Big T’s Pic of the Day

Here is a nice little Bible bag with the "Messiah" I mean President Obama...Now for those of you who think there is no way this can possibly be real, here is a link where you can order your own!

Big T is Back…unleashed and holding nothing back!

After a long break from the blogosphere, I am back, unleashed and holding nothing back! I have bit my tongue long enough…There is so much going on. Lots of stuff to blog about out there; bailouts, universal healthcare, cap and spend. I am just not sure where to start…So let’s just jump in…

Lets start with some Random Thoughts.

*If PETA thinks they are upset with President Obama for swatting a fly during an interview, they should hang out with me for a week during deer season!

*I don’t understand the backlash towards President Obama. More and more people say they regret voting for him, because this is not what they voted for…I have to ask them; What were they voting for? Obama is doing everything he said he was going to do during the campaign. This is the change you voted for. Hope you all enjoy it.

*If I haven’t offended you or made you mad yet with my insensitive approach to the world, keep reading eventually I will. If you find I can’t offend or upset you, then you just may be the type of person I would like to get a drink with…But I will just keep trying anyway!

*I have been told at least four times in the last two days that I am insane, nuts or crazy for one of my hobbies of racing go-karts…yeah maybe. Truth is I am an adrenaline junkie with a need for speed.

*It is said you learn twice as much from your mistakes than you do when you do it right. If this is true, I must be a genius…if you wrote all the mistakes I have made in my life down on paper it would require cutting down a small forest.

*I am really not seeing the difference between gambling on sports and playing the stock market right now, other than my gambling portfolio is looking a lot better than my stock market portfolio.

*I really cannot stand the idiot from the Dos Equis commercials. He is not interesting and Chuck Norris could kick his ass!

*Former President Bush can criticize big bailouts and government spending all he wants, but lets not forget he is the one that opened the door for the bailouts and spending grew to all time highs under his administration…Mr. Conservative he was not!

*So motor sport’s best known woman driver Danica Patrick wants to make the move from open wheel racing in the Indy League to stock car racing in NASCAR…hope she doesn’t get her feelings hurt when she fails to qualify and make the starting field like so many other open wheel drivers before her…

*And here is something for my baseball fans to chew on. I know many will not agree, but I think the NL Central is the best division in Major League Baseball. They have four teams above .500, and I predict the winner of this division will win the World Series…Unless it is the Cubs…It will be a cold day in hell before they win it all.

A Republican Resurgence? Not with this party!

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele vowed a few months ago that the GOP was going to go after President Barrack Obama more aggressively regardless of his popularity and claimed the Party has turned the corner predicting a Republican resurgence. A Republican Resurgence he says? Uh…not with the clowns in the Party now…

Now, apparently a lot of people within the Party do not think it is such a good idea to attack the most popular Democrat and would go after less popular Democrats to show their muscle. This next quote is actually a decent line from Steele.

"They suggest that instead we should go after Nancy Pelosi, whom nobody likes. Or Harry Reid, whom nobody knows. Or this Tim Geithner fellow, whom nobody believes. Or maybe even Barney Frank, whom nobody understands," said Steele.

After traveling around the country, Steele claims he has seen a stronger party than the one portrayed in Washington and credited last month’s “Tea Party” protests with providing a boost to the party’s grassroots. “This change comes in a tea bag,” Steele declared. Oh…what a yawner…sorry, but I just can’t get energized by this…

First off, if Steele thinks the Tea Parties is a reflection of the grass roots of the Republican Party he is more out of touch with Americans than I previously thought….unless he thinks Libertarians are grass root Republicans.

The “Tea Parties” from my experience was largely bi-partisan. I know several people who attended and out of that group there were Democrats, Independents, Libertarians and Republicans with Independents and Libertarians making up the majority. There were even people who voted for Obama that was not happy with their change!

Anyways, Steele also had this to say.

“Our success will not be found in dusting off old campaign manuals from the 70’s and 80’s,” he said. “Our success will be found in speaking directly to the American people about a rebirth of the American Dream for this generation and generations to come.”

Well Mr. Steele, perhaps you should dust off those old manuals from the 70’s and 80’s and learn the principles of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan since this was the last time the Party actually had a platform worth standing on…

Here is an idea for the Republican Party…Instead of worrying about which Democrats to point your fingers at and attack, how about coming up with some issues to run on that matter! You could start with the FairTax.

Oh yes…and while I am on the RNC. Please quit calling me and asking…no begging is a better word… for donations and support! I believe both Parties have things so messed up we may never get it right again!

It’s Those Damn Southerners… They’re ruining the Republican Party!

The latest polls show that more and more Americans now consider themselves conservative, so why is it the Republican Party’s popularity is not on the rise and they continue losing voters? Ohio Republican Senator George Voinovich has the answer.

According to him, it is because of all those damn Southerners in the party. That’s right, Southerners are to blame for the Republican’s problems. Voinovich told the Columbus Dispatch the party is being taken over by Southerners like South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint and Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn.

Isn’t that just like a good Republican, if you are not pointing fingers at Democrats just point them at each other. It has to be someone else’s fault. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact the Republican Party has lost its way, has no real platform to stand on and lacks any original ideas. I mean lets face it; the only thing the Republicans have to offer is they are not Democrats, while they then try to act more like Democrats!

It looks like quite the resurgence to me!

War Hero Deserves National Memorial Service....We should never forget that!

I did not write this and do not know who did. I do not know if the writer actually met Shifty, but that fact is irrelevant to the point of the story that hit close to home for me. I thought I should share it with all of you...

We're hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services. I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell "Shifty" Powers. Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, partof the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle", the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he'd been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked himwhen he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . " at which point myheart skipped.

At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . do you knowwhere Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D- Day was. At that point he said "I also made asecond jump into Holland, into Arnhem." I was standing with a genuine war hero . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France, and he said "Yes. And it's real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his in coach. He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.

Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer. There was no parade. No big event in Staples Center. No wall-to-wall, back-to-back ,24/7 news coverage. No weeping fans on television. And that's not right.

Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the veterans.

Rest in peace, Shifty.

Big T's News and Views From Around the Web

According to a new Rasmussen poll only 23% of Americans believe healthcare reform will lower cost. I guess all that campaigning is not working.

Politicians are trying so hard to convince us this economic stimulus plan is working that they will count a job created even if it only amounts to 35 hours worth of work.

The Government Accountability Office is expected to add the US Postal Service to its list of “high risk” government operations.

Looks like the Cash for Clunkers program is already having problems…Government ran program…gee whodathunk that?

Are you buying Barack Obama's (very expensive) plan for cleaner, more fuel efficient cars? Here's a concept…why not let the free market decide if it wants more fuel efficient cars? Oh silly me, I forgot government knows best. Almost forgot. How unpatriotic of me I am sure.

Average temperature in Chicago for July was 68.9 degrees. It was the coldest July in more than 65 years. It must have been global warming.

Here is an interesting read…This author says that Obama's proposed mileage standards may kill more Americans at a faster rate than the Iraq War. Hey, I didn’t write it…

Here is a nice piece on Flat Tax vs. FairTax. There are a few inaccuracies in the Fair Tax analysis, but the general concept is there.

President Barrack Obama doesn’t think school choice is a solution to fixing the education system in this country. Unions are against the idea too. Interestingly, Obama used school choice in deciding where to send his kids. They go to a private school by the way.

Climate change is the terrorist America should be fighting, says Muslim leader. Riiight, climate change will be wearing a suicide bomb vest onto a crowded bus any day now.

A Politician in another country is accused of giving out gifts for votes from the public assets. Wow…seriously…we have a whole two party system that does that here! One party may be guiltier than the other, but they both do it…