SNOPES Alert

Okay, it's early and I'm just up. There are so many times I want to give "examples" of the media bias but it is often so fleeting, I don't write it down and just turn off the television or toss the newspaper in disgust.

But since I'm up and my fingers are functioning, I just watched Fox & Friends—they covered a story of last night's late night filibuster caused by a (R) senator—didn't get his name— who blocked a vote on extending unemployment benefits. And Martha McCallum (bless her) made sure to clarify that in this heated exchange, the senator DID SUPPORT the extension of those benefits but he wanted congress to pay for them NOW and not to add to the ever growing debt. Commercial—I can't watch commercials. I flip to the beautiful Robin Mead on HLN and Jennifer Westhoven, who is about to cover the same story. Jennifer Westhoven states that a "republican senator blocks the extension of unemployment benefits." Period. I don't have to turn to MSNBC to see how they will cover the story. But this type of selective media disclosure is why my heart sinks every time one of my facebook friends posts a rant from Keith Olberman. They literally don't know the (as Paul Harvey would say) "rest of the story."

As for Charlie Rangel today—I don't know how MSNBC is going to defend yet another ethics violation on the part of this elitist windbag. This man should not only not be in congress, but to have a school named for him with the words "public service" in it is an oxymoron—perhaps the kids should be taught the definition of that word first.

Welcome to Logan's Run!

While not being able to take the whole day to watch the political dance taking place in Washington, I tuned in just in time to hear President Obama condescend to John McCain, and later watched him insult Paul Ryan?, displaying the 2,400 page bill in front of him, that he could produce an equal amount of documentation showing republican corruption. Given these two exchanges, I doubt watching the whole thing would yield any of that bipartisan cooperation we were supposed to have.

While I can give credit to President Obama for finally making good on his transparency promise (even though it was forced upon him), and appreciate that he finally placed himself (no small feat) at the same level of his colleagues, (seated at a table, instead of standing above everyone at his ever present podium), his tone betrayed the very reason he was supposed to hold this summit—to "listen" to the voice of the minority party.

I could write a 10 page blog on my frustration that I am the only one on my Facebook page to ever take on the left as they excoriate anyone who does not think Keith Olberman is the voice of objectivity and reason. I routinely write on the issues, and face down the bullies on the left. Though I believe many more people feel as I do, it is a shame that most are simply too afraid to join me in standing down the far left radicals who are literally choking the liberty out of our free republic to transform America into a socialist nation. If people don't start standing up to this and being unafraid to speak the truth without fear of losing "friends" and their "jobs", they are going to be even more afraid when they can't FIND a job because the only ones left are working for the government! To remain silent makes us, in a way, complicit in what continues to be perpetuated by the media and the minority in this country. One only need to see Maxine Waters speaking about "socializing, um uh....."taking over healthcare" to grasp the truth. Is anyone in California listening? Ya think you might vote her and Boxer out this year? Maybe? It is a fact that our country is headed rapidly in a socialist direction. Socialist isn't a code word. It isn't a bad word. Look it up. If this healthcare bill is implemented, we're there!

The far left will never pick out emails and articles written by the Canadian journalists who have documented the perils of their healthcare system HOPING that America doesn't do it. You won't hear from Great Britain on their long waits for life saving tests, rising healthcare costs, and the worst—rejection of care for people who are no longer "useful engines" and/or should "die and reduce the surplus population." No, Oprah will take you to Sweden (a tiny country, with a tiny GNP), that is so "happy" under their nanny country economy. Oprah moves out of Montecito to avoid being there long enough to pay HER property taxes, though she wants YOU to pay yours!

You've got Joy Behar saying "gee, America is racist but a lot of white people must have donated to Haiti." (Joy, guess what, we "white" people also elected two black presidents—Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.) By the way, I never called Bill Clinton a "black" president. That would be racist. But the left is racist EVERY DAY towards anyone who disagrees with anything they say. Perhaps what scares me the most is that people in my own peer group, people in their prime of life in my country, are literally demanding that we adopt a Logan's Run solution to rising healthcare costs. No, they certainly don't want to hold illegal immigrants accountable for helping to drain BOTH our medical system and our public school system. They want you to believe that the earth is warming (oh, no, now "changing) so your kids come home recycling everything and insulting you for throwing a plastic bottle in the trash. Al Gore (who is OLDER than me) tells children that there are things that your parents don't know that you (children) do. The brainwashing has been a success. Americans have always disrespected their elders the past 40 years has turned that disrespect into contempt. If you look at the cosmetic ads today, you would be hard pressed to find one that does not urge you to reduce the look of "fine lines and wrinkles." Med spas are everywhere. Americans depise the thought of getting old.

The irony here is that the left accuses the republicans of hating—but in truth, it is the left and always the left who wants to think for people. It is the left who doesn't believe that people are "smart" enough to understand anything, to make decisions about their own eating habits, to raise and/or educate their families. Most of the amazing inventions we use today were invented during the times when government interfered VERY little in our lives. The command of the English language was certainly superior 100 years ago. There was no failing educational system because people were SELF educated. Do you think, Franklin, Lincoln and Washington would have excelled in public school? Probably not. They would have been asked to take Concerta.

We are about to witness the beginning of a real life Logan's Run in America. Keith Olberman is the Sandman. I guess this may be a part of Presiden't Obama's plan I hadn't heard of yet. We used to have biomedical ethics. Doctors would take the Hippocratic oath, which is why the furthest a doctor can go in "ending a patient's life" is to medicate them just short of unconciousness and only withdraw life support when death is imminent. To do that, the doctor must have an advanced directive, supplied by the patient. Patients already have the relationship with their doctor. The dirty little secret that no one talks about is that doctors COULD treat you and charge you a more reasonable fee. Doctors are "greedy" too—they charge exhorbitant rates so they can maintain the status of being a doctor—live in their big homes, with their big cars—I can't fault them for this since medical schools became elitist and only available to the chosen few as lawyers made it more and more difficult to become a doctor. With the unbelievable cost of malpractice insurance, WHO do you think the cost is passed to? That's right. You and me.

One only need to do the research to know that if this latest unilaterally written healthcare bill is passed and not overturned before one dollar is sucked out of the already overburdened American, the "abandoned generation" which is my generation, will live up to its name. We will, for the first time be facing a life expectancy rationed by those we have given birth to and raised. And what is to disincentivize them? They have all now been faced with $40,000 worth of debt, that even though WE fought to eliminate was pushed through by an American president of my age. It really is the perfect "final solution." Of course, the president (even after his term is over) will live to a ripe old age because he has unlimited healthcare—you know, kind of like royalty. You can guess who becomes the peasant. Progressive plans to unravel America have gone well up until now. People have gradually forgotten how to spot the truth anymore. People BELIEVE that when you are "old," you are not only invaluable, but you have an "obligation to die" and make room for future generations. Maybe watching Soylent Green would be a good family film to show your children. too!

I wonder what the next generation will be saying when they reach 65, feel like they are 30 and are asked to go with the next generation's Sandman to "Carnival." (Nah, I'm not going to tell you what it is-go watch the film). Mine is going to be Keith Olberman. My children might be taken there by Meghan McCain. Of course, when she reaches that ripe, obsolete old age of 40, she might want to reconsider. If you thought living with stop, drop and roll was terrifying and you believe that government healthcare is "FREE", then you deserve what you get. But don't take me with you. I'm not going. My constitution guarantees me life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and there is no age limit on that pursuit.

Glenn Beck Rocks CPAC!

There is nothing I can write that will articulate how completely gratifying it was to just watch Glenn Beck nail Republicans to the wall with his CPAC speech. I was on the edge of my seat for the full hour—no teleprompter—no lags—no rhetoric. Beck laid out the facts as skillfully as Indiana Jones evading the rolling ball. I had just flopped on the bed, turned on the tube and he walked onto the CPAC stage—talk about perfect timing! I wish I'd had the presence of mind to record it—hopefully Fox News will replay it tonight! Every American child would do well to watch it.

I have felt since discovering Beck on CNN (the only show I could bring myself to watch on that network anymore) that he is the BEST history teacher I never had in college. Thank you Glenn Beck for having the courage to use the CPAC platform to lecture the Republicans on the same things that millions of us who watch him and/or listen to you daily already know. I am confident that those who "hate Glenn Beck" but have NEVER heard this true patriot speak, are scratching their heads tonight because he made so much sense. Yes, he is always that good. Yes, he knows his history. Yes, he backs up all of his books with outstanding bibliographies. Yes, I am a "Beck head." (But if you think I'm a "blind" devotee, read my criticism of how he handled Debra Medina of Texas on his radio show in an earlier blog.)

Glenn Beck is the epitome of the modern day, self made American man success story. He has his finger completely on the pulse of how average Americans are feeling. Oh, that one person in our government would speak as eloquently, plainly and forcefully with the conviction, consistency and passion of this first class, self educated, and home schooling dad broadcaster. Bravo to Beck and bravo to Fox News for hiring him so he could become the voice of real Americans from sea to shining sea. A very grateful and awake America is watching! I'm proud to be just one of those Americans.

Tale of the Tiger

Tiger Woods came to the microphone today with what could be the best coordinated public relations move since President Obama got away with saying he would put the healthcare debate on CSPAN. (Sorry, but this is a "no tread thread"—had to stick it in there somewhere).

I am what you would call the opposite of a football widow. My husband does not care for mainstream, organized sports. He is an artistic, intellectual type who doesn't watch the super bowl or go to a game unless I—who am more the "when in Rome" type, drag him to one. My kids have never been in traditional, organized sports either, except for an annual neighborhood swim team, which only spans a few short weeks at the start of summer. My sports history includes one stint as a cheerleader and mascot in high school. My motivation was driven by the desire to fit in so I would no longer be chased by the stoner girls who wanted to kill me in junior high. Really.

So, we have this Tiger Woods story. Before that, there was Kobe Woods. Mark Maguire took steriods and lied about it, yada, yada, yada. Quarterbacks date super models, marry some and then trade them in on a new model. USC football players have had encounters with the law. And now that I'm in Austin, the Horns have their own scandals.

I have never seen sports figures as the role models Americans force them to be. I see them the same way as I see rock stars—a bunch of lucky kids with a LOT of money, most of whom can't handle it well, do outrageous things and sometimes, just sometimes, get caught.

What makes the Tiger Woods story cut a bit deeper, is that he appeared to the world to really BE the image he so carefully created—the gorgeous, young, sparkling smile, clean cut, private, classy precision golfer. He was married to a beautiful model (no surprise there) wife and had two children. He was the pitch man for everything—even if you don't follow sports, you couldn't avoid him—(with almost as much commercial time as our current president—oops, I did it again).

Golf, like Tiger's image, attracted the refined and civilized crowd. It is the antithesis of the alpha dog, butt slapping, cold ice bucket dumping culture found in baseball, basketball and football. But this story doesn't have anything to do with sports.

It has to do with the curse of being too famous, too rich, and too entitled. If you check your integrity at the door and sacrifice your values no matter WHO you are, you are responsible for your behavior. Now I agree that if Tiger weren't "caught," there would have been no press conference. I think he is sorry he got caught.

But we are foolish to put people up on pedestals and then tear them down. It sickens me. There are so many "regular" Americans doing the same things Tiger Woods did but because we are not famous, no one knows. While this doesn't excuse it, my stomach turns at the guerilla press and mob mentality of people demanding to know the intimate details of ANYONE'S life. Tiger Woods is solely responsible for what he did. Does anyone other than me believe though, that he didn't have help? It sickens me more to know that there are those around him, on the payroll, who allowed him to cheat on his wife while looking the other way—you know, the same type who worked with John Edwards (talk about "two Americas"), and Kobe Bryant and others who are working right now to protect countless other public figures. Are we really shocked by this story?

As for the press conference, do I agree it isn't "breaking news?" Yes. Do I agree that wall to wall news coverage on multiple cable networks requires "fluff" to fill the day? Yes. Do I think what Tiger did is disgusting? Yes. Do I think this press conference was his idea? No. But regardless of motivation, newsworthiness or any other opinions, I watched the conference today with an open mind. I was reluctantly impressed. He actually took full responsibility for his actions—he said it over and over in the statement. He did not blame any other person for his actions. He asked for forgiveness. He said he would continue treatment and he expressed that he hoped to resolve things with his wife for their relationship and their children. And for that, I can commend the man for having the courage to take at least that step. The future will determine his sincerity.

It is none of our business to know the intimate details of what Tiger Woods did with these women. Obviously, the guy has a severe problem. He humiliated himself and his wife and children with his outrageously thoughtless, reckless and destructive behavior. Let's remember that none of these women told his wife either—to feel sorry for them is pathetic. Go home, Gloria Allred. But as "witnesses," safe in our living rooms to pass judgment, I am saddened that we are living in a time where people are so eager to elevate humans who hit a ball well to a place no one can occupy for long so we can knock them down later. The reason it is "breaking news" is because we feed the machine by craving the red meat of human failure. We cannot get enough of what The Bachelor or Kim Kardashian or Jon & Kate are doing. No wonder the middle east hates us. If we were able to look at our media from the outside, it would be easy to understand why they think we are a morally empty nation. Our habits stand in direct opposition to our stated values much of the time.

So, do I think Tiger is a fraud? Yes. Would I stay married to him? No. But what he did today took real courage. He did not apply blame to the press or anyone for "ratting" him out or "causing" his pain. He accepted FULL responsibility. He used words that most Americans would not consider applicable to themselves . He said he thought he was "entitled." I see on a daily basis in my encounters with people from 20-35 just how ingrained entitlement has become in our culture. It is a cancer that has spread across our country over the past 40 years. Tiger is just another famous person who had sex with anyone he wanted, anywhere he wanted and any time he wanted. Many "regular" people think they are entitled to free healthcare, citizenship, a high paying job, big screen tvs, convertibles, free college tuition and a new wife after the crows feet set in—count the Oil of Olay, Revlon, Lifestyle Lift ads. What's the difference really?

Tiger Woods had it all—and all wasn't enough. It's a good lesson for all of us to remember. I don't defend the man's actions. But these days, if ONE person is at least willing to say "I screwed up" and mean it, no matter HOW that statement came to pass, I'm willing to give that person a chance to redeem themselves. Let's see what Tiger does before tossing him to the wolves.

Happy (belated) Birthday, George Washington!

Today we honor what has now come to be called "President's Day." I remember as a child being told that this holiday celebrated BOTH Washington and Lincoln's birthdays. I did a little research—funny what happens when you question the status quo. Not so—it was supposed to celebrate the founder of our country—then congress got involved—things changed, misconceptions "stuck" in the minds of the American people—you do know that if you just keep repeating the lie, it becomes true, right? And now we have the watered down President's Day which has come to mean everything from "split the difference between Lincoln and Washington's birthday" day, and "all Presidents you like" day, to "it's a good day to go skiing" day!

No matter how you celebrate today, as I venture out this year to re-educate myself and our children on the true history of our founding fathers, I realize more and more just how important George Washington was and how much better off we would be if people had continued to pass down our country's founding history through an effective game of "Telephone" to subsequent generations. Instead, around 1970, we began learning a watered down version of history that was rapidly replaced by revisionist (if not eliminatist—is that a word?) history from about 1983 on.

I don't know much about George Washington except that he was a reluctant public servant who served with honor in both war and politics and then refused to stay, voluntarily passing the torch. I do know that he and the founders would have never have wanted the government to earn a $71,000 average salary, twice the average of a private citizen's salary. They also would not have created nor endorsed the public welfare programs which, disguised as "compassion" have seized liberty from free Americans over the past century. These very programs have turned Americans against each other, creating class and race warfare and creating a culture war that thankfully, many now recognize. We have gone from empowered to entitled in less than 200 years.

May those of us who remember the feeling of American pride we used to feel in our youth, reflect on this day and keep it in mind as we go forward to restore our congress to "we the people" this fall. Those who believe this movement isn't real deserve the tyranny they are going to get unless they wake up and join us. The founding fathers were so wise and had such foresight, they knew what to watch out for. Yes, they were wise "old, white men"—I think they were over 40 too—that's for Meghan McCain.

American history books are flying off the shelves and sites at Amazon, Borders and Barnes and Noble. I'll be reading A Patriots History of the U.S. when it's in stock, The Federalist Papers and anything else I can get my hands on regarding America's founding—still awake, still engaged and still unashamed to wish our most revered founding father, George Washington, a very Happy (belated) Birthday!

Glenn Beck deserves criticism today for Medina Interview

I've had a few days of not being motivated to write. Yep, I know Iran is nuclear, president Clinton and Alec Baldwin were rushed to area hospitals today—I wish them both well BUT Glenn Beck (and I cannot believe I am writing this) was completely and totally OUT OF LINE today on a radio interview with the third (and relatively unknown) third party republican candidate for governor of Texas, Debra Medina.

I had written to both Sarah Palin's facebook and on my blog in earlier posts last week asking why Sarah Palin was not supporting Medina (who was said to be an 'independent minded" "Scott Brown" "tea party" type of candidate.) It was a sincere question—it was not posed because I am a supporter of Medina. I, as a new Texas voter in this primary, am eagerly trying to discern WHO would be the best choice for Texas going forward. I have ruled out Hutchison because I can SEE she is "big" Washington government and I don't want anyone tainted by an association there in the past 10-12 years bringing their big spending to Texas. I heard 10 minutes of the democrat governor's debate and after they refused to answer "yes or no" to vouchers, I became so infuriated at the double speak, I turned the debate off—more spending, more money into the failing schools. The democrats are done. I already LIKE Rick Perry. In fact, if I was "not" engaged in seeking out more info, I would vote for him without even looking into Medina. Why? Because I am a Nuevo Texan.

Rick Perry's governorship of this state is precisely why people like me are fleeing California for the lone star state. We moved her just 3 years ago. In many ways, I find that my husband and I appreciate living here and see the wonderful differences in Texas culture so clearly because of what we saw happen to our state. Rick Perry has been governor for the past 10 years, since George W. Bush (another VERY popular governor) ran this state. Austin, Texas is simply a GREAT place to live. There are no potholes in the streets. There is no litter. Wonderful zoning rules keep restaurants and businesses next to the highways, where you can easily see (and frequent) them and puts the homes in the beautiful hillsides of Austin. The air is clean and beautiful here. We have 5 world class universities and colleges within driving distance of the capitol. There are oak trees for miles, longhorns, farms, wineries, antique stores, parks, lakes and trails galore. Connected to all of this natural beauty is the city—yes, a growing city, with the local hippies resisting the new high-rise condos and the poor folks east of the 35 highway, where a regentrification is under way posting cardboard signs that read "rich yuppies' moving here. Here, we have the usual problems with saving some form of wildlife (like a blind salamander) so the roads don't go through to accommodate the growth—thereby releasing exhaust fumes into the "clean" air instead—as motorists and families bringing more business to all of these hippies and tree huggers protest. You know—they want to live here but they don't want YOU to live here. Texas is a LOT like California in this regard and that is NOT a good thing.

However, with a fiercely independent streak and a desire to be responsible in growth, both sides seem to be working together (most of the time) to keep Texas from turning into California while welcoming the growth that is bringing jobs, an entrepreneurial spirit and college students from all over the country to study here. Rick Perry's proposal to lower "out of state" tuition to encourage that people come get educated and STAY here is a SMART one. He also supports the military, scouting, and in fact wrote a great book called On My Honor in praise of the organization, is married to his "starter" and only wife, Anita (don't think there are any former interns or mistresses anywhere), is and has also raised an Eagle Scout son and supports ALL forms of education, including vouchers and home school programs. Now where have you seen a public official support both public and private education before?

I admire him for all of these things. Tea party patriots like myself understand that we cannot have a PERFECT candidate—he, like G.W. isn't really pursuing the border as far as I can tell, he supports toll roads, which I can't stand and there was a question on an improper execution that came up prior to this latest race—I'm guessing this is just pure politics. From what I have read, the guy was indeed guilty of murdering his family. Just another red herring for the left's usual tactic of painting conservatives as bloodthirsty, heartless killers of the innocent. As I had mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, I had watched the first republican governor's debate—Perry appeared unengaged, and like the smug "good old boy" he is portrayed to be by the liberal folks. He just didn't seem to really care about giving specifics on policy. He gave little substantive answers and just touted repeatedly how great it was to be in Texas. Debra Medina, on the other hand, who I had NEVER seen and knew nothing about, was awesome in that debate. She directly and concisely answered each question and I have already mentioned that when she said to eliminate property taxes, I becames intrigued. Our property taxes here are outrageous! Even though I LIKED Perry, I began to wonder about Medina. I searched Google but could not find any real history on her. I found no controversy, just that she was a home schooling mom, raised in Texas and carried a gun. Basically, she looked like a "Mrs. Smith" going to Washington—straight forward, direct, honest???

I missed the 2nd debate. I, to this day, haven't been able to find it on U-Tube to review. However, I understand Perry did rather well at the second debate. However, this brings me to Glenn Beck's most bizarre interview today.

I am a regular viewer of Glenn Beck's television show. I dvr it daily and if I could have the entire air-check of his television show, I would. I consider him to be the best history teacher I never had in college. MOST of his daily shows are AWESOME, a few are corny, and only rarely are they boring. He puts on a substantive show literally filled with facts, statistics, history lessons and is just an amazing broadcaster. His radio show, which I only found recently here in Austin on 98.9 has a distinctly different flavor. I don't really enjoy the two sidekicks who chime in and sometimes find the exchange between guests and him to border on "shock jock" in that he can go "off" on guests and take what people say and then rail on them without giving them a chance to complete their point of view—you know, talk radio. All hosts do this to some extent. But that opening song—I keep trying to find it! I love it. "Just Remember Who We Are, We Will Be The Key!"—Can't find it, don't know if it is a custom recording. It is awesome bumper music!

Okay, I digress—ADHD moment! Today, I was REALLY REALLY excited because Glenn Beck was going to have Debra Medina on his show—originally I thought it was going to be his TELEVISION show but it was his radio show instead. Finally, I was going to hear him ask "Why do you think Sarah Palin is supporting Governor Perry over you?" That question was never asked.

Instead, the interview with Medina barely lasted one segment. He asked her "who she was" and when she gave the 30 second commerical on "wife, mother, nurse..." as all politicians do when you ask them that question, he insulted her right off the bat and said "that wasn't what I asked you," as though she was evading the question. She was not. And so she repeated it and tried to expand more into her positions. I was immediately surprised by his confrontational nature upon beginning the interview. His tone was adversarial. They had a few more exchanges and then he stated that there were rumors swirling around that she was a 9/11 "truther" (the crazy folks who believe George Bush collapsed the twin towers and killed our fellow Americans). She said she had heard that and didn't know where it was coming from. She then went on to say that she did not know all of the evidence and that she wasn't going to take a position. After she said this, he went completely off on her, began laughing with his co-horts and essentially dismissed her off the air after going back and forth on the question. And the interview abruptly ended. Now if she is indeed a truther, I get it! She's got a serious screw loose, a hidden agenda—game over.

Here's where I believe Beck deserves criticism though. And let me be clear so everyone knows where I stand—people who believe that our former president and/or our government melted the steel on the twin towers to go to war in Iraq are CRAZY. Willie Nelson (Austin's favorite son) is crazy! I went to a concert at The Backyard because he is an Austin institution and I had to tell my friend that it was against my better judgment to go because of how I feel about his hatred of America. If Debra Medina is a truther, she's not getting my vote, now or ever. BUT, after Beck essentially "hung up" on her, he said this. "I never liked her anyway." This bothered me very much. He did not extend to Medina a chance to express her views so we, the audience could make the call, in exactly the same way that Sarah Palin was ambushed and made to look stupid by Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson.

I'm taking Ms. Medina at face value here. If indeed, she is a "grass roots" politician, then I can imagine how intimidating it would be to talk to someone like Glenn Beck—I would be intimidated and I agree with him. If he treated me that way because I was so nervous, I said something stupid or inarticulate, it would be like a punch in the stomach to have him treat me that way and dismiss me in just the first few sentences of an interview. I would feel betrayed, blindsided and flustered. He said he didn't like her because she said she was "just like him, a grass roots organizer..." and he dismissed her as someone who didn't have a clue who he was. In essence, Glenn Beck, the one who always seems to be on the side of the people, wrote off this person before she could make any other points, clarify why she couldn't emphatically say "the truther's are crazy" and instead, just cut her off and ended the interview. I suspect he muted her so she couldn't hear what they were saying before he calmly said "nice to talk with you" and then let her go.

I don't find Glenn Beck to be a rude or insensitive person. When a legitimately infuriating guest calls his radio show, he gives them a lot of rope before going off. But this appeared completely pre-meditated today. I saw him at The Alamo last year. He seemed very down to earth at the first tea party. People at his book signings have said "he is who he claims to be" when they shake his hand and have a few words with him. I have read all of his books and they are BRILLIANT. But today, he was out of line. His only interest was in discrediting Medina. The question I am left with is this. If Rick Perry or Kay Hutchison knew that Medina was a "truther," then why wasn't this question asked at the first debate? Surely someone would want to bring this up for political advantage, wouldn't they? Rick Perry was given a moment in which he could ask Debra Medina anything. I can't remember what that question was but I know it wasn't about this. So, where did Glenn Beck find this out? Why didn't anyone else discover it until now and why didn't Sarah Palin, in supporting Rick Perry, mention it so that people who follow her on Facebook would know definitively that Debra Medina had this view? This is a HUGE political advantage to Perry and/or Hutchison.

Something just doesn't seem right. If it is indeed true, then I'm glad it was revealed today. However, if it isn't true, then Glenn Beck may have seriously influenced a Texas election with false information that could hurt this candidate. I watch Fox because the "talent" there has class and never gets in the ditch with CNN and/or MSNBC in demeaning people. Glenn demeaned Medina. I think those of us in the 2nd largest state in the nation would have preferred a "we report, you decide" approach to this interview today. I know Beck's radio show is separate from Fox, but when you are now working with Palin, who supports Perry, it makes me wonder if an agenda was put forth to help Rick Perry remain the frontrunner—and the reason I can't believe I'm saying this is because I SUPPORT Rick Perry! But I want a fair and balanced presentation of all candidates so I can be sure I am making an informed decision.

Glenn, I still love you but you owe Ms. Medina and all of us listening today in anticipation of a great Beck interview, an apology. Yes, we hold you to a high standard. At 23 million a year, you are in a position of tremendous influence and even I couldn't defend you today against all of my "friends" (I use that term VERY loosely) on the left who want to pummel you. I have to say, for the first time, I wanted to pummel you too! Okay, back to making dinner for the brood! And dad? If you're feeling sick from the chemo, maybe reading the above will make you mad enough to forget the nausea.

Talk to the Hand MSNBC and NOW!

In my previous blog, I cited things I thought the left wing media might attack in Palin's tea party speech over the weekend. But I never noticed, nor would have cared if she (or any other public speaker) had written notes on their hand. Ridiculous. Upon seeing the trouble MSNBC went to once again to discredit her as "stupid," I hope the next time she speaks, she writes something more interesting on her hand and holds it nice and still for the MSNBC cameras to capture.

SNL, Stewart, Leno and Letterman will have great comedy material to produce related to this latest Palinism. Someday, I'll have to make a list of all of the attacks on Sarah Palin and compare them to the attacks on other political candidates. Never before has anyone so freaked out the left that they will stop at nothing to insult her.

In another irony of the elitist intelligence gap, remember that "controversial" and highly contested planned super bowl ad featuring Tim Tebow and his mom, sponsored by Focus on the Family? My facebook pages contained words that changed "Focus" to something quite different. There was outrage, condemnation, hatred and petitions against CBS. After all this, if you blinked, you might have missed the spot. There was no mention of pro-life. No mention of abortion. But now, the National Organization for Women is outraged that it portrays violence towards women because Tim tackles mom in. Really?

Did anyone see the multitude of ads with Betty White getting knocked down by football players—she is old AND a woman? Did anyone see the "slap" commercials, the men without pants commercials, heck even a longhorn running along the cattle commercial? I mean PETA should be outraged. Oh, and there were midgets (not one but TWO commercials), er, I mean "vertically challenged" people ads.

Thank goodness The Saints won. It was nice to see the underdog hero win. America needs more of THAT and less of the above.

Palin's Practically Perfect (Tea) Party Presentation

If anyone doubts the power of the tea party movement, they didn't really listen to Sarah Palin's carefully crafted speech last night. I watched it twice before writing this post.

Last night, I watched nervously, hoping she wouldn't mispronounce a word, be grammatically incorrect, or lose her place on the typed pages on the podium. In recent weeks, after watching her utter the word "uncomfortableness" on O'Reilly and hearing her use the words "common sense conservative solutions" repeatedly, I began to wonder if in fact, her vocabulary was too limited for prime time, even though I am in alignment with most of her principles and agree wholeheartedly with what she stands for.

I must note here that CNN may have not intentionally planned to show Sarah Palin in a positive light, but this time, they did not make the mistake of pretending that the tea party movement was "unimportant" or "irrelevant." They actually provided more fair and balanced coverage than Fox. Geraldo Rivera never stopped talking over the introduction that Andrew Breitbart gave prior to her speech. I would have liked to have heard that. Even the camera angles and color saturation on Fox were not as good as on CNN. So bravo to CNN for their excellent camera work and for getting out of the way so Palin could be heard.

I also appreciated CNN's pre-speech coverage. Unfortunately, no matter how hard the anchor tried to minimize the tea partiers as "socialist" calling radicals, those on both sides of his split screen shut down the spin with facts. It was refreshing to see. MSNBC was too busy airing their latest tabloid "lock up" show and of course, ignored the speech completely. But I'm sure their famous trio is busy pulling out any sound bytes that will make Palin look inarticulate, like a religious freak or an uneducated bimbo. She did use the word "distrust" instead of "mistrust" so look for that to be run again and again and again on Monday evening. Let me think like an MSNBC producer—they'll likely air the "blowing the kiss" to the serviceman in the audience, and they'll likely show her "tear up" when she commended the audience for their work and mentioned special needs children, and for good measure, they'll probably laugh off the audience standing up when, predictably, the host mentions "President Palin." Oh, and I can't forget when she asks "how's that hopey, changey stuff working out for ya now?" Of course, they'll say that she can't even pronounce hope and change, failing to see that the "yolk's" on them. But let's see what happens tomorrow on the cable news outlets—my favorite sport to watch.

Today, before writing, I decided to watch the speech again with my 12 year old son. He didn't make it through the whole thing; his DSI was getting cold. BUT he did make one very astute observation. "Mom," he said. "She sounds like your neighbor, like someone you can trust. She doesn't talk down to people." I love that children find it so easy to spot genuine when so many jaded adults, with their preconceived ideas of what a "leader" should be, fail to understand that the reason Palin resonates with so many is expressly because she does not TRY to dazzle us with her brilliance. She is an action oriented, simple talking, morally consistent, idea driven, accidental hero to the millions of heretofore silent Americans who have watched for years as our country has been taken over by wolves in sheep's clothing on both sides of the aisle.

When the far left uses the ridiculous rhetoric to malign the entire tea party movement as "Obama" haters, questioning "where were these people when George W. Bush was in office?" what they fail to understand is that we were already losing faith in our government during that time, but what put us over the edge was when this president spent more in his first month in office than all other presidents in U.S. History COMBINED.

We began bubbling over when our president said "no" lobbyists and then hired them, when he promised complete transparency, and when we saw Barney Frank on tape say nothing was wrong with Fannie and Freddie. Probably nothing was worse then watching Timothy Geitner, who didn't pay his own taxes, be touted as the BEST qualified person in America to become our Secretary of the Treasury. This man can throw me in jail if I don't pay my taxes but he's in charge of the entire U.S. Treasury! It's an outrage. If that isn't enough to take an already frustrated electorate a reason to simultaneous shout "someone's going to need to throw a tea party," then the far left will never be able to handle the truth. I said those very words in my own living room last February and attended the first tea party on April 15, 2009. What a difference a year can make! I don't expect that in 2010, Newsweek and Life will be able to ignore the mass crowds that are sure to march on Washington as real hope and change greets our "let them eat cake" congress.

Palin's speech began with a Happy Birthday to President Reagan. It was quintessential Palin throughout a 45 minute or so appeal to the movement to stay focussed on objectives. I wish I could be Palin's speech writer. I feel that she gave an overall good speech but that it repeated many of the buzz phrases and talking points we have already heard. I was hoping she would get more specific about strategy. However, the three greatest moments in her speech (in my opinion), were when she said "we need a Commander in Chief not a professor of law at the lecturn, " when she said emphatically that the tea party movement did NOT need a leader because it was from the people, and when she smartly said that the GOP would be WISE to absorb the tea party—instead of saying that the tea party should absorb the GOP.

I was impressed by this because I feel that Palin is now (by circumstance) too famous to be the default leader of this grass roots movement and would diminish the "we the people" every day American foundation that the tea party springs from. Her acknowledgement of this as well, certainly cemented my belief that she is authentic, says what she means and means what she says. Finally, she clarified that the tea party is not an extension of the Republican party but, is in fact, going to have a huge influence over who win elections, regardless of party. That needed to be stated. We tea partiers have a good memory and we know which republicans came out right away for the tea partiers and which ones maligned both Palin and the movement for a good part of 2009.

I'm looking foward to seeing how this all plays out. I really believe Rush Limbaugh is wrong when he says that we tea partiers are "splitting the party" which will fail like the Ross Perot split election did years ago unless we join "them." What I feel in the air is that the Republicans are going to be forced to revert to the true conservative principles they USED to have or face strong opposition from a non-partisan tea party that will continue to endorse new candidates and vote the status quo out—no matter what that little letter indicates next to their name.

During the opening of Palin's speech last night, I was so nervous for her, not wanting her to fail. But when I watched it again today, I had the ability (knowing how it all turned out) to fully appreciate her speech. It was not as smooth and polished as her fiery convention speech. She stumbled a bit and probably stalled a bit at the beginning with a little too much "I'm proud to be an American." It's hard not to be nervous when every single thing you say is apt to be used against you. She has managed, for the most part, to stay on message. She went so far as to say that she will be supporting third party candidates and some others in hotly contested primaries.

We all know that she is going to tour with John McCain. While I do not support that, I can understand why she is going to do so. In her book, Going Rogue, Palin NEVER says a harsh word about John McCain. He, during the vitriol expoused by the media, never blasted the media BUT he also never maligned her. I believe that Palin is a bit like George W. Bush in this way. She turns the other cheek and gives the benefit of the doubt to those who don't give her an overt reason to believe that they are her enemy. And though, John McCain, passively threw her under the bus by omission, he has never publically demeaned her in any way. And so, I believe she will support him out of friendship and probably because, were it not for him, she would not find herself in this position of power today. However, in light of his comments on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, I think she would be wise to withdraw her support. McCain is just so inconsistent and, other than being a true American hero, I don't feel he is sincere in much of what he says and does.

As I said earlier, she is supporting Governor Perry instead of the more independent Debra Medina, whom I think is probably a Scott Brown kind of candidate. I think it is a fair question to ask Palin "why" is she not throwing her support toward the "renegade" and "rogue" candidate. However, knowing what I know about Perry after researching him a bit and how WELL Texas is indeed running as I celebrate 3 years of living here, it makes pretty good sense that Palin is supporting him. She did govern Alaska through principle centered decisions over ideology. She does profess to support great ideas (even if on balance, not ALL of the ideas are "perfect") and clearly says that we can't agree with EVERY decision candidates make. I agree with her position that faith needs to be placed on ideas above the people who serve, as they are fallible. Still, the question of not supporting Medina is one I would like answered.

Palin emerged last night as the powerful communicator we have seen before. She, of course, publically stated that her $100,000 fee goes straight to the Tea Party PAC. Now, if Fox News will just let her be the analyst they hired her for instead of repeating campaign interviews, Palin might be successful there as well! Looking forward to seeing what the pundits think on Monday!

A Centennial for Boy Scouts of America

"Mom, do we have to get up?," were the first words my husband and I heard this morning as we rousted our four boys out of bed on their "sleep-in day" to prepare for a historic visit to the capitol. One mug of coffee, four chocolate Zone bars, six warm jackets and a loaded wagon later, we were off to the Report to State and Scout Parade commemorating the 100th Year Anniversary of Scouting.

At 7:30am, we crested the Congress Street bridge where we became part of a huge crowd making last minute adjustments to floats which were three deep and the entire length of the bridge. For the non-Austinite, this is the famous "bat bridge" that the Mexican free-tail bats emerge from on their nightly mosquito hunt. To see the pink granite capitol from the center of a roped-off Congress Street was a sight to behold. In keeping with one of the scout tenents to help other people, when our eldest son could not locate his Boy Scout Troop, Pack 280 (the cub pack) welcomed him on board their float. Our younger cub proudly took his spot on a hay bale in the back of the truck reserved for his Pack 101 of Dripping Springs, Texas.

Earlier this week, I had picked up the book On My Honor, written by Governor Perry. I'm really glad I had this book with me today. We read some of it on the way down and it was fortuitous that I got to know our Governor a little more in reading about his experiences in Scouting. This event ended up not only being a great day for scouts but also validated why it is we came to Texas from California in the first place. (I'll get to that a little bit later!)

The parade was a sea of fidgeting boys with crooked lines, untucked shirts, flanking paper maché and plastic floats. The streets brimmed with enthusiasm as the boys eagerly waved with the same enthusiasm to a spotted family member and supportive stranger alike. There were a couple of outstanding floats—namely the Space Shuttle and the winding bicycle in the shape of a snake, which followed the flapping Austin Bat float! (Keep Austin Weird!) The boys chanted, clapped, and a couple of floats had some pretty accomplished musicians as the parade rolled down the street. We even met a 1942 Eagle Scout who came out to see the festivities and got to shake his hand. Today's event was an unashamed slice of Americana that you rarely see anymore.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things this was the lack of publicity given to this event. It wasn't discussed on KVUE news as we prepared to leave. And it wasn't mentioned on 98.9, Austin's talk radio station either. There was no professional announcer during the event. There were no radio stations or television crews that we saw—unless of course they came earlier than we did. There were still photographers everywhere though lining the street. The Austin American Statesman was, in fact, ON the parade route. It will be interesting to see where the story appears in tomorrow's newspaper. If you detect sarcasm, you're right! In Austin, I doubt the boy scouts will make the front page.

This brings me to Governor Perry's book. I brought it with me in the oft chance that I might get to meet the Governor and have it signed. That didn't happen. However, we had the wonderful opportunity to sit in the House of Representatives and view the entire Report to State ceremony with Governor Perry in attendance. 19 Councils, each that represent a number of counties, spoke addressed the state to account for the impact that the scouts have on local communities all across the state. Far from just a statistical report, there were stories of bravery, life saving, fighting hunger, and even repairing areas damaged by Hurricane Ike. The BSA isn't just some club, it's an organization that truly seeks to teach young boys to become men and to make their country a better place to live in. To watch these young boys and young woman (who represented a council near El Paso) step up to the podium and address the podium was humbling.

Perhaps most impressive, though, was Governor Perry himself. I knew nothing of this man when we moved to Texas. What I did know was this. We CAME to Texas because of a California that had become unrecognizable. Two years after moving here, California went bankrupt but many still living there just can't (or won't) see it and keep electing people who are ruining the state. When people say that Texas is the new California, we silently whisper "we hope not." Texas is a state that is working. Texas doesn't have potholes, doesn't tax your income, supports home-schoolers (in fact it is the friendliest home school state in the union), is attracting more and more companies with its business friendly laws and if you can find litter on the streets here, let me know. Thanks to the campaign "Don't Mess with Texas" started by the legendary advertising firm GSD&M, which is right across from the flagship Whole Foods in downtown Austin, this city is vibrant, hopeful, friendly and FREE.

This brings me back to Governor Perry's book. I did not know that Governor Perry was an Eagle Scout. He achieved this rank at the age of 14. His son, Griffin, is an Eagle Scout as well. Perry is the longest serving Governor in Texas, now running for another term. He wrote this book basically in defense of scouting, as it has been under attack since 1976. I remember being 11 years old and hearing that a girl wanted to join the "Boy Scouts." I'm proof that the left was getting to me. Back then, I said "yeah, why not?" Why should there be any club eliminating girls?" It led to boys football teams having the same ridiculous discrimination suits and we all know how it has manifested. Here we are. Nanny nation!

Luckily as I got older and a little wiser, I was able to see the divisive nature of the "let's have everything be fair and equitable" movement. It divided America and led to the situation we have today. I haven't finished his book but in the first few pages, I can see it is going to join my overflowing bookshelf as one of my new favorite books. My boys will be reading this as we head to our nation's capitol later this year. This is most certainly the year to teach them U.S. History.

I can't end this post without making a few comments on the Governor's race which is in full swing. I believe that leaders should almost be reluctant to serve. However, in light of the way Texas is working, I can't help but support Governor Perry as he runs again. Truth be told, I was quite disappointed in his "performance" at the first debate. He didn't seem passionate about running and only in the race to prevent big Washington, D.C. republican Kay Bailey Hutchison from taking over. I can't say if this is his only motivation to stay in office. But I am confident that Hutchison is not a true conservative and I don't like her tactics. Deborah Medina, the "tea party" republican really resonates with me on pure policy and straightforward answers—however, as a previous Perot voter, the last thing I want to do is vote for a candidate that ensures Hutchison wins. Until we have a better system, unfortunately, it's a two party choice.

Yes, I don't agree with the toll roads and the eminant domain issue that many Austinites find fault with in Governor Perry's policies. I'm not sure where I stand on his endorsement of vaccines for young girls to guard against HPV as I don't have enough information. But any government intrusion into personal decisions on how to raise children is usually not supported by me. However, I don't admire leaders based one or two decisions that I find fault with. The fact IS that Texas is doing something right! It is still (with few exceptions) a state where you don't feel the heavy hand of government intruding in your daily life.

To wrap up what has once again become another long post, Perry's speech today was flawlessly and emotionally delivered. In the culture war Americans are now aware of and engaged in fighting, he successfully illustrated how the ACLU's continuing attacks on our common core values, and the rise of moral relativism is threatening America's future. I commend him for having the courage to say so. I also commend him for admitting that leaders like himself are fallible and human but that he tries to live by the Scout motto every day.

I now believe we have the right Governor in office at the right time in Texas history. His message was clear. Scouting values are the essence of America. A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. Ross Perot's foreword in the book states "Think what a greater country we would have if everyone lived the principles of Scouting every day. We would all be prepared, do our best to do our duty to God and Country, help other people at all times; and keep ourselves physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight." If anyone can find fault with a parent teaching their children those things, then our problems in this country are far larger than we are willing to admit.

Happy 100th Birthday Boy Scouts of America and thank you U.S. Supreme Court for recognizing the rights of the Scouts to operate with their values unaltered and intact.

Where in the world is Sarah Palin?

It is well known that Sarah Palin became a commentator on Fox News in January 2010. I was initially excited and thought it was a really shrewd move for Palin. I am not sure this was a good idea now for either Palin or Fox.

I need to back up a bit so what I write about Palin from here on out will be comprehended by those who can't see straight when they even hear the words "Sarah Palin." I, like every other American, had never heard of Sarah Palin before she was announced as John McCain's running mate in the last election. My first reaction was "oh great, he played the gender card." I'm so tired of politicians thinking that I as a woman vote because of someone's gender, color or wardrobe choice. I had originally wanted Mitt Romney to be the Republican candidate for president so I was HOPING that McCain would choose him. Then, I could at least vote for half the ticket instead of for the lesser of two evils.

I thought Obama would smartly pick Hillary Clinton—which would have been a slam dunk for the progressives. But Obama's ego is so huge, he chose the very demographic the left has contempt for—the bumbling, middle-aged, non threatening, white, career politician—Joe Biden and offered Hillary Secretary of State so she couldn't run against him later—unless of course, she quit. Can't wait to see what happens in 2012. Talk about the antithesis of "change." Because Obama left the door open for a game change (no reference to the book), McCain picked a complete unknown which eventually catapulted an unsuspecting Palin into the stratosphere. The rest is history.

With no opinion on Palin to begin with, I watched the entire process from beginning to end. Once she spoke at the convention, she became my candidate of choice—McCain was just the other guy on the ticket. I wanted her in the White House and, well, if McCain was there too, well then that would be okay. My vote was going to be FOR Palin. The more the media and the left eviscerated her and the more real and direct she was in responding to the vitriol, the more I was impressed. She was nonplussed and unflappable during the entire campaign.

In June 2009, I was driving from Texas to California with my father when she came on the radio and announced her resignation as governor. We both listened to the speech live. She never uses a teleprompter. The woman speaks from the heart. I was not disappointed, nor fazed by her decision. It made perfect sense to me that she would act in the people's best interests and save Alaska from the outrageous costs associated with the overwhelming amount of frivolous lawsuits and investigations aimed at discrediting her, her family, and bankrupting her, her family and making it impossible for her to get back to the business of governing.

One only need to see this woman making moose stew with young children circulating around her in the kitchen while talking to Greta Van Susteren to GET how real, competent, bright, capable and smart Sarah Palin was. Refreshing doesn't even begin to describe how those of us who "get" Sarah Palin feel about her.

I do not hold Sarah Palin's religious views, was disheartened to learn that her teenage daughter was pregnant, and disappointed that she didn't assert herself on both the now infamous Katie Couric and Charles Gibson interviews. HOWEVER, in every other interview and/or rally, and any other place where a camera was stuck in her face, she was consistent, direct, honest, up front, gracious, articulate and her record popularity in Alaska (which I studied) preceded ALL of the ensuing controversy—meaning that she was doing great things while no one was looking. For that, I admire her. I bought her book, Going Rogue, the day it came out (bought one for dad, another one for a military hero and have mine on loan to a neighbor at present time) and read it within a few days. Funny when you read something "new" while the media is "reviewing" the book. The views on MSNBC were unbelievable—a whiner! For the record, Sarah Palin does not whine. Chris Matthews whines. Rachel Maddow scowls. Keith Olbermann condescends.

Palin addressed EVERY single issue during the campaign and then some in this well written, thorough book. And Sarah Palin is NO victim. She is a triple threat—a married, in love, mother of 5, one with special needs, and one who is an American hero. She is a competitive athlete and feminine at the same time. She is over 40. She wears glasses and makes them look sexy. She looks just as beautiful in a yellow fishing suit as she does in a business suit. She speaks with a midwestern accent, leaves "gs' off of "ing" words and occasionally says "crap" on TV. Bring it on. We need more of that and less of the "dazzle you with my big word "bull--it" the politicians spew as truth from their bullypulpits. The truth is that "thinking" Americans don't believe any of it anymore.

All this being said, after reading, seeing, watching all of the far left continue to tear her apart limb by limb long after she resigned LAST June, it was an exciting announcement to hear she would join the Fox News team. I thought that this was an excellent move—at first!

The first interview with Bill O'Reilly was okay at best. However, I immediately noticed that she did not seem to have the same "fire within her belly" during that interview that she had as a candidate. The next interview was with Glenn Beck. This highly anticipated "first meeting" was held in a sterile room "Barbara Walters" style in front of the Statue of Liberty.

Beck was original in that he finally asked her some questions that were NEW but I would have loved to see her on his set at the table with an energetic exchange between both. It was silent and almost sterile, and a bit awkward. Beck is best at the blackboard. I, and so many Americans, I'm sure, are also so tired of the questions about her intelligence, Levi Johnson and discerning whether she reads or not. Beck did a great job in asking some new questions. The best moment was in her revelation that she was studying up on the details of the Statue of Liberty, expecting to be asked about that. Thank you NBC for ensuring that only the most important questions are asked of a candidate so they have a "phone-a-friend" available during an interview. But, again, I didn't find Palin to be as relaxed and engaging as she was when repeatedly interviewed during the election process. Since then, she has virtually disappeared from Fox.

I have been eagerly awaiting seeing her featured in the segments that regularly include Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Monica Crowley and the like. But no Sarah. The last time I saw her was during the State of the Union on a split screen. Unlike the distinguished bluescreen backgrounds featuring other Fox remote broadcasters, it looked like she was commenting from a poorly lit office of her home. Even her makeup and hair from the famous in studio Fox makeup/hair folks haven't had her looking as coiffed as Megyn Kelly, Gretchen Carlson and Kimberly Guillfoyle. I am left wondering whether Fox regrets hiring her and also if Palin regrets being hired.

Former presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, has managed to create a successful show on Fox during the past year or two. I remember that his first show was awkward as well. It took a few times for him to hit his stride. It remains to be seen if Palin or Fox is really certain of where they are headed in this venture—remember, OTHERS are saying she wants to run for president in 2010—she has never said that and she also admitted freely in her book that stepping down as governor might be the nail in the coffin for a future run for any major political office. Sarah Palin is at her best when she is speaking on an issue that she is passionate about. Where she falls short is in the expanded use of her vocabulary. She uses the phrase "common sense solutions" far too much. This redundancy doesn't serve her well. Unfortunately, the use of the word "uncomfortableness" during the O'Reilly interview made even me cringe—if she had just laughed about it and said "was that a word?" THAT would have been quintessential Palin and disarmed her critics, but she is seeming quite stiff these days, almost afraid to show any of her human side. It is unfortunate but I understand the road she has had to travel.

But if you're going to run with the big dogs on Fox, you've got to be able to present well, vary your vocabulary and hit a home run. Otherwise, you're going to be a very easy target for Olbermann and Matthews. Not that anyone is watching them of course, but why give them any material?

I am now left wondering if Sarah Palin will suddenly disappear from Fox. If she "quits," it will be a very bad thing for her going forward. If she is fired from Fox, it will be worse. For now, I remain hopeful but am sadly disappointed in her broadcasts to date. I still believe in what she stands for and that she is an excellent representative for the average American family. I believe she shows tremendous integrity in governing. I just don't know if she is cut out to be a pundit. If these first few broadcasts don't give way to something more substantive, meaty and powerful, she may fade back into the landscape once again. That would be most unfortunate. Perhaps her keynote speech at the upcoming Tea Party Convention will once again remind people of her ability to lead, connect and inspire.

3rd Post— Healthcare Reform—1st Attempt at Brevity!

No pre-existing conditions. Insurance across state lines. Tort reform.Voluntary assistance to those in need. No free health care for illegal immigrants. Purchase pharmaceuticals anywhere—caveat emptor! (30 words!)

For those who don't know what Tort is—think "My Cousin Vinny" or if you can stomach it, John Edwards, while enjoying the ever increasing onslaught of ads that urge you to sue evil companies that have given you illnesses you have never heard of or can't pronounce. Trial lawyers are the ones that absolve you of personal responsibility while getting you exhorbitant amounts of money. Simply put—personal injury lawyers (ambulance chasers). Just research "punitive damages" paid out on these claims and you'll see just how obscene this business has become.

While I'm at it, how about some advertising reform? As in no more Viagra, Cialis, Prozac, Irritable Bowel Syndrome ads while I'm watching television with my family. No wonder Americans are overmedicating. Television spends all of its time telling you what is wrong with you, what is about to be wrong with you and/or how you can sue the other guy because he caused what's wrong with you. Enough said. I'm starting to write War and Peace (again!).

Strange Brew—Tea Party Controversy!

Oh so predictable and so unfortunate! On the eve of the first national Tea Party Convention set for later this month, we now have a storm brewing over the founder's integrity. Apparently, this stems from him forming a "for profit" organization and charging guests upward of $500 to attend. Two prominent conservative policitians have backed out but the steadfast Sarah Palin is vowing to continue to be the keynote speaker (at least at press time). How will the drama end?

As this is my second post, and I've had a few days to think about my new foray into the blog-0-sphere, I want to proactively state that my blogs are going to be based on two "O"s—Osmosis and Opinion. As a mother of 4 young boys, it is not my intention to spend 12 hours a day researching, fact checking, wordsmithing, creating extensive bibliographies of support for my claims, remembering everyone's name involved in the stories, nor finding really big collegiate words to prove how academically gifted I am. I often have to write and dash—in the real world, there are diapers to be changed and dinner to be made. And I think I want to be REAL, REFRESHING and REFLECT how the "average" American with a lot on their plate FEELS without having to censor those feelings for fear of not having written a "practically perfect in every way" paragraph.

I will surely dangle participles, mangle a "syll—aaaable" as a past president once said, and probably err in punctuation as well. I may even hit "post" in mid-sentence. When my book Eats, Shoots, and Leaves (I haven't figured out how to underline a book title here yet!) is not nearby and I can't reach for my thesaurus, I may be redundant with both adjectives and transitions. But I hope as time goes on, practice will improve my witicisms and that brevity will replace what, for now, will be some lengthy starter blogs! I also hope to improve on digression—which I have just done once again! Sorry, it comes with age.

Okay, back to the topic—we were discussing the tea party controversy! I consider myself a founding tea partier, meaning I have BEEN to a tea party—the first tea party. I did not jump on the bus and attend them all summer long. But I watched with admiration as the movement grew. Before anyone knew what they were, how they would be received, before Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman became outspoken supporters, there were many naysayers. Some of these people have now become the tea party's fair weather friends after sitting back and watching what these brave, every day Americans endured all spring and summer long last year to emerge as a REAL and persuasive force in this country. Now these former naysayers are not only excited to throw tea in the harbor but they want to take the helm of the ship too.

I remain for now, a supporter of Sarah Palin, though I have witnessed as of late some things that give me pause. I will write a blog about the "whys" later. However, that being said, I noted immediately when she was named as the keynote for this first event in 2010, that it did not serve the tea party to have at its center, a "famous" person BECAUSE it may become future fodder for the far left to increase their discrediting of this movement as NOT grass roots or "from" the people. To the uneducated, this lapse in judgment will provide the very thin shred of evidence that somehow this has always been a "well funded machine" if someone like Palin, who is NOW a rock star, is seen as its leader. It is a shame to me that this noble group of American citizens like myself has begun to allow the Republican party to lay claim that "they were always with the tea party people." I know from being there that it was Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity and VERY few others at its humble debut in April 2009. Governor Rick Perry did attend the tea party in Austin where he made his now infamous "we can secede" speech—did you know he didn't actually say "Texas could secede?" but you know how the media spin goes. But most Republicans wrote off the tea partiers as "crazy, white, racist, middle aged, angry, uneducated, extremists." By the way, I will admit that I said Texas could secede at the tea party I attended in San Antonio, while being interviewed by college students doing a documentary on the historic event. Of course, I said it in jest. My words were something like "if it gets too crazy here, Texas can always secede" but if I run for office someday, you can bet that this clip will be shown in a political ad to discredit my intelligence and/or mental stability.

I remember broadcasts following the first tea parties where both Newt Gingrich AND Karl Rove dismissed the tea partiers as a fringe movement and said that they were a "small" portion of the population. CNN and MSNBC didn't even mention the tea parties and when covering them later in the week, completely maligned the people as "Nazi" freaks or "nutjobs.". LIFE Magazine and all of the "year in review" issues of 2009 magazines didn't even feature a single photograph of this historic movement. This now makes me wonder what was NOT in my elementary school history textbooks. Anyone who does NOT see the media bias as of 2009, literally has their head in east and west coast sand. To see how suddenly things have changed just strengthens the resolve in those of us who are watching our government and media representatives for any signs of integrity—I can say that I haven't truly found anyone I can FULLY count on yet. But I have been watching certain programs that have been very consistent and have also been reading books written by and/or endorsed by people who SEEM worthy of my trust so far. Time will tell.

Now, I can't speak to why the founder for this convention made this group a "for profit" organization but on the surface, I don't see what the issue is here. If you're going to attend a convention, there are costs involved. If this "real" American citizen has given his time, effort and creativity to organizing a mass group of people, I don't see where the problem is in him making a profit. After all, if we support capitalism, creating jobs and employing Americans is a good thing, right?

I don't know where this notion that it is distasteful to earn money has come from. Everyone who has been a president in recent memory is WEALTHY yet runs on being the "common man." C'mon, America. This is ridiculous. We all know they're rich, privileged, Ivy Leage educate, upper class, connected. We know the white house is bought and paid for—that's WHY we're outraged. However, that doesn't mean that someone who legitimately starts something from nothing should not earn a buck for it, do we? That's the spirit of entrepreneurialism. My gosh, for all of the torture inflicted on you for standing up to our tyrannical government, you SHOULD be paid for your trouble. You don't expect the Obama administration to support the tea party movement with government grants, do you? Naw, that's only if you're a running a mosque funneling funds into Pakistan training camps—note, that is a joke, Ariana!

Next, much has been made about Sarah Palin receiving upwards of $125,000 to speak at this event. Again, how much do Bill Clinton and Barack Obama get paid at fundraising dinners? My understanding—call me naive—is that Sarah Palin is channeling much of her profits from both her book and speaking engagements into a PAC that will be used to effect change in Washington. Where is the conflict of interest here?

Lastly, as for Michelle Bachman (and the other representative's) decision to back out, I don't know enough here to know what I don't know. Perhaps there is a statute that forbids sitting leaders to attend for-profit rallies in Tennesse. It is probably purely political and that brings me back to integrity. Motives are being scrutinized by Americans. If this backout was done to get elected in 2010, we the people aren't going to buy it. But if it was for purely altruistic or noble reasons, then we will support it. The one thing I know is this. The enemies of the tea party movement are always looking for reasons to divide and discredit this group. But they can't. We are the silent majority. And we wait. We watch Nancy Pelosi threaten to stuff our mouths full of cake and we just can't wait for November 2010 when finally, we can feed it to her on her way out the door. She can give part of that cake to Barbara Boxer and Maxine Waters. Nancy should love this—after all, it's redistribution.

This tea party convention controversy is a lot of tempest in a pot of tea.

This group is unique and is the party of LIMITED GOVERNMENT. The leadership needs to come from within and should be led by an almost reluctant or unknown outsider—someone like a Captain "Sully"—an accidental hero. I also believe that values need to trump ideology and that religious dogma and abortion views have no place in this new party OF THE PEOPLE. Americans are tired of BOTH majority parties. It does not serve the Tea Party movement to align itself with either one. As a tea party attendee, the reason we went was to communicate en masse to the U.S. Government that "we the people" are tired of them not understanding that they work for US on BOTH sides of the aisle.

Editor's Note: You remember the days when you were asked to write "two pages" double spaced and you couldn't figure out how to fill up the page? I don't have those days. I have SO much on my mind, I could write a book in a week if were able to lock myself in a hotel room. But I make a promise that for blogging purposes, I am really, really going to try to get concise. It goes against my philosophy that if you can't say it in a few words, it probably needs to be restated simpler! But for now, the venting continues. I'll hit my stride. Just be thankful I didn't author the healthcare bill—it might be 3,000 pages! :) Off to have some Earl Grey.