a funny heard on the radio today

i was listening to the local morning drive radio show on the way in to work this morning. a caller delivered one of the funniest and truest lines i've heard in some time.
"if barack wins, the U.S. will become an Obamanation".
cracks me up.

my one and only BIG political rant of the season

first, let me say that rants are usually free form. when the brain kicks into hyper-drive, thoughts may become disjointed and fragmented. if that happens, sorry. but bear with me, because i really do have a point.

i have really worked hard to keep my posting about politics to a minimum this year, as i did during the last of the previous presidential election. the hateful and vituperative posts you find across the political spectrum around the blogosphere really turned me off. but i've been stewing over this for a long time, and i thought i'd get it out there, and get it over with.
first of all, it should come as no surprise to anyone that as a life member of the NRA, guns are important to me. i wrote a post years ago called Late Night Musings. the post and the responses are worth a read just to get a taste of what gun ownership means to me, and what responsibilities that ownership imparts. possession of the means to protect family, my home, and myself against those intent on doing harm is of paramount importance to me. many local police agencies have no legal liability to answer a 911 call (many cited articles, but here's one that is actually intelligently written, with little hyperbole here. it's a little dated, but there are many "fresher" citations available with a little search engine time)
(here's another.) what does this have to do with this presidential election?
one of my most favorite and frequent debater about politics this year has made the election into a single issue concern. well, she has others, but the main concern is that the next president will probably install at least two supreme court judges. her concern: overturning Roe v. Wade. yes, abortion rights are at the top of her concerns. so my turnaround argument is this: the next president is most likely going to install at least two supreme court judges. and the latest ruling from the court in Heller v. Washington D.C. which holds that private ownership of firearms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment. that decision was upheld by a vote of 5 to 4. 5 to 4. me, i am ambivalent about abortion. i really could give a rats ass what a woman does with her body before viability. sorry folks, but that's just the way it is. i've long held that anyone that is anti-abortion because of the sanctity of life, but pro capital punishment is either delusional about what sanctity means, or is a hypocrite. and vice versa. again, sorry if i'm stepping on toes, but there it is. i've been around for 54 years, and have learned to think for myself.
but taking away my right to own firearms?
consider the following: the dem contender has publicly stated that he sees no reason to own guns. of course, he's had to modify that a bit as the election draws to an end. but just look at his comments during a dinner in SF where he thought he was among like minded folk. his disdain for private gun ownership is evident in many of his early speeches (easy to find using a google search. go ahead, it won't take long). but even if he DID have a change of heart, the folks he would consider for judgeship will be drawn from the same pool he climbed out of. and in that pool, guns are BAAAAAAAD BAAAAAAAD BAAAAAAD, and all gun owners are criminals just waiting for the time and place to break the laws.
so if it's a single issue campaign, anyone that even considers abridging my rights as a law abiding citizen of this country to own and use guns is my single issue. i don't think any right minded, intelligent human being should base their decision on one and only one issue, but if push comes to shove, you've just read mine. the fact that the government is in a rapid slide to hard core socialism, with a "spreading around of the wealth" for example, frightening as it is, is not my primary concern. having a veto proof congress, with a president that travels in circles that think i'm a criminal, those concern me more. socialism may cost me money, but the other will cost me freedom.

meet corey the driller

first, there was Joe the plumber, and now: meet Corey the driller.

You see, Mr. Obama, I'm the guy you intend to raise taxes on. I'm the guy who has spent 25 years toiling and sweating, fretting and fighting, stressing and risking, to build a business and get ahead. I'm the guy who has been on the very edge of bankruptcy more than a dozen times over the last 25 years, and all the while creating more and more jobs for East Texans who didn't want to take a risk, and would not demand from themselves what I have demanded from myself. I'm the guy you characterize as "the Americans who can afford it the most" that you believe should be taxed more to provide income redistribution "to spread the wealth" to those who have never toiled, sweated, fretted, fought, stressed, or risked anything. You want to characterize me as someone who has enjoyed a life of privilege and who needs to pay a higher percentage of my income than those who have bought into your entitlement culture. I resent you, Mr. Obama, as I resent all who want to use class warfare as a tool to advance their political career. What's worse, each year more Americans buy into your liberal entitlement culture, and turn to the government for their hope of a better life instead of themselves. Liberals are succeeding through more than 40 years of collaborative effort between the predominant liberal media, and liberal indoctrination programs in the public school systems across our land.

read the whole letter, (and i really recommend you do) here.
hat tip to one of the newer submariner bloggers out there at Dare to Believe. thanks for the tip, Tom.

howdy from Cape Cod

great place, too damned much rain. great conference, though.
just checking in. i'm not dead.
pix from our trip to boston and now the cape after we get back to sunny kahleefornia