I'm tired...

[Henry Hawk]

                    "I'm  Tired"  by Robert A. Hall      


I'll be 63 soon.  Except for  one semester in college when jobs  were scarce, and a six-month period  when I  was between jobs but job-hunting every day,  I've  worked hard, since I was 18. Despite some  health challenges, I still put in 50-hour  weeks, and haven't called in sick for seven or eight years.  I make a good salary, but I  didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and  I'm tired.  Very tired.   

I'm tired  of being told that I have to "spread the wealth around" to people who don't have my work ethic.  I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.   

I'm tired  of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes."  Sure, if  they lost their jobs or got sick,  I'm willing to  help.  But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off,  $250,000  condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble, help them with their own money.   

I'm tired  of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore,  George Soros, and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers..  In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China , the crime and violence of Mexico, the  tolerance of Iran for Christian people, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela .  Won't multiculturalism be beautiful?   

I'm tired  of being  told that Islam is a "religion of  peace," when every day I can read  dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives  and daughters for their family "honor";  of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christians and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims  mutilating the genitals of little  girls, all in the name of Allah,  because the  Qur'an and Shari'a law tell them to.   

I  believe  "a man  should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of  his  skin."  I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't  matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative-action jobs, lower college admission and  graduation standards for  minorities (harming  them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts  minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois.   

I  think  it's  very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing  her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the  emancipation proclamation.  I just wish the  black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual, and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.   

I'm tired  of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time,  but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress;  that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his;  that slammed Palin, with two  years as governor, for being too inexperienced for  VP,  but touted Obama with three years as  senator as potentially the best president  ever.  Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions, or switching to Fox News? Get a clue.   I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but  the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.   

I'm tired  of being  told that out of "tolerance for other cultures"  we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic  schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue, or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.   

I'm tired  of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming,  which no one is allowed to debate.  My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green  enough.   

I'm tired  of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat  them, and pay for the damage they do.  Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them,  and stuff white powder up their noses while  they tried to fight it off?  I don't think gay people choose to be gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs.  And I'm  tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I  tell them I never tried marijuana.   

I'm tired  of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime.  What's next? Calling drug dealers, "undocumented pharmacists"?  And, no, I'm not against Hispanics.  Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion.  I'm willing to fast track for citizenship  any Hispanic person who can speak English,  doesn't have a criminal record and who is  self-supporting, without family on welfare,  or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the citizens we need.. 

I'm tired  of latte-liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves nor let their entitlement-handicapped  kids near a recruiting station, trashing our  military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life-and- death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves.  Do bad things happen in war?  You bet.  Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of  our enemies for the last fifty years and still are?  Not even close.  So here's the deal.  I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian.  Then we'll compare notes.  British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.   

I'm tired  of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption.  Read the papers - bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling  me we need bipartisanship.  I live in Illinois, where the "Illinois Combine" of  Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet, as well.   

I'm tired  of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers, and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting  caught.  I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.   

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned  homes, color TVs and two cars called poor.  The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor". The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.   

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions.   I'm  tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big whatever for their problems.   

Yes, I'm damn tired.  But I'm also glad to be 63. Because mostly,  I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making.  I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.   


Robert   A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who  served five terms in the   Massachusetts  State Senate.

[me]

Pretty well sums it up H H whether others here think so or not.