That’s Right Nate

7:02 Catchy theme song, but I like Hail to the Chief

7:05  I’m glad that Bush was able to put an end to that acting as one thing

7:06 I hate how Obama says Taliban. It sounds like he’s Harry Belafonte counting bananas

7:07 Wow! When did West Point start admitting women?

7:10 Why is Obama having so much trouble with Afghanistan? Bush was doing so well that he was able to start a second war

7:11 @Greytdog on Twitter suggested that he should have Hail to the Chief when he enters and the NCIS theme when he leaves.  I like that idea.

7:14  If the threat is this serious, we should have color codes for it.

7:20 Pakistan is pretty much Afghanistan with a good cricket team…oh yeah and nuclear missiles.

7:26 If the wars cost a trillion dollars then why weren’t they in the budget?  Liberals are such spend thrifts.

7:29 He just said we have to be nimble? He is channeling Belafonte. Barack be nimble, Barack be quick, Barack go under the limbo stick

7:31 All we’re asking for is a little gratitude.

7:36 Well it was quick enough, I’ll say that.

One of the great things about my job is the opportunity to speak to Americans of all walks of life.   Today I was fortunate to get the chance to spend most of the day at Martin Borman Elementary School.  I really enjoyed meeting the students and explaining why health care reform would be bad for them and how redistribution of wealth would make some of their mommies and daddies poorer while making others more dependent on the state.  I had prepared a rebuttal to President Obama’s speech to the students, but Borman Elementary did not show the speech due to fear of Obama politicizing the event.   I still think this speech could be very useful for parents and teachers who want to give the other side equal time.

Hello everyone.   I hope you are having a great day.  I know that this is your first day of school and whether you’re an eighth grader or a kindergartner you’re probably excited and maybe a little nervous.   Don’t be.   For one thing, I’ve seen your school’s test scores and frankly they’re not that hot.   You are getting a free education at the expense of the taxpayers of this state, but frankly you’re getting what you paid for.   Today, all throughout this country students your age are speaking Mandarin and doing chemical experiments that you can’t even comprehend.   Someday, you will work for them.

I know that many of you wish that it was still Summer vacation and you could sleep a little later.   I know the feeling.   When I was a young boy growing up in California, my family was very well to do and there was nothing I enjoyed more than sleeping through the first two or three periods of the school day knowing that the teacher might be disappointed in me, but that my allowance was more than his entire paycheck.  I had a heated indoor pool and my own pony.   He was driving a 12 year old Buick without air conditioning.

I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year. You see, , we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter for most of you.   Look around your homeroom.   Do you really think that you’re all going to be doctors and lawyers?   Somebody is going to have to press the pants and make the sandwiches for the successful people in the future and that somebody is probably going to be you.  Let’s face it, college costs keep escalating and even if you can get the loans to pay for your education, why would you want that kind of debt?

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the futility of  your education. Every single one of you has something you’re good at.  Maybe you can sing really well or you’re the best player on the basketball team.   That doesn’t mean anybody wants to pay to see you do it.   It’s great to have a hobby, but just because you can play Guitar Hero doesn’t mean you’re ever going to be able to play a real guitar.  It’s complicated.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you probably won’t get hired to do it.  All writing will do is make you an alcoholic and give you a drawer full of rejection letters. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – If that’s the case you should really watch Tucker or Flash of Genius and see how corporate America treates innovators.   Life is tough kids.  I wish I could say it was fair.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll probably never be happier than you are right now.  Being a grownup is a lot of responsibility. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You might as well take advantage of this time to hang out with your friends and play video games because you’ll be working very long hours and never have a chance to really have fun as an adult. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job, but you can buy lottery tickets.   Girls, if you’re pretty they are always hiring dancers by the airport.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.  I get it.  I know what that’s like.   I had so many toys I couldn’t possibly play with all of them and work on my homework.   Did I mention I had a heated pool?  There were times when I felt lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.   You know what I did?  I threw a big party and even though people didn’t like me they’d be nice to me so they’d get an invitation.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.  If that’s the case I’m sorry.  You will probably be working at a car wash or working the midnight shift at a gas station.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you.  They know it, but they’re scared to write it down for fear you’ll lower your expectations for yourself.  I personally think that a good healthy dose of realism is just what you as first graders need.

Young kids like you are learning this everyday.   Angelis Villenueva is a young girl in my district who came to this country not speaking a word of English.  She worked hard in school and graduated number one  out of her class  of 2500 students despite working after school helping her mother clean the homes of many of her more affluent classmates.   Unfortunately, Angelis’s family came to this country illegally and she has no social security number which has made it impossible for her to go to college. She is currently working at a Speedway or will be until I make a phone call to immigration later this afternoon.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education  – Maybe you’re going to try and drive your teacher crazy.  Maybe you’ll decide to make fun of the girl who sits next to you because her parents don’t have much money and she buys all her clothes at Walmart.   Maybe you’ll decide to just hang out in the hallways a lot.   That’s great.

Some of the most successful people in life have been drop outs.   Look at people like Lebron James, Bill Gates, and Konye West.   If you get a bad grade that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means that school probably isn’t for you.   Well maybe you are stupid, but if you are then school definitely isn’t for you.  If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker it just means that your teacher is picking on you – Probably for no reason.  Some people will tell you that you owe it to your family to graduate and that you can’t let your family down, but who knows you better than your family.  They expect it.  Use your school years well.  They’ll always be something you can talk about with your friends at the bar when you don’t want to talk about how miserable your job is.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Notre Dame's picturesque campus is known for gargoyles and Touchdown Jesus

[I normally don't repost articles, but Congressman Jack has been kind enough to let me repost his open letter to the University of Notre Dame.   He graduated from there in 1985 and while I am not fan of papists, his letter shines a lot of light on what a let down Notre Dame's decision to award an honorary degree to Barack Obama is to some alumni.   I will post again tomorrow, but today I'm busy with Tea Party 2.0.   If you would like us to tea bag you over the phone, its going to cost $1.99 per minute.   GOP operators are standing by and all major credit cards are accepted.]Dear President Father Jenkins,

As a 1985 graduate of Notre Dame, I have many fond memories of my time spent in our lady’s hallowed halls. Since graduating I have always remained proud of my alma matter and I have applied the moral training that I received at Notre Dame to my career in public office. As a member of Congress I am often called on to make tough moral decisions and it is my faith and the influence of Notre Dame and Ronald Reagan that allow me to make the tough choices.

It is for this reason I am writing to you to protest in the strongest terms your decision to have President Obama speak at this year’s Commencement Ceremony. A graduation speaker must uphold the values of the University he is speaking at and President Obama does not do this.

I remember my own graduation very vividly. When El Salvadoran President Juan Napoleon Duarte spoke to us, we knew that he was approaching us as a fellow Catholic and Notre Dame alumnus and that his faith had carried him through difficult times. When those nuns were murdered in his country by right wing death squads under his leadership he must have felt awful, but like Job in the Bible he persevered to continue fighting against socialism and for Catholic ideals in El Salvador.

My grandfather graduated from Notre Dame in 1942 and while World War II was in everybody’s thoughts, it was speaker J. Edgar Hoover who told the graduates about a world where law and order would be strictly enforced. This was another moral man who spoke with the convictions of our beautiful university. What Obama must understand is that the decision of Earl Warren (Commencement Speaker 1957) and his Supreme Court in Roe vs. Wade is an anathema to Catholic teaching

Through the years, Notre Dame has had war heroes like William T. Sherman and politicians like President Bush speak at graduations and they have always been men of the highest character. How hypocritical is it of our great university to now ask somebody like Obama, who is quite probably secretly a Muslim, to speak. To go from a great fighter of socialism in Juan Napoleon Duarte to a socialist like Obama in the span of just 25 years is distressing and I fear for the future of Notre Dame. I am suspending my $20 annual contribution until this matter is rectified and a new football coach is hired.

Sincerely,
Representative Jack Kimble (Class of ’85)

Once again, I am live blogging an Obama Press Conference. I know that I can’t count on the mainstream media to ask the tough questions so it looks like it is up to me to hold his feet to the fire.

7:02 – The first thing Obama does is to deny his responsibility for HIS economic crisis.  How surprising.

7:06 – The Road is Long….He’s Not Heavy, He’s Obama – I need to record this.

7:08 – Excellent first question.  If the banks won’t tell us how they’re spending their money and not spending it the way we want, should we really try to regulate them?   Awesome question for a chick.

7:10 – Chuck Todd has an excellent point.  All Obama wants to do is raise our taxes and then not ask for any sacrifices from us.   Maybe we could all cut our standard of living or something.

7:14 – So we’re just supposed to take Obama’s word that Americans are making sacrifices?  None of the network news anchors are seeing any sacrifices and neither am I.  Don’t just ask the poor folk.  Reach out to the upper class.

7:15 – Who is Jake Tapper?  I think I had a fake ID that said Jake Tapper when I was in college.  Jake…Jake Tapper by day he’s a private eye, by night he’s a lady’s man.

7:19 – Chip Reid – do you have to have a cool name to be a reporter?

7:19 – Jim Cramer can probably tell you what the economy will be like 10 years from now.  The man is a genius.

7:24 – I find it very hard to believe that the budget deficit is the result of health care and not AIG bonuses and pork projects to study volcanoes.

7:26 – We need to keep Mexico’s problems in Mexico.  Those gangs there are horrible and they ship their drugs to this country.  Not only that, they buy guns at gun shows in this country to wage their wars depriving American gun collectors, the chance to buy those firearms.

7:29 – The Stars and Stripes reporter is a mumbler in an out of date suit, I bet Chip and Jake give him the business.

7:32 – Following up on Chip and Jake.  Ed Henry is such a wannabe.

7:35 – Why wasn’t he publicly outraged before he knew what he was talking about.  Trust your feelings Barrack.

7:38 – The Australian government’s stimulus plan consists of putting another shrimp on the barbie.

7:39 – By the way Major Garrett can join the cool name reporter club.

7:41 – I wouldn’t give money to charity, but if I did I certainly wouldn’t do it if I had to donate at 28% instead of 39%.  Let the middle class write off 28%.

7:44 – Hello?  If these children are homeless how are they supposed to be watching this press conference?

7:46 – Straight outa Compton comes a question about race.  Michael Steele would have a field day with this.

7:51 – Obama has been blinded by science.  Bush never touched the stuff.

7:54 – Obama loves bragging about his parties

7:58 – I love the way that Fox News can put the whole speech in to simple terms.

Well that’s it.  I pretty much agree with the analysists on Fox News’ panel.  He wasn’t fooling anybody.

Yesterday, I called Bobby Jindal the clear winner for his ability to take complex issues like magnetic levitating trains and make them sound much less intimidating by adopting a speaking style somewhat similar to the great Mr. Fred Rogers.  However, some of you didn’t want to take my word for it.   On Tuesday, the Louisiana GOP posted to Youtube a clip showing a focus group reacting to Bobby Jindal’s speech.  They didn’t post Jindal’s words for school children will be reading them in text books for years to come–instead they showed us how real Americans felt about the Louisiana Governor in case we still weren’t sure how we should feel.

The first person interviewed was an older woman with a raccoon or some other such furry animal or hat upon her head.   She summed up the governor performance by saying, “I thought Jindal performed exemplarily.”  I took it from her elocutioning that she was probably a Bush supporter as well.  She did comment on the Mr. Rogers quality that I also found so appealing.

Another woman followed up saying “his patriotism was the overriding theme in what he had to say”.  I to was looking to see whether Jindal or Obama would come off as more patriotic.  The budget stuff can take care of itself, but a true leader carries his love of country in his heart, just under his flag lapel pin.

Finally, a man who pulled off the vest look nicely praised Bobby Jindal’s belief in people over government doing everything for us.  Of course this belief has led Jindal to his principled stand against federal unemployment monies for the jobless in Lousiana.  I mean come on.  Grab your horn and go to New Orleans.  You don’t need a bailout when you can jam on the street corner.  Jindal has emerged as a rising star following his speech on Tuesday night.  Everyday Americans think so and if you don’t, maybe you need to question your own patriotism.

I am going to watch tonight with an open mind despited wanting Obama to fail if for no other reason than it will help me to respond to his lies if anybody I know falls for them.  My big hope is that he’ll detail any plans for one of America’s most vital industries – self storage.

8:02  Oh I hope Justice Ginsburg doesn’t croak walking in.  That’d be embarrassing.

8:05  This is like Battle of the Network Stars for C-Span

8:09  Where the heck is he?

8:12  I’m glad that Billy Joel doesn’t greet all his fans when he comes in to a stadium to give a concert.

8:14  Our country’s strengths are in its lavatories.  At least Obama appreciates a good flush as much as I do.

8:16  Is Joe Biden an Uncle?  He reminds me of that dopey uncle that is a really nice guy, but always telling the same jokes like asking your 8 year old brother if he has a girlfriend yet.

8:18  Wow he’s boring.  Less than an minute of speaking and Pelosi already found something better to read.

8:25  Did he really just promise us a tax cut on April 1st?  Yeah I’m going to fall for that one.

8:26  Man, I’m really missing Bush.  I used to love when he’d do his State of the Union.

8:27  Excuse me, but any economist will tell you that self-storage is the life blood of our economy.

8:30 Why does Obama insist on all these strings when he bails out the banks?  Its their money once we give it to them.

8:36  Why do we need big ideas?  What’s wrong with the ones we’ve had for the last 8 years?

8:42  We don’t need better health care.  We need people in this country who aren’t afraid to “rub some dirt on it and walk it off.”

8:45  The problem is that insurance companies have to insure sick people.

8:46  It looks like even Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was dozing.  How does Obama recommend teaching kids from the day they were born?  What about mother/child bonding?

8:48  Charter schools are great, but what about Charter Police Stations and Fire Departments.  Do you really need advanced training or accredidation to do those jobs either?

8:51  If we pass on to our children a debt that they cannot repay, can’t they just pass it on to their kids like our parents did to us? and their parents did to them?

8:52  Still nothing about self-storage

8:54  Excuse me?  Those cold war weapon systems won the cold war.  Show them some respect.

8:55  $250,000  is nothing in today’s economy.  I don’t even consider $500,000 rich really.

8:56  If George Bush could fight a war in Iraq for 7 years without having to spend a dime, Obama should applaud that and not deride it.

8:58  Oh man, it looks like that one big guy is going to eat that poor soldier

8:59  I didn’t hear this on the news, but is Obama sending his daughters to school back in the early 1960s?  I hope she the Secret Service can protect her from teasing if any of her classmates saw this.

9:00  Wow!  Pelosi’s slowing down.  Biden finally beat her out of her seat to be the first one to clap.

9:03   Forget average Americans.  People like me are far more inspiring.

9:04   Piles of rubble?  How is that different from the rest of Kansas?

9:05   We should help future lawyers, doctors, and politicians?  Won’t they have enough money to help themselves?

9:12    I can’t wait for Jindal.  He’s going to give it to us straight.

9:24   I hadn’t heard Bobby Jindal speak before.  I like his tone.  He reminds me a lot of Mr. Rogers.  I think he should have entered and put on the jacket before he spoke.

9:26   Nothing says “Americans can do anything” like the grocery store.

9:28   I had no idea New Orleans had finally recovered from Katrina.  Congradulations!

9:31   Jindal’s right.  We need to make the rest of America more like Louisiana.

9:32   Health care decisions should be made by doctors, patients, and HMO administraters.

9:32    Let’s make the schools in our country like New Orleans.

9:33    I don’t like that he’s slamming corruption.  Whatever happenned to his good friend Harry Lee?

9:37   He mentioned God a lot.  I liked Jindal’s speech better.

God bless us all, everyone!

8:00  Already Obama is late.  You know Chuck never keeps me waiting.  What makes Obama think he can?

8:03  I knew if Obama became President people would be waiting in line for food banks.

8:04 Obama claims that the federal government is the only organization that can hire these people, but what about Amway?  They’re always hiring?

8:06  Sure, more jobs and all these programs sound like good things, but does Obama reallize it will cause government to get bigger?  Isn’t that more important than a couple sick hungry kids?

8:09 Half of the job loss has taken place in the last 3 months.  What happened 3 months ago?  Hmm, that would have been the first week of November.  Nope, can’t think of anything.

8:12  Obama still can’t accept that FDR was wrong to start the New Deal.  Philosophical need for small government trumps unemployed people.  Everybody knows that.

8:15 Obama is sabotaging the commode business with his demands on corporate spending at banks getting bailouts.

8:21 If Obama is bipartisan, wouldn’t he have Republican votes?  Republicans are always willing to compromise as long as you do what we tell you to.

8:23 I love the term Rush coined–Its Porkulus.  Just like Spartacus.

8:26 We need a stimulus program to teach doctor’s better penmanship.

8:27 They don’t build schools like they did in 1850, that’s for sure.  It sounds like a landmark to me.

8:28  I miss that old broad who used to get first question.  What was her name?  Helen?  Helen Thomas maybe?

8:29  Obama blames everybody for the economy, but himself.

8:32 Obama adapts to circumstance, Bush stuck to his guns.  Which sounds more like a leader to you?

8:32 No such thing as a free lunch?  I thought that was in the stimulus plan.

8:36 Nice job demanding that Obama show proof that his plan is working.  The press never would have let Bush do something like go to war with no way to know we were winning when he was President.

8:40 I’m with this reporter, we want to see the bodies.

8:46 Obama seems to be spending a lot of time explaining what Biden meant.

8:48 Finally we got to Alex Rodriguez’s steroid use.  I hope somebody asks him about interleague play and the designated hitter next.

8:49 Helen!! She made it.

8:51 Who cares about nuclear weapons.  What about A-Rod?

8:58 What’s wrong with just blowing up the public school systems?

8:59  McCain had economists advising him?  I didn’t think he did.

9:00 “What this town needs is an enema”

I just wanted to let everybody know that I’ll be live blogging Obama’s speech tonight at 8PM Eastern time tonight.  I have a toothache and I’ve been alternating vicodin and bourbon which is helping, but I am in no mood for any Obama fish oil salesmanship.  I have no doubt that if he was still in power, Bush would have ended the recession by now.  He was that good.

As I slept on it, I reallized exacctly what was wrong with Obama’s speech last night.  He has put to us a battle going on inside American between hope and fear.  That’s all well and good, but Obama then chooses the wrong side of the equation.  Hope is a luxury for third world countries with nothing to lose.  As Americans it is fear that has kept us safe these past 8 years and fear that has helped us maintain our highe standard of living.  Hope would lead to the collapse of both the quality of our life and the calues that we as Americans hold so dear.

What will protect us from the massing swarm of illegal aliens? Fear.  What has kept us safe from attacks by Iraq? Fear.  What has fueled an economy that is fundamentally strong despite foreclosures and $4 a gallon gasoline? Fear.  Fear is the only thing that can lead us into the future.  We have 4 different wars to be afraid of.  We will never begin to start offshore drilling in order to reduce the cost of gas by 2 cents a gallon in a decade without fear.

Obama and his followers can have their hope that moves mountains, but it is fear that builds walls far more powerful than any mountain.  Obama missed a great opportunity by choosing to inspire rather than scare Americans.  Let’s hope the Republicans don’t make the same mistake.

I dozed off, but the speech seemed to be the same old same old.  I couldn’t believe the way Obama kept attacking poor John McCain.  Once again the speech was totally me me me.  I’m going to do this.  I’m going to do that.

Another thing I really didn’t like about Obama’s speech is he never called me his friend.  John McCain never fails to address us as his friends, but Obama kept his distance.  I am sure that when I have a chance to watch more Fox News and hear some other criticisms I will find more wrong with the speech to report on tomorrow.    Fox just pointed out that while the delegates were thrilled with the speech, the ordinary convention goers in the cheap seats were bored.  This is interesting.