It's been a While

So it’s been a while since I posted to my blog, time seems to always get away from me as I’m sure you all feel the same. I hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas and I pray that you all have an even Happier New Year. This is the year for change, we have the first African American President, the economy has shown us all that we need to look at what we need more then what we want and that we can help others no matter how bad things get for ourselves. Let’s remember to carry that willingness to help forward into 2009.

For me, I have been blessed. I have my health, my loving family and things overall hadn’t been that bad for me. I spend two tours in Iraq and survived it, had to have surgery on my shoulder and it turned out to be in much better shaped then the doctors thought, and my son Christopher has been the healthiest he’s been in years. One of the key things that happened this year is I started to reconnect with my daughter Nikki who I hadn’t seen since 1998. She’s in her last year of college and has grown to be a wonderful young woman. I’m hoping that as we continue to talk with each other we become closer and closer. I also started talking more with my son Adam, but us men are a little slower about forgiving but in time I hope we can connect. It’s harder to speak with him because he’s in the service and stationed in Japan with his lovely wife. Maybe when he returns to the states we can try harder to work things out.

So what’s on my list of things to do in 2009?

1) Live life a little better
2) Learn to love my wife and son better
3) Take care of myself more (Health Wise)
4) Become closer to Marque Jr., Nikki and Adam
5) Lose about 30lbs and 4 inches around the waist
6) Not work so hard, give 100% vs. 150%
7) Take my family on a vacation
8) Find Florence

I recommend you look at what you should do and this year stick to it. Anyway, I’d like to wish all of you a Happy New Year and may you all get the things you wish for.

Know your candidates

Over the past few days I have heard many people say when asked when did you first hear about Barack Obama? Their answer was normally "a year or less ago"

When asked about Palin most said today but one did say in 1995 when she won a beauty contest.

Everyone has heard McCain and most have heard of Biden

So I have decided to introduce them all to my readers.

Ladies and Gentlemen here are your Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates

Democatic Candidate for President Senator for the State of Illinois Barack Obama:

http://obama.senate.gov/about/

His Running Mate for Vice President Senator for the State of Deleware: Joe Biden

http://biden.senate.gov/senator/

Repulician Candidate for President and the Senator for the State of Arizona John McCain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCain

His Running Mate for Vice President and Governor of the State of Alaska Sarah Palin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

Now please go read about them and you make the call. But I also what you to take a different view of who would be the best President. McCain is 70+ years old in the event he was to Die or no longer be capable of performing the duties of the President do you want Gov Sarah Palin as President. In the event of Obama's untimely death would you want Joe Biden as your President?

One thing for sure Joe Biden has 10 times more experience then Sarah Palin.

How is McCain's Support for Veterans?

If you really want to know then have a peak at this article.

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/does_mccain_have_a_perfect_voting_record.html

As a retired veteran I honor and respect McCain for his service and what he went through as a POW, I am; however, sick of hearing him use that as a qualifying point. No Disrespect intended. For me this article drives the point home about my lack of trust in him and his policies when it comes to Iraq, Economy and Veterans Affairs. I'm waiting for someone to pull that skeleton out of the closet that shows he has ties to some big corporation that is getting fat off the Iraq War. I ask the question, how can you say you have an understanding of the U.S. Economy when you don't know how many houses you own and lastly, how can you say you support veteran when you vote down bills that increase benefits, like health care and education for military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Having been in the military during Vietnam and seeing how the U.S. government treated veterans who returned home physically and mentally damage it would seem to me that McCain would be at the four front of any bill put before Congress and Senate and House ensuring that it passed instead I find that he voted them down. I'll admit that I don't know all the facts but I do know if he voted one down that he voted one to many down.

Why is it about color???

And they said things have changed; funny as this presidential campaign continues it does seem like anything has changed at all. The other day someone sent me a picture that was taken in Tennessee. The picture was of a T-Shirt a man riding a motorcycle was wearing and it said “Nigger Please, it’s the White House!”. So tell me have they changed? Not from my seat. Now to be fair I will confess to having a T-Shirt that has on it “Don’t Worry People, It can stay White on the Outside”. What may surprise you is my Texas born, mainly Republican White wife bought it for me and I wear it around the house and only worn it twice to the locate Wal-Mart. Funny I got a lot of compliments on it…From white people.

Ok, enough about color. If things have changed then when will this campaign be about who can best service the American people and not about black or white; that’s a silly question. It will never be about who can best service the American people as long as one candidate is White and the other is Black.

What set me off you ask? I was reading this article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081013/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_lewis) and I wasn’t surprised at how McCain and Palin, in this case can dish it but can’t take it. Palin called Obama a Lair, Traitor and a Terrorist for his association with a man dubbed a domestic Terrorist in 1960’ and 70’s (http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1215925,CST-NWS-ayers12.article). Oh I failed to mention that Obama was 8 years old at the time this was going on. But his association with an English Professor at Columbia University, who was on a Board for Education Reform with him and who pushed for better education for trouble kids was not in question. Funny how in the 1960’s, when you fought for racial equality, constructional rights, and better treatment of minorities you were marked as a Domestic Terrorist (i.e. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.).

Ok back on point. McCain and Palin if you can dish out the fear driven remarks about Obama then stand up and take it when Rep Congressman Lewis calls you on your running a George Wallace type campaign.

The day was going good until...

So I'm starting my week with a sore throat and little sleep. It was boys night for me and my 4 year old, this is when he pulls the "can I sleep in here" card which is normally the following up from a discipline moment. Yesterday was a good day until my son decided it was a good time to "Do what I want". Needless to say it ended badly, for him, but then somehow it really ended badly for me.

He talks in his sleep so at 3am he decided to hold a 30 minute meeting in his dreams. To add to my troubles I wroke up this morning to a sore throat, sore to the point that it feels like I swollowed broken glass followed by a can of gas which was then lite. A Mortin 800 (Ranger Candy), a hot cup of coffee and I'm moving at a snails pace. But there's no getting a good man down, for the whole day anyway. The good thing is this was a planned day off soI'll get to rest a little before heading back to the salt mines tomorrow.

Anyway, enjoy your day...

Question: What do you call a leader with no followers?
Answer: Just a person taking a walk.

My Thoughts on...

This is in response to my wifes blog (http://www.davisfamilydoodles.blogspot.com/) Titled: "Politics as Usual; It's All Black and White"

I find it too funny how uninformed the America vote is or worse yet their unwilling necessary to get to the truth. My wife asked me to view a blog that she reads and to watch some clips called “the McCain-Palin Mob” that was posted on it. In the crowd were people stating that Barack Obama was a terrorist but when asked why they believe that they couldn’t answer or gave answers that made little to no sense; very uninformed answers. There was even an African American man that when ask why he was supporting McCain instead of Obama, this appeared to be a race question, which I didn’t think fairly asked. But what made it worse was the man’s response “Get out of my face” was all he could say.

A man answered that “Because he was raised with the teachings of his father” His father who he had only seen twice in his life. Didn’t this man know that he was raised by his grandparents, a grandfather who serviced in the military during the war and grandmother who worked in a factory building the equipment needed by her husband. Clearly he did not, he only could say he was a terrorist and that was that.

I never play the race card because it, in my opinion is a sign of limited education and a sad excuse but I think in this case I have to ask these questions:

1) What if Obama’s name was Jimmy Williams
2) What is Mother was White American and His Father Black American, both born and raised in America

Then what?

Clearly he was good for the State of Illinois since he was voted into the Senate Twice. He developed a bill that allowed low income families to buy homes outside the ghettos of the cities. Isn’t this a good thing?

Not to limit myself because there are Black Americans who don’t believe he represents the Black Community. And why is that? He was raised by a single parent and then grandparents, he fought his way into a great college and got his degree, and instead of going into law firm where he could have made millions off the back of the rich, he instead chose to work as an advocate for the people and then a senator. Sounds like a normal Black American to me.

So I ask where did Palin come from? What qualifies her to be VP? When the people in the aforementioned clips were asked when did you first hear about Palin? most answered today, 6 months ago but one answered “in 1985, during her beauty pageant days” Surely this doesn’t qualify someone for VP. Or maybe it’s her being the governor of Alaska, where it was a good decision to get a hot tub for her office with tax payer’s money; ok now I’ll picking. The truth is I can’t talk intelligently about VP Candidate Palin and that’s because I know little about her, but I’m willing to acknowledge that. I do know about McCain and Obama. The same McCain who had an opportunity to give the same military a raise, which by the way he fought hard for but got voted down but during the same year had an opportunity to vote down a bill that gave congress and the senate a 125% pay and benefits raise but chose not to break the period of silence that would have killed the bill.

I know Obama who when it came time to vote not to go to war with Iraq stood by his beliefs and voted no. Did he do this because he’s a terrorist or because we had no need to go into Iraq; when it was Al Qaeda in Afghanistan that planned and executed the destroying of the Twin Towers and Pentagon? I understand the why of going to Iraq and I have been there twice supporting the Marines. I support them now because I’m retired after servicing 22 years and I have worked in the defense business since 1999. What I now don’t understand is why we’re still providing financial and military aid today when the Iraq government has Trillions in financial revenues.

I read once that Obama doesn’t support the troops in Iraq and voted down a bill to pour more money into the Iraq War. The fact is he voted down that bill because he believed that more attention should be paid to the real war front Afghanistan; as did many others.

I guess the short of it is Vote for who you want to, it’s your right but make an informed vote. Not one based on McCain’s POW Status or Palin’s ability to give you the feeling you can sit with her and have a cup of coffee and talk or even because Obama’s Black (this goes both ways). Get to know your candidate, what they stand for, how they will help the American People not just you but everyone.

My First Post

For my first post I thought I should introduce myself and give you, the reader an understanding where I’m coming from.

I’ll start of by telling you why I chose this name for my blog. The short of it is I grew up in a world that I wasn’t black enough for the black community and not white enough for the White Community. So one can say I have a Gray prospective on life. I see the world from both side and most of both sides hate that in me.

I’m 48 yrs old, married and the father of 3 adults and 1 child. I have been married three times; twice to black women (1 child from first Marriage, 2 children from second marriage) and my current and last wife is white (1 Child). I was born and raised in upstate NY and I am the product of a White Mother and Mixed Race Father (Mother Black/Father White). I was raised by the only woman I’ve known as my mother (stepmom) who by the way is black. My parents were firm believers in there is no black and white, people are people and you treat them as they treat you. In my town it wasn’t about black and white it was, in my opinion, about religion. The religious order was Jewish, Catholic, then all others. I was raised as a Pentecostal until I reach my teens and then I went Catholic. I attend Catholic Mass and Pentecostal services. My reason for both was to become well read. Ok, the truth is Catholic Mass was short and Pentecostal had great music.

I joined the Army at 17 and went active at 18yrs of age with a plan to do 4 years, save enough money, get out and go to law school. You know what they say “The best laid of mice and men”. I went to Germany for my first tour of duty and fall in love with the Army; 22 years later I retired and have been in the Defense business every since.

I have lived an interesting life and have seen a lot. This blog will provide a vehicle for me to share my life experiences with you and give you an opportunity to share your thoughts with the readers.

I have one rule; that you respect the views of everyone who post here. You may not like what someone post but respect it.