Chip's Blog

OK, folks, after a few days of hearing, from the sainted pundits on every freakin' news channel in existence, about questions raised by the pregnancy of Sarah Palin's OLDEST daughter, and what that says about both her  Mom's suitability as a parent and a Vice President, it's time to speak about Sarah Palin's YOUNGEST daughter, and what her behavior says about her mother's family values.

How many folks here were as touched as I was watching this young girl hold her infant brother?  How many other folks here smiled the smile only a loving parent can smile when she licked her hand and fixed this little boy's hair repeatedly?

How many of us asked ourselves, "Where did this little girl learn this love and compassion?"  I didn't.  As a father and parent, I knew exactly where she learned it.  She learned it from her mother.  You see, at that age, children are a reflection almost solely on their parents.  They do not experience adult rational thought.  They do not question the meaning of their activities. They mimick the behavior of their same sex parent.  When children become teenagers, they begin to differentiate and think on their own. They question the wisdom of their parents.  They rebel.  It's what teenagers do.  Got teenagers?  If you do, you know.

You see folks, the pregnancy of Bristol Palin is a reflection of her rebellion and not her mother's values alone, nor of her effectiveness as a Mom.  It's just not that easy.

But the behavior of that little girl is a direct reflection on her parents....

Where are the pundits this morning?

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, how decomposed does a dead horse have to get before the Democratic Party and the liberal media stops trying to saddle it?

Yes, folks, Iraq is a "dead horse".  The "surge" is working.  US casualties are down.  In fact, they are almost non-existent (OK, you namby pamby liberals here, I am not disrespecting wounded or dead American soldiers.  I'm making a factual and statistical observation.).  It's been a full month since the last reference to "The Triangle of Death"  has been made in a media story.  I even heard a Sunday pundit (not on Fox) acknowledge that "the surge" was successful.

But in a vain and futile attempt to secure the White House for the Democratic Party, Nancy Pelosi and her Merry Band of Pantywaists is playing games with funding our troops while they are being successful.

When is the rest of this country going to stand up and say, "Enough!  Stop using our valiant and selfless American soldiers (and sailors, Jengis) as pawns in your cheap and immoral political games"? 

Not often am I drawn to a political advertisement on TV.  In fact, if the truth be told, I basically hate them.  I form my ideas from debates, news articles (now the blogs like here), and some combination  of the above mixed with old Yankee values and some common sense.  I've basically already come to my "ranking" of candidates, from the one I will vote for , if allowed, down to the one(s) whom I wouldn't vote for if you held a gun to my head and cocked the hammer.  I'm already tired of the "soft" Hillary, as my wife calles it.  The Hillary who is supposed not to offend the women's vote by being too assertive (my wife's opinion distilled).  I've come to like Rudy's ad touting his successes as Mayor of New York.  He did a darned good job there...

But in the last few days, I have come to look forward to Mitt Romney's ad about family values.  It's almost like I used to be when that wizzened old woman used to say "Where's the beef?"  Mitt makes me feel importnat.  Mitt makes me feel like I'm doing something noble.  Mitt makes me feel like a hero, just for being at home and teaching the values my wife and I grew up on to our kids.  Teaching hard work and independence.  Teaching love of country and willingness to sacrifice.  Teaching the importance of education.  Teaching respect for God, and respect for man.

But most of all, that ad speaks to the importance of being a parent.  It has made me look back at being a husband and Dad, and it has made me look back at my Dad.  In oh so many ways I've tried to be like him.  In some ways, I've surpassed what he did.  In many ways, we were similar.  But the ways I come back to, those that define my greatest personal successes, and create my darkest moments, are the successes and failures I've had as a husband and a father.  That is the way he was too.

I guess I want to thank Mitt.  I know I've spent some time both supporting him and his candidacy here, and defending him against some nasty stuff said,  But this is different.

Thank you for reminding me that what matters most in life still matters most.

Soooooo, who else smells something rotten in Televangelismland?  Pat Robertson has come out and endorsed Rudy Guiliani.  On face value, this is not a bad choice.  Rudy is not on my "I'd prefer to eat liver than vote for him" list  t, Pat has long had two important issues on his platform.  First, he is staunchly anti-abortion.  Secondly, he is staunchly anti-gay.  Besides being "pro-God", Pat is as much these two as anything.

So why isn't he supporting Mitt Romney, whose politics and personal views conform more closely to Pat's agenda?  Why is he, instead, throwing his support behind a guy who disagrees with him on these two seminal issues?

I'm thinking it's the "Mormon" issue.  And I think that sucks.

As you may remember, I mentioned here that Duh-val Patrick had decided to veto portions of the Public Safety budget that provided for fire service programs. One of those vetoes was for the "SAFE Program", which funded firefighters going into schools and teaching elementary school students about home fire safety, appropriate self protection in event of fire and how to alert authorities. This program has been in effect for almost a decade, and has been extremely successful. For info:

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eopssubtopic&L=7&L0=Hom
e&L1=Public+Safety+Agencies&L2=Massachusetts+Department
+of+Fire+Services&L3=Department+of+Fire+Services&L4=Off
ice+of+the+State+Fire+Marshal&L5=Public+Education&L6=St
udent+Awareness+of+Fire+Education&sid=Eeops

At any rate, that particular veto was overridden. Here is an except from an email I received from a fire service organization I belong to:

"The votes are in and both the House and Senate have overridden the Governor's veto of SAFE. Passed in the House, 153 to 0 and the Senate 35 to 0!"

Our Governor got as much support for his lunacy as he deserves.