Recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court....

Links: A. U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage.
           B. U.S. Supreme Court rescues Obamacare.


What a week to be a Conservative in the United States of America.  The Supreme Court of the land, in back-to-back decisions this past week, obliterated the Constitution that is supposed to guarantee how rights are protected in our Republic.  The first decision (6-3 in favor), which upheld each individual state's obligation to utilize and fund Obamacare, totally ignored the right of each state to govern its own commerce, a right which has been delegated to the states since the birth of our nation.  The second decision, which at 5-4 was much closer, was even more perplexing.  We live in the end of times for our own American Empire; I believe most people are coming to grips with that reality.  We are collecting debt at such a rate that within the next decade or so, our ability to borrow on the international markets will be decimated.  Ninety percent of this debt has been accrued during the last six years (and cannot been blamed on the military buildup and subsequent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan).  Simply put, the debt that is strangling the life out of our children and grandchildren's future, is because our of government's unwillingness to address and reign in entitlement spending.  That includes the need for Social Security reform; a new, simpler tax code would be welcome as well, but all we get from this administration is lip service.  Our media and politicians spent the week lecturing use about the issue of gay marriage.  Why does ten percent (at most) of the population get to monopolize the attention of our nation in this manner?  We have become the Republic that is truly led by the minorities.  If I hear another sob story about a transgender person I'm likely to lose my mind.  What did all of these trans genders do a century ago, or two centuries ago?  Would General George S. Patton have been able to tell the Nazis, "hold off on your Bastogne Offensive; I'm having my wiener removed in the morning."  And the pioneer family trying to homestead in Kansas in the 1870's, could the wife have woken up one morning and declared, "Cecil, I'm really a man.  I'm leaving you and the six children to go live my true identity."  Be that as it may, it has become the latest bizarre subject that the media and reality television are trying to force down our throats.  Personally, I want all of these people to find happiness.  Their body is theirs to do with as they please.  Messing with the institution act of Marriage, though, impacts American couples back to 1776.

My mother and father were married in 1962.  They entered into a union which had particular boundaries and guidelines.  It excluded NO ONE.  Every American had the choice to marry someone of the opposite sex, as long as consanguinity wasn't an issue.  When people argue that this is an issue of inequality, it makes no sense.  In fact, they want to CHANGE something that has existed in its present form for centuries.  At least be honest about the effort!  But its the truth of the matter that really burns my ass.  Same-sex couples can enter into civil partnerships that give them the same rights as married folks, including those reasonable and sensitive rights relating to medical issues and inheritance.  But no, they want to force everyone to recognize them as being in the same type of relationship as the millions and millions of Americans who have been married up to this point.  Its about FORCING people to accept something.  This week's Supreme Court ruling is supposed to protect individual churches from the obligation of marrying same sex couples if it is against the teachings of that particular faith.  So explain this to me: if a baker in Colorado doesn't want to make a wedding cake for two lesbians because it conflicts with their religious beliefs, how is that different from the exclusion given the churches?  It doesn't.  That's the intention.  It gives these groups another battle to fight, and I can guarantee you its coming.  This won't end until every American has been forced to sign a letter of declaration that gay people are wonderful and that there is nothing wrong with their lifestyle.  I for one believe that (most) gay people are wonderful, and I don't have a problem with their lifestyle.  But I do have a problem with being forced to accept something that is against the teachings of my faith.  What is it with the gay community anyway?  If you want to be accepted as part of our culture and community, why not GIVE BACK for a change instead of always demanding things? 

For those of us who call ourselves Conservatives, the funeral bells are tolling.  And its our fault.  We had a chance once, with the advent of the Tea Party movement.  But we allowed the leftist media to create a false image of Tea Party members as Jim Crow Racists and Bigots.  I have been to countless Tea Party meetings and I have yet to meet "a racist".  What have I seen?  A group of mostly older, middle-income folks who are worried about the economy and what will happen when they retire.  I have NEVER heard a discussion about race or sexuality.  But accordingly to the media (and even Howard Stern, who usually makes up his own mind but who has never taken the time to actually research the movement himself), the Tea Party is one step to the right of the Nazi Party.  The next time you hear a lefty besmirching the Tea Party, ask them which Tea Party meeting they attended, and when?  I guarantee you they will have never even met a Tea Party member.  Again, we have lost the agenda and the bully pulpit.  It is the left who are demonizing the issues and leaving people to consider their "guilt".  And for whom?  Where is their sacrifice?  Sure they had a struggle, and just like all of us at one time or another in our lives, were treated like shit.  It happens.  But no one owes you anything.  If you want to be part of the country and our history/traditions/culture, JOIN us, don't try and change things.  Here is an important question:  Has anyone seen even one study done on the marriage statistics of nations that have legalized same-sex marriage?  Try Canada for example...want to guess the rise in the number of divorces?  Or Holland?  Or maybe the argument is, since straight people have already started divorcing at a fifty percent clip, why not just put a nail in that coffin?

Obama and the radical left continue to set the Agenda and run this country like a dictatorship.  He has executive action and the Supreme Court, what else does he need to finish putting the last few holes in the hull of the U.S.S. Liberty?  Again, our fault.  I knew that electing Obama guaranteed that the Supreme Court would become rife with leftist activists, and what do you know?  He has the court he wants, and we have the court we deserve.  Just because we sent a message in the last election and chased just about every Democrat up for re-election from office obviously MEANS NOTHING.  I have yet to see anything from this Congress except whispers about getting a Republican in the White House in 2016.

By the way, did you see the White House bathed in the lights of the Rainbow Flag?  Those of you who oppose gay marriage, did you feel as if this government represented YOU at that moment?  There are more German-Americans in this country than gay Americans....will the White House change the color to Black, Red and Yellow during German National Day?  What about Mexican Americans?  I can only assume that there are more Mexican Americans in the United States that gay Americans....when will the Green, White and Red of Mexico light up the Oval Office?  Just curious.  Time for me to get off of my pedestal; my sister and I are headed to the City Hall to get a marriage license.  Why not?  How exactly are they going to refuse us, in this "anything goes" society?

The United States has the finest Armed Forces in the world, and it has nothing to do with equipment or size.

Link: Wikipedia entry on United States Armed Forces.

I come from a military family.  My father was enlisted career U.S. Army, and his choice of occupations took him to France in 1962, where he met and married my mother.  For this reason I was raised in a bicultural household, and I am very proud of my heritage.  Almost every country on the globe has a military of some sort, although a few of the more smaller states rely on larger and more prosperous neighbors for defensive purposes.  Unless a war starts, most armies stay within their own national borders.  For example, although Mexico declared itself at war with the bad guys in World War Two, the Mexican Armed Forces haven't been outside the borders of Mexico since 1846.  Because the United States is a superpower and has been one since the advent of the 20th century, the U.S. military has found itself involved in numerous conflicts far from its own national boundaries.  Just like my father, there were many young soldiers who met local girls while overseas and fell in love.  This fact only added to the unique demographics of the United States of America.

I consider myself so fortunate to part of a military family.  When members of the U.S. Armed Forces serve overseas, their families must live in foreign countries and adjust to languages and customs that are unfamiliar.  The U.S. military community quickly turned this circumstance into an advantage.  As a child, I spoke French before I spoke English, and before entering Middle School, I had a decent
comprehension of German.  Even though we lived in our own neighborhood, we were surrounded by a larger city and had no choice but to become friends with our hosts.  The American military schools were/are exceptional, and our community was always taking field trips to castles and historic sites, the likes of which don't exist in the United States because of Uncle Sam's relative youth.  During the holidays, the military families would become one extended family, with so much generosity, compassion, and joy.  At Christmastime, all the families joined together to decorate the community.  Leagues were organized that allowed kids from the different communities to compete against each other in American football, softball, baseball and basketball.  And we never forgot that the reason we were in Europe was because my father had a responsibility as a U.S. soldier to defend Europe from communism.

Since the end of the Civil War, the United States has rarely had its territorial integrity threatened.
From my perspective, only twice has our national survival been at stake; the Second World War and September 11, 2001.  We have fought many wars because we believed that the cause was just and the sacrifice necessary.  On two occasions, Vietnam and the second Iraq War, the decision to get involved was not universally supported by the American people.  But our soldiers have been so well-trained and raised in good families, that they have always understood the absolute necessity to leave the politics back home.  On two occasions during my career in the CIA, I was able to work with the U.S. Armed Forces.  I am unable to provide details, but I will say that I was left with a tremendously positive impression.  The United States continues to produce the world's FINEST young men and women, and my blog is not a U.S. Armed Forces recruitment site.  My comment is simply the truth.  Time and time again, our military proves that courage has a permanent home in the uniform of the United States Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, and Coast Guard.  Once I was fortunate enough to hear a presentation given by a survivor of the Bataan Death March in World War II.  He challenged everyone to buy a world map, and draw a cross in every foreign location that has become the permanent home of a U.S. soldier.  I still have my world map with all its crosses, and I still find myself making updates.  Even though I like to consider myself a bit of a history buff, I continue to learn about young American soldiers making the ultimate sacrifice in unheard of places.  I am convinced that as the ultimate melting pot of humanity, for a time we were welcoming the best, the brightest, and the bravest to our shores.  So it should be no surprise that our troops have the intellect to recognize the importance of freedom, and the courage to fight to defend it.