Air Force One, Clear To Land
Ever since I was a little kid Ive always loved airplanes. I used to love to go and park by a runway at the airport and watch the planes take off and land (and yes, I was doing that long before ever seeing Waynes World).
Last Wednesday I was working, driving along I-494 in Minneapolis on my way to the main Fed Ex terminal at the airport. I had been hearing all week about how President Bush was going to be coming to Minnesota to do some campaigning. They had said earlier that he was supposed to arrive around 2:00. It was about a minute or two before the 2:00 news began and I noticed that no planes were landing or taking off. Then I looked up.
Directly above me was a huge 747 that was blue on the bottom. There was an insignia on the side that said President of the United States of America. Yes folks, the President flew right over me as he was landing.
I did my crap over at Fed Ex and was just getting in my truck to go to my next pickup. The Fed Ex building is directly on the other side of the runways from the Minnesota Air National Guard base, which is where Air Force One parks when its here. As I started my truck, a convoy of five helicopters lifted off from the base and flew south to take the President to where he was going to make his appearances.
So yeah, that pretty much made my day.
On a semi-related note, Ive been noticing something about the things that both President Bush and John Kerry have been saying in their campaign promises. John Kerry and his camp have also been criticizing the President about what Im about to mention (and Im sure if Kerry ever was President, which I doubt he ever will be, that hed be worthy of getting criticized for this too).
When the men who founded and built our country designed the federal government, they designed it with three different branches. Each branch was to have specific duties and powers, and each branch would have specific responsibilities for keeping the other branches in check.
The Legislative branch of the government is the branch that was designed to make laws and policies. The Legislative branch was given two different bodies, the House of Representatives and the Senate, which would both have to work on and pass any proposals before they could be made into law. This was the sole office or body that the Founders made to actually create laws.
The Executive branch is the branch that was designed to enforce the laws that were passed by Congress. The President is the head of the Executive branch. The President has the option of not signing into law something that Congress passes on to him, although Congress can override him with enough of a majority.
The Judicial branch is the branch that the Founders instituted to deal with people who break the law and to strike down any laws passed by Congress that go against the intent of the people who Founded this country (by declaring them unconstitutional). The Supreme Court is the highest body in the Judicial branch.
As I noted three paragraphs up, the ONLY branch of the government that was intended to make and write laws is the Legislative branch. Yet, today we have judges (many of whom are NOT chosen by elections) dictating laws in many areas that the Founders intentionally kept out of the courts powers. Today we also have Presidents who attempt to write laws, or sometimes circumvent the entire legislative process by using Executive Orders and things like that.
The thing that I find rather retarded about this whole campaign deal is how people want to blame the President for almost everything, even though many times what hes being blamed for isnt his job. People blame the President for not creating jobs. They blame him for high oil prices. They blame him for sending kids to die in Iraq and Afghanistan. They blame him for not lowering health care costs.
I think the most retarded thing is the sending kids to die assertion, as made by Michael Moore and others.
Now dont get me wrong, I have nothing against Moore. I bought and watched and liked Roger and Me, as well as Bowling For Columbine (although the Marilyn Manson video on that was the main reason I bought that one). But the President doesnt send people or kids off to Iraq, or Afghanistan, or anywhere else to die.
Muslim terrorists strap bombs on kids and send them places and blow them up in the hopes that they will take out a bunch of other people too; THAT is an example of sending kids out to die.
The purpose of the military isnt to die. The purpose of the military is to fight, bomb, shoot, destroy, kill, and win. People dont join the military with the hopes that theyll be killed in action and reap some heavenly reward. People, especially in the days after September 11th 2001, join the military with the hopes of kicking some ass.
I think that the main reason many people, mostly liberals and democrats, try to blame so many things on President Bush and why they hate him so bad is because of something theyll never own up to. They like to see themselves as accepting of everyone and of being tolerant and try to paint republicans and conservatives as being the haters.
The reason that liberals and democrats REALLY hate Bush isnt because the economy (which almost all economists agree is getting better and stronger) isnt a utopia of American wealth (although if it was, they would no doubt bitch about us having too much money and the rest of the world hating us because of that). The reason they cringe every time they hear the President speak isnt because hes heartless and cold and doesnt care about the elderly, or the little man, or underprivileged people.
Now they might try to convince you that they really hate him because hes destroyed our credibility with the rest of the world. Or that hes sending jobs overseas. Or that hes gotten us into a mess in Iraq with no apparent way out. Those sound like noble reasons to hate him, which is why they want people to thing that they hate him because of those instead of the real reason which is coming up.
The reason liberals and democrats hate Bush is because hes outspoken about his faith, and said that it guides him in his daily life and the decisions he makes. Liberals and democrats like to come across as free-thinkers and intellectuals (even though somehow all those free-thinkers end up sounding very much like each other). Although there are a good many church-going and religious liberals and democrats, its very hard to find one who actually says that their life is guided by their faith. Liberals and democrats tend to come from the who are you to force your truth on me? crowd, as if truth really is something relative. As such, they cant stand the idea of the President actually thinking that he has something real that guides him.
Anyone who has read much of my diary knows I am NOT a Christian by even the farthest stretch of the imagination. Although I have a whole book of bitches I have against the Christian church and its followers, I dont get hung up on that when it comes to people.
Anyhow that got long. Time to stop.
Oh yeah, my brother-in-law leaves for Iraq in the morning.
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Im balling up my fists
Waiting here defenseless isnt pacifist
Its ignorant, and cannot be allowed
Maybe its here or maybe its there
Were never aware of just how safe we are
Could it be them or could it be us
Unable to trust
The information that we need
*
Theres something about this place
It brings out all the worst
Our historys been disgraced
Who will destroy who first?
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Flaw