On Colin Kaepernick:

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He has zero sense of history, none whatsoever. He has zero idea how to effect postive long-lasting change.
I would point him towards Native Americans and Japanese and black Americans, all of whom served with honor, distinction, valor, and great courage during WW II. Each of these groups of men came back to a country that simply shunned them in oh so many ways. None of the members of these groups ever considered ignoring our nation's symbol. Members of all these groups have strived ever since, to effect positive change in their communities, and in their nation.
We have come a long way towards true equality and respect for all in our country over the last roughly seven decades. We did so working within the laws and framework of our society, not by ignorant un-informed rabble-rousing, not by burning down our own neighborhoods, but by registering to vote, and voting, and attending town council meetings, and writing to our representatives, and running for office ourselves. 
The sight of pampered spoiled multi-millionaires disrespecting the symbol of a nation that allows them to make a stunning level of income and enjoy a luxurous lifestyle, is enough to turn folks away from being fans of their efforts, and of spending increasinglly hard-earned dollars on them.
Absolutely there is the right of protest. There is also a right and a wrong way to do things. Goodness, what morons.

How I Would Change our Welfare System:

1. No mailing checks. Eliminate fraud, checks going to dead people, etcetera. 

2. Must have picture i.d. provided by Welfare Dept.  You forget your i.d., you don't get paid. 

3. Show up with verifiable proof of at least six places you applied for work that previous month. These must not repeat for 13 months.

4.  In return for your cash payment, ten percent will be put into an untouchable savings account for you. If Roth IRAs are untouchable, then so shall be mandatory savings accounts.

5.  You must donate 20 hours weekly to your community: litter patrol, paint, repair work, crossing guard, flower box construction, park and playground maintenance, something. NO FREE LUNCH. You must bring your record showing your volunteer hours worked, signed by your supervisor. You don't bring it, you don't get paid.  

6. If you smoke, or drink alcohol, your payment amount drops by ten percent. The working folks have zero responsibility to support your vices.

7. At the end of two years, you are automatically dropped from welfare rolls, and your savings acct funds are given to you. You are not eligible for welfare in all 50 states for at least five years. Questions?

Our govt. can't find 12m illegals, but they did manage to locate a mosquito on Miami Beach that just happened to be infected with the Zika virus.
Riiiiiiiiight.

Watching CBS news video replay this morning on Roku, we sat through ten minutes of a network talk show endorsement. On and on they babbled about the 7th anniversary of this show.

This, is NOT news. This, was a shameful ratings grab. 

I cannot recall Huntley-Brinkley, Uncle Walter, Peter Jennings, Mike Wallace, Tom Brokaw, et al, endorsing local programming during their 30 minute nightly actual news broadcasts.

Our corporate media has totally, thoroughly abdicated their social responsibility to keep the population informed on current events that affect their lives, domestically, and internationally.

Shame on every one of their employees who accepts a paycheck for these shenanigans.

 It is NOT journalism.

 It is instead the Clown Broadcasting Shame.

Every generation that comes along, all of whom have no sense of history, are easily aroused by the antics of the audacious few who think they should lead us. Passions and idealism are aroused to a point bordering on hysteria.

There is nothing new under the sun. Political antics of the past two years are nothing new. No political promise is worth spit, nor are most politicians.

Neither candidate is all that highly qualified to lead a parade, much less our country. 

What I don't understand, is Hispanics standing behind Slithery still, despite her party referring to Hispanics in general as Taco Bowl.

Blacks, ignored by their Democratic Party for 160 years except during election time, should start thinking for themselves and examine what their party has done for them, which is nothing that matters.

Good initial visit to Charleston VA medical center this morning. Visit was to establish eligibility for treatment, in order to be evaluated for my exposure to Agent Orange all those years ago. Thank you, Monsanto.

Incredibly clean facility, staffed by extremely polite and helpful, considerate staff, everywhere we went.

Sat down for my interview, which consisted of me providing basic background information. All that I provided, I could have done by me, from my home computer, 50 round-trip miles away, saving a minor parking fee and a major parking garage hunt. "Sorry our antiquated rules don't allow us to do that." "Well, if I go home and find proof of presence in the country, can I email it to this address you've so nicely provided me?" "Sorry, our antiquated rules don't allow us to do that."

Ten minutes with a very polite man, and I am done. Next step? Well......

My 214 shows 9 years 3 months overseas service. It does NOT show where. My Vietnam Service Medal listed on the 214, apparently only means I was somewhere in the neighborhood. Had I been awarded the Vietnam Campaign Medal, I would have been good to go. But I wasn't in Vietnam, ever. I was in northeast (B.F.) Thailand, not far from Hanoi, across the river from Laos.

"Can you prove that?" "um, I have a picture of me drinking a beer on a Thai gun boat on the Mekong one Sunday afternoon." "Nope, won't work."

"How about pics of me and my roomdog downtown NKP?" "Nope, won't work."

"How about my roomdog's name on the Wall?" "Nope, won't work."

"The nights I sat in a bunker armed to the teeth?" "Nope, won't work."

"Do you have copies of your orders to NKP?" "Oh, shit, yeah, those I had f'in framed......"

So, not ever having been officially at NKP for a year, not ever having called my parents at Christmas time "hi. over"; having never sent nor received mail; I apparently was not exposed to AO and thus have nothing to worry about.

F'N A......sigh.

This, folks, is a noteworthy repeat from 2010 publishing date, written by a retiring journalist of 49 years at the time, Charley Reese:
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Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary police, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen and women, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 people out of some 312m, are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to federally charterd, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if the offer a politician $1m cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he or she votes.

The 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperte in the common con, regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and crixiticsed the President for creating deficits....the president can only propose a budget. he cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the house of Representatives for orignating and approving appropriations and taxes.....the Speaker and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 312m can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -by present facts- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists, is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Army and Marines are in wherever, it's because they want them there.

If they do not receive social security bur are on an elite reitrement plan not availabble to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, who they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They and they alone have the power. They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!