quick parent rant. Why is Disney Junior pushing Spanish? They have these little shorts about learning and healthy eating which overall is great, but lately they've been incorporating Spanish words, foods, and other related cultural activities. Now, I'm not saying that we should have a national established language of English in the United States, but what I am saying is that if we were to go to France I'd speak French. If we went to Russia (or you know, get taken over by Russia), I'd learn Russian. You get the point. However, it's frustrating when you go to a place and there's a menu in English and Spanish, or you call and have to press a button for English or Spanish. Then we go back to the immigration debate of why people here illegally and not willing to speak English get citizenship over those who have gone through the proper channels and learned to speak English and want to assimilate to American ways. Granted, I had one grandmother who was militant according to some stories about people who would be in public and not speaking English and another who immigrated, spoke English but preferred to speak German (she taught me my prayers in German when I was little), and a mother whose first language was German but she assimilated and learned English (you'd never know that English was her second language honestly). But the bottom line is, maybe I don't want B to know Spanish right now, maybe I think that we should spend more time focusing on being American than other cultures. Sadly though, I'm starting to see that wane.

Out of rants for the moment (mainly because I have to make sure B didn't run off and pee in a corner, I hate potty training!). I'll try to come up with something coherent and thought provoking for this afternoon so be on the watch. Happy Monday!

Have You Forgotten?

Twelve years ago, I was sitting in trailer 2 for algebra II with Mr Q, except he wasn't there that day -- it was that creepy old dude sub who I think had military experience and thought he was a total hardass but was completely worthless -- when we found out that a plane had hit the Pentagon. We tried to stay calm, even thinking that old guy was joking, but every one pulled out their cell phones and started calling their parents. It's not an easy thing to hear when you live in the Metro area. We knew that there was another plane (the one that would crash in Pennsylvania) and no one knew for sure if it was heading for NSA (where again, a lot of kids' parents worked) or another spot in DC. We were shuffled inside to the library where we watched the second tower fall (despite the fact that we were sophomores and juniors, they shut it off immediately citing that we didn't need to be exposed to that, a sentiment that makes me laugh given what today's sophomores and juniors are exposed to). We were released early, told to go straight home, and my brother thought I was nuts for sitting there and just watching the news channels for the rest of the day. There was total disbelief from me, how could we, a great nation be under attack? I think President Bush should be commended with the way he handled the news (in case you forgot, he was reading to children at a local school when he received the news) and how he addressed the nation. As a sixteen year old junior, I felt reassured that those who attacked my great nation would pay.

Fast forward to 2012, another fall, another deployment, no big deal I thought. We've been through hubby being down range on 9/11, we got this. Um, no we don't. Panic, trying to keep distracted after hearing that Ambassador Chris Stephens, and three other Americans, Tyrone Woods, Glen Doherty, and Sean Smith, had been killed after the consulate in Benghazi, Libya had been overtaken. Holding your breath trying to get through the day without hearing anything bad at of Afghanistan, avoiding the gossipy wives in the unit to make sure that you save your sanity. Feeling horrible for those four families, and the military families that would receive knocks that day and over the next several days.

I want so badly to turn this into a political diatribe for the rest of this but I won't. We lost so many people in DC, New York, Pennsylvania, Benghazi, Iraq and Afghanistan since. We will continue to lose Americans in Afghanistan as long as we're still there. Don't just remember these Americans just today, remember them every day. Remember Pearl Harbor every day. Remember the two World Wars, the Korean War, the Viet Nam war, the Gulf war every day. Remember that we come from great people, even if people, both domestic and foreign, try to tear down this country every day. Don't let those we've lost fighting for this country to ever be forgotten, fight for their legacy and to keep this country as great as they thought it.

Quickie

Just a quick blurb before I'm out the door, meetings and appointments today so I will try my hardest to get a decent post in later this evening. Warning, I just watched bits and pieces of Fox & Friends this morning and haven't really gotten a chance to read what the heck is going on, therefore what I'm about to write is just from bits and pieces.

So, we're really going to trust Russia to help Syria gather all their nuclear weapons and stash them in one place and let the international community keep an eye on them? This just doesn't sit right with me. I know that the administration has signaled that it won't send bombs, or boots, in but let's face it, it's only a matter of time. If you seriously think that we won't be invading Syria (even though we have no business doing so since there's no credible threat to the US and we'd be aiding the same people who have bombed us, helped jihadists shoot up a base and bomb a marathon) just give it time. Someone will find a way and we'll be over there, even if it's just a surprise to save face for the administration. I'm sure that they're not taking Congress not supporting this well, but give it time. However, if the president keeps pushing for what is basically a stall in pay raises for the military, he's going to have a tough time convincing them to support this mess (side note to the military families who voted this fool in, are you finally ashamed that you did and ready to take that damn "O 2012" bumper sticker off your car?). And if you say, well your family is lucky enough to get a pay raise. Dude, it's ONE PER CENT. We don't really see it because of taxes. You want these guys to go to war for you, give them and their families a better incentive. Give up your fancy salaries (you too Congressmen), give up your fancy vacations and stuff and make sure that the funding is there for troop readiness. With all your politics and bullshit sequestration stuff troop readiness is not at its peak. Add it war weariness, you definitely don't have a case. The people have spoken, the troops who actually do work over there have spoken. Just let it die the way you have let every other so-called phony scandal die. Maybe it's time you start working on getting answers for the families that lost loved ones in Benghazi, you know where Americans actually were threatened and killed. Maybe it's time you focus less on the Syrians and more on repealing Obamacare. Just thoughts from this war weary Army wife.

Oh Monday...

Sorry if I seem a bit sluggish this morning. I'm waiting on my coffee, suffering from a two day football binge, and we're in the middle of potty training B and if you ever successfully potty trained a two year old boy well hats off. But here we go...

If you've liked the facebook page, then over the weekend you saw I posted some silly memes, photos, graphics, whatever you want to call them. As much as I love the Obama-Bush sports comparisons, and the French lesson (which totally made me giggle seeing as how I was joking with hubby the other day that learning French would be good, after all they're our only potential ally in this Syria debacle), I love, love, loved the Stephen Colbert photo I put up. In case you didn't see it, here it is:

How true is this? I know we expect satire from Stephen but this is such a great argument that you just have to stop and say, "huh." Not huh? but huh. It makes total sense, doesn't it? Of course no one in this administration is willing to admit that the great hometown of Barack Obama has a gun problem. How could they, they have very stringent gun control and of course thugs, gangs, felons and drug lords would never obtain a weapon illegally. (Oh! Coffee! Thanks hubby, now we're cooking!) I guess it's sort of the same as when the District and Baltimore had insanely high murder rates -- like the kind where they said a soldier more likely to die in Baltimore than Iraq insanely high -- and these two cities are the playground and backyard for the White House. But when it's the President's acclaimed hometown that has a shooting problem of that proportion and the President isn't using any sway with the mayor (you know, the guy that was his Chief of Staff, good ol' Rahm Emanuel (side note: there was a hilarious fake twitter account in his name when he was running for mayor, it was the greatest thing ever)) to help clean it up. I mean, kudos for doing an amazing job keeping it out of the media for the most part -- especially during the circus that was the Zimmerman trial. There were a few people demanding to know why Jesse, Al, and all of them weren't protesting in Chicago every damn day. Of course they tried to play it off like there wasn't a problem in Chicago.

We all are smart enough to know that the Zimmerman trial was all about politics. If the country knew how bad Chicago really is with their gun violence, it'd be a political nightmare. First off, it shows that clearly gun control is a joke. While I support background checks, and even mental health checks, the fact is if someone wants a gun they will find a way to get one. Whether it's stealing one from a law abiding citizen, or buying one through a cartel that runs guns and drugs (ok, maybe I watch a little too much Sons of Anarchy, or maybe we should just ask Eric Holder?) the fact remains, somehow people are getting guns and murdering other people. Second off, ok I know that people are already against Syria (minus a few nutjob Senators who should be voted out) but this (along with you know the economy, Benghazi, the IRS scandals and the fact that they'll be the ones regulating Obamacare, NSA snooping on everyone and their mother, voter fraud, Obamacare, what else I am missing?) should rally even more people to demand that we focus on domestic issues until there is a credible threat against the United States. Yes it's horrific what's going on Syria, but when you have people running around this country killing people just because (it's not just regulated to Chicago as evidenced by the Chris Lane and Delbert Benton murders) something needs to be done. Until we can get our own issues, no matter how phony the administration may consider them, fixed we have no business getting this country into another long, drawn out, no decisive victory, lose more of our good men and women war. Is it 2016 yet?

A Mommy Snark

Once again, I'm dating myself. Growing up we had fire drills. I had friends who would go through tornado drills as well because of where they lived. Today though, a friend of mine's kindergartener will go through a "bad guy drill" or a lockdown drill. What in the hell has happened to our society in which we need to run lockdown drills with our school children? I was in middle school when Columbine happened but still, we didn't run lockdown drills. I was a junior in high school when 9/11 happened, we still didn't run lockdown drills. I was a senior in high school and lived in between Baltimore and the District when the beltway sniper shootings were going on -- one of the shootings was roughly 15 miles from my school. Guess what, still no lockdown drills. Granted during those times when shootings did happen we were on lockdown, but we never once ran a lockdown drill. Or a bomb threat drill, even though we would have the occasional bomb threat, those sucked in the winter. Anyway, the point is, what the heck has happened to our society to warrant this extreme of a drill?

Please don't even start to say it's guns and access to guns because it's not. Harvard, a bastion of liberal higher education, even found that more guns does not mean more crime. And if you're still skeptical google Chicago's murder rate, and remember that they have some of the strictest gun control laws on the record. Also remember, thugs will get guns by any means possible. Law abiding citizens who go through the background checks and gun safety classes and all the hoops are the ones that are starting to be denied the right to defend themselves against the thugs who will get a weapon by any means necessary. Anyway, back to the lockdowns... I just get so frustrated by this because children shouldn't have to go through these drills. They should feel safe inside their schools. Clearly there are individuals who have greatly compromised this and that is sad. Instead of blaming guns, maybe we should look at the parents. Parents you need to be in your kid's business. Know what they're into, who they're talking to and if there's any indication that they could potentially put a school on lockdown. Laissez-faire parenting isn't parenting, it's a cop out. If you let your let's say second grader play Call of Duty with you, sit down and discuss the difference between shooting someone in a video game and shooting someone in real life. I know that sounds crazy, but I think sometimes these kids are so exposed to violence at such a young age that they become desensitized; and perhaps if they're young enough don't understand the difference between the violence in the movies and video games and that of real life. We also need to push responsible gun ownership and safety as well. A kid who learns to shoot at a young age needs to be taught that a gun is a weapon, it is to be respected and is not a toy. Glorifying a gun as a means to solve your problems, it is not. We need to get back to basics as parents and be concerned with how our children will turn out and not be so selfish 24/7.


**Note, I edited this post for clarity on 9/7/2013

Ramblings for a Friday Morning

Yesterday afternoon I posted this piece from the Communities section of The Washington Times concerning former Presidents and their public opinions on the facebook page. Those in my inner circle know that I really like George W, and I love that he hasn't said a peep publicly about the current hot topics with regards to this administration. For me, his and his father's staying mum on these topics shows a level of class. Yes, they've been there and done that and they understand what this administration and future administrations have to deal with. I'm sure that they talk about it amongst those in their inner circles but the fact that they don't come out publicly with an opinion says a lot. Bill Clinton though has made his opinions clear, whether through himself or the actions of his wife (like he dare cross Hillary, c'mon now) and is still in the political spotlight. I know that Carter pops up every now and again, he has after all met with Assad before all of this really blew up. I just wrestle with the idea of former presidents being in the spotlight long after their terms have ended. If the administration contacts them privately, whatever, but do these former leaders really need to go and espouse their opinions in a public forum? If they disagree, doesn't that undermine the current administration? Especially with a rather popular president such as Clinton, from the beginning he was for action in Syria despite the fact that Obama had set a red line and waited over a year to reset the red line, deny he set the red line, and waffle around on the golf course debating if he was going to take military action. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of George W and the approaches he took when it came to going to war after 9/11 and the fact that he has always seemed like an approachable guy that has my judgment clouded. I'm absolutely willing to admit to that, not a whole lot of people would. I just think that the overall way that George W handled his whole presidency was with a lot more humanity and humility than what we've seen in this current administration. There weren't many flashy vacations at the expense of the taxpayers, there wasn't a whole lot of anger towards him from the military community (ok, I'm sure there was but having been in DC and heard about his visits to Walter Reed to visit the wounded warriors multiple times, his going on bike rides with rehabbing wounded warriors, and inviting the military to events not for show but just because he cared about them and their families and didn't turn it into a photo op... Just saying, the man would go into the war zone to help serve the troops turkey dinner).

The fact is, at the end of the day, this is Obama's war, not some past President's trying to relive his glory days or whatever. I have already decided my opinion when my kids, or their kids, ask me about the Great and Powerful Obama, and it won't be a pretty one. Maybe things will turn around in the next three years but I'm not hopefully as he's done nothing but make citizens more dependent upon the government, he's put the blame on everyone but himself, he still is trying to force Obamacare upon the masses while exempting himself, Congress, the Supreme Court, federal judges, unions, and everyone but the middle class. He wants illegals to jump the line and gain citizenship before those who come into this country legally, wade through the red tape and do it all right. And well we all know how I feel when it comes to him in the military. Maybe he should be powwowing with former Presidents, in private, to figure out how to not doom our country.

**Note: I edited for clarity on 9/7/2013

Rockstar of the Day

Did you catch the exchange between Rep Jeff Duncan (R-SC) and Secretary of State John Kerry? It was awesome. Seriously, he makes such valid points and I am loving it. I love that he brought up Benghazi and asked how we are supposed to send troops in to Syria but we can't even swoop in to save, let alone give honest answers to the families of the four Americans killed in Benghazi. Oh and John... John... John... You went to war, and came back and protested it vehemently in my opinion. While I thank you for your military service, I don't thank you for your political service. Perhaps it's just me, but I think you had your own little "What difference does it make?" meltdown in front of Rep Duncan yesterday. Good for you though for still trying to say that Benghazi is a phony scandal. And yes, it is about getting involved in Syria's civil war John. You said that the president has no intention of boots on the ground but the resolution passed gave way for it if need be, you even said that you're not discounting the notion of boots on the ground. As an army wife, I'm already anticipating another long drawn out war with boots on the ground and a lot more American casualties unless the Rules of Engagement are amended to shoot without discrimination because we don't know who exactly our enemy is over there. There's too many offshoot al-Qaeda groups, there's reports that both the government and these rebel groups have used gas on innocent citizens, so really let's just let them kill each other. John, tell your boss that he needs to learn how to take personal responsibility for his words and not act like he never set a red line, then try to push it off on everyone else (thanks though John for clarifying that he did indeed say that there was a red line). Tell him that he has no international allies on this so he needs to stand down. Tell him to worry about the crumbling of his own country before he goes and interferes in another nation's civil war. As for you Rep Duncan, keep on being awesome. Please don't sell out and become a RINO, America needs more lawmakers like you.

Coddling Is Always The Answer

Dang, I feel old. Seriously, I'm not quite yet 30 but already I feel like I'm super old and I just want to kick people and say suck it up buttercup! I was always under the impression until we moved here that the order of school start times always went, high school, middle/junior high school, elementary. Since when does elementary start before high school? Apparently this is a national trend, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan is proposing that schools start later. The first bell of my high school was 717am (a decade after graduating and I still remember that), yes it's early and wasn't always fun, but for the most part we all made it through (and if I can survive first period physics or first period AP biology then really??). Some families need high schoolers to start early, and before the younger grades, because of after school childcare for the younger kids. As a former teen babysitter, that was my gas money and going out on the weekend money for a long time (and in case my former families are reading this, thank you so much for trusting me with your kids and always treating me like another family member rather than hired help, two in particular and you know who you are!). I played lacrosse for a year and know that had school started later in the day, there wouldn't have been time for sports or work after school in addition to keeping up with the demands of studying and homework. I know myself well enough that I have always liked to sleep until the last possible second in the morning, so an attempt for last ditch studying or paper writing would be out the window the morning before school. I know that in college you can take classes starting at 10 and go just three days a week (or unless you stack your Tuesdays and Thursdays, that might have been the best semester ever) but not everyone goes to college and will have to work. How many of those kids will balk at the thought of getting up at 5am to get to a job that starts at 7? It's quite a possibility in this economy with more and more people only able to get part time work. Yes, getting up at 4am to help open Starbucks at 5am wasn't fun, but I did it for a time because it was the job I had, it made me money and helped me grow up a bit. And for those kids who graduate high school and go into the military, you'll learn up early, down late, sleep when you can. So should we keep coddling these kids as they get ready to embark on adulthood? Or will we just say, it's ok because as long as you can explain how you got the wrong answer you'll still survive the real world? Personal responsibility, apparently it's for the weak minded.

Afternoon Giggles...

Ahhhh I just can't help myself! I can't! Obama didn't set that red line last year, oh no... The world set the red line is what he told reporters today during a press conference. Um. No Sir, you don't set the red line for the world, just for this country. You know your country with your military, the one that you didn't keep shielded from sequestration but still expect your military to fight a bogus war for you so you don't seem like an idiot. Mmmmhhhmmm, yeah that one. (Crap, is BlogSpot going to deny my posts now because I called him an idiot? I mean, hubby and I already said that we'd probably be audited by the IRS (yeah because we're stashing cash being a junior enlisted, single income family...offshore accounts, baby!) but yeah...) So yeah, once again the red line has been moved, the blame been shifted. All Hail Commander-in-Chief of the World! Whatever. He started the red line rhetoric, now surprise, surprise he's denying it -- and once again threatening the credibility of Congress if they don't vote to strike (don't worry when it comes to head I will go through and highlight every member of Congress who voted for this ridiculous action). But it got better, did you see this? Mr Kerry cannot provide a list of those 34 nations willing to step up and aid and form a coalition with the US when it comes to Syria. I mean, I'm sure that it's all kinds of classified, but the next Manning or Snowden or whomever will leak it tomorrow. Then again, what difference does it make? I mean people are totally willing to support us, just not the British.

I've Been Doing Some Eyerolling...

So when I'm not getting irritated with the situation in Syria (hey did you hear that Kerry said that they're not keeping boots on the ground as a non-option now? Yeah, that was the sound of a bunch of pissed off Army & Marine wives right there... And no I don't care that John McCain was playing poker on his iPhone, hopefully Arizonians wise up and vote him out of office), I'm reading what I called "stupid militant liberal agenda pushing." So here we go with a run down, ready?

Todd Starnes has been keeping tabs on a bakery in Oregon, Sweet Cakes by Melissa, that has now unfortunately decided to shutter their store and become an at home bakery. From previous articles it was apparent that Sweet Cakes was a rather popular bakery for wedding and specialty cakes in the area and had contracts with other wedding vendors in the area. One day, a lesbian couple came into Sweet Cakes and wanted to order a cake for their wedding (please see my Equality... Or Something post for my opinions on this whole topic if you missed it) but the owners of Sweet Cakes, Aaron and Melissa Klein, refused because it goes against their religious beliefs. Now because some people are all about their freedoms and rights, you'd think that the Kleins would be protected under the first amendment. Silly me, I forgot, rights and freedoms are only reserved for liberals who wish to abort babies and stuff. Instead of being adults about it, leaving and consulting another bakery, the couple and their cohorts blasted the Kleins for being bigoted, discriminatory, homophobic. The Kleins have even said that they have no problem with gay people, they just feel that they believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. That's all. Nothing crazy given that's been the status quo up until the last decade. The best eye roll came when the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries said: "  Everybody is entitled to their own beliefs, but that doesn’t mean that folks have the right to discriminate...The goal is to rehabilitate. For those who do violate the law, we want them to learn from that experience and have a good, successful business in Oregon." First off, again, unless the Kleins are the only bakery within a fifty mile (I think that's a reasonable distance) radius that provides wedding cakes, then yes I could see it as being discriminatory. But I'm pretty certain they're not. In fact, I just googled it and guess what? Gresham where the Kleins did business has several bakeries and is within a 30 minute drive from Portland, which I'm sure has plenty of specialty bakeries. Second, I don't think that it's the Kleins and other Christian businesses that need to be rehabilitated, but the people who shut down these businesses. Grow. Up. This isn't second grade recess people. You're supposed to be adults but yet you wish death upon children (ha shocker, I know) over a flipping wedding cake. For a group that wants to state that they're bullied and stuff, they sure seem to be the perpetrators of such attacks on people just trying to make an honest, decent living. I'm over it.

Next eye roll please.... Given the fact that Paula Deen (love me some Miss Paula recipes!) just was battled over this, my first reaction was "Are you serious?" when I read this piece this morning. Hubby gave it a solid eye roll too. I've always given frivolous lawsuits a good eye roll because they're all too common in this country and most are over the top stupid (caution hot contents on a cup of hot coffee, main contain nuts on a jar of peanuts, I tripped over my neighbor's kid's skateboard leaving their house because I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking, etc). But with the Paula Deen case just closed and dismissed, we now have this. Granted it's slightly different as it's a black person saying it to another black person, and I commend that it shows there's usually a double standard when dropping the n-word. But $280,000 worth of commendation? I just don't know, I just needed to vent about this because it's a lot of money and now I'm wondering how many copycat lawsuits will come out of it? We've already seen that if you're white and sue your white employer for creating a hostile work place by repeatedly using the n-word it just gets dismissed (well settled, but at the end of the day, the case didn't go to trial). Will more black people use this to pressure rappers like Jay-Z and Kanye to stop using the n-word in their "art" and begin to teach younger generations that using the n-word isn't cool, that it has negative connotations and they were wrong to popularize its usage? I doubt it, but I can always hope, can't I?

Finally, the last eye roll comes from my facebook. If you follow The Young Cons, you may have seen that the admins were banned from facebook because they dared to call a liberal troll an idiot. I know, hardcore stuff there right? Well, apparently the guy that got them banned repeated referred to conservatives as "teabaggers" which is actually a name for people who perform a not so pleasant sexual act (my opinion, if you're into it go for it, but it's just not for me) but whatever. It's funny how conservative related pages on facebook get shut down at a faster rate than most others (maybe not OSMW because you know, a bunch of butthurt wives often complain about OSMW, and yes sometimes even I feel it crosses the line but eh whatever). It all comes back to, if you have a difference of opinion, that's fine but be an adult about it. I know the big thing now is all feeling and self esteem and stuff (hello Common Core!) but at the end of the day, if you can have a difference of opinion with someone and still manage to respect that person and get along with them, isn't that all that matters? Awww look at me getting all touchy-feely blah blah blah. Ok, time to finish coffee and make sure the kiddo hasn't peed all over the couch -- potty training sucks.

Just An Afternoon Snack

Hey all! Well, I can easily say that you will not be getting your snark Tuesday mornings but Tuesday afternoons. Sorry, I know but there's nothing like a little pick me up afternoon iced latte to say, "Yay, it's not Monday!" right? So this will be short and sweet.

Our economy sucks. We've sequestered spending for our military, and many a plane and a tank stays put without money to fuel it or maintain it -- including proper personnel trainings. How does one expect us to go to war and be successful when we cannot even afford to properly train on and maintain and fuel the necessary equipment? Maybe shifting that $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt will help, but is it enough? Moreover, how do you expect the people whom you put last, don't fight for when it comes to sparing them in budgets but yet you expect to be your first line of defense, how do you expect these people to support you? The photos of supposed service members covering their faces with signs saying that our military has no business going into Syria speak volumes. People want to ask how is this different from invading Iraq and Afghanistan. Really? With those, we knew who our enemy was, we knew our purpose (whether it be retaliation for 9/11 or WMD or to overthrow a dictator and install a democracy). In Syria, we have no clear target, no clear objective. Yes it is horrible that hundreds of thousands of people, including women, children, and the elderly, have perished at the hands of their own. But alas, whether or not Congress approves it, I have a feeling we'll be in Syria. I also think it's safe to say that if we do end up in Syria, any lawmaker who supported that action -- whether they have an R or a D behind their name -- should fear for their job when it comes time to elections, at least from the military community. Because in this case, we're the one percent that matter the most when it comes to war.

Bombs Away!

Every day I grow increasingly more frustrated with this administration. The American people should not have to deal with a waffle on the issues, soft on foreigners and foreign policy president. If you set a red line, you stick to it. You don't waffle and say that "Oh, we don't have conclusive evidence to attack so we're going to move the red line again, but we're watching you" and get back to your golf games, fancy dinners and ridiculous vacations. Then, when there's evidence that your supposed red line has been actually violated, you don't say that you're going to strike and then in the 11th hour back out and punt the ball to Congress, did it interfere with your tee time?

There's a thing called the Executive War Powers in which the President can send troops to war but within a certain time period, Congress must approve continuing action by declaring war or troops must be pulled from that zone. If the President had planned on let's say, a three day air strike, he could have fully authorized that without Congressional approval. Especially with Congress not currently in session, and the fact that this President has used more Executive Orders that bypass Congress than other Presidents makes me wonder. Actually, it doesn't because while discussing this with a friend over the weekend the fact is, he punted to Congress because of fear his approval rating would plummet even further. If Congress decides not to act, then he can say "Oh my hands are tied because Congress said no." Once again, we're back to the let someone else shoulder the blame so I still look good game. I hate this game, this game has been going on far too long, without the American public becoming outraged -- which is a pity in my opinion. It's ok, keep drinking the Kool-Aid.

I have stated before that I am very much against sending any military to Syria -- especially boots on the ground (which was said wouldn't happen but if we attack Syria it is only a matter of time before boots on the ground will be requested). However, by not sticking to his guns, the President has made a mockery of this country when it comes to foreign policy. Put all the conspiracies aside as to why he backed down, the fact is you cannot go into a situation about to pull the trigger and then back down. It shows weakness, it shows fear, it shows vulnerability which are the last things we need to be identified with. The President has basically invited our enemies (let me remind you that al-Qaeda is not on the run like some people have boldly declared) to come and attack us because we'll wait to respond to an attack. I know that the American people are sick of being at war in Afghanistan, that it has taken a hard toll on our people and economy over time (ask any Army or Marine family that has been through multiple deployments), and attacking a nation where you're not sure who your enemy is and then you might end up aiding your sworn enemy is definitely not a good scenario. However, because that red line was set a year ago, the President set up our nation to go to war. Now though, he's waffling to save any credibility he might have left with the American people. It would be nice if he had stuck to his red line, stuck to his threat, and actually followed through.

Unfortunately, we don't have a president willing to do that; how much longer must we suffer in limbo? How much longer until we are attacked on US soil again? Mr President, the move is yours and not that of Congress, please come off the golf course and do some good because it's your job and not because a camera and reporter are around and you're trying to get some good PR.