Father's Day

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, then you have read some things about my childhood, including the fact that my mother and father were divorced when I was a baby, and that I never knew my biological father. I never remember seeing him at all, in fact, except for once, when I went to visit him for a few days when I was about three or four years old. The only thing that I remember about him, then, was that he bought me a little necklace, and before the two or three days were over, he took it back, and pawned it for some bootleg whiskey. That's the only memory that I have of my "real" father.

You will remember that as a little girl, I longed for a daddy..a real daddy, like other little girls had, and how happy I was when Mama remarried, and I saw him for the first time, walking up a dusty road toward my Big Mama's house, where I was staying while Mama worked in another town. From that time, from the moment that he swung me up onto his shoulders, to carry me the rest of the way home, I was Daddy's little girl--and my heart belonged to Daddy.

He was a widower with six children of his own, but he never treated me any differently, and as I heard him say to others, so often, I was like his own flesh and blood.

Daddy was not perfect, but then who is? He had a lot of faults--many of them, I have written about here, but he did one thing to perfection--he loved me, with an unconditional love.

Over the years, times were hard, and sometimes, he took it out on my mother, I know, and there were times when I wondered why she stayed with him--indeed, why she ever married him, and she told me, in no uncertain terms. "Because, Janice, I love him." It was just that simple for her, and for me, too. I loved him.

A few years ago, the man who swung me up into his arms, and onto his shoulders, died in my arms, as much as I could get my arms around him. His hand was in mine when he drew his last breath.

Yes, it's been years, but I still miss my Daddy.

If you are fortunate to still have your father with you..still able to see him, and to hug, and to tell him that you love him--please do.

For those of you whose fathers have passed on, cherish the precious memories that he left with you, and if you are a father, "Happy Father's Day!" I hope that you will strive to be the very best Daddy you can be.

And to my dear husband, I say, "Thank you, my Love," for being the wonderful role model that you've been to my sons-- who are not "flesh and blood," but are loved as though they were.

Goodbye, Mr. Russert

Goodbye, Mr. Russert...we will miss you.

Timothy John Russert, Jr. (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American journalist who hosted NBC's Meet the Press from 1991 until his death.

He was the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News, and hosted Tim Russert, a weekly interview program on MSNBC. He was also a frequent correspondent and guest on other NBC News programs, such as The Today Show and Hardball.

He co-hosted the network's presidential Election Night coverage. He also presented the polling results of the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on the NBC Nightly News alongside the anchor of the show.

Russert had diabetes and died of a heart attack at 1:14pm EDT on June 13, 2008.

Media Reform Activists Cheer Obama

With the recent news about the Obama campaign forming groups to seek out, and squelch any perceived rumors circulated by bloggers about Senator Obama and his wife, Michelle, the following article has to cause some alarm, if one has any sense of perception, at all. Will it soon come to the point where one has to be ever alert to the possibility of uttering a word that could be considered derogatory, racist, or treasonous, or any other thing, that "they" consider objectionable when it pertains to this powerful couple--a couple gaining more power, more quickly, than any that we've ever known before? And what will be the consequences of that, should it be so?

Are our rights, and freedoms of speech being slowly eroded? Not on your life...it seems that they are being snatched, right out from under our very noses.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

Minneapolis: Dropping any pretense of objectivity and non-partisanship, the “National Conference for Media Reform” on Saturday night turned into a Barack Obama-for-President rally, as left-wing media figure Arianna Huffington denounced Senator and presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain as a “Trojan horse for the right” who had “sold his soul” to become president.

Several speakers, including Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps, used the Obama campaign slogan, “Yes, we can,” as they urged the thousands of “progressives” in the audience to bring “change” to Washington, D.C.

One speaker, Sylvia Rivera, who runs a Mexican art museum, had the audience saying “Yes, we can” in Spanish. “Forty years from now,” she said, “we will marvel at how we elected our first black president.”

And:

Huffington, who runs the far-left Huffington Post website, said that Obama would win the White House in November as long as “the fear-mongering of the right” on national security affairs was kept in check and “zero tolerance” was practiced for attacks on Obama’s patriotism and loyalty to the U.S. Another problem, she stated, was that “the media are still in love with John McCain” and it is imperative to make sure the media “fall out of love” with him.

Change? You bet, and I'm afraid that none of us are going to like it.

Read the whole article here.

A Mousetrap In The House

A mouse looked through the crack
in the wall to see the farmer
and his wife open a package.

What food might this contain?"
the mouse wondered - - -
he was devastated to discover
it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard,
the mouse proclaimed the warning :

There is a mousetrap in the house!

There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched,
raised her head and said,

"Mr.Mouse, I can tell this is a grave
concern to you, but it is of no consequence
to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him,

"There is a mousetrap in the house!
There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The pig sympathized, but said,

"I am so very sorry, Mr.Mouse,
but there is nothing I can do about it,
but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said,

"There is a mousetrap in the house!
There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse.
I'm sorry for you,
but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house,
head down and dejected,
to face the farmer's mousetrap . . . alone.

That very night a sound was heard
throughout the house -- like the sound
of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught.

In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital,
and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever
with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer
took his hatchet to the farmyard
for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued,
so friends and neighbors came to sit
with her around the clock.

To feed them,
the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well;
she died.

So many people came for her funeral,
the farmer had the cow slaughtered to
provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his
crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is
facing a problem and think it doesn't
concern you, remember ----
when one of us is threatened,
we are all at risk.

Hmm..I think there is a moral here, somewhere. Maybe we should keep this little ditty in mind, as we go to the polls this coming November.

We need to be very sure that we don't put a mousetrap in the house, lest we all face the dire consequences of doing so.

Once the mousetrap is in the house, it will be too late.

This Was The Moment

“... I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals.”

Oh, really, Obama?

Now, for all of you who still have doubts about whether or not he thinks of himself as The Chosen, I guess you can set your minds at ease. But let me get this straight. Is he the one who is making the rise of the oceans begin to slow, and the nation begin to heal, or is he saying that because he is who he is--the official Democratic nominee for the Presidency--that nature itself, is falling into submission? Is he saying that because of his greatness, and his great love for the People, that he has secured our safety as a nation, and not only that, now we have become pure and whole, and beacons of light to the whole world? Is this when we, as spoken of in scripture, beat our swords into plowshares? When the lion will lie down with the lamb? Hey..are we in the Millennium now?

Wow..who knew?

Okay, I know it's not all that funny--but, neither are delusions of grandeur.

Obama's Chosen Road

Thinking of all that has transpired over the past few months, and now looking at the very real possibility that Senator Barack Obama will be the next leader of the most powerful country in the world, I have to wonder how in the world it has come to be so. How is it possible that someone who was almost totally unknown by anyone, other than his close associates, his fellow politicians, and of course, the citizens of Chicago-- who maybe, know a little too much about him--could now be standing in this position of power, and unmerited favor? I have my own ideas about it, and many of them are not flattering to the senator, nor to his wife, Michelle Obama.

I came across this very interesting article , written by another young black man, of the same age as Obama. voicing his own views about it. I think it is worthy to be shared. What a contrast between the two of them, and their mentors.

Here's an excerpt from the article:

Obama took the well-traveled road that all Machiavellian, ambitious, unscrupulous men take, which is why men of this ilk are very dangerous and should never be given the reigns of political power – for they lust after money, power, control, legacy and the applause from the fickle crowds above all else. For example, Obama, just a few weeks ago, repeatedly defended the hatemonger Rev. Wright, but willingly threw his own grandmother under the bus for political advantage, slandering this sainted woman who lovingly raised him for years as a racist and "a typical white woman."

Read the rest of what he has to say here:

The Report From Washington
Ellis Washington

Time Will Tell

Hmm..I think I'd like to know the answer to that one, too. I'm not sure that there are any better character references than those we've found out about, and I have a feeling that the list of the unsavory ones is about to get a little longer. Time will tell.

It Is Not Our Finest Hour

Well, people...I hardly know what to think, anymore. It seems that there are those out there who are bound and determined that Senator Barack Obama will be our next President no matter what has to transpire to accomplish it.

Since when is it against the 'rules' to keep fighting , as Senator Hillary Clinton is doing, until the nomination is a certainty? She has, as a matter of fact, won more popular votes than anyone, ever, but because of the rules that have been set up, that doesn't matter. I am dismayed, not because I would like for her to become President, but because it seems that the will of the people doesn't matter anymore in this country. I am dismayed that a young, relatively unknown person--no, his race is not the issue--has been, suddenly, thrust to the forefront as a person of honor, and integrity, when it is not so. There is just too much out there about him--about his past associations with those whom have declared their own enmity against our country--and his own, very personal, views shaped by his upbringing by a white Atheist mother, with Socialist views, whose color he was ashamed to acknowledge at the time, and his white grandmother, whose views were--to him--racist, in her fear of all black men.

I must admit, that there have been times, over the past few months, that I have, actually, felt pity for him, because I know that he is a very conflicted man. At other times, along with the pity, I have felt anger that, because of his blind ambition, he has allowed himself to be used as a pawn by those with enormous wealth and political power, as a means of accomplishing their own goals when it comes to the running of our great nation.

It is a fact, that there is much more that has been hidden about Barack and Michelle Obama, and if it is not squelched, as much of it has been, before finally coming to light, it will be revealed in due time. One can only hope that it will not, then, be too late--and that it will matter to those, presently, unable to see wrong in anything concerning the Obamas.

I feel that Senator Obama's quest, and quick ascension, has been aided and abetted by selfishness, greed, and power--and the total disregard of the desires of the majority of the citizens of this country.

It is not our finest hour.