If by Freedom You Mean...

Have you seen any of these Congressional Black Caucus Members that went to Cuba this week talk about their meeting with Fidel?
It's sick really.
I've already said that the embargo hasn't worked and we should just lift it all together so I have on problem with that part of it. What they said about the Freedom in Cuba and the praise they heaped on Fidel was just makes my blood boil.

It was quite a moment to behold," Lee said, recalling her moments with Castro.

Yes I'm sure it was, a defining moment right?

“It was almost like listening to an old friend,” said Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Il.), adding that he found Castro’s home to be modest and Castro’s wife to be particularly hospitable.

“In my household I told Castro he is known as the ultimate survivor,” Rush said.

Like listening to an old friend? How many friends does Rush have that imprisons or murders people that dare speak out against them, that steals people's private property, that lives in luxury while the people he represents live in poverty.
Oh wait, never mind you don't have to answer that.
By the way, in my house Castor is not exactly known as "the ultimate survivor" but it's not lady like to say what he's known as here.

Here is an interview with Congress Critter Richardson on her meeting with Fidel.

Love it when she says that she saw freedom in Cuba and that she didn't see dissent. Well that may have to do with the fact that dissent is met with imprisonment at best. And by the way you are seeing what Cuba wants you to see, next time go off the beaten path and see the real Cuba, see where regular people live, what they have to eat, and what hospitals they go to. Oh and for shits and giggles ask them how much money they make in a month (Here's a hint, I couldn't get a tank full of gas).
Think of this too, if things are so great in Cuba, why do Cubans risk their lives, and die, in inner tubes for the chance of getting to the US? When was the last time thousands of Americans risked their lives in inner tubes to get to Cuba?



Once again, Bobby, I'm glad that murderous dictator could endear himself to you with his sense of humor. It's killer!

2010 Starts Now

The quest to take back the Senate and House in 2010 starts now.

In the next couple of weeks there will be a couple of special elections to fill seats in the House that were left vacant because of the new Obama Administration.



The first one will be March 31. This race is for the seat (NY 20th) left vacant by Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate seat by Gov. Paterson.
Jim Tedisco is the Republican running for this seat and so far it seems promising. Show your support, give if you can, pass along his information, if you live in the 20th District make sure you go out and vote on 3/31. I know how hard it is to remember to vote in special elections (as I almost forgot to during the run off here in December) but what better way to get the buzz going for 2010 than to vote in a Republican to a seat formerly held by a Democrat.



And speaking of voting a Republican in seat formerly held by a Democrat: My friend Sarah did this great run down on Rosanna Pulido who is running for the seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel when he became Obama's Chief of Staff. This election will take place 4/7, again another important race and another opportunity to send an early message for 2010. Check it out, she has some great information and websites to check out.

With Friends Like These

We already know that Michelle Obama wants to take military families under her wing and every few weeks she goes down to a military base and feels their pain for an hour or two but what good will really come out of that?

Well we already know that her husband didn't think it was important to serve his country in the early 80's, and we've heard the rumors that he wants to make vets' private insurance pay for their service related injuries.

Well the rumor is not so much a rumor anymore. And today Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion met with the Commander in Chief and Gen Shinseki (Anyone else think he's more trouble than he's worth?) among others about it.

"He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."


The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, "This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ' to care for him who shall have borne the battle' given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America's veterans!"

Thank you Commander Rehbein, General Shinseki should take notes on what you say and actually take a stand for the veterans for a change. But of course I don't expect much from the man behind the black beret debacle.
And it is absolutely outrageous that they are doing this to save several hundred million. There are earmarks in the porkulus bill that cost more than they are trying to save! How about we cut those out before we cut benefits to the vets.

In any case back to Mrs. Obama. She went to Ft. Bragg last week.

And what did she have to say?

"It hurts. It hurts," Mrs. Obama said of hearing about military families on food stamps. "These are people who are willing to send their loved ones off to, perhaps, give their lives _ the ultimate sacrifice. But yet, they're living back at home on food stamps. It's not right, and it's not where we should be as a nation."

Well, how about we take a good long look at how much we pay our military and do something about that. Go ahead, take a look. Make sure to pay particular attention to what enlisted members make.

This is what we are paying the men and women that defend our country. This is what we pay people to put their lives on the line for our country and our freedoms. This is what we pay the people that give up years of their lives and their families' lives for our country. This is what we pay people who wont be there when their children are born, wont see their first steps, wont be there for birthdays, Christmases, school recitals, graduations because they are defending our country. This is what we pay people who may never come home, who may lay down their lives so we don't have to, for our country. Is this what they deserve?

So what are congress critters getting paid this year? $174,040

I think our military deserve that kind of pay more than congress, but that's just me.

Oh and my favorite part of that article about Mrs. Obama visiting Ft. Bragg:

Sgt. 1st Class Ashlyn Lewis, 31, of Indianapolis, said it was a remarkable experience to see the first lady in the cafeteria at Fort Bragg. She said the Obamas have a lot of work ahead of them to shore up deficiencies in the military's medical system.

"Right now the biggest concern would be taking care of the vets, making sure that the people that are coming home are getting the proper medical care _ not just for the Iraqi or Afghanistan vets, but also, there are a lot of Vietnam vets who haven't been receiving the proper care," Lewis said. "I believe (the Obamas) are headed in the right direction, but it's going to be a lot of work."

I think someone should give SFC Lewis a copy of the article posted above.

And finally all I have to say to Michelle is: Put your money where your mouth is, talk is cheap. Don't just use us as a backdrop to make you look like you care when your husband is taking even more benefits away from our vets.

Sorry Mom and Dad

I didn't know, until I heard it on the news this morning, that there is a provision in the Omnibus bill to ease travel and remittance restrictions to Cuba.

CUBA TRAVEL AND TRADE

Obama has made clear he favors relaxing limits on family travel and cash remittances by Cuban Americans to Cuba, although he has said the U.S. trade embargo should stay in place to press for democratic reforms.

The Cuba proposals do not lift the overall U.S. embargo on the communist-run country, but would prohibit the Treasury Department from enforcing Bush administration rules requiring payment of cash in advance for agricultural sales to Cuba.

The legislation proposes to allow Americas with immediate family in Cuba to travel there once a year instead of once every three years and broadens the definition of immediate family.

"It's being done in a haphazard way without real clarity about the implications that it all will have," said Republican opponent of the provisions, Senator Mel Martinez from Florida, which is home to thousands of Cuban exiles like himself.

So this is where I feel I may need to apologize to my parents but why stop there?
Why not just completely do away with the embargo?

As the daughter and granddaughter of Cuban immigrants, I know what I am about to say goes against everything I should probably stand for (at least as far as my parents and grandparents are concerned)but here it goes: First of all what exactly is the embargo accomplishing? When it started 40-odd years ago the intent was to isolate the Castro Regime, who at the time was allying with the USSR. They posed a national security threat and the intention was to isolate and undermine the regime and lead to its downfall. Since 1991 and the fall of the Soviet Union Cuba really poses no threat and we are the only country with an embargo against Cuba and the Castro Regime is still in power. So I ask is it really working? What exactly is it achieving?

Well, in a speech Dan Griswold of the CATO Institute had this to say:

As a foreign policy tool, the embargo actually enhances Castro's standing by giving him a handy excuse for the failures of his homegrown Caribbean socialism. He can rail for hours about the suffering the embargo inflicts on Cubans, even though the damage done by his domestic policies is far worse. If the embargo were lifted, the Cuban people would be a bit less deprived and Castro would have no one else to blame for the shortages and stagnation that will persist without real market reforms.

Think about it, if Castro is using the embargo as propaganda to show the Cuban people how evil the Americans are and how all their suffering is because of the American embargo then who will he have to blame when the embargo is lifted? Who will they blame when there is no one left to blame for their failed policies.
And it's not just the Cuban government, but other countries blame the US for the economic hardships in Cuba. They don't bother to mention that not only do other countries, Canada, the EU and Latin American countries, trade with Cuba but that Cuba does have limited trade with the US:

In 2000, Congress approved a modest opening of the embargo. The Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 allows cash-only sales to Cuba of U.S. farm products and medical supplies. The results of this opening have been quite amazing. Since 2000, total sales of farm products to Cuba have increased from virtually zero to $380 million last year. From dead last in U.S. farm export markets, Cuba ranked 25th last year out of 228 countries in total purchases of U.S. farm products. Cuba is now the fifth largest export market in Latin America for U.S. farm exports. American farmers sold more to Cuba last year than to Brazil. Our leading exports to Cuba are meat and poultry, rice, wheat, corn, and soybeans.

So I say, in the spirit of transparency, go ahead and lift the embargo and lets see what happens. If the embargo hasn't fulfilled it's purpose yet then lets see what we can do when we are allowed to go to Cuba and spread our ideas and money on that island. Lets see what we can do when the government cant blame us for their problems anymore.

I'm with Sonny

When I saw this picture I thought it summed it up perfectly for me.

So let me get this straight: Last week Obama signed the porkulus bill, now he says he wants to cut the deficit in half?
OK I know I'm not as enlightened as our fearless leader but if you want to cut the deficit in half why did you just sign that monstrosity of a bill? So he wants to cut the deficit to get us back at square one?

So my next thought was, well what exactly is going to be cut, because surely it will not be any of the pork or entitlements he just signed for. So what is he going to cut. Surely the defense budget is going to take a major hit.

I do love what he said about it yesterday:

"We cannot and will not sustain deficits like these without end," the president said in opening remarks to the summit. "We are paying the price for these deficits right now."

If we confront this crisis without also confronting the deficits that helped cause it we risk sinking into another crisis down the road," the president warned. "We cannot simply spend as we please and defer the consequences to the next budget, the next administration or the next generation."

"We will reinstate the pay as you go rule," he said. "You don't spend what you don't have."

Wow! We are paying the price now and throwing some more deficit on top for good measure. And we can't spend what we don't have? So, what, is he going to wave his magic wand and his porkulus is going to be paid for??
It gets more ridiculous by the minute.

I wasn't planning on watching the speech tonight but then Army Dude sent me a link to print out an Obingo card.
I think this might make it more interesting, the only thing that would make it any more tolerable is to turn it into a drinking game. To be honest, I'm tired of being preached to.
Here's hoping that he actually tells us what he's planing on doing, how he's planning to cut the deficit at the same time that he doubles it, and how he's going to spend money we don't have.

Happy watching!

It's Called Respect

After seeing clips like these:





I had little doubt about the amount of respect that Obama had for the military.

And then last week I heard about the charges being dropped against the man that planned the bombing of the USS Cole.

I was outraged when I heard about this. I guess it's because it hits so close to home. I remember see the news on AFN. At the time, the Army Dude was on his first deployment since we had gotten married. So I was a little sensitive to these things and I not only was I heartbroken for those families but I was nervous because I thought, surely, we would retaliate in some way, and what would that mean for my little family. Yeah not so much. So here we are on the verge of finally trying this terrorist and he stops it. Never mind that 17 sailors died that day and many more were injured, we need to worry about what others think about us because of the interrogations and trials. It really makes me wonder about his priorities, and how exactly he views the brave men and women that serve our country.

Here's a video of the mother of one of the sailors killed that day. She voted for Obama and now is having second thoughts:



And then last night I came across a story about Obama considering lifting the ban on media coverage of flag draped coffins arriving back in the US.

At least two Democratic senators have called on President Barack Obama to let news photographers attend ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and other military facilities when military remains are returned to the United States. Obama told reporters Monday he was reviewing the ban.

Shortly after Obama took office, Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey also asked the White House to roll back the ban that was put in place in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush.

In a Feb. 9 letter to Obama, Lautenberg said the Pentagon should develop a new policy to allow "respectful" media coverage while protecting the privacy of the victims and their families. Generally, the remains in the caskets are not publicly identified.

"I respectfully urge you to work to bring an end to the misguided policies of the past that seek to hide the sacrifice of our soldiers and the public recognition and pride that should accompany it," Lautenberg wrote.

He said the George W. Bush administration "effectively censored images of flag-draped caskets from appearing in media coverage."

So what exactly is the point in lifting the ban? What purpose would that serve, other than invading the privacy of the families that don't want their loved ones' coffins paraded around? Well a tid bit in an old AP article is very telling:

But Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, said photos of caskets coming home from Vietnam had a tremendous impact on the way Americans came to view that war.

“As people began to see the reality of it and see the 55,000 people who were killed coming back in body bags, they became more and more upset by the war,” he said. “This is not about privacy. This is about trying to keep the country from facing the reality of war.”

I'm sorry but the death of anyone in our military should not be politicized or used as a way to turn people on the war. That is a total disgrace and shows a major lack or respect. And that is just one of the reasons that the ban should not be lifted. Now if families want to honor their fallen loved ones then they can have media coverage and all the pictures and video they want after they are in possession of the remains, there is no ban on that. But please leave the media out of the ports of entry when they come back, for the privacy and dignity of the family members that do not want anything to do with that.
I thought about it a lot last night and thought maybe I feel a little strong about it because (God forbid) it could be my family one day. The last thing I would want is my husband's coffin being flashed on TV and in print. And I definitely would not want anything to do with the media at a time like that.
I asked the Army Dude if he felt the same way or if I was just being overly sensitive and he said he agreed with me 100%. He wouldn't want his coffin photographed or filmed and he wouldn't want me or Little Dude to have to deal with that at a time like that. He also said it shows a total lack of respect.

Here's another part of the first article that really pissed me off:

The fallen troops "died for all of us — they died for the nation, they died for the cause," Begleiter said in a January interview. "It's a right for all Americans to pay their respects for those who made the sacrifice. It is not a right held exclusively for the families themselves."

Is this guy serious? No it is not his or anyone else's right to invade the privacy of a grieving family! If they want to pay their respects then send flowers, donate to fund or show up at a local funeral, but it is not in any way his or anyone else's right to invade their privacy.

Hypocrisy

Have you seen this commercial with Ashley Judd where she tells us we need to stop Sarah Palin from supporting the areal killing of wolves in Alaska?



The first thing that came to mind when I saw this was her hypocrisy. Someone should put up a video: Stop Ashley Judd. Start with someone saying how Ashley Judd supports the killing of innocent babies. At the same time show images of an abortion, maybe some pictures of discarded babies as the narrator explains the gruesome process. Then at the end: We have to stop Ashley Judd from killing innocent babies.

The second thing that ran through my mind was this:



Love the chicken voting for Col. Sanders comment. Because everyone knows that McCain/Palin eat women.