Sunday, December 23, 2012

I Believe....

Merry Christmas, all you fowl people, you!  I hope this post finds you surrounded by family and friends and in good health.  I haven't posted in a while and I get these ideas for posts sometimes and then I get all excited and have to write!  I guess you can say I get inspired and then, well, look out!

I have been thinking a lot about myself and where I came from this past week.  I guess you could blame it on the fact that my dad would have had his seventy-sixth birthday on Thursday, December 20.  He passed away in 1995 and I still miss him quite a bit.  He was sweet and kind and gentle.  He thought about others first and he was a hard worker.  He was also simple, and laid back.  Simple in that he didn't need a lot of fancy stuff to be happy.  He didn't talk much, kind of quiet, but in a good way.

He always had steady employment; he died employed by the same company he had worked at for forty years. He and my mom were married for thirty three years when he passed and they were happy together.

Something that we always did as a family was that we listened to country music at the house, in the car and on road trips.  I didn't really know any other genre of music existed until I heard Metallica on the bus ride to school one morning in seventh grade.  I love Metallica, by the way.  That said, I love all kinds of music now, but country music has kind of stuck with me over the years.  One singer that I really love and have loved for a while is Don Williams and he sings some great country songs.  One in particular is called "I Believe in You".

This song to me embodies a simpler, more slower paced lifestyle.  I guess you could say it embodies my dad and the way he was.  I hate to throw politics in the mix, but this IS the Political Chicken talking here.  It may represent even a more conservative lifestyle.  Thankfully you all can't hear me sing the lyrics, but a few of them are worth repeating:
I believe in love
I believe in babies
I believe in mom and dad
I believe in you
Does anybody talk that way anymore?  I think if we did, our country would be a whole lot better off.  He also goes into a few things he doesn't believe and they are:
I don't believe:
that virginity is as common as it used to be
That gasoline is in short supply
The rising cost of getting by

He also says that he doesn't believe that heaven waits for only those who congregate.  I would tend to agree with that statement.  Like the song lyrics, I also believe that God is love and that he's down below and up above.  He knows who does and doesn't care.  I think that my dad believed all of those things, too.  That's what made my dad so great.  If there are any dads of daughters reading this, take note and realize that your relationship with her is going to help her succeed or fail in relationships with men.  No pressure, or anything.

This is a small tribute to my dad and the example he was and the relationship we had.  I was only eighteen when he passed, but I am so thankful for those eighteen years.  Thank you to my dad and my mom.  I am so thankful to have had parents like you growing up.  I only hope that I can have the same affect on my children as you both had on me.  I love you.


Sunday, December 2, 2012

Sex, Lies and Politics

Okay, Harris County peeps.  It has been quite a year, hasn't it?  I'm referring to the political events and elections we all had the pleasure or um yeah, something like that of participating in.  We here in Texas started out behind the eight ball as a state with little or no say in choosing the primary presidential candidate.  Houston Tea Party Society along with other tea party groups thought there was something wrong with that, and we held our very first Saddle Up Texas Straw Poll in January, with great success, I might add.

Then came the redistricting fiasco.  Thus, a delayed primary held in May.  As if that wasn't long and drawn out enough, we had a July runoff.  Exhausting for all of those involved; candidates, volunteers and consultants.  Only a few short months after that came the general election.  Whew!  I'm tired just typing it all up again.

Now, why on earth would I be bringing this up again?  Well, lots of times the truth about a candidate or a campaign doesn't come out until AFTER the election is over.  Shocking, I know.  That is the case in the story I'm about to share with you.

Just so happens in the campaign finance reports filed just before the general election it was discovered that some candidates from the 'Grand Old Party' or G.O.P received some contributions from the local strip club, Treasures.  I ask you who in the general voting populous is going to go and research those finance reports?  Right; no one.  There is one individual or entity that should be looking at such contribution records; the Harris County Republican Party.

Now, I'm no prude, but I am seriously concerned about the direction of the Republican party locally.  We have a leader at the helm of the county party who seems to be letting this kind of behavior slide.  As a devoted volunteer of the party, and as a woman, it makes me sick to my stomach to think that I'm working alongside folks who claim to be Christian and conservative all the while they are accepting donations from the adult entertainment industry.  An industry that objectifies women, who often times break up marriages and homes and perpetuate a sinful lifestyle.  Seems kind of hypocritical, don't ya think?

This from the same party who claim to stand for pro-life, pro-family values.  We as Republicans/ conservatives just lost the Presidential election.  As if that weren't bad enough, the Republicans are slowly losing their grip on Harris county and dare I say, Texas.  We wondered why.  I'm starting to understand why; why so many of the general voting populous is so disenchanted with the GOP 'brand'.  Deep down, Republicans may not be any different from Democrats.  You know what they say, if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.  Time to stand for something, Jared.


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Fair Share, Fiscal Cliff, Debt Ceiling

Fair share.  Fiscal cliff.  Debt ceiling.  What do these words mean to you?  Have you ever heard them before?  I hadn't until about three years ago.  Let's tackle these one at a time in no particular order.

Fair share.  These words are often very ambiguous, as blog author Nathan Wilkinson points out here in his blog What Does Obama Mean by "Fair Share?"  I would tend to agree with his blog.  Mind you, this was written back in July, 2011, but I think it definitely still applies.  Here is a quote from his blog that I found interesting:

"This phrase, "fair share" is being used and accepted as a fact, but no one has looked into what does those words mean to him and to everyone else. In fact, the phase itself implies that there should be an even-handedness between the rich and the taxes they pay. The phrase is also ambiguous because no one knows if the rich are taking more then their "fair share" or taking less."  

"No one has looked into what those words mean to him" (Obama).  I am a small business owner, or the spouse of one.  So I guess that makes me a partial small business owner.  Rest assured, we are paying our 'fair share'.  In fact, if we didn't have to pay such a large share, we might have a little more to throw into the economy and buy a few extra things that we would normally have to pay in taxes; thus stimulating the economy.  Wow, what a concept!  The American worker, gets to keep more of what they earn and they can buy more things and create more jobs for the industry that they are purchasing from.  Kind of reminds me of that PSA in the 1980's, when there was a 'war on drugs'.  The guy was pacing in a circle, repeating the same thing, "So I can work more, so I can earn more, so I can do more coke."  So....I'm not trying to do more 'coke', but you get the idea. 

Fiscal cliff.  We've been hearing a lot about that since before Obama's unfortunate reelection and since then as well.  Call me crazy, but I don't think that going off any kind of a cliff is a good thing.   What lawmakers are referring to is the upcoming tax hike slated for January 2013 to affect the top earners; you know all of those evil rich people who make over $250K per year?  Yeah, them.  Again, I look at this through the eyes of a small business owner.  What happens when you make less money as a business owner, large or small?  You tend to cut back a bit on hiring and wage increases.  Makes sense, right?  You have to, at some point, start looking out for your family because no one else will.  What's the affect of less hiring?  Not as many employed people.  Less people paying taxes and I'm sorry folks, a country cannot tax or spend itself into prosperity.  It's a vicious cycle.  "So I can work more, so I can earn more, so I can do more coke." 

Last but not least, is the infamous debt ceiling.  Remember fighting this during the summer of 2011?  I do.  The debt ceiling is referring to the country's credit limit or its spending limit.  Yes, it's like the credit card for the USA.  What happens when you as a consumer 'max' out your credit card? You can't spend any more money!  What happens when the United States 'maxes' out OUR credit card?  They just print more money!  Yahoo!  *note the sarcasm.  Anyway, it happened again in 2011, Congress agreed to raise the debt ceiling to $16.394 trillion.  Guess what?  We are fast approaching that limit, too.  I can just hear the arguments from 2011 haunting these upcoming 'talks' as well.  The Dems will accuse the Republicans of wanting America to default, and the Republicans will likely give in and raise it again with some wimpy 'demand' that the spending increase not exceed the spending cuts.  Cuts to be made over the next thirty years or something ridiculous.  Then we start all over again.  "So I can work more, so I can earn more, so I can do more coke."

Are we ever going to learn our lesson? 

Friday, November 9, 2012

Are We Gonna Die in Debt?

Hello, out there in cyber world!  It's me, the Political Chicken back for more post election analysis.  You know me, very in depth and hard hitting.  Bwahahahaha!  At any rate, I have (obviously) been thinking or better yet, stewing over the results of the election on Tuesday.  There are lots of things still swimming through my head right now.  Like, for example, where did the election go wrong?   Could I have done more?  How do we recoup the damage that Obama has done and still yet to do?  Last but not least, what would make anybody in their right mind vote for him twice? 

Besides all the talk of free shit and not being able to beat Santa Claus, which I am sure that there is truth to that, I think it goes deeper than that.  At this point, I'm willing to put aside partisan politics for just a moment and say it goes even deeper than Democrat or Republican.  Wow, Political Chicken, what could be deeper than that?  Finances, money if you will.  No, not the spreading of it or the redistribution of it, which does play a role, obviously, but something else that ties into money.  Lines of credit.  Oh, yes, stick with me for a minute and I'll explain.

We live in a society of instant gratification; 3G, 4G and gotta-have-the-latest-and greatest-app or Ipad or Iphone.   Not to mention HDTV, high speed internet and 3D televisions.  How do we acquire these things?  Bingo!  Credit cards, lines of credit.  Gone are the days of saving cash up to pay for things.  Nah, just ring it up and I'll pay it off later...

Later becomes next month, then next month becomes three months, then three months becomes, well you get the idea.  I found some information on Infowars.com that I thought would fit into this blog, so here are a few of the statistics that will 'blow your mind'.

- Incredibly, 43 percent of all American families spend more than they earn each year.  Even while median household income continues to decline (now less than $50,000 a year), median household debt continues to go up.  According to the Federal Reserve, median household debt in America has risen to $75,600.

Large numbers of them never even escape at all and die in debt.
Consumer borrowing rose by another $19.3 billion in December 2011.  Right now it is sitting at a grand total of $2.5 trillion according to the Federal Reserve.

We always criticize the federal government for going into so much debt, but we rarely criticize ourselves for our own addiction to debt. 
So how can we expect our gimme society who doesn't even live to see the day when they pay off their own debt to actually believe that the United States of America, the most prosperous nation in the world, could ever run out of money, or credit?  Now, I might be giving some folks more 'credit' then they deserve because I'm assuming that people CARE if we run out of money.  Or if THEY run out of money, for that matter.  I believe that people don't think twice about where the government money comes from.  I think that they believe that we just print it...out of...thin...air...oh, wait.  Nevermind.  If we could just show people what we are in for, maybe they would take notice.  I know, I'm being supremely optimistic.

We live in a welfare state, and if we didn't before Tuesday, I'd say it's almost inevitable now.  So, as unpleasant as it may be, now it is time for, as Dave Ramsey would say, beans and rice, rice and beans until all of your household debt is paid off.   As the Bible says, "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender." Proverbs 22:7  I, for one, don't want to be anyone's slave.

 

Thursday, November 8, 2012

The Morning After x2

Deep breath in...slowly exhale.  Repeat.  Feel better?  Nah, me neither.  Onward!

All of you know me pretty well by now.  I am a stay at home mom; home school mom on top of that and a new (?) political activist of sorts.  I have just recently ventured into my own blog, The Political Chicken.  I was involved heavily over the course of this last presidential election/campaign.  I am extremely disappointed in the loss by Romney/Ryan and that's putting it mildly.  I truly didn't think that Obama would win again.  He did and now we stand at the base of a mile high mountain and we have to decide as conservatives, do we stay at the base of the mountain and set up camp or do we forge ahead with grappling hooks and ropes and climb that bad boy?  I say, climb!

There was A LOT of legislation that we as tea party members and patriot groups postponed and delayed in 2010 and 2011.  The biggest and baddest in my mind is Obamacare.  We did good work but it was shoved through even though it was clearly against the will of the American people by and large.  There will be more of that, unfortunately now that Obama has won his bid for reelection.  Cap and Trade aka Cap and Tax can be one of those, rest assured.  Not to mention a whole host of others that we don't even know about yet, or I for one, can't even fathom.

Most of us, dare I say ALL of us are pretty discouraged today.  I am going to keep fighting.  I am going to keep fighting to keep our freedoms, though as down and sad and frustrated as I feel today.  Why, you may ask.  Why bother?  I have three little reasons to keep going and those are my children.  Not trying to be extreme here, but let's stop a minute and think of some of the freedoms we have now and might take for granted.  One is the right to worship.  Another is the freedom to buy the car of your choice.  How about the reproductive rights we enjoy; to have as many children as you want?  How about capitalism, the best system in the world?  How about the right to choose your own career?  How about the freedom to home school?  I can't say without a doubt, that those freedoms are going to be there for them to enjoy.

I am not expecting all of these rights to be taken away over night or even tomorrow.  The problem is that there is something called tyranny creep.  It has already taken hold and continues to 'creep' its way into our society and personal lives.  This is another reason we must stay vigilant and fight the good fight.  It happens little by little.  In our courts, where religious objects are harshly removed or when war memorials are ordered to be taken down simply because they are symbols of religion or Christianity.  Where the TSA has the 'right' to strip search innocent people just trying to go on vacation with their families.  These freedoms have been eroding for some time now.  So where does it stop?  That's the big question for me, and right now I don't have the answer.  

We are ALL made in God's likeness; in the image of God.  We were made with the desire to perform a task, learn a trade, earn a living and to be self sufficient.  In Ecclesiastes 2:24 it says, "A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work.  This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment"?  I wept last night thinking that my children would possibly grow up not knowing those simple freedoms.  To not be able to provide for their families as Godly men are called to do.  To not be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor as many generations that have come before them have been able to do.  To take away the most innate rights from any human being is just beyond wrong.   

All I know to do is to pray and trust God and to pray that His will be done, not ours.

Monday, November 5, 2012

More Than a Woman...

*Disclaimer: The following blog may offend some readers.  This is not a judgement call on anyone's lifestyle choice.  This is simply my opinion.

More than a woman.....I thought this might be an appropriate topic what with the war on women the left seems to be waging; and all the while, claiming it's the GOP waging said war.  Tsk, tsk.  I remember hearing Obama say in the last presidential debate that Romney wanted to take us back to the 1950's or some such nonsense.  So?  What was so wrong with the 1950's?  In the 1950's, moms stayed home and cooked meals and made beds and cleaned house all while wearing heels and pearls.  Heh.  Oh, and everything was black and white; not gray scale like they show it on Leave it to Beaver.

I digress.  I have been in the habit lately of digging up some history or some scripture and comparing it with the things that are happening today in the political realm.  If you like that style, then you are in for a treat. 

Just for kicks, let's look at what the Bible says about women and their role.  I know we are probably all too familiar with Proverbs 31: the wife of noble character. We are also reminded of the Titus 2 woman, who is to to be self-controlled and pure among other things.  The Bible also identifies the woman as the weaker sex.  It's factual simply because woman came from man.  The Bible also says that the man is the head of the household.  Whaaaaat?!?  Political Chicken, are you waging a war on women, too?  Now, don't let that ruffle your feathers (see what I just did there?)  With all of these words flying around, you have to wonder if we didn't start waging a war on ourselves when the feminist movement came around. 

Think about all of the things that we as women demand from ourselves as well as from the world around us.  The song 'Anything you can do, I can do better' comes to my mind often times.  We all feel that we have to be as strong as a man physically and/or emotionally, and we have to be as smart as a man.  The Bible did put some limits on what women can or should do outside the home; for a REASON.  God and the Bible also  puts limits on what we as Christians can or should do here on earth for a REASON.  What reason is that?  To guard our hearts. The Bible also defines the role of a man and a woman very clearly.  It's society that has come along and mucked it all up.  The woman is to be the helpmeet of the man or the helper.  The husband also has a definite role in which he is to "...love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word..." Ephesians 5:25.  So while we all have free will given to us by God to do and say all of the things we want, we are reminded in 1Corinthians 10:23 that,  Everything is permissible...but not everything is beneficial.

It makes me insane when I hear some women say that they can have it all.  By having it all, they mean a college degree, a prestigious career, marriage and children.  Okay, I'll play along.  You may be able to 'have it all', but there is always a price to pay.  Your children make a sacrifice when you go to work when they are babies, because let's face it, our mothers are one of the most important people in our lives.  There seems to not be enough of us to go around to meet all of the needs of a family, like cooking meals, cleaning, laundry, homework help, etc.  I can almost hear you rolling your eyes when I mention all of the domestic duties as if they only belong to the wife.  That to me is where our role of helper comes into play. 


I say all of that to say this; maybe if we went back to a more biblical approach to the way we live our lives, we wouldn't be so concerned if there was a war being waged on the female gender.  If, for example, you are single, the Bible says you should not have premarital sex.  Not in those exact words, but you get the point.  If we lived by that standard, then guess what?  We wouldn't be worried about where our birth control would be coming from!  We also wouldn't be worried about access to abortions either.  Extreme, I know.  Everything is permissible...but not everything is beneficial.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

The New Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel:
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.  As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly."  They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.  Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.  The Lord said,"If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.  That is why it was called Babel_because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world.  From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. Genesis 11:1-9


Okay, Political Chicken, what does that have to do with me?  Well, I'll tell you.  The Lord realized that the people all spoke the same language and they could accomplish anything they set out to do.  Thus, leaving the Lord out of the equation.  So, he confused their language so they couldn't execute building their tower.  I think we can relate to this story present day.  I realize this didn't start under the Obama administration, but it has become more prevalent.  Obama knows that if we as Americans communicate with each other, there isn't anything we can't do.  Just like God, Obama would be left out of the equation.  Nah, see.  He doesn't want that.  

Our problems of today sound similar and I can probably sum it up into two words: Class Warfare.  The president (who thinks he is God) is acting like God.  He is showing us over and over that he doesn't want us to communicate with one another.  He wants us to believe that we all have problems so specific to the different socioeconomic groups he has divided us into that we couldn't possibly have anything in common.

I'll give you an example of this in real time.  One of my fellow patriots met with a group called Log Cabin Republicans which is a group of homosexual people who are also Republicans.  They reached out to the tea party to discuss some issues and believe it or not, their group and the tea party had a lot in common. Now just think, if we had continued to go along mutually ignorant about each other what would happen?  We would have remained divided.

Another example is how often this administration and congress and others in the lame stream media pull out the race card.  The media pundits and some representatives in Congress spew hatred and vitriol onto the airwaves just to keep us as Americans thinking that we hate each other.   From where I'm standing, that couldn't be farther from the truth. 

Let's not forget about another 'divider'; the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Remember those little people who made bowel 'movements' all over cop cars?  Yeah, them.  They represent the 99% who want a level playing field.  I have a theory about these people.  They were the unfortunate kids who grew up playing Fun Fair Positive Soccer (FFPS).  The place where you always get a trophy. No. Matter. How. Bad. You. Sucked.  The place where you aren't allowed to keep score.  SERIOUSLY?  I'm sorry, folks, but there ARE winners and losers in real life.  Your buddy might make more money than you, just sayin'.

How about the executive order that Obama signed about how we deal with natural disasters and security emergencies?  I think there was something in there about being able to shut down the internet or take control of it for the safety of Americans?  There ya go.  Cut off the lines of communication.  Just. Like. That.

I think it has also more to do than just the communication lines they want to cut off between Americans.  Obama has made it clear, because, well, he says 'let me be clear' before every lie he tells, that he does not want us as Americans to be self sufficient people.  (Enter life of Julia, stage right).  If we get together and solve our own problems without relying on the government, he loses control.  If he loses control, he loses power.  BOOM.

On a side note, I have never visited Obama's website before, and I did just recently.  After seeing it, I have to tell you I'm pretty disgusted.  On his home page, he's got the male and female gender symbols integrated into the word 'forward'.  How. Lame. Can. He. Be. And what's with all this 'vote with your vagina' crap, anyway?  Possibly another post for another day. 




Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Obama: Just another King Louis?

The name of the King of France at this time was Louis, as it had been fourteen times before.  This, the fifteenth Louis, was the most gorgeous, the most fashionable, the most bejeweled and lace-trimmed king in Europe-and the most useless.  He did nothing.  He thought of nothing, he cared for nothing but his own pleasure, and he had whatever he fancied no matter how great the cost.

Louis XV lived at Versailles, about twelve miles from the city of Paris, in the most beautiful palace in Europe, built by his very famous great-grandfather, Louis XIV.

Louis XIV was an absolute ruler, but with the noblemen scattered all over the country it was difficult to keep absolute power over them.  So when he had moved to Versailles he made the nobles leave their estates and also come to live at Versailles, where he could have his eye on them.  To keep them happy he established for them many more honorary offices at court such as those of Lord High Chamberlain, Grand Master of the Royal Hunt, Lord High Steward of the Kitchen, to which large salaries and no work were attached.

By the time Louis XV became King, it was the well established custom for all important noblemen to live at Versaille as near to the King as possible, every waking moment to follow him about.  There were two hundred attendants stumbling over each other in the King's bedchamber alone.  From the time he awoke and held out his white hands to be perfumed and jeweled to the time when the Lord High Keeper of it put the nightcap on his head, the King was never alone.  The courtiers were always there, to watch his every move and imitate it.

What the King did and had one day, they did and had the next.  What he was they became: the most fashionable, bejeweled and lace-trimmed noblemen in Europe, and the most useless.  They danced, played games, chatted with each other and made love to the ladies.  Every year their manners became more exact and fanciful, their clothes more delicate in color and more hung with lace, their wigs more finely powdered and their furniture more full of curves and scrolls and more richly gilded.  And all they did was play.  But as too much play becomes monotonous, all their amusements grew tiresome in time.

"Life is boring,"sighed the King.  "Life is boring," sighed the noblemen, and yawned behind their white, jeweled hands.

Meanwhile, back on the estates, the peasants still worked and tilled the fields as they had always done.  Only now each year they had to work even harder, for each year their lord at Versailles needed more money for his pleasures, to say nothing of the huge amounts needed by the King.  So while the noblemen played, their overseers squeezed larger rents for the small fields, larger feudal dues and more enormous taxes from the peasants.  When they had turned in their crops in payment, many peasants had barely enough left to keep from starving.  "Life is hard," they said as they scuffed off their wooden clogs each sundown and wiped the sweat off with their rough brown hands.  "Life is hard."

Between the peasants whose life was all work and the noblemen whose life was all play there was of course a very large middle class of people who worked for a living, but also had some time to play.  The French name for them was bourgeois.  Some of them were wealthy, most of them were just hardworking and thrifty, but all of them hated to see such a large part of their hard-earned money go for taxes.

"Life is unfair," they were beginning to say.  Why should thousands of people work hard for their money, in order that one king and a few extravagant noblemen should have it to squander?
It was plain to see that such an unfair condition of things could not last forever.  That, however, did not trouble the King.  "It will last as long as I live," Louis would say.  "After that," with a shrug of his shoulders, "what do I care what happens to France?"

This is the story of King Louis XV written by Genevieve Foster from the book George Washington's World.  I know all of you have probably heard this story before, perhaps some of you have not.  This is my first time hearing it, and I keyed in on the things that the peasants and the bourgeois were going through.  Wow!  Some things never change, do they?  You could just insert Obama's name where you see the name King Louis and the story of present day life and politics would sound about the same, wouldn't it?

 Take a look first at the noblemen who came to live with the King and in order to make them happy, the King offered them titles with no work and high salaries to go with them.  Sounds a bit like all of those 'czars' that Obama employed early on in his presidency.  Priceless.

All of those 'noblemen' wanted to be just like Obama, I mean, the King.  All they did was play...golf.  I mean, play.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, all of the peasants, or tax-payers, worked their fingers to the bone and had little left after all of their taxes were paid in order that the president, I mean, King and his cabinet, I mean, court may amuse themselves.  Sound familiar?  Some of us might identify more readily with the bourgeois, though.  The bourgeois was mostly middle class people, bankers, bakers and such, wondering why they should pay all of their money to a king in order for him to squander it?  Insert the word president where you see king and congress where you see noblemen.  Makes sense. 

King Louis, I mean Obama, is also utterly useless.  He does nothing, he thinks of nothing and he only cares for his own pleasure.  He has no interest in running a country whatsoever.   He also amuses himself and his family, no matter how much it costs the American taxpayer.  Hmmmm.....

I also feel that Obama's sentiment is the exact same as the sentiment that King Louis has at the end of the story, this situation will last as long as he is in office and then what does he care what happens to his country?  "After that," with a shrug of his shoulders, "what do I care what happens to America?"


Friday, September 28, 2012

Them Bones, Them Bones

Hello there, followers!  Ha!  I am having a great day with my family and thought I would share some of it with you.  Now, my husband normally works all week and stays home on Tuesday and Sunday.  Today is Friday and he took the day off to be with the family, besides, they didn't need him at work, anyway.  So there.

Well, we have a little wooded area in our neighborhood that our family or the kids, I should say, call "The Woods Park".  Our first outing today was there, to the woods park.  The boys rode their bikes and scooters and mom and dad walked, of course.  We took the football with the intention of tossing the football, etc.  However, that came to an end when we found...two bones!  They looked long enough to be femur bones and you can imagine how my children's imaginations began to race!  Not to mention that prior to that we had found two .20 gauge shot gun shells.  Hmmmm.  Then my husband's and my imagination began to race!  Were they human bones, we all wondered?  If they were, was the victim shot dead with those bullets?  Where were the rest of the bones if it was in fact of human remains? 

We continued on with our manly duties of jumping off 'cliffs' and knocking down trees and climbing up ledges.  Not me, though.  I just stood and watched and commented on how strong my boys are.  Ya know, cause that's what moms do.  We also managed to squeeze in a game or two of hide and seek.  After a while, we decided to leave the trees and the bones to go home for some lunch.  When we got back home we decided to call the Sheriff's non-emergency line to report the bones.  They said they would send someone out to take a look.  Oh, boy!  The excitement meter in my house was pinging!  Would they send a detective?  Would it be taped off as a crime scene?  Would we have to give a statement?  I'll admit the last two questions were mine alone.  I was channeling Nancy Drew a bit, I guess.  Hey, everybody loves a good mystery, right?

About twenty minutes after I'd placed the phone call, the police officer came and knocked on the door.  With one of those, you know, no-nonsense authoritative raps on the door?  Yeah, one of those.  As soon as he knocked, one of my sons squealed with delight, "It's the Sheriff!"  One of my other sons just happened to run out in nothing but his underwear.  Those of you who know me can guess who that was.  Then the police officer offered a ride in his squad car down to the park!  My husband and two older sons got in.  We all joked that this better be the ONLY time my kids and my husband, for that matter, saw the inside of a squad car.  Not long after leaving, they returned only to announce that we had found dog bones.  My, that must have been quite a large dog! 

Well, I'm writing this at four o'clock in the afternoon, so the day isn't over yet.  I wonder what kind of exciting discovery lies around the corner for our family next?  Stay tuned...

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Consider The Source

Okay, let me first start off by saying that I am not a political analyst nor am I a foreign policy expert.  I do however have some thoughts about the upcoming presidential election and the events that have unfolded in the Middle East. 

I am saddened first of all by the loss of American soldiers and Ambassadors serving over seas serving our great nation away from their families.  My heart goes out to all of those mourning the loss of their loved ones.  I think that goes without saying.  I am ashamed of the way that the president and the secretary of state handled the situation.

I am an emotional person and I often react to situations based on how I'm feeling about them.  I don't often delve into the logical side of thinking about things and I guess you could say this isn't any different.  First of all in my mind, the president should have been the one waiting by the phone to find out what happened to our military and embassy personnel.  Instead, from what I understand, our dear leader was fast asleep, planning on attending a fundraiser in Las Vegas over the next day or so.  I'm stunned.  Almost speechless.  *Almost*.  Then he gave a speech in the Rose Garden and his opponent, Mitt Romney said of the speech that Obama sent mixed signals which I would tend to agree with.  President Obama said we wouldn't tolerate these acts of violence and that we would work with the Libyan government to make sure that justice was served.  Then he said that America took great pains to respect all religious beliefs.  Huh?  Seems to me he was pandering to the enemy already.

I almost forgot to mention that Obama couldn't decide if Egypt was an ally or an enemy.  Has he decided that yet?  Or that he has refused a meeting with Netanyahu.  I'm sorry but even if you are on the government 'dole' and you think that Obama has your back, think again.   Or if you are a Ron Paul supporter and you are pouting because Dr. Paul didn't get the nod this time, suck it up and vote for someone with some semblance of the same values as you.  Romney is the best choice in this circumstance.  In Obama, not a chance in HELL.

Now, I'm a Romney supporter (if you haven't already figured that out) so this blog may be a little biased, but to me, in Romney's critique of Obama's response to the news of the attacks and the murders, he seemed much more resolute and steadfast in what his response to that same situation would have been.  Much more confident than Obama has ever appeared during his presidency.  Okay, except for maybe when Obama was spiking the football over Osama's death, but I digress.  I have been impressed with the way Romney has campaigned up until now.

I'm not dissing Romney's campaign at all.  No, what I'm upset about is all of the conservative websites who seem to be getting sidelined by the lame stream media.  They seem as though they are playing into their hands at a time when it appears to me that WE ARE WINNING!!!  Republicans by and large don't know how to win and they don't know how to message.  Romney's campaign to me is not in the toilet, so please, let's keep it as far from there as we can.  Let's don't start fighting him and each other when we need to stand behind him the most.  I realize that Mother Jones has put out some spliced up video of Romney at a fundraiser and everybody's all over it.  That is not going to break his campaign.  He said there are 47% of the people out there who will vote for Obama again because they don't pay into the system.  So what?  The idea here is not to get ALL of the votes from EVERYBODY, because you simply can't do that.  Focus on your core group of voters and convince them to vote for you. Consider the source.

Also, lots of people are freaking out about the polls and flailing arms and saying Romney is behind in the polls.  SO WHAT?  If you are concerned, then by golly, go do something about it!  My eight year old son saw the headline for Drudge Report, Obama 48%, Romney 47%.  He said, whoa, that's bad.  He meant for Obama, that poll was bad.  An eight year old gets it, folks.

We only have 49 days until election day.  I'm begging you, please let's keep it together.  Don't start doubting and freaking out if Obama is a few percentage points ahead of Romney or if some liberal slanted website is predicting the demise of Romney.  Consider the source!


Monday, September 17, 2012

It's O-H-I-O, Mr. President

I know cuz I done been there once.  Okay, twice, but this last trip was for political reasons.  Dare I say, 'work'.  Greetings, all of you out there in cyber world.  It's me, the Political Chicken, back to share more from, well, from Ohio.  I know that's not what you were expecting me to say, but what the heck.  Roll with it.

Yes, just back from the Buckeye state of Ohio.  The Rust Belt even.  Why would a Texan travel to Ohio for a day and a half?  Well, I'll tell you.  Freedomworks Freepac Ohio and Josh Mandel for U.S. Senate.  I don't normally document trips on my blog or post pictures, but this trip warrants both of those things.  I really had a great trip and feel that it would be cool to share it with all of you.

First, I arrived on Saturday afternoon in order to attend Freepac Ohio.  It was an effort by Freedomworks along with other local tea party groups to inform other activists on, well, how to be better activists!  That was the first part of the program.  The second half was dedicated to speakers and then it was rounded out by none other than Glenn Beck.  I am such a big fan of Freedomworks and Glenn Beck, so the two of them working together was awesome.  They had lots of great speakers, and I unfortunately can't remember all of their names, but a few of them stuck with me.  One of those in particular was Dana Loesch.  She was fabulous.  Dana is a conservative (obviously) and the other part that really rocks about her is that she is a home school mom just like me!  How cool is that?  She is cool, edgy and doesn't mince her words.  Once a liberal, she changed to a conservative after the 9/11 attacks.  I'm glad she's on our side now.

Another contributor to the program was Reverend CL Bryant.  He too was once a Democrat, but saw what the Democratic party stood for and became a Republican.  Reverend Bryant was phenomenal.  One thing he said, and I'm paraphrasing here, was that the United States of America needs a new leader in order to restore America's swagger.  BOOM.  Don't you just love that word, 'swagger'?  He also just finished making the film titled, "Runaway Slave".   It's out in theaters now, so please go and support this man's movie.  He is wonderful.

Next on my list of things to do was to go door to door for Josh Mandel.  Who is Josh Mandel, you say?  Well, he is going to be the next U.S. Senator for the state of Ohio.  The state which is a union state, situated in the middle of the rust belt has been represented for the past six years by Democrat Sherrod Brown.  Ahem, cue Josh Mandel, stage right.  Josh is a young guy but he has been busy.  He's a veteran who has served two tours of duty as a marine in Anbar Province, Iraq.  Not only that, but he's served in their state legislature and he is currently the state treasurer.  Whew, I'm tired just typing all he's done and he's not through yet.  Texas is a 'safe' as it goes for being a red state, but Ohio, not so much.  Check out his website linked above in his name and donate some money to this guy.  Who says you have to stick within your own state?  If there was ever a time to cross state lines, it's now!

Speaking of door to door, here is a picture of me and my new buddy Lauren who heads up the Romney/Mandel campaign headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.  She was super sweet and I really enjoyed the time we had together going door to door.  She's doing a great job.  While out walking and talking to folks, it was hard to miss the difference in the economy of Ohio versus Texas.  It's easy to see how being a hard and fast union state can really suppress the economy.  I'm glad that Texas is a right to work state and I pray it stays that way always.  The good news is that there are efforts being made through petitions to make Ohio right to work.  Keep up the good work, Ohio!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed our little trip to Ohio and back again.  Please, don't be a stranger to Ohio or to the Political Chicken blog.  We can do this!  Romney/Ryan 2012!



Saturday, September 8, 2012

I'm My Own Worst Enemy

If you weren't born last night, you have probably heard the title statement before.  I'm my own worst enemy.  It's true.  I know from personal experience.  I think it's funny how you think you know someone and from appearances, they seem 'okay'.  I may look that way to you.  I may be okay some days, but other days, not so much.  I'm not trying to sound dark and mysterious, I'm just being truthful.  Let me fill in the blanks before you all get freaked out and quit reading my blog.

I am a Christian woman, happily married to a wonderful husband and we have three beautiful children.  I am usually an optimistic and happy go lucky person.  I am also a bit of a perfectionist.  Not in a my-house-has-to-be-spotless-and-things-have-to-be-organized-perfectionist.  I am an expectations perfectionist.  Sounds goofy, right?  No, I think in some regard, we are all expectations perfectionists.  I think Rick Warren, pastor of Saddle Back Church said it best when he said, "I don't live up to my own expectations, much less God's."  We need Jesus to help us live our lives according to His will and His word!

I have extremely high expectations for myself and my children.  I am very high strung and very high maintenance.  I guess you could say I'm 'high' all the time.  So I should be relaxed, right?  WRONG!  I also get angry and lose my temper with my kids a lot.  Not something I'm proud of, but I'm working on it.

I am the type of person that feels guilty about EVERYTHING.  If I didn't get the laundry folded and put away and we end up living out of a laundry basket, I feel guilty.  If I didn't have a good plan for dinner and we have to eat out and spend extra money, I feel guilty.  When the kids don't always get to go where they want or get to do what they want, I feel guilty.  You get the picture.  I let all of that guilt and expectation of what I thought I should have done pile up on me until I'm mad at myself ALL THE TIME.  And my husband wonders why I'm not any fun anymore.

Seeing this in writing is actually kind of frightening and sad all at the same time.  I react to everything based on how I'm feeling about myself.  If I'm hating myself, then I'm rude to the kids and others.  I say the kids first because I love them so much and I don't want to have them grow up and think they had a bad childhood because of me.

I'm a Christian, like I mentioned earlier and so you would think that someone with faith in God and a personal relationship with Christ would have already overcome thoughts and feelings like this.  (See, there's those pesky expectations again).  Not true, I guess.  There is good news in all of this, I promise.  The other day, while talking to my wonderful husband, he said something that unlocked the ball of guilt in my stomach and made me feel free for the first time in a LONG time.  He told me I was having a pity party.  It's TRUE!  I was hanging on to guilt of past sins that I had already been forgiven for.  I realized for the first time in a long time that I don't have to be perfect.  God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called.  He needs me right where I am and he is going to lead me and direct me.  I haven't been living my life the way it should have been lived.  I have been laughing a lot more and smiling a lot more and really enjoying my kids and my husband, too. 

Thank you, Jesus, that you are there for me and that you freed my guilt and forgave my sin by dying on the cross.  And don't forget, readers, that everyday is New Year's Day!  

Friday, August 31, 2012

Live For the Lord Like Your Life Depends On It!

Live for the Lord like your life depends on it....because it does!  Ever thought of it that way before?  It just dawned on me recently.  Lately, I have been living my life on hold.  Waiting for all of the people and the things in my life to be perfect before I do anything.  Yeah, you could say I'll be on hold for a while if I keep living like that!  I don't know if I've ever really lived in the moment before.  I know that sounds strange, but I can't say for certain I have. 

I am a busy person, just like everyone else, I guess.  I have a husband and we have three young boys that I stay home with and home school.  I am also involved heavily in the local and national political scene.  I am concerned for my children's future as well as my own.  I don't know what to say beyond that.  I also love to work out at the gym and try to eat healthy as much as I can.  Oh, yeah, then there is the coffee addiction I seem to have.  I love coffee!  Ask any of my old Facebook buddies and they'll tell you, three o'clock was my regular 'coffee-thirty'.  I guess you could say my life and my sanity depends on it!

I do have a personal relationship with Jesus.  I came to know Christ in the summer of 1997.  My husband is actually the person who led me to Christ, which is amazing to me.  I love to tell the story of how God used my husband to lead me to the Lord.  My husband and I were engaged ten short days after the very first time we talked and we have been married for nearly fifteen years.  I am so fortunate to have found such a wonderful person to share my life with.  Just like any marriage, we have our ups and downs, our arguments and our make-ups, but I wouldn't trade it or him.  My life depends on him!

I felt really especially close to God when I first became a Christian and over the years I have fallen away from Him, just like anyone can, I guess.  I think that recently though, may mark the most dramatic and lengthy dry spell I've had in my faith ever.  I can't say for sure what started it, but I think I've finally come out on the other side, and I'm so grateful.  I can't say I've never had this kind of 'feeling' before, but I feel that it's different this time and that I really want to try harder to put my faith into action.  My life depends on it!

I think one of the things that really sort of 'woke me up' was a conversation I had with my eight year old son.  My mom is seventy-one years old and she and my son have a very close relationship.  She had some chest pains last week and she wanted to go to the hospital.  Nothing dangerous or 'heart-attack like', but she wanted to go and check it out.  After we had left the hospital and gotten ready for bed that night, he came to me and asked if she was going to be alright.  I told him, yes, she's fine, sweetie.  Why?  Are you worried about her?  He said yes, and tears started to flow.  I said are you concerned about her because it's her heart?  He nodded yes, still crying.  I assured him through hugs and love that everything was going to be fine; that she was going to be fine.  My life came full circle at that very moment.  There is something about being there for your kids in that way;comforting them about the health and wellness of a loved one and realizing at the same time that people don't live forever.  I should know because I lost my dad to a massive heart attack very suddenly one January afternoon in 1995.

Since that conversation, I feel like I have been able to enjoy my life, my kids and my family more.  I guess you could say it helped put things in perspective for me.  I have certainly become more engaged in my children's lives than I was before, if that's possible.  I take time to listen and hear their conversations and their ideas.  Oh, the ideas that come into their precious little heads!  I wouldn't miss those ideas for the world.  Not to mention the tickle times, the hugs and kisses, the boo boos, the tears, the bedtime prayers and bedtime story times.  Those things don't last forever and I don't want to find myself  looking back and realizing I missed out on those things.  Time and life are too precious.

So, please, take it from me.  Live your life for God because your life does depend on it!  You may not get another tomorrow!  Thanks be to God!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Obama Gag Reel-Take Two

Ah, yes.  Back for part two?  You just couldn't stay away, could ya?  Well, that's alright.  Glad to share even more of Obama's gaffes to remind us how wonderful it will be when he's finally gone!  Yes, you heard that right, G-O-N-E!  Don't let the door hit ya, well, you know the rest.

So, in my last blog, titled Obama Gag Reel-Take One, I refreshed your memory of some rather embarrassing moments of Obama's illustrious one term as the POTUS.  Here are a few more to serve as reminders as to why we need to kick his ass to the curb in November.

Remember at the dawn of the tea party movement there was a rash of signs depicting Obama with a Hitler mustache insinuating that Obama was in fact, very much like Hitler?  Well, folks, stop the comparison now!  Why, you may ask?  Well, simply because Hitler was able to get the Olympics to come to Berlin!  Think it's funny that with all of the money that the Chicago political machine threw at the IOC to get the Olympics there. They even pulled the POTUS out of their 'hat' along with the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Valerie Jarrett AND even the FLOTUS, and it still wasn't enough.  In my mind, folks, that's a gaffe!

Oh, yeah.  I almost forgot!  He was in campaign mode for....for....FOREVER!  He doesn't know how NOT to campaign!  Yeah, I hear those of you who think that it's okay for the POTUS to pat himself on the back occasionally, but Barry's arm has got to be tired from all of that self-congratulating he has done.

I talked about the flubbed up toast to the Queen of England.  Not sure which is worse, the toast or the gift he gave her!  An I-pod loaded with with none other than his speeches and a home movie of her trip to the United States from back in 2007.  Way to stay classy, Barry!

I just thought of another gaffe.  I know, it's pretty surprising since this is titled Obama Gag Reel-Take Two!  Ha!  Um, let's see.  Oooh, I know, appointing tax cheat Timmy Geithner to be Secretary of the Treasury.  Or how about treating the oval office like it's a smoke filled room in Chicago to cut seedy deals with politicians.  Oh, wait, I forgot!  It IS!  There he stands, in the middle of the office, clicking his heels together three times saying, "there's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home."

So far, this is just a list of the small offenses he's committed against the American people.  I didn't even touch on Obamacare, TARP, and the banning of off shore drilling.  I guess you could say the handling of the Deep Water Horizon explosion was a major gaffe filled with little gaffes all at the expense of the tax payers.  He refused help from our allies so as not to piss off the unions!  The Dutch offered high tech skimmer boats to help clean up the oil and Barack says, "No."  The Dutch also offered to help protect the marine life and estuaries and Barack says, "No."  Wow, and I thought the Republicans were the party of 'no'.  Not to mention how he claimed that his daughter Malia asked him, "Daddy, did you plug the hole yet?"  Yeah, right, she said that.

Then there is the snub Obama gives Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal.  Instead of getting off his ass and flying down to Louisiana immediately after the spill to see what resources to offer, he waited weeks after the incident occurred and then wagged his finger in Governor Jindal's face about how the situation was making him 'look bad'.  Well, boo-frikin'-hoo, Barry.  *side note, Barry gives the same treatment to Louisiana just yesterday as he interviews with Reddit instead of declaring the state a natural disaster in order to receive federal funds.  Priorities, folks!

Alright, I may as well cut to the chase here.  The non-gaffe that just keeps on giving....."You didn't build that.  If you have a successful business you didn't build that on your own.  You had help with that."  Now, I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that he said that, or the fact that he took this cue from none other than Elizabeth Warren.  Oh, you know who I'm talking about!  Democratic Massachusetts Senate candidate, Elizabeth-me-smokum-peace-pipe-Warren? The lady who claimed to be 1/32nd Cherokee Indian or something absurd like that.  Two peas in a pod, they are. Well, I happen to be married to a small business owner, and let me assure you, he DID build it! 

That's all from the Political Chicken for now!  Tune in next time to hear me say, "Congratulations to President Mitt Romney and Vice President Paul Ryan!"  *Swoon*  A girl can dream, can't she?







Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Obama Gag Reel-Take One


You know how around the Christmas holidays the radio stations and music video shows do all sorts of countdowns of the top 100 songs of the year?  I thought since Obama is going to be kicked out of the White House in January it would be appropriate to go ahead and put together a list of his 'gaffes' in one nice, neat little blog.  I might actually have to do a two or three part blog on this one simply because he's had so damn many!  I'm sorry, but President Obama, you made this too easy for me.  You and your veep and the lapdog media have made a mockery of the United States Presidency and of America and it's citizens.  So please, readers, relax with some popcorn and get ready for the gag reel.

Not long after being sworn into office, (right around Valentine's Day of 2009, to be exact), Obama decided it would be a good idea to simply send back the bust of Sir Winston Churchill to England.   Wow.  Nothing says love like snubbing one of our allies, right?  In it's place he set a bust of his 'homie from Illinois', President Abraham Lincoln.  More on his 'homie' in my next blog.

Next on the list is one I won't soon forget.  Beer summit.  Yep, remember summer of '09?  One white cop by the name of Sgt. Crowley arrested black scholar and professor Louis Gates Jr. in front of Gates' home on suspicion of a break in.  Turned out it was in fact Louis' own home and the POTUS accused the police of acting stupidly.  So, can't we all just get along over a few beers?  To quote one of our founding fathers, which Obama would never do, Benjamin Franklin, "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Oh, and one for the books is all the bowing down he did to all of the leaders of foreign countries, earning him the name O-bow-ma.  Cartoons depicted Obama bowing down to the Burger King.  Yikes.  Then he became Mr. Apologetic as he addressed said foreign leaders and dignitaries.  #epicfail  To make matters worse, he also began announcing on some of those same trips that America was no longer a Christian nation.  Um, excuse me?  Go back to your Kenyan hut, you moron!

Sometimes when you were a kid and your parents did things that you were told not to do, it kind of made you mad, didn't it?  Well, unfortunately over the past four years, Michelle and Barack have tried to act like the parents of the USA.  Telling us what to eat and drink and how to raise our children.  Also, telling all of us that at some point we've earned enough money.  Ya don't say?  Newsflash: Obama is a millionaire.  YEP.  He's an evil rich person; however, he didn't build any businesses on his own, either.  No, he hasn't ever held a nine to five job in his life.  Progressive much?

Last but definitely not least, there was the one with Queen Elizabeth.  Yeah, remember when he 'royally' screwed up the toast?  Leave it to our dear leader to keep yammering away while the song  'God Save the Queen' played.  Here is the painful you tube video as a reminder.

Now I know that A LOT of things have happened since Obama was elected and that we are all on information overload, but I just thought that in the midst of it all we could take a trip down memory lane together.  I realize that this is not really 'owning the narrative' and it's definitely not 'pwning the narrative', but this is just my coping mechanism for dealing with so much STUPID the last three and a half years.  Forgive me.

I also know that Mitt Romney was not our first choice as a Republican candidate, but this election is not really about electing Mitt.  It's about voting Obama OUT.  Stay tuned for part two...



Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Choose Cruz for U.S. Senate

Okay, you probably don't need my input on this, but I'm going to go ahead and give it to you anyway.  If you live in Texas and you haven't lived under a rock for the past year, you know the top race in the upcoming Republican runoff is the U.S. Senate race.  The two candidates for the choosing are Ted Cruz and David Dewhurst.  Listen up and I'll let you in on how to vote on July 31.

TED CRUZ.  It's that simple.  If you want a real conservative to go to Washington to represent Texas the way it should be represented, vote for Ted Cruz.  I have followed this race and listened to both candidates and feel that Cruz is the clear choice.  There is such a stark difference between the two candidates that it is amazing to me.  On one hand, you have the establishment Republican candidate in David Dewhurst.  He has been the lieutenant governor for Texas for a while now.  Listen to his ads about himself and what do you really find out about him?  His dad was a bomber pilot.  Yep, that's it.  Not very telling when you are trying to decide who to vote for.  Although he has been more than happy to trash his opponent and cut his attack ads to fit his anti-Cruz narrative.  Would you expect anything less from a man who is backed by lobbyist and special interest groups?  Seems to me with the dawn of the tea party movement and 'grassroots' campaigns being all the rage, you would want to go that route, but not Dewhurst.  Read my lips: big government style politicians are OUT!

Moving on to Ted Cruz.  He is the exact opposite of Dewhurst.  He represents all that the tea party movement has been crying out for from candidates and representatives.  He has been able to reach out to the youth and to Libertarians; something that the Republican party is refusing to do but should.  That speaks volumes about him as a candidate and a person.  If you were to visit his campaign headquarters in Houston, you would see the cross section of society there united to help Ted get elected.   It's amazing.  The only people I see Dewhurst reaching out to are donors for more money.

From Ted's website you will see his record of fighting for our free market society, because, let's face it, socialism doesn't work!  He has also defended U.S. sovereignty.  I know that he feels  that we are not the world's police; that we shouldn't be involved in fighting other people's wars in all different countries and that we should pull out of the United Nations.  He is a believer in preserving religious freedom and defending life, to name a few.  He also believes in upholding the constitution as it's written by the founders.  He refers to it as the touchstone that we should return to as a country.  Hear, hear! 

Oh, and by the way, Texas Governor Rick Perry has manned up and said, adios, mofo, to the implementation of the ACA and it's overreach into Texan's wallets and lives.  You just have to wonder if Dewhurst were to get elected, would he have the backbone to stand up for what's best for Texas?  I KNOW Ted Cruz will.   So, please, on July 31st, cast a vote for the clear choice for U.S. Senate....Ted Cruz.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

I Got Nowhere Else To Go!

Right.  You may or may not recognize the title from a very popular movie, "An Officer and a Gentleman".  You know, the scene where Louis Gossett Jr. as 'Sgt. Foley' is playing the drill instructor and he is trying to convince Richard Gere, or 'Mayo' to quit the naval flight academy?  It's at the tail end of this scene where Mayo blurts out the real reason for his intention to stay with the program.  "I got nowhere else to go!"  I have always loved that movie but it never held any special meaning to me until I got involved in politics.  All of a sudden that quote had a dual meaning which was shown to me by my two good friends Felicia Cravens and James Yaklin.  They have shared this as an inside joke for a while, and it fits when you compare it to ones own political involvement.

Folks on the outside looking in may suggest that you 'leave' the arena of politics when you express your frustration over said representative voting a certain way.  Or maybe you are  dealing with the local party affiliate when they aren't transparent enough for you with their finances and that's making you furious. Heh.  Quit, your friends say.  Why are you doing this anyway?  Politics is brutal, they'll tell you.  Even after they have shared their counsel which seems pretty cut and dry to them, you shrug it off and move on.  You think, they just don't understand!  Or, if only the people around me would just listen to me bitch some more, it will change things, just wait!  Only then, after leaving a meeting or a gathering of patriots where you may have had this conversation, it hits you.  You got nowhere else to go!

Now, let's take this quote a step further.  Think about our country.  The good ole US of A.  She's been there for us, right?  Let's be honest, she's been there for the world.  For 236 years, to be exact as of yesterday.  We have been a light in the darkness; a beacon on a hill...all for freedom.  Okay, so we celebrated freedom yesterday, what's your point, Political Chicken?  I'm saying that I'm concerned about our freedoms, guys.  I'm concerned that if we lose all of our freedoms, 'we' got nowhere else to go.


Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 4th of July, ya'll!

Ah, hello there!  You're back for more from the mind of the Political Chicken?  You must be sick!  Ha!  I have been thinking and praying about the SCOTUS decision on the ACA or better known as Obamacare.  Such a misnomer since Obama doesn't care!  Ugh!  But I digress.

Like some of you, I was on Twitter and in front of the television listening and waiting with baited breath to hear the verdict on this monstrosity of a bill.  I had listened to several different talk radio shows and read many different blogs and opinion pieces and had my own opinion about how the SCOTUS ruling was going to come down.  Almost NONE of the opinions I had heard prior said that the whole entire bill would be ruled as constitutional.  No wait, scratch that.  NONE of the opinions said that Chief Justice Roberts and the four other justices who decided with him would act as legislators from the bench!  When the verdict was read, I thought like many of you, hurray, the individual mandate has been struck down!  Then not two seconds later, that feeling of elation was followed by a feeling of betrayal and panic and then depression.  How could they?  I just kept thinking that and still occasionally that thought will enter my mind.  Or better yet, how could he?  By my estimation, Chief Justice Roberts could have killed what is known as the great American experiment last Thursday.  Just. like. that.

Now, whether or not Roberts was bullied into changing his mind at the last moment or however he came to his decision doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.  It is what it is.  Like many of you, I am wondering what do we do now?  What's next for America?  What's next for my family and yours?  I personally have a young family, three children under the age of nine.  What's in store for them?  Will they know the freedoms that I knew as a child or will they be entrenched in a war to get their freedom back?  I pray it's not the latter. 

That's where the tea party and an involved citizenry come into the picture.  I have been involved for the past three years or so, which isn't very long, but it sure feels like it!  Now is when we need an army of conservative warriors.  No, not the kind with bullets and guns, but the kind armed with information and the willingness to get off the couch and make some phone calls for your favorite candidate and knock on doors to get others involved and engaged.  (Okay, I'll let you sit on the couch and make phone calls.)

I would like to share a link with you to show how important it is to talk to your neighbors about what's happening to the world as we know it.  Click here to read about how uninformed we really are.
I personally was like those people three years ago, before Obama got elected.  Now, sadly, politics is my life, my world and where I have made most of my friends, which is the good part, of course.  I can't imagine anyone not caring about what the Supreme Court had to say about the health care bill.  I love my country, I love my family and I love my freedom.  I will not sit idly by while some supreme court justice with an agenda rips all of those things away from me.

On a more personal note, for those of us looking for the proverbial 'silver lining' on this decision, here it is.  Perspective.  I hope this puts into perspective all of the things that are truly important in life.  In order of importance for me are my personal relationship with God, which has been neglected I must confess, my husband and my children and my immediate family.  Freedoms definitely rank as well.  So this fourth of July, enjoy a slice of watermelon, a hot dog and some fireworks.  Hug your kids and kiss your spouse and thank God for all that you have.  Happy Fourth, ya'll from the Political Chicken!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Everything is Meaningless...

Oooh, here's more from inside the mind of the Political Chicken!  Surgeon General warns: Enter at your own risk...oh, whatever!  In my blog post titled 'Happy Father's Day', I quoted a scripture verse and I said it could "blow the proggies and greenies out of the water'.  Well, as long as you believe that God created the earth, that he spoke it into being and are a believer in Christ and trust His word.  I would like to revisit that scripture and explain what I was talking about.  This is just a scratch on the surface opinion on the whole global warming-hole in the ozone-we must recycle-mantra.  Take it or leave it.

Genesis 1:27-28 says:
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."  .."Fill the earth and subdue it."  The word 'subdue' really strikes a chord with me.  Defined by Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, the word subdue means to conquer and bring into subjection and/or to bring into cultivation, as land.  I think those two definitions go hand in hand.  This scripture tells us that God gave us the power to be in control of the land; of the earth.  He gave us the soil to plant food and trees so we could nourish our bodies with the food and the oxygen produced by the plants and the trees.  All of these things are seen as good by God.  The next part of the scripture is to Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.  Wow.  Amazing.  God also told us to rule over the fish and the birds and creatures that move on the ground, not worship them.  I'm guessing that's not a lesson taught in the public school system anymore.  We are now taught to worship the earth and the animal inhabitants.  We live in a world where an abandoned or abused dog or cat has more worth than the life of an unborn human baby.  How upside down is that?  We are taught to recycle because the landfills are getting full with our trash.  We are also challenged on using more than one square of  toilet paper....Sheryl Crow.  See the difference in the world's message and God's message? 

And according to Al 'Shakra' Gore, you know, the guy who invented the internet?  Uncle Al says the polar ice caps are melting, global warming is real, yada, yada.  To quote a lyric from the BareNaked Ladies, "the water's getting warm, so you might as well swim".  Ha!  Take that, Al!

The nail in the coffin to all of this green agenda being shoved down our throats is this:
The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters-Psalm 24:1-2.  People, the earth is the Lord's!  It's not ours, it's HIS.  Yes, we are to be good stewards of it, but there is a balance to be had within the stewardship.  The world is His, too.  Why?  He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.  The Lord has destroyed the earth before; remember Noah and his ark?  At the point that God decided to destroy the earth with the flood waters, there was nothing the people could do to stop Him. Just as today, no amount of conserving or recycling or burning of styrofoam or use of aerosol cans is going to either preserve the length of life for our planet, nor destroy it sooner than it was supposed to be.  God knows when it will happen.  It's all in His timing, not ours. 

Finally, remember friends, a quote from our favorite book Ecclesiastes, "..Meaningless!  Meaningless!" says the Teacher.  "Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless."  What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?  Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.  The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.  The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.  All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full.  To the place the streams come from, there they return again.  All things are wearisome, more than one can say.  They eye has never enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.  What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.  And all of God's children say...AMEN!

Monday, June 18, 2012

As Iron Sharpens Iron...

In Proverbs 27:17, it says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."  This is something that can definitely be applied to the church, but what about to the realm of politics?  I personally think it can be.  I may have shared with you my humble beginnings in politics, but let me expound on them again, and you can see what I'm talking about.

Until the 2008 TARP package I had never picked up the phone to call my U.S. Representative, let alone the White House.  One September day, in 2008, all of that changed.  I was actually on hold to speak to someone in the White House.  I was freaking out, wondering what business little 'ol me had calling the POTUS.  Little did I know, I had every right to call.  I am a wife, a mom, a teacher to my own children, a taxpayer and at that time, I was a full time volunteer for pregnancy help centers.  I have always had morals and wanted to 'do the right thing', felt that abortion was wrong, and still do, and definitely didn't want the government in my personal business.  Although at the time, I didn't realize that they were in my business or that there was a potential for them to be.  I am also not a student of history and I feel that has been a detriment to me as my political involvement has grown.  Knowing how other presidents and administrations behaved in the past would have been useful, I'm sure, but, nevertheless, I got involved heavily.  Dare I say I've 'evolved' since my first Tea Party Rally on Tax Day, 2009.

I became engaged and involved in local Harris County Republican Party politics, thinking of myself as a staunch Republican.  Voting for someone because the person had the proverbial 'R' beside their name and doing no investigating beyond that.  Shameful, isn't it?  Then I got involved  with Houston Tea Party Society and Katy Tea Party Patriots and started listening to what all of their members were talking about.  It wasn't about party affiliation or social issues.  It was about liberty! At one of the many meetings I have attended, I heard someone say, "Liberty is messy."  I didn't understand what that meant at first, but now, I think I get it.

I have been 'sharpened' by the Liberty Movement, by the members involved and the 'new media'.  My opinions and viewpoints have changed dramatically since that day I picked up the phone to dial the White House.  I am now able to look at the bigger picture instead of having tunnel vision.  I used to shudder when someone said the word Libertarian or "Ron Paul is the man'.  I'm not a follower of Ron Paul, but I don't think that if someone is, that it automatically makes their viewpoint invalid.  I don't think that all of his ideas are terrible, so why does the vast majority of what my friend, Felicia Cravens refers to in this blog as 'Party Regulars' always shudder at the mention of his name?  Why do we dismiss those who do support him as 'Nutters' or 'Paul Bots' and subsequently dismiss any other candidate they may support because of their Love for Ron Paul?  I'll be totally honest, I used to feel that way, but I guess since I recently supported candidates who do support Ron Paul, there was this 'guilt by association', and it really has bothered me....obviously.  Not so much the association part, but the thought that I would become irrelevant to the conversation, too.  Loving liberty shouldn't make you irrelevant to any political conversation.  Liberty shouldn't be a scary principle.  Liberty doesn't mean, "I support Ron Paul". Liberty is NOT a dirty word.


I think if  we as conservatives would listen to each others ideas and viewpoints we really could 'sharpen' each other.  The Party Regulars, the Liberty Warriors and the Part Time Republicans all have something to add to the political conversation we are having.  We are in no shape as a nation to silence  anyone.  Liberty IS messy, but isn't liberty worth fighting for?  Our founding fathers thought so....

*I wrote this last year for my own personal blog, The Political Chicken, and it had the second highest views when the blog reached the one year anniversary or birthday.  I stand by this blog.  I embrace this blog and the words I wrote.  I don't do it because I'm a fantastic writer or for any other reason than that I love freedom and liberty.  I don't think that titles, unless you are completely ideologically opposite of me, should get in our way. 

Friday, June 15, 2012

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Dads!  I feel that I am a very fortunate lady because I had a great father as a girl.  Sadly, he passed away about eighteen years ago, but his memory and his legacy live on in my heart and my soul.  So, thank you, Daddy.  I also have a neat father-in-law who was a great father to my husband and is now a great grandpa to my kids.  I am blessed to  have a great husband who is a great dad to our children.  Lots of great, right?  Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment this Father's day to discuss the traditional role of what a father does and is in the family. 

Too often in society, we dismiss the need for a father to make a family complete.  We are hit over and over by advertisements that continually make Dads look stoopid and incompetent.  Enough of that already!  That is not how God intended it!  God created a man and a woman in order for them to come together to create children in order to populate the earth.  Let's begin at the beginning...

Genesis 1:27-28 says:
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it.  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

I could really use just this one scripture to put the proggies and the greenies out to pasture, couldn't I?  Oh, well, another day.  Happy Father's Day to them too.

I also really love Psalm 127 to describe the Christian household.  Not only is the father important to the make up of the family unit, this says to me that he is vital.  It reads:
"Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.  In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-for he grants sleep to those he loves.  Now get ready, here is the 'Father's Day part.'  Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him.  Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.  They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies at the gate.

Wow!  Doesn't that just blow you away?  It also blows away this theory that families should only have two children and if you have any more that that, you must be nuts...or Catholic.  God said, blessed is the man whose family or quiver is full of them; meaning children.  The Lord delights in large families, he does not mock them or despise them as we do in our society. 

One of the other scriptures that comes to mind is one of the ten commandments found in Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."   So that you may live long.  Take a moment to let that soak in.  You know, back in the days of the Old Testament, if you acted up or even looked at your parents cross-eyed, you were in serious trouble.  There were consequences for misbehaving!

So, children, this Father's Day, please behave!  From the Political Chicken, I hope that you all have a marvelous Father's Day and I hope I've helped put a more Biblical perspective into your day of the importance of your Dad and the traditional family.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Principles Before Incumbents...

Welcome back to the world of the Political Chicken.  It's been a few days since my last blog post, and I am going through withdrawals.  I'm a chicken when it comes to politics and voicing my opinion...yeah right; and the moon is made of green cheese.  At any rate, I'm back to share more from inside the hen house. 

Now, I know normally, you'd hear the line principles before party.  That's where I was headed, but I took a right turn somewhere in my thought process.  Forgive me.   I'm a right winger and the party I align myself with has begun to disappoint me with their actions.  Their attitude of 'wait your turn to run' style politics or 'what have you done lately for the party' is getting us nowhere.  I still consider myself new to the world of politics and over the past month or so have found myself questioning whether we really and truly put principles before party or incumbents, for that matter.

For example, I have begun to push my own self outside of my political comfort zone, if you will.  I used to be afraid to step outside of my neat little conservative box and afraid not to vote for the person with the incumbent 'i' beside their name.  Now, don't get me wrong, you aren't going to find me voting in a Democratic primary or anything like that, but some of the actions from within our own local party as I mentioned earlier have left me with some doubts; and, darn it, I want to know, without a doubt how willing my incumbent Republican representatives are going to be to stand up for my conservative principles?  Are they going to be willing to stick their neck out and make an unpopular vote if it's the right thing to do?  Are they going to do what they say or are they just giving lip service?  Or, have they been in their seat too long and have they been too corrupted by special interest groups to be anything other than a puppet?  I am of the mind now that if you are the incumbent, you must work for your seat.  I don't mean just at election time.  I mean all the time.

Another little pet peeve of mine is this idea that simply because the challenger to the incumbent has little to no experience as a politician or has never run for office before, the general public refuses to give them a fighting chance.   Again, I speak from experience as someone who held this view.  Lets face it, all of the people who have been elected to represent us had to start somewhere.  Whether or not the person's experience comes from growing up around politics, working as staffers for other representatives or it comes from a small business background or in the medical field, I think that if the person has something to offer they should be considered. I don't think that this makes someone a 'flash in the pan' person for the political landscape. 

I'm sick and tired of the same old rhetoric from the conservative local party.  Let's look at the definition of the word conservative.  In the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary it defines conservative in about four different ways, but one that caught my eye is this one: Disposed to maintain existing institutions or views; opposed to change.  Ha! I can definitely think of a few folks who fit that description and I was one of them.  We can't be opposed to change; and no I don't mean the kind of 'hopey changey' thing you are thinking of...  If something is broken at your house, you fix it, right?  Why would the political landscape be any different?   









Thursday, May 10, 2012

Help! What do these people do, anyway?

Hello out there in cyber-land!  The Political Chicken is back!  Back to share more information and to spout off about whatever is happening within the local political realm, mainly Harris County...cue soapbox!  LOL!

This is a brand new blog, spanking new, you might say. You might also say I've already ruffled some feathers!  Did you see what I just did there?  Just keeping you on your toes!

Back in 2009, myself along with some other concerned moms formed a group called Katy Mommy Patriots.  We had a mission statement and everything; it was great!  Although Katy Mommies are technically not an official organization anymore, while we were still a group, we put together a few projects in hopes to help out the lay voter to make up their minds about candidates before they got to the polls.  Well, I'm bringing it back to share it with all of you!  Sweet of me, isn't it?

First is a document called, 'Who Are These People?'  Just a basic job description of local elected officials in Harris County.  I don't know about you, but keeping track of what the District Clerk does versus the County Clerk does can make my head hurt.  So we put together a guide to help keep all of it straight.  Your welcome!

The next project was one called 'How to Vet a Candidate' and it is also a great resource on different ways to gather information to make an informed decision on who to vote for.  The two worked really well together, actually.  I hope you find both of them helpful.

Well, that's it for this edition of the Political Chicken.  Stay tuned, there's sure to be more happenings in the hen house! 

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

We Need New Representation in House District 132

Welcome back to the mind of the Political Chicken.  Why the title, Political Chicken?  I am normally shy about sharing my honest opinion with others.  Shocking, isn't it?  And, as stated in my first blog post, I don't normally try out new things; maybe it's a fear of the unknown.  Well, bring on the unknown, baby!  It's time to 'molt' out of our comfort zone and try out new representatives for size. 

For example, this primary election cycle, there is a challenger to Bill Callegari in Texas house District 132.  Bill is a nice man and has been the representative for House District 132 for ten years.  I have met him several times, but only recently with the dawn of the tea party movement.  He's a rather quiet, laid back man and that's fine.  But I am looking for someone with a spark inside of them, and if you are too, then look no further than his challenger Randy Brown.  Don't take my word for it, let Mr. Callegari's voting record during the 82nd legislative session speak for itself, shall we?

Mr. Callegari says he's conservative, but actions speak louder than words.  Just last year he received a conservative rating of 32% from Texas Eagle Forum.  Last time I checked, 32 is an 'F'.   Something else that is noteworthy; upon looking at Mr. Callegari's website, he has listed Texas Eagle Forum as an endorser of his.  So, like any good blogger would do, I called Texas Eagle Forum to verify.  Upon speaking with their parliament, they said, no, that they had not endorsed ANY candidates this cycle and that they had not even spoken to Mr. Callegari.

He also favored federal encroachment on Texas sovereignty and to expand government bureaucracy, favored new laws infringing on personal liberty and law enforcement abuse for the purpose of raising government revenue through fines and fees; all found under HB 243, HB 1395, HB 2678 and HB 882.  Folks, this is the kind of stuff the tea party has been railing against since it's inception!

If you're a small business owner, you may find it interesting that Representative Callegari was  also in favor of more regulation on businesses and the reduction of private sector competition.  This does not fit within the parameters of the tea party philosophy.  The tea party is about limited government, and encouraging the free market system, not stifling it.  He also voted against Texas' 10th amendment rights. Seriously?  State's rights?  With the political climate we are in, with the federal government breathing down our necks as states and individuals?  Come on, that's a no brainer, especially in TEXAS!   This next one caught my attention since I have personally volunteered for Parental Rights.org; he favored legislation that reduced parental rights, individual rights and increased power to educational bureaucrats.  Mr. Callegari also voted to raid the rainy day fund HB1. He was also not supportive of religious liberties on SB 7.

You may ask, why am I picking on Mr. Callegari?  I'm not.  I just think that we should all know our representatives.  We should really know who we are electing to represent us and then vote our conscience.  He has a voting record as OUR representative, and if the votes that I have shared with you don't measure up to what you were expecting from Mr. Callegari, then I urge you to vote for Randy Brown.

Randy Brown is a newcomer to the scene of politics, but don't let that get in your way of voting for him.  To be quite honest, I wasn't totally sold on him at first either.  It took me some time to listen to him and get to know him before I decided that I would support him.  He has shown time and time again that he has the backbone that we need to stand up for what's right.  Randy has a young family and he works hard for them.  He's one of us.  He's never run for office before and that's okay with me.  (Insert groans of those who want 'experience'.)  Randy is the kind of guy to stand up to the entrenched establishment.  He's the guy you want fighting for your rights and keeping the cronies at bay in the Texas House of Representatives.

So, git along, little doggies!  Ya!  Get out to those polls and pull the lever for Randy Brown on May 29th, 2012.  We don't want the same old 'few' folks who turn out to control the results of the elections, do we?  The time is now!