I meant to post this on July 4th, but with all of the holiday activities my family was involved in I just didn't have time to get to a computer. We are at an interesting time in our country's history and I want to share my thoughts on the holiday and what it means in this time of unrest.

• As I posted a long time ago now, the level of political discourse in this country has got to improve. The fact is, and I know my left-leaning friends don't want to hear this, it is just as much the fault of the Democrats as it is of the Republicans. It seems that our 2 parties would just rather fight than actually consider what might be in the best interests of our citizens. By the way I meant citizens...not illegal's, you can tell me all of the reasons they are here and how they want to improve their lives, etc, etc, etc, but it is all bullshit. They are here committing a crime, and for any of us to justify it is absolutely sick. We need to pack them all up and send them back to whatever country they came from. If you want to come to America, come here legally, otherwise get the hell out.
• Now to all of you Bush haters out there. I have stated on several occasions I am a conservative. I voted for Bush both times, but I recognize he has made some colossal screw-ups. At the same time, don't keep blaming Americans for voting for him, blame your own idiotic party for not being able to run a candidate more compelling than Al Gore or John Kerry. For all of his faults, Bill Clinton was and is the ultimate politician. He not only knew how to read the shifting political winds, he also knew how to connect to people. If the Democrats want to take over the presidency next year I think they really need to get behind Obama, rather than Hillary, because even though I don't support many of Obama's positions he has that same ability to connect to people.
• What bugs me about both parties is that they appeal to the extremist fringe and neglect the middle. A friend of mine who is left wing and I have lunch fairly often. While it is true we disagree on many things it is also true that we agree on many items. We spend so much time in this country looking at our differences that we neglect to focus on our areas of agreement. Polls show that the majority of people are somewhere in the middle. They may lean right on items like support for the military, but left on social issues, etc. I don't think most people could go strait down the line and would find themselves on one side for every major issue our country faces. 
• As I look at our country I want to make it clear that I am a conservative, not a Republican or a Democrat. I want to see the government tax us less, but in order to do that spending must be cut. Basically I want the government out of my life as much as possible. Unfortunately I see both major parties going in the opposite direction. They both want to make us dependent on them so we will continue to vote for them. Personally there are a great deal of enterprises I believe the government has no place in. Here's what I want the government to do. Keep up the infrastructure (roads, police, fire, mail), protect our shores (military), and stay the hell out of everything else. We have developed a culture that believes it is the government's job to take care of our needs. That is complete crap. It is our job to take care of ourselves.

OK, the political rant is over, now back to our normal programming.