Rep. Pete Stark (D-California), made outrageous statements yesterday.  Those comments are a matter of congressional record and can be seen here (video). 

Mr. Stark implied that the president derives amusement from the death of our soldiers.  He said the president was lying.  All of this stemmed from a hissy fit over a vito of the CHIP bill  a health care plan for impoverished childrent. 

I have to say that the CHIP program is a good thing.  Children need health care.  Where do we draw the line, however?   I see it this way.  It all depends on the cost of living in different areas.  This is why states are better suited to manage these types of programs and not the federal government.  An across the board coverage just doesn't work for all areas.  

Where I live.  $25 - $30k per year should be the maximum.  The cost of living in this area allows for income at $30k and up to be able to afford health insurance.  My grandparents live in Iowa where $30k per year is a dream job.  In other areas like, say, Orange County, California, the limit should be higher.  Maybe the cost of living in that area makes 85k per year a reasonable amount.  You can't get a two bedroom house in a decent neighborhood for less than half a millin dollars there.  It boils down to local economy.

Here is the problem I have with programs like CHIP.  I don't like that it is the Federal Government funding the program.  Each state should have its own program.  We should not be relying on the Federal Government for this.  There is a solution out there and if people would turn to their state governments instead of the federal government, they would find it a lot quicker. 

For folks who scream and yell about "big brother" all the time, they sure do want to put all the power in the hands of our Federal Government and rely on the Federal Government to take care of their every need.  Liberals, you can't have it both ways.  If you want to have the government take care of you, they then feel that they should be able to monitor you as well.  It is a natural progression.  If you don't want "big brother" out to get you, don't let the Federal Government be so gargantuan!

And this brings me back to Mr. Stark.  Wow!  Talk about someone out of touch with reality!  Is this someone who has any business making laws?   I think not.  The worst part about this is that he knows what he said is not true.  He and others like him are undermining the war effort.  They are doing everything they can to bring the President as low as possible.

Why would they do such a thing?  Is it because they think the President is a bad, evil man?  No.  They don't think that.  It is because the President stands in the way of their power play.  They want all the power, all the money and no press on how they do it. 

They want to take the voice away from grass-roots organizations so that we, the people, don't know what is going on.  If they had their way, sites like TownHall.com would no longer be able to exist.  Does anybody realize how close they were to being able to strong-arm radio shows, internet sites, and churches out of existence? 

The very same people who lie to you and tell you they want your rights upheld and claim that human rights are so valuable want to take rights away from the people who do not agree with their socialist agenda. 

Mr. Stark,  I think people are onto the ruse of the left wing loonies like yourself.  Your insanity is showing, sir, and it doesn't seem that you can hide it any longer.

It is a slow day here in Tatum, Texas at the Back Porch Barbershop.  I am in my small office area, and my son is on the futon next to me snoring away.  The poor kid has Asthmatic Bronchitis and this is the second day of school that he has missed.  Hang on.. Customer...


Okay, I'm back.  The main point of this opening bloc is a positive one.  I have been watching the different news networks, talking to my customers, and getting to understand that, despite the liberal doomsdayers in our media, the heartbeat of America is still strong.  To demonstrate this, I want to point some things out and give an idea of where I stand, and what customers, friends and family are saying about issues. 

First:  The war in Iraq. 
1.  Most reasonable people, at least in this area, believe that there were WMD's in Iraq at one point and were moved.  For pete's sake, they had 12 years to remove them. 

2.  The Iraqi military committed acts of war regularly by firing upon U.S. military aircraft on a regular basis.  Thankfully, the Iraqi army soldiers couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. 

3.  What better place for staging a war on terror than in the midst of the terrorists?

4.  Yeah, we hate seeing our soldiers die.  We don't' like seeing innocent men, women, and children die in Iraq either.  What would we hate to see even more than that?  Another tragedy the likes of 9/11.  (Veterans and non-veterans alike seem to agree on this)

The consensus:  This is all over the board, even in a small, conservative, Texas town.

Celebrity News
Most of us find this an interesting distraction.  We enjoy seeing people who deem themselves so great falling on their faces.  However, we also want to see them lead a good life.  The thing is, we don't want to be hammered by the major networks with celebrity news.  That is why we have tabloids.  Please, keep the celebrity news out of your news alerts!  

Quote of the year by a customer:  "Most of those folks in Hollyweird are just trailer trash with lots of fame and fortune.  They are as bad as any bunch of rednecks I've ever seen, just take a look at the nutcases who fill the A-list."

I somewhat agree with what my very opinionated customer said here.  He had more to say, but I wasn't sure how to blog it without risking being banned, so I left it out and cleaned up the quote a bit.  But he is right.  You take someone from roots where the family never dealt with fame, fortune, press, and shove them into the limelight, give them a lot of money, then surround them with ideologues, and you will get people like Alec Baldwin, David Crosby, Michael Moore, Brittany Spears, etc.

The fame goes to their head, they feel as if they are more important than the really are, and the press encourages it.

The major consensus:  WHO CARES?!  sums it up nicely. 

Movies, T.V., and Music:
Weird.  Just weird!  What is up with this culture lately?  Television shows have been reduced to two subjects:  Sex, and homosexuality.  I watched a show on A.B.C. last night with my wife, some of you may have seen it too.  It is called Private Pracitce.  The episode I watched involved (I think) a 12 year old boy asking his buddy for a date.  Is it just me, or have they gone overboard in trying to push a homosexual agenda?

I watched a comedy show called Carpoolers, and It was very funny.  The main subject?  Sex.  It is a fun adult comedy.  Does it belong in such an early time slot?  Can they be funny without constantly going on about sex? 

The consensus: What is with this obsession over sex and homosexuality in the media industry?  Ratings maybe?  
 
The News Media
I'm not so sure where to start on this one.  Short and sweet I guess:  We don't care if you are first.  We don't want your opinions all the time.  We don't want bias, period.  This means NO BIAS, left or right.  We just want the truth, the facts, and honest reporting.  We want news!  Where is the news?  To hell with the editorials!  We are sick of editorials.  Just give us news. :)

"And that's all I got to say about that."
-Forest Gump

Consensus:  Yeah! 

Politics:
A note to politicians:  GET A CLUE!!! 

A customer and I were discussing the make-up of our House and Senate.  We discussed the supreme court, and we both agreed on one thing.  There are too many lawyers in both places! 

Where is the diverse representation of society that should be present in a representative republic.  Lawyers should only be a small part of what is represented in our government.  Where are the farmers, the bakers, the butchers, the IT people, etc? 

Folks, if you want to know what is wrong with our politicians, look at where they come from!  These men and women have spent years in liberal institutions, (yes, including the Republicans), and their judgement is clouded.  We have a senate that allows our judicial branch to legislate from the bench.  If they weren't almost all lawyers, they surely would have something to say about that, wouldn't they?  With the judicial branch gaining such absolute power over the law, who gets all the power?  The lawyers. 

Wake up and smell the coffee folks!  If you live in an area that is mostly farming, why would you want a lawyer representing you in the senate?  You would want a farmer there, right?  You would want someone with an idea of what the people actually want.  How can someone represent the people he/she is supposed to represent if they have no clue what those people want?

Stop electing politicians, and start pushing for people who actually have a clue about society and the real world. 

Consensus:  Where are the people who actually understand us in our government?
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Well, there is where I stand along with the opinions of most of my customers.  Granted, if I find someone with a converse opion to my own, there will be blogs on that in the future. 

God bless,

John Taylor
Master Barber