A crucial time for our nation

With both McCain’s polling numbers and the Dow Jones in a freefall with no bottom in sight, it is distressing for me to even watch the news anymore. For any of you Americans who do not vote, this is your wake-up call. This is a crucial time for our nation; our freedom, our security, and our way of life are all in jeopardy. You do not have the luxury of being indifferent at this point. Our fellow citizens are on the verge of electing a man who will do nothing less than destroy America as we know it, and we need to take action now. Here is the plan that we should follow: first, we need to be in fervent prayer--for our country, our leaders, the voters, Governor Sarah Palin, John McCain, and the members of the media who are telling the truth. We need to seek God’s favor for our country and beg Him not to turn his back on America. Please God, we true Americans are still your children, and those who would forsake you should not be rewarded. We know that America is a blessed nation because of our devotion to you, but we also know that we are subject to your judgment and your wrath. It is time for us to stand up and take our country back. America did not rise to its greatness on the basis of people like Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, and Harry Reid. The United States owes its ascendency to the blood, sweat, and tears of middle America; we will ensure that no matter what battles we fight or trials we face, America will triumph evermore.

Now politically, it isn’t hard to see what McCain needs to do. Don’t stop the attacks on Obama—HAMMER HIM WITH REVEREND WRIGHT, WILLIAM AYERS, THE BITTER COMMENTS, MICHELLE’S STATEMENTS ABOUT AMERICA, EVERYTHING! This is it, John, this is what you have got to do. This man has ties to dangerous radicals, and he only has problems with what they say when it becomes politically necessary to denounce these people. But McCain has got to show some credibility with the economy. He needs to hold a press conference immediately to announce that Mitt Romney will serve as Treasury Secretary in his Administration. Private business expertise = instant credibility with the crisis. It’s as simple as that. Vowing to throw the crooked Wall Street executives in jail would be a smart move as well.

I have been thinking all day how much better it would have been for Republicans if Mitt Romney were the nominee. I didn’t think too favorably of Mitt through the primaries, but he would be mopping the floor with Obama now. But if Romney were the nominee, we probably wouldn’t have Sarah Palin now, and she is the best thing to happen to American politics in my lifetime. She is one big reason why there might be something positive if McCain loses—Palin for President 2012!!

Read this article from the American Thinker site: What if Obama really doesn’t have America’s best interests at heart? What will we do then? What if is too late?

Please, God, bless the USA.

Sarah Palin!

No one was happier than I was about Governor Palin’s performance at the Vice-Presidential debate last week. Wow… This woman has some skills. And I absolutely love her! From the moment she stepped out on the stage in St. Louis, she demonstrated the cool confidence of a leader who knows her mandate. She is there for us—for those of us who pay our bills, go to church, raise our children, and love our country. We are the real Americans. We are the ones who would not hesitate to stand up and walk out of a church if a pastor uttered these hateful words, "No, not God bless America, God d---America". No, Senator Obama does not see America as we do, and his circle of friends shows exactly where his sentiments are. His own wife told us that after her husband started winning in the Democratic primaries, this was the first time in her adult life that she has been proud of her country. Oh really? And these people want to lead this proud and honorable nation? No way, no how, Nobama.

I am thrilled that Sarah is finally taking off the gloves and exposing the "real" Obama to the American people. I do believe that she is a rising political star, and if John McCain does lose on Election Day, I will take solace in the fact that Sarah Palin will automatically be the Republican frontrunner for 2012. The liberal media elite despise her, as she represents the antithesis of what they have espoused for over 40 years, and their mean-spirited, personal attacks on her are downright pathetic. It’s okay, you go ahead and slam her all over the New York Times—your attacks will only make her stronger. She has an inner strength and an abiding faith that will help her weather these storms; her God will see her through.

Did you see her getting heckled at a rally today? She kept getting rudely interrupted by some protester, and at one point, she turned around and confronted him directly, telling him that her son was over in Iraq fighting for his right to protest her. What a woman! She is destined for power. This lady has the guts, the instincts, and the smarts to govern our country; she has shown more leadership in this campaign than any of the other men running for national office. And we don’t elect a President based on his or her Trivial Pursuit scores. We want a President who believes that America is sacred and will act, first and foremost, in the best interests of the American people. She also understands that America is a blessed nation, and that we have been blessed by the Lord because of our Christian heritage. That is why we need to pray fervently for Sarah Palin. Let the joy of the Lord be her strength (Nehemiah 8:10)! God bless you, Sarah Palin--you go, girl!

Braves game, Part 2

Here are some more pictures from our family at the Braves game--and I have me & my wonderful husband first. His shirt says "Brutally Handsome", and mine says "Terminally Pretty", but nobody got it--it's from "Life in the Fast Lane"...





This is Heather & Jeffrey & a little bit of Clayton

Shyann and me--she is too cute








David, Janet, Sandy, & the back of Brittany's head

Chris, Lindsey, & the back of Brittany's head again!

This is Clayton--isn't he precious?!




My Don, Erica, Michael, Matt, & David, Janet, & Sandy sitting below them...

Our family at the Braves game

This is my favorite picture--Clayton's first Atlanta Braves game! He was chopping along with all of us...

My wonderful husband and me!

I know this is belated, but I didn’t have my blog on the weekend of August 16, so I am only posting this now. Just about everyone on my Mom’s side of the family who usually show up were there, but Johnny, Debbie, Kellye, Scott, and everybody else—we sure did miss you! It has been a tough year for all of us without Nanny, but most of us have made a concerted effort to be together any chance we get. Mom, my husband Don, and I drove to the game together, and luckily it wasn’t too hot. My aunt Sandy came with her boys and Erica, and you can always count on a good time with Sandy… It was so much fun to hang out with Matt and Michael, and Erica is the coolest! My aunt Janet and uncle David came too, and I have a ball with them—you never know what they’re going to do next…My niece Brittany was there too, and she is just growing up too fast! My cousin Jeffrey came with his wife Heather, their absolutely adorable son Clayton, and Heather’s precious sister Shyann. My cousin Chris came with his fiancee Lindsey—they are getting married in December of 2009.

I never knew how much fun it was to go to a game with a group of people—all the dancing, singing, and laughing at everybody else! And the Braves actually won—big time! They are just terrible this year, but they played terrific while we were there…

All in all, we had a great time. We are kind of a small family, and we may not have a lot, but we have each other, and we stick together!

Popular music today

I did turn 40 this year, and though I feel pretty good and look okay, I must now face the fact that I am just not as cool as I used to be. My precious 15-year-old niece Brittany (pictured here with our cousin Chris) has shown me in no uncertain terms that I am completely out of touch. I will readily admit that I cannot stand the popular music today. I don’t know why, but listening to the radio stations that play the "hits" gives me a terrible headache. Rap "music" (and I use the term "music" very lightly) is horrible, and at least the music I listened to growing up had melody and engaging lyrics. Or is that what all old people say? I just cannot equate The Gap Band with Ludacris.

I thought that I liked the new country music for a while, but all of the songs have the same themes, over and over again—a misspent youth, high school days, old rock & roll records (see Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts). What happened to the songs about Mama, prison, getting drunk, and trains? What happened to feel-good songs like "I Like It, I Love It" and "A Country Boy Can Survive"?

I am firmly convinced that all of the best music has already been made. I love ‘70s music most of all, especially the Eagles. I was born in 1968, so I grew up with the ‘70s music providing the soundtrack to my life. My Mom had a membership with the Columbia House record club back then, and we used to listen to our albums and our 8-track tapes for hours. Bread, The Carpenters, Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods, Helen Reddy, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Neil Sedaka, Andy Gibb, The Bee Gees—I could fill up a book with all of these phenomenal artists! The ‘70s also represent an innocent time for me, as this was before I started worrying about boyfriends and other grown-up things. For our culture as a whole, the ‘70s spawned an orgy of "free love" in conjunction with the Sexual Revolution. But oh how that changed when the ‘70s were over, when America was confronted with one of its greatest crises as the AIDS epidemic began.

I do love Southern-fried rock, classic rock, and classic country. ‘80s music is great too, but it’s pretty pathetic that the best new music on the pop scene today are those delightful tunes we hear in the freecreditreport.com commercials…

An opportunity with the bailout

Something wonderful just occurred to me about this so-called bailout. From what I can tell, if this bill passes, our government will be using "taxpayers'" money, i.e., our money, to buy all of these foreclosed properties to prevent the lenders from losing money on these deals. Well, if they are using my money to buy real estate, then I should have an ownership interest in at least some of these houses. Surely, these bad assets would include at least a few time-share condos or luxurious beach-front homes in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and if I am writing the check for one of those abodes, then I should be entitled to inhabit there as well. So, I am going to head down there as soon as I can for an all-expenses-paid, oceanfront vacation. I will make myself right at home, and if anyone has a problem with that--well, you know, possession is 9/10ths of the law!

I knew there was a silver lining in this somewhere...

Tribute to Joe Scarborough

For all of you who are sick of the network TV morning follies, let me recommend one of the best shows on television: "Morning Joe" on MSNBC. It airs on weekdays from 6 a.m. until 9 a.m., and if you want a serious yet very entertaining look at politics and popular culture, this is your program. Joe Scarborough is the host, Mika Brzezinski is his co-host, and Willie Geist adds his special flair to the mix.

Joe was first elected to Congress in 1994 with the Republican takeover, and he served his district there through 2001. Since he left Washington, he has used his experience there to establish himself as a premier television analyst of the American political landscape. "Scarborough Country" was his first show on MSNBC, and it aired at 9 p.m. on weekday evenings. This program ran from April 2003 until June of 2007, when "Morning Joe" took hold of the slot formerly held by the notorious Don Imus. I was incensed when Imus was unjustly stripped of his morning show and his reputation by a bunch of hypocrites, but I am addicted to "Morning Joe" now. It’s gotten really bad—I even dread weekends now because I am bored silly with other shows!

Joe hails from the "Redneck Riviera" in the Pensacola Beach corner of Florida, and he has more common sense, patriotism, and heart than all of the politicians combined in Washington. Joe plays no favorites—he criticizes everyone! Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives—when they fail to do their jobs or they betray the public trust, Joe will nail them.

There are no idiotic "stories" on where in the world is Joe Scarborough, no buffoon weatherman laughing uncontrollably and masquerading as a journalist, and no "fluff" segments on a cat who can predict the future. Just politics at its coolest. They have outstanding guests every single day, including Pat Buchanan, Mike Barnacle, David Gregory, Hillary Clinton, Tucker Carlson, and Harold Ford Jr., and although it would not be categorized as a hard-hitting show, the interviews are straightforward, probing, and fair. And with all of the criticism that MSNBC has received in recent months for its liberal slant and bias toward Obama, they had better do everything they can to keep Joe happy. As I have stated previously, if it weren’t for Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan, I would watch Fox News exclusively.

As much as I love watching "Morning Joe", I believe that America would be a lot better off if Joe were still in Congress or in an even higher position. With the utter lack of courage and leadership in Washington today, Joe would bring all of us together—because he is a uniter, not a divider. I know that his family obligations forced his retirement from Congress, and I understand. So for now, I will be content to enjoy every minute with him on morning television. God bless you, Joe, and Mika and Willie too!