Why we are Tired

[Judy Harder]

  "I'm 63 and Im Tired" by Robert A. Hall

  I'm 63. 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 in 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" 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 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 for Christian people of Iran , and the freedom of
  speech of Venezuela .

  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 Christian 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 tells them to.

  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 U.S.. 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 thinks 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 mandrassa
  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, or 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.

  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.

  There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us
  sends it on!
  This is your chance to make a difference.