This 
is for you, Mark Twain.
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.
bring?? um, that's transportation. Pete??
Semper Fi !
Got the beer, the BBQ, and even caught fish today. Come on over!
OK, I'll make the call. Nope Norm, it ain't opus time.
And no, now is not the time for an Opus. Maybe around 20,000 ya might be due for a day off, but not now.
CONGRATULATIONS ON OVER 10,000 threads...and over 45,000 posts..
However, I don't see a real reason for you to leave in your opus...therefore, I plan on seeing your screen name on future threads...right??
Better yet...I expect to see threads started by you, right?
Im up to 10,002 already .. rest soundly. :-)
Thanks for the ping, GR..
Do you think if was all jump him, and hold him down, we can talk him into stayin'???
LOL. I've posted 64 threads and 30K useless rebuttals...
I have been here since Oct. 4, 2004...and I have exactly 0 threads.
How about that for an accomplishment??
There are freepers like moi, that chose to comment on threads we see...
And then there are freepers like YOU, that bring the news too the lazy ones like me....
YOU are necessary, my friend.
Norm? MORM!!!!
Good to see you back. Have you thought about life insurance?
actually,
No. I'll never get to spend the money anyway. ;-)
I wanted to do something for the #10K
,, are you buying? or selling? lol :)
or maybe at least wrestle away his beer locker key.
maybe.
um. no.
no.
yeah, its still dribbling on and off the next few days too.
Rumors of my demise are greatly exxagerated. I had to post something being as there is no official race thread this week-end, the timing was prett good.
besides, Pukin Dig has been pretty quiet of late. ;-)
This is for you, Mark Twain.
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