Monday, September 28, 2009

Glenn Beck Shouldn't Be On the Air

Glenn Beck continues to attack the president by using hateful rhetoric that is designed to play on people’s fears. He uses racial fear and paranoia in an attempt to divide the county. He does this by distorting the facts and by pushing his agenda on his Tea Party supporters. He has stated that President Obama “is, I believe, a racist,” a statement he subsequently claimed to stand by in spite of growing criticism. His show is not real news and should be taken off the air.

Joseph Comage Mount Carmel

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Ghetto Barbeque

Better grab one before the summer gets away!

Friday, September 11, 2009

No way to treat a president

Eugene Robinson’s e-mail address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com.




WASHINGTON — Anyone who watched Wednesday night (September 9, 2009) as President Obama explained his health care reform proposals to Congress saw a chief executive making what sounded like a genuine appeal for bipartisanship — and his opponents behaving like a bunch of spoiled first-graders. Obama should ignore them, even if they hold their breath until they turn blue. House Republicans were particularly ostentatious in showing their disrespect not just for Obama, but for the office he holds. The outburst by Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina — who shouted “You lie!” when Obama said his plan would not cover illegal immigrants — was only the most egregious display of contempt. Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House minority whip, fiddled with his BlackBerry while the commander in chief was speaking. Other Republicans made a show of waving copies of their own alleged reform plan, which isn’t really a plan at all.
And Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas waved hand-lettered signs at the president, as if he thought he were attending one of those made-for-television town-hall meetings rather than a solemn gathering of the nation’s highest elected officials.
Throughout the speech, there was grumbling, mugging and eye-rolling on the Republican side that was not only undignified but frankly un-American. When I was a correspondent in London, I covered far more raucous sessions of the British House of Commons — that’s how Parliament treats the prime minister, who is the head of government. In the United States, that simply is not how Congress treats the president, who is the head of state.
Congress didn’t heckle Lyndon Johnson like that during the Vietnam War or Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.
Congress didn’t even show that kind of bitterness and aggression toward George W. Bush, who did lie — specifically, about the intelligence that his administration relied on to justify an unnecessary war that has cost 4,300 American lives and enough money to fund Obama’s health care proposals for a decade.
Wilson issued a statement of apology after the speech, saying he had “let my emotions get the best of me” and calling his interjection “inappropriate and regrettable.” As apologies go, it sounded insincere — a variant of the “mistakes were made” dodge. In fact, however, the right-wing Republicans in Congress, especially those in the House, are all too sincere. And that’s the problem.
Last November’s election so wounded the GOP that the nation is now suffering collateral damage. The Republicans who were punished at the polls for the failures of the Bush years were those in the most evenly contested districts, which meant they tended to be relatively moderate. Those who represent solidly Republican districts were safe, and their greatest fear isn’t being defeated by a Democrat next fall but being challenged by a primary opponent who’s even more of a right-wing yahoo.
There are quite a few Democratic pragmatists in Congress — which is why health care reform is being worked over so thoroughly by the Blue Dogs. In the Republican ranks, especially in the House, pragmatists are few and ideologues are legion. Many of them probably believe the nonsense they spout about creeping socialism and an urgent threat to America As We Know It. But it’s still nonsense. The ideologues’ sincerity just makes this toxic rhetoric more dangerous.
You will note that I have not yet mentioned race. For the record, I suspect that Obama’s race leads some of his critics to feel they have permission to deny him the legitimacy, stature and common courtesy that are any president’s due. I can’t prove this, however. And if I’m right, what’s anybody supposed to do about it? There’s no way to compel people to search their souls for traces of conscious or unconscious racial bias. We could have an interesting discussion about the historical image of the black man in American society, but that wouldn’t get us any closer to universal health care.
What will get us closer, I believe, is the clear, steely resolve that Obama showed the nation Wednesday. His most important line, I thought, came near the beginning: “I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last.”
He told those of us who support a public health insurance option that we might have to settle for something less. He threw Republicans a bone on tort reform. And he drew one bright line in the sand: Throw spitballs all you want, but this will be done.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Please Explain This To Me

Is there anybody that can explain the uproar about our President speaking to the children of our nation?

The letters to the editor, the man-on-the-street interviews and the talk going around in the upper East Tennessee news media, has been that President Obama would try to bend the minds of little children, to his "political agenda."What he DID was encourage our young people to study hard, report bullies, excell in school, and continue to try and achieve success.

That's all he did.

I pity the people who took their children out of school, and I also pity school systems like Scott County, Virginia, who refused to air the speech. Did they also block out Reppublican speeches by both Presidents Bush, and Reagan when they spoke to school children about the same thing as President Obama? Did parents take their children out of school then, fearful of their young ones hearing "political propaganda?"

No folks... they did not.

Maybe it was different this time.. the presidential speechmaker is a Black Man. Is it so different this time, hearing the same speech from a Black Man? Read the letters to the editor, listen to the rhetoric.. those who would disagree with President Obama on an educational message to schoolchildren that was absolutely no threat at all, will continue to disagree with President Obama on anything and EVERYTHING.

We STILL have a long way to go in this country in terms of racial relations, and our little corner of the world simply continues to amaze.

No, not eye-opening, jaw-dropping amazement.

I'm talking, wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night, 70-mile-per-hour brickwall-slamming, 6.0-on-the-Richter-Scale, Category-5, earth-shattering amazement.

My fear is.. while the rest of the country adjusts and accepts change, this little corner of the world will, and may always be... out of step with the rest of America.

---Calvin

Sunday, September 6, 2009

TATER PEOPLE: What Kind Are You?

FROM MELVA COOKE:

Some people never seem motivated to participate, but are just content to
watch while others do the work.
They are called "Speck Taters".

Some people never do anything to help, but are gifted at finding fault
with the way others do the work.
They are called "Comment Taters".

Some people are very bossy and like to tell others what to do, but don't want to soil their own hands.
They are called "Dick Taters".

Some people are always looking to cause problems by asking others to agree with them. It is too hot or too cold, too sour or too sweet.
They are called "Agie Taters".

There are those who say they will help, but somehow just never get around to actually doing the promised help.
They are called "Hezzie Taters".

Some people can put up a front and pretend to be someone they are not.
They are called "Emma Taters".

Then there are those who love others and do what they say they will.
They are always prepared to stop whatever they are doing and lend a helping hand. They bring real sunshine into the lives of others.
They are called "Sweet Taters".

If you know any "Sweet Taters", send them this!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

A Challenge We Should All Take

A physics teacher in high school, once told the students that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn't slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good American .
Good idea... one light bulb at a time..

Check this out . I can verify this because I was in Lowe's the other day for some reason and just for the heck of it I was looking at the hose attachments . They were all made in China . The next day I was in Ace Hardware and just for the heck of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in the USA. Start looking.

In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job. So, after reading this email, I think this lady is on the right track. Let's get behind her!

My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. I do not buy it any more. My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico now. I have switched to Crest.. You have to read the labels on everything.

This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60W light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off brand labeled, "Everyday Value." I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats - they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand, but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in - get ready for this - the USA in a company in Cleveland, Ohio..

So throw out the myth that you cannot find products you use every day that are made right here..

So on to another aisle - Bounce Dryer Sheets.. yep, you guessed it, Bounce cost more money and is made in Canada. The Everyday Value brand was less money and MADE IN THE USA! I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA - the job you save may be your own or your neighbors!

If you accept the challenge, pass this on to others in your address book so we can all start buying American, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies!

We should have awakened a decade ago..

Let's get with the program.. help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs here in the U.S.A.

READ EACH SENTENCE SLOWLY AND THINK ABOUT IT.

Love starts with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a tear.

Don't cry over anyone who won't cry over you.

Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.

Don't let the past hold you back, you're missing the good stuff.

BEST FRIENDS are the siblings God forgot to give us.

When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you and your BEST FRIEND will be there.

Send this on to everyone special in your life, even the people who really make you mad sometimes and to the people whose lives you want to be in!!!

And send it back to the person who sent it to you if they mean something to you!!

Remember, every minute spent angry is sixty seconds of happiness wasted.
On a Saturday night several weeks ago, this pastor was working late, and decided to call his wife before he left for home. It was about 10:00 PM, but his wife didn't
answer the phone.

The pastor let the phone ring many times. He thought it was odd that she didn't answer, but decided to wrap up a few things and try again in a few minutes. When he tried again, she answered right away. He asked her why she hadn't answered before, and she said that it hadn't rung at their house. They brushed it off as a fluke and went on their merry way.

The following Monday, the pastor received a call at the church office, which was the phone that he'd used that Saturday night. The man that he spoke with wanted to know why he'd called on Saturday night.

The pastor couldn't figure out what the man was talking about. Then the man said,
'It rang and rang, but I didn't answer.' The pastor remembered the mishap and apologized for disturbing him, explaining that he'd intended to call his wife.

The man said, 'That's, OK. Let me tell you my story. You see, I was planning to commit suicide on Saturday night, but before I did, I prayed, 'God if you're
there, and you don't want me to do this, give me a sign now.' At that point my phone started to ring. I looked at the caller ID, and it said, 'Almighty God'.
I was afraid to answer!'

The reason why it showed on the man's caller ID that the call came from 'Almighty God' is because the church that the pastor attends is called Almighty God Tabernacle!!

If you believe that God answers prayers then pass this on.
God bless!