Rule By Popularity and Media Hype

What has the media focused on since Obama has come to office? Well, first of all, they seem obessessed with how it has affected racial issues. Does anyone really believe that 100 days is enough time for any change to really take effect on a national level? Let’s be serious. Local change can occur at that pace. National change, that is real change, merely by the design of government, takes much longer.

Of course, the Huffington Post believes that we need another 100 days to judge Obama’s foreign policy. Why? After all, we didn’t seem to need that during the Bush administration.

Maybe it’s because most of Obamam’s nominees aren’t on the job yet. But, that doesn’t really make sense.

He has announced and nominated roughly as many as Bill Clinton had by this point in his tenure and slightly more than George W. Bush had. But Mr. Bush held over more officials from Mr. Clinton’s administration than Mr. Obama has from Mr. Bush’s, so Mr. Bush on his 100th day had more confirmed officials on duty – 75 to Mr. Obama’s 48.

President Bush was more pragmatic about getting real work done than President Obama? Who would have thought that would be published in the New York Times!

But, I guess the true reality of what the media is reporting about President Obama is that people are not satisfied. He hasn’t done enough to change racial divides. He hasn’t done enough to get his cabinet working properly. This doesn’t even begin to touch the issues resulting from bad cabinet picks (tax issues), bad decision making (747 flyovers in new York), and all the other scandals the media is going all out to down play. In the end, his popularity isn’t all that great. Did you know that at the end of his first 100 days, Obama’s popularity is lower than for the last 40 presidents after their first 100 days? That’s what a new Gallup Poll reveals:

President Obama's media cheerleaders are hailing how loved he is. But at the 100-day mark of his presidency, Mr. Obama is the second-least-popular president in 40 years.

The only one less popular was Bill Clinton, due to the Waco raid. Even George W. Bush was more popular after his first 100 days than Barak Obama.

(…now, there is some serious food for though...)

Wednesday Hero: Sgt. Kenneth G. Ross

This Week's Post Was Suggested & Written By Mary Ann

Sgt. Kenneth G. Ross
24 years old from Tucson, Arizona
7th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment
September 25, 2005


"He believed in serving his country," said Ross' father, David C. Ross. Gary Anderson, Ross' best friend and an Army infantry veteran who served nine months in Afghanistan and 11 months in Iraq during his active duty stint, was a classmate of Ross at Marana's Mountain View High School. "You know, I heard this news of Ken and I broke down and cried hysterically," said Anderson, now a firefighter for the Ak-Chin Indian Community in Maricopa. "He loved everyone; everyone who came in contact with him loved him. He'd always help everyone out that he could."

A 1999 graduate of Mountain View, Ross played drums in the marching band and orchestra, his father said. Ross enlisted in the Army right after graduation. "He just wanted to take part in history," Anderson said.

At the time of his death, he was a helicopter mechanic — acting as a door gunner on his last mission, his father said. SSgt. Ross was killed when his helicopter went down southwest of Deh Chopan, Afghanistan. Also killed in the crash were Sgt. Shawn A. Graham, Warrent Officer Adrian B. Stump, Sgt. Tane T. Baum, Chief Warrent Officer 2 John M. Flynn and Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart.

Along with his father, SSgt. Ross is survived by his mother, Mary Ross, 57, and his sister, Stephanie Ross, 30. "I know his last thoughts were for everybody else and not for himself," Anderson said. "I know he wanted to make sure everybody was safe and would go home."

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Wednesday Hero: Leonel Yanex

Operations Specialist 3rd Class Leonel Yanez


Operations Specialist 3rd Class Leonel Yanez (Right), from Huntington Park, Calif., monitors a radar screen in the Combat Direction Center aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). John C. Stennis is on a scheduled six-month deployment to the western Pacific Ocean.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Meet Twister!

I have been off line for a week. For those regular readers, I apologize. We got a dog—well, actually a puppy. We’ve been promising the kids that once we bought a house, we would get a dog. Well, having bought said house last fall, you can imagine what the kids have been asking for. Up until last week, though, they could not agree on what kind of dog. My wife and kids went to a local pet store to get shells for our hermit crabs. As they walked in, there was this dog. All five of them said, “Oh! Look at that face!” So…meet Twister!



He is part Rhodesian Ridgeback and part Australian Shepherd. Fortunately for us, he has the size of an Australian Shepherd, with the MONSTER bark of a Ridgeback. He thinks he is about twice as big as he really is. He is incredibly smart. Once he knows something is OK, he never worries about it again.

Twister is also a rescue. Only about 10 months old, he has already been through two homes, and several surgeries. Due to complications inherent in Ridgebacks (aka Dermoid sinus, which is particularly problematic for Rhodesian Ridgebacks), his original family could not afford to keep him. We got him from the Texas Independent Rhodesian Ridgeback Rescue (petsmart link), after they took care of the botched treatment of the problem. We have been working hard to help Twister understand that he is part of our family.

For the last week, nearly everything we have done has been an adjustment for him. Everything from playing ball (which took two days for him to start) to getting in the car (he wrestled out of his collar the first two times) has been a fearful experience for him. But, he is finally acting like a puppy—all ten months of him. And, it’s like having a little child all over again. He is now wrestling and nipping and playing, just like he should be.

If you’re thinking of getting a dog, I recommend adopting a rescue. Just be careful. Do your due diligence and check out not just the dog’s history, but the organization you are getting it from.

For my part, if you get a chance, donate to this wonderful organization.
In Texas: T.I.R.R.R. (petsmart link)
Nationally: Rhodesian Ridgeback Rescue, Inc. (USA and Canada)

Wednesday Hero--PFC Alan R. Blohm

Pfc. Alan R. Blohm
21 years old from Kenai, Alaska
425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division
December 31, 2006


Alan R. Blohm enlisted in the Army in 2004 because "He wanted to serve the country," his brother Jeremy said. "His grandfather had been in the Army, and it's just something he wanted to do."

Blohm graduated in 2004 from Bay City Western High School, where he was a 250-pound defensive player for the football team. Blohm's size prompted coach Jim Eurick to nickname him "Biggins Blohm," his brother recalled. "I know he paid the ultimate sacrifice with his life," Mark Boileau, Blohm's former school Principal, said. "We know Alan will be in a better place because of the sacrifice he made, because of his love for our country."

PFC. Blohm died of wounds suffered when an IED detonated near his unit while on combat patrol in Baghdad Besides his brother, he leaves behind his parents and a younger sister.

Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com & The Iraq Page

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Wednesday Hero - Medal Awards Ceremony

Spc. Jeffrey Scantlin, Sgt. 1st Class Erich Phillips, Sgt. John Hayes, 1st Lt. Aaron Thurman, Sgt. Hector Chavez and Spc. Tyler Hanson
2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment


In the early morning hours of July 13, 2008, Soldiers from Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment were not thinking about medals as they fought off roughly 200 insurgents attacking their vehicle patrol base in Afghanistan.

No Soldier in combat does.

The Army, however, takes pause afterward to honor those who distinguish themselves in battle and recognizes them before their peers.

Read the rest of the story.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.