Memorial Day Weekend: A day when the occasional patriot runs for the sales event.

Its Memorial Day weekend, a weekend of remembrance to those who have served & serve in our military to protect our liberty & freedom, yet very few will actually do such a thing because they are too busy taking advantage of some sales event.

Why must every US holiday be commercialized, are we that Pavlovan to a Holiday sale?
I have a soft spot for our military, both retired and present. Maybe it was because I have had many family members serve in one form or other over many decades, but when it comes to days such as Pearl Harbor Day or Memorial Day, well they are sacred in my mind.

A quick history of Memorial Day, once called Decoration Day, can be traced back to May 5, 1868 and Major General John Logan, however it took 103 years till Congress declared the last Monday in May to be declared a national holiday.

“We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. ... Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.” - Major General John Logan



Incredible words yet many Americans will celebrate buy running to a car dealership or to hardware stores or department stores for sales events that mark the beginning of summer. Some may stop for a moment of silence, but that’s usually followed by “Gentlemen start your engines.”

So consumerism is the best way to celebrate those that have served to protect our nation, how about instead of spending money, donate that money to one of the many Veteran Organizations around our country. If you see a serviceman/woman, offer to buy them a drink, or simply thank them for their volunteered service.

It’s rather obnoxious when we celebrate such history knowing that if one spends $55 or more they can save 15% on the sale. Now that is Vulture Consumerism.

Just look at some of sales events by the major chains: Macy’s save 15%-20%, Cabella’s 20%-50%, and don’t forget the Victoria Secret 7/$26 on Pick Panty sale!

Not to mention that Memorial Day accounts for 15%-20% of total yearly auto sales. So go on down to Billy Bob Jimmy Jack’s Chevy dealer were a Salesman dressed as Uncle Sam just might tell you that your credit is just good enough to buy that overpriced/outdated Chevy Impala.

Then of course gas prices normally rise on Memorial Day weekend for the summer travel season. It was only a few months ago, the so called experts and Media were telling us we would be paying roughly $5/gallon, yet the over the past few weeks gas prices have dropped to an average $3.65/gallon.

Now I do need to mention that there are companies offering many deals and freebies to our Military, which to me is the correct path to follow.

Places from Tanger Outlets offering gift cards to Hooters Restaurants offering free meal deals to roughly over 1,600 Museums across the country offering free admission and Caribou Coffee’s buy one get one free.

Of course this is also the weekend that everyone feels patriotic and replaces their Seasonal Butterfly flags to fly Old Glory, only to re-hang the Butterfly flag again come Tuesday morning.

What does it feel like to be occasionally patriotic?

So as you plant that discounted Samurai Toad Lilly from Lowe’s or chow down on a Hot Dog at Bob Jones Ford waiting for credit approval, think about the soldier in Afghanistan or patrolling the DMZ in South Korea as to why you are fortunate enough to be doing so.

So this weekend, I raise my glass to all the men and women that have valiantly protected our nation over the years and say “thank you for volunteering your life to protect ours” as they are the American Idols we should giving our time too.

Politics & Religion: The Pundits "Wet Dream" during an Election Year

Religion and Politics has been strange bedfellows for centuries, yet it seems that in the U.S. it becomes a badge of courage. It’s one of the things I disgust most about Election season, the debate over Religion. I’m not saying I hate Religion, everyone can/cannot believe as they choose, but its how politicians and punditry bring their beliefs to the table and when the election is over, it’s cast aside till next election cycle.

In 2008 Presidential campaign, then candidate Obama’s pastor became one of the largest stories. Rev Jeremiah Wright is a polarizing figure and has said some deplorable things, but here we are in 2012 bringing him back into the story because the Media just can’t let him go away.

The punditry received a gift this week when Rev Jeremiah Wright gave an interview to which the dear Reverend talked about receiving a call from a friend of a friend about a possible political pay-off of $125K, as well as the hidden Muslim religious belief of President Obama.

This is like “Dear Penthouse” pornography for the Con-Talking pundits as you can actually imagine them wiping their slobbering mouths upon their sleeves with each word spoken by Rev. Wright.

The pundits that once discredited Rev. Wright are now giving him credit and expect their listeners to follow along like Lemmings.

Rev. Wright is a cheaper version of Rev Al Sharpton (if it’s possible), yet these two are no different than the religious hacks of the Right that also state outrageous words yet barely covered on the national stage.

It was only a few weeks ago that Willard Romney showed that he is every bit of the “spineless, I need your vote” politician many have proclaimed him to be by not standing up for Richard Grenell when he was attacked by Bryan Fischer (American Family Association), Gary Bauer (American Values) and Tony Perkins (Family Research Council).

Their issue with Grenell was that he was an openly gay man that supported gay marriage. They didn’t care about his credentials or experience in foreign policy and national security, a man that served under “W” appointed UN “hothead “John Bolton.

Sure, Romney gave the old “Hey guys stop it. He’s a good guy with excellent credential” prepared retort and felt that was good enough, yet Romney was wrong.

So elated was Fischer over Grenell’s resignation that he mocked Romney the very next day on his radio show by saying “the Grenell situation was now raising questions about Romney's leadership abilities since it showed that he could be ‘pushed around, intimidated, coerced, co-opted by a conservative radio talk show host in Middle America’ and so I think it was illustrative of Gov. Romney's weaknesses and things that we've got to be concerned about.”

We live in a society that people need to be judged by their credentials and experience, not by their sexual orientation. Grenell was over qualified for his foreign policy/national security position within the Romney Campaign and that’s exactly what Romney needed. But instead of defending Grenell, Romney let him resign after being bullied by Fisher and the Stooges.

That’s the most recent in events as so called “religious” figures using their stage to call for serious actions or used their position to make hateful remarks towards a sitting President.

Take Pastor Wiley Drake of the First Southern Baptist Church in California. Back in 2009, while in the midst of doing a radio interview with Alan Colmes, he proclaimed that he was praying for Obama to die. Colmes even took the moment to clarify the comment and asked Pastor Drake if he was praying for the death of the President of the United States. Pastor Drake enthusiastically answered “YES.”

Then there’s Pastor Steve Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona who stated in an anti-Obama sermon that he was “going to pray for Barack Obama to die and go to hell. Although I’d rather have him die of natural causes anyway, that way he’s not some martyr. I’m praying for him to die just so he gets what he deserves.”

I’m sorry, which Psalm in Genesis does it say it’s ok to pray for someone’s untimely demise?

Sure these two may seem like hack job late night cable access pastors, but they have a following and if they are “men of the cloth,” well then they are equal to that of Reverends Wright and Sharpton.

If the Media is so Liberal, why are they not bringing these “Religious Right” characters up on their multitude of broadcasts? Because they are too busy defending the likes of Sharpton and sweeping Wright under the rug to keep him out of the news.

It’s still interesting how many evangelist preachers and many of the Religious Right are backing Romney even after trashing his Mormon belief for so many years.

Take Christian Actor Kirk Cameron, who once produced a documentary trashing the Mormon religion by saying “it was likely Satan who appeared to Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, as the Angel Moroni and led him to golden plates that became the Book of Mormon.” As well as even saying that Mormons are “following a false Jesus” and “will end up in Hell forever.”

So how can so much hateful speech about Romney’s Mormon belief carry over to his endorsement? In simplistic words the “Religious Right” will simply back anyone to rid Obama from the Presidency, even by backing someone that they believe worships a “False God.”

All this talk of hateful religious characters has led me to the false god of the Golden Amber of the Frosty Mug. Slap the Tap, pass the stale chips and meet me by the Porcelain God in the morning.

Pay your Political Tab

BigPoppaPolitics 5-11-12: Presidential politics on the playground

So the Presidential campaign has come down not to who has the best Foreign Policy or the best Economic Plan, but to who was the bigger bully while attending school according to Pundits. How much mud can the Media sling on stupid controversy?

As we watch Unemployment slip to 8.1% and watch JP Morgan fall and lose money as they return to bad practices, the Pundits are debating whether or not President Obama was a playground bully when he was 6-7 as opposed to teenage Willard Romney’s Prep School bullying act.

A story written by Jason Horowitz of the Washington Post tells a story of how teenage Willard and another Prep school buddy held down fellow classmate John Lauber and shaved his head because he didn’t fit in and/or seemed of homosexual nature. Now it’s not known whether or not the portrayal described by the WaPo of teenage Willard is fact or fiction since many, including Mr. Lauber’s family have come forward stating the act is false and never happened.

But why would Willard apologize for the act if it never happened? By apologizing, he implicated himself to the dastardly deed.

The story easily is an attack on Willard’s personal choice of being against Gay Marriage and my guess is his “apology” circles back to President Obama’s revelation that he now personally believes Gay Marriage and/or Civil Unions should be legal, yet it is a State’s issue not Federal.

Or as Bristol Palin tells us, “O” came to the Gay Marriage conclusion because he watches the Fox show “GLEE.”

But wait for it….. Yes the Con-Talking pundits have a rebuttal to save Willard.

Yes the Con-Talking pundits have taken upon themselves to actually read Obama’s books as opposed to perusing through as they did in 2008 and found the revelation that Obama was once a schoolyard bully as well, or so they portray.

It seems when young Barry was around the age 6 or 7, he shoved a girl on the school yard due to teasing by other schoolmates. Young Barry was upset that others were calling him some girl’s “boyfriend” to which the young Barry took exception to as most 6-7 year old boys would, so he walked over, shoved her on the arm and she hastily walked away crying.

Now the story comes right out of Obama’s Dreams of my Father book and Con-Talking pundits are playing the audio version of the incident, so all can hear his own words explain the incident while mocking the President along the way.

Seriously they should be making fun of Obama’s reading skills and not the recollection of the incident, because the guy sure needed a teleprompter while working on the audio version of the book.

The two incidents are not comparable by any means. By age alone, Willard should’ve known better about his actions, as for Obama, well his actions were probably correct for his age. Yet the Con-Talking pundits make it sound as if Obama stood on the playground and shouted “Obama Rules.”

If these incidents happened today sure enough they would be found on Youtube with about 100K viewed hits by now.

Media is a junkie for controversy, comparing each candidate’s prior actions from the dogs to pranks that the constituency is tripping for another shot of past stupidity. Is this how we are going to vet our next leader, whether or not they are gentile in past childhood ventures?

I’m waiting to hear a comparison of how a young Willard burned ants with a magnifying glass on a Michigan beach while young Barry pulled the glow out of lightening bugs (fireflies) and how those actions will decide how they’ll handle the border war between Mexico and Canada.

No, we need to find a leader who will stray from cultural mishaps and to this point both candidates are folly. One can’t keep his mouth shut and the other can’t keep his story straight.

Obama has stuck his nose into Trayvon Martin, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, and Gay Marriage, while Willard has spoken of his deserved credit for the Auto Bailouts and TARP, only to revert against and for within weeks.

Obama talks about tweaking his current agenda, while Willard has talked of replaying past President and Presidential candidate failed economic ideas. Does neither have an original thought?

Is there any candidate with an original policy thought?

It almost seems as if we should bypass this election and look forward towards 2016 when it’s Hillary Clinton vs. Chris Christie. That battle sounds more like a WWE Wrestlemania Main Event: Thunder Thighs vs. Lard Ass. Vince McMahon should only hope.

That’s it, pour the Guinness into the absurdity mug and pass on the gluten free chips. Pay your political tab.

Big Poppa Politics 5:1:12- The Art of Chickensh*t Politics; Shove the Political Football Up Your @$$

Over the weekend the Obama campaign released a jubilant, football spiking, hi-five, group hug, champagne bursting celebration around the situation room ad marking the one year anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden by his Presidential call.

What? That wasn’t in the video, but Punditry World said so on Sunday & Monday, so it’s gotta be true, after all they wouldn’t lie just for ratings, would they?

Ok so truthfully none of that was in the video, but it could be considered a jubilant 7 minute campaign ad, yet this kind of ordeal is not new in political campaigning. It’s just easier nowadays thanks to all the Multimedia from Youtube to Campaign websites to partisan news outlets. The end result is how the viewer interprets the commotion.

I don’t blame the Big “O” for celebrating the capture and death of Osama bin Laden, but that was last year’s news, where are we now with Afghanistan? I guess we’ll find out later this evening when he makes his unannounced speech to America “Live from Afghanistan it’s the big ‘O.’”

Lucky for him, he scheduled this speech for earlier in the evening because if Americans missed one minute of Dancing with the Stars, his approval ratings would drop another 10%.

I’m sure everyone remembers the famous “Mission Accomplished” bannered speech given by “W” not long ago. Of course that was a misinterpretation by most Media outlets on the Afghanistan War, the sign was meant for those crewmembers aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln returning home, not in celebration “W.”


But “W” also used the tragedy of 9/11 in his 2004 campaign by sending out a postcard with a picture of him compassionately embracing Ashley Faulkner, the daughter of a 9/11 victim. Is this not wrong? I guess the Con-Talking Pundits forgot that one.

When I wrote “Quick Dose of Patriotism” this time last year, the argument from the Pundits was “Who deserves the credit for ObL’s death, ‘O or W’”?” shortly after everyone celebrated and spiked their footballs after hearing the news. Yet, now, it’s “What would Willard Mitt Romney do?”

So what would Willard do if given the chance to make that momentary decision? It’s easy to say in retrospect “I would do the same, as any thinking American would” but what if the result was tragic, like that of the Iranian Hostage rescue disaster under President Carter?

Yet, now that the event was successful and he finally is closer to being the GOP Nominee his view again has changed and now states “Yes I would and even Jimmy Carter would do it.” That doesn’t hold water whenever Jimmy Carter is invoked as a positive to an argument you want to win.

Would Willard sack-up and admit a failure? Doubtful because everything the Willard does is calculated without risk and then performed, only to flip-flop later and then flip back to the original premise and then blah blah blah.

I wonder if there’s something in the Massachusetts’ water system for so many politicians to flip-flop so much because it was only a few years ago that Willard said “it's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person.”

Hey Willard, why not tell that to the 1,475 families of fallen soldiers whose job was to move those mountains and at one point had “ObL” cornered at Tora Bora, but someone didn’t execute the call quick enough prior to May 2011.

So I guess it’s a coincidence that on May 1, Willard was in NYC with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani delivering pizzas to a few Fire Companies that lost members at the World Trade Center stating “This of course is on the anniversary of the day when Osama bin Laden finally was taken out and we respect and admire the many people who were a part of that.”

That sure sounds like spiking a football to me in the same vain as “O” over the weekend.

To take the life of any human takes a lot of soul searching, yet many only have a millisecond to even think before acting. For a President to make the call is one thing, but the soldiers performing the act is the toughest and it is they who should spike the football for the rest of their career as we Pundits argue which President is the most harden.

The political ramifications could be costly, especially when the country is considered “friendly” to which the enemy may lay and during the 2008 campaign all the candidates called “O” a fool for even thinking about entering such a country to capture “ObL.” Yet when the call was made, VP Biden and Sec of State Clinton were sitting in the room with “O” talking him out of the decision. Even the 2008 GOP candidate John McCain gave an “at-a-boy” to “O” for his action.

“O” can only run on his Foreign Policy work right now and this is an area Willard is not strong on. Willard, take some free advice, get back to talking about the Economy & Jobs. Stay away from War Anniversaries. Stay away from Libya and Egypt. Stay focused on the home front, just stop talking about your wealthy success for it makes you sound like an ignoramus Thurston Howell III with each stump.

That’s it, pour the Guinness “Lovey” but toss the caviar, I’ll keep the stale peanuts. Pay your political and toss the football tonight.