Uncommon Common Sense

One of the most important duties of the President of the United States is to protect its citizens. The President, as commander-in-chief, is directly answerable for the protection and safety of all Americans. Recent events in regards to Ebola have clearly demonstrated, again, that this President is not capable of complying with the most basic responsibilities of his office. It is a sad truth that we elect politicians to be President, but never in my lifetime have I seen a President so utterly political as this one. There is seemingly no subject, no crisis, no problem in our country that is not a political issue with Mr. Obama. Nor does any potential consequence--be it political or of real importance--seem to faze him. Political creatures, with no actual experience in the real world, think in a political ways--always. Every problem that arises is to be seen in that light and solved with bureaucrats on a committee. Results matter little, if at all, it is only necessary to "do someth...

Feelings are an extremely important part of human interaction. Without them, life would be a dull, colorless monotony. However, thinking and logic are equally important. Wise men and women, understanding human nature, have organized themselves into tribes or groups or governments and established rules, or law, to prevent human emotion from being the sole factor in governance, but rather one. Our emotions can run away with us at times and a society that values feeling above thinking will quickly find itself in chaos. We increasingly find ourselves in that situation today. One of my heroes, Thomas Sowell, described ours as the "Post-Thinking Era". Recent events in Ferguson, MO are ample demonstration of what happens when emotion governs rather than thinking. Michael Brown's death is something no parent should have to suffer through. They have my deepest sympathy. They had no part in the hooliganism that took place, nor did they encourage it. There is never any justificati...

When I was very young, Jimmy Carter was President. I don't remember much of his presidency, but I do remember the Iranian hostage crisis and skyrocketing gas prices. Someone created a Misery Index during the Carter years to try and measure the malaise that defined his stint as President. I never thought that we would see again in my lifetime any President who would rival or surpass Carter's ineptitude. Boy was I wrong. I grew up during the Cold War. We were taught in school what to do during a nuclear strike and learned such phrases as "mutually assured destruction" and "perestroika". During those days, the Russians shot down a Korean airliner. The world and President Reagan was outraged. That event brought us closer to nuclear war with the USSR than any other event during the Cold War. However, we had a leader in the White House. In fact, the Iranian hostages were released the day Reagan was inaugurated. The Cold War was won because President Reagan and M...

We are a nation of immigrants. We have come from all over the world to be part of this great melting pot. My ancestors came here legally--through the front door, as it were. We, as all other nations,  screened those who came across our borders legally. We used to welcome those who could be a contributing, constructive part of the fabric of our society. As our nation strengthened and prospered as a result of that influx, we were in a position to be a light among nations. We are also a nation of laws. Our nation was the first ever to be established upon a foundation of law. No person was to be above, below or exempt from it--from the President down to the poorest vagrant, the laws were established to be applied equally. Our Constitution was written to prevent the bureaucratic whims of a monarch or a government lackey. We now find ourselves in a situation where those two ideas are seemingly at odds. Most of us would agree that immigrants are an essential part of both our past and ...

The level of disgust and anger that I am feeling this morning is almost indescribable. I used to write on my blog fairly regularly, but I have been so discouraged over the last couple of years that I haven't written anything. I don't know if it's an effective use of my time or if it only serves as a place for me to vent, but if I don't write something today I may very well explode. A primary runoff race was completed in Mississippi yesterday. In the first primary results for the Senatorial seat, Chris McDaniel defeated Thad Cochran (sitting Republican Senator), but not by a sufficient margin. Mississippi law requires a runoff between the top two candidates to determine an outright winner. Thad Cochran is completing his 6th term in the Senate; yes, 36 years in the Senate. He is 77 years old and has made statements in his campaign this time around that clearly indicate he is too old to be serving in the Senate. He has spent more time with his foot in his mouth than on t...

I recently had an exchange on Facebook with a friend of mine. She is a good friend, a very kind lady and a pretty hardcore Democrat. This exchange was very enlightening and worthy of further consideration. She referenced the recording of Mitt Romney at a private fund-raiser, that created a kerfuffle a few weeks ago: My friend: "received an email this morning that I thought was spot-on!: 'Oh Mitt, what did you say? - Mitt said about the 47% of people who think that the government is supposed to support them. He might be right, and I'm sure some of those people feel that way. But what he didn't say verbally is the contrast of his actual statement is that 100% of the wealthy don't want to help (anybody who doesn't) pay taxes. He clearly stands for the rich and has no compassion for the poor.'" Me: "I have to disagree... He believes that the help should come, where possible, from other sources than the government. He has spoken specifical...

If you are not furious about the happenings of the last few days with our Middle Eastern embassies, you need to be. Our Libyan ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans were murdered in a pre-planned attack. This attack was loosely coordinated, but coordinated none-the-less with Egypt and intended to fall on 9-11 as we commemorated the events of that horrible day eleven years ago. (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/13/consulate-attack-planned-as-2-part-militant-assault-libyan-official-says/) The mobs in both countries violated the borders of our embassies, which in any other part of the world would be an act of war. Imagine if you can, Americans storming the Chinese embassy within our borders. First of all, it would never happen. Secondly, there would be international condemnation and outrage; appropriately so. Even in the coldest days of the Cold War, the USSR never violated our embassy in such a way. Worse though is that in Libya, the mob turned bloodthirsty. And eve...