Why Republican

"I'm 63 and I am Tired"
by Robert A. Hall
cid:001501cae34b$4932aa70$6101a8c0@JEAN


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 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, 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.