Posted on 04/14/2006 8:04:56 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Well Folks!
I finally did it, fwiw.
10,000 times I punched the button .. and plop, like magic, there it was. I wanted to make this one a little more personal than most of the others.
Some were boring as hell and some I couldn't get a hit on if I paid folks to look at 'em.
Others , were equally as dull, but Hey, with all the stuff out there on the 'net these days, who's to say I could or would have much to add to much of anything that folks cared to know about or had always wanted to take a whack at in sharing their impression about a given topic.
Along the way, I made a lot of acquaintances, I even met a few folks at a local rally or freep for something or other.
Thru it all, I've tried to be respectful , altho in some eyes here, I am likely to have failed miserably.
You see, I don't continence BS too well, I grew up on a farm and I can tell a pile of poop from art or hooey with the best of 'em or at least like to think I can.
FRom time to time, I've even thrown myself under the train of popular thought and fought the prevailing winds of change that seem to catch all of us up in 'em from time to time.
I'm not sure why I did it sometimes, maybe it's because I spent more time at college in parties then in a classroom. Come to think of it, that's the only reason I went to colleges in general.
I got my education the old fashioned way, by taking off from home at a young age and joining the Marines, ya see we were fighting a police action and I could get a nice bonus to go to college for real if I survived , that is.
Well, as it worked out, I survived , never saw a dime of the darn bonus but still got a good education and got to travel and see a fair chunk of the globe doing it.
By the time I hit 21 , I came home, spent a couple years being a bum, working odd jobs, hitchhiked the country, mostly westward from the midwest, and along the way had a chance to see a bit more of the land that so many fought and died defending and protecting so others wouldn't have to.
I met all kinds of folks, some were a little weird but most were just regular folk. All of them that I recall loved where they lived and were willing to share what they had, be it a place to sleep or a bite to eat.
Then there were times when I wasn't around many folks and went my own way, call it my sojourn into the dark side of human nature, it wasn't by itself necessarily good for me, but I survived it as so many others have and that is what counts most in the end. Maybe that's what made me want to give back to others who aren't as fortunate and why I stand up for the little guy and more oft than not, take a unpopular stand cuz my gut tells me too, a stand for the guy who loses it all for no good reason except that's the way the system works or that Mother Nature wants it to be.
Then I had an epiphany, why don't I settle down and see if I can do what so many others have done. Well, that was not all I had wished it would turn out to be either, but it didn't stop the journey, just diverted it a bit.
Ah hell, Im rambling now, but so what? I'm accused of that a lot here, so I guess the old adage 'Some things never change" is true is after all.
Or is it?
231 years ago, a nation of laws like none other was founded on this continent. It sought to establish a land that all individuals could have opportunity and freedom afforded to them as long as they weren't abusive of those inalienable rights we are all endowed with weren't abused.
Of late, I'm not sure why, but I get an uneasy feeling that something is afoot, ya see, I don't walk the same corridors of power that our elected officials do. I don't get spoonfed what I want to hear, I see and hear things I don't want to hear and believe and then have to come to my own terms with them.
Now, I see where a lot of folks only want to tell me what to think and how to act and who to vote for and not ask questions.
That disturbs me, to say the least.
Hence , this post.
We all have a finite set of days and I reckon I've used up a fair share here at FR the last 5 plus years but I'd like to think they weren't all in vain.
So if I sound like I'm reaching out for something but I'm not quite sure what, that's OK. I know I'm just like so many others here.
We are all captives to a degree of our own upbringing and raising, the things we have experienced and shared with each other.
When I see someone being wronged, I'll do what I can if I know I can make a difference, but as Dirty Harry once said, "A man has got to know his limits."
I guess I am at a point in my life where I am asking myself is, have I made a difference? Does what I say really matter?
Which leads me to the nugget of the thread.
This nation is on the precipice of greater opportunity and greater challenges up the ying yang for all of its citizens.
Yet, we are also encumbered by a millstone of a government that has in some if not most ways lost touch with what this nation originally was founded for and that is to nourish its people and help them to grow free and string, unafraid of the future and what lies ahead.
FRankly, I don't like what I see today, a once proud nation is chastened by its allies and enemies alike, accused by many of its own citizens of not doing enough by some and doing too much by others.
This nation is divided like it hasn't been since the Civil War and in need of unity when it is under attack like never before.
In the end, what I think or say really won't matter that much to most and I can live with that, but still, when I see those who should know better seeking to undercut the principles and laws we have held dear for so long and replace them with global compacts and international laws that govern us without care for the individual, I have to admit, it ticks me off.
When I see a 2 party system that seems to be going thru identity crises and can't seem to figure what or who they represent and actually embrace foreign law and leaders and their doctrines, it really ticks me off.
And when I see those who once fought for this country, now seek to surrender to a larger governing body or to a few "special" folks, well, I won't say what I feel.
Anyway, let this be my own way of warning to All that seek to surrender our sovereignty or our way of life to any entity for any reason, don't expect me to support it.
Ok, now I went and done it.
Oh well. That's what its all about it, isn't it? Gittin' it done.
and it looks like that's what I can close on.
That no matter what happens in the future , folks can look back and say
American Patriot
Ya got it done, again.
God Bless.
See ya all around, Folks.
Many of my favorite sites don't require excerpting, and I try to use them a lot.
The Sacramento Bee does, but nobody else has the analysis of California State Government that they do.
The San Francisco Chronicle also does, and they are the window on soul of blue-state California. And the Chronicle is home to my favorite columnist (see my home page if you don't already know who). For all its faults, nobody's AP wire is quicker than SFGate (Well, maybe the Bakersfield Californian, but I wouldn't dream of poaching there).
; )
poaching is legal with attribution,, as long as ya eggcerpt where due
it just makes it easier for some freepers is why I mention it, and saves a click or two and a registration or cookie at every site in the free world. ;-)
I bet there is some real smart programmer out there that could come up with a way to manage fr bookmarks more easily. I bet. ;-)
I've got a ways to go. I've only posted 200 threads, but, I have posted over 29,250 replies.
I agree with umgud!! It's not opus time, it's time to stand up for your values.
I was happy to see you are still posting today. Please stay, you are one I am happy to call FRiend.
Thank You , trussell
That's means a lot to me. Backatcha!
You'll never guess what I'm drinking right now, Thanks!
Come on over sometime and take a dip. :-)
I know you grow weary of the jetsam and flotsam on here from time to time, but remember what Ceasar always used to say: "ILLEGITIMI NON-CARBORUNDUM!" (Translated = Don't let the bastards grind ya down!!!)
LOL.. Thanks for those words of reinforcement!
Hay! Wait'll I tell Forester yer a drinkin his danged beer!!!
Nevur mind! I find I've only done 238 threds! How humiliating!!!
I like that! :-)
If you think you need to go, Godspeed. If you want, stick around. We live in interesting times.
think quality, not quantity. I've posted more than a few stinkers too. ;-)
It's been a long week. I'm gonna make an early night of it.
Here's wishing you and the family a happy Easter.
Hay! Smokin' Joe!! Don't fergit the rest of that ancient asian curse... "May you live in interesting times... And may you come to the attention of powerful people!"
Nightey night! Sleep tight!! And fer Pete's sake, don't let the bed-bugs bite!!! (not Pete Wilson's sake for Pete's sake!)
Ok! Good!! Now Norm's gone ta bedkneego and we can talk about him without him knowin about it, right?
I hope he comes out blastin on Easter Sunday!!! Just BLASTIN!!! (I think he's already blasted tanite)(snicker)
LOL! Well, the interesting times are here, as for the rest, probably have once or twice, anyway. If not yet, who knows what the future may bring...
Wull... I don't know about you, but I don't wanna go there!!! Them "powerful people" git purdy "mean spirited" if ya don't "go along ta git along" with 'em!!! Me thinks we bedder hunker in the bunker and keep our heads down and our breathin shallow, lest we be caught in the spot light and in a full blown inquisition, don'tcha know??? (grin)
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