I'll take my ball and go home...

When you can't get your way, take your ball and go home.  That seems to be Tim Cullen's way to do things.  First, he ran away to Rockford to avoid the vote on the public sector changes. Then, he quit the democratic caucus to get a better commitee position.  He gamed the Wisconsin public then gamed the democrat party. What's worse, the temper tantrums or Mark Miller capitulating to his tantrum?  We are told to be good parents we should not give in to our kid's tantrums.  Maybe the democrats need to grow up?

*M

kick the habit...

One of the main excuses I've heard for people not to quit smoking is that the person will gain weight.  It seems the that the smoke less/eat more philosophy is a choice rather than a natural occurrence.  It seems that it would be the same scenario in education.  The idea that poverty automatically causes poor student achievement also seems to be a choice rather than a natural occurrence.  Liberals and progressives seem to feel this is the case.  Poverty does not cause kids to lose intelligence.  It's the choices people make.  It needs to be proven that somehow poverty automatically causes kids not to pick a book, not to listen in class, not to go to class, make parents unwilling to work with their children, and cause teachers to be incompetent.  Otherwise, it is still a choice that is made.  When liberals draw this conclusion, they want to throw more money in the system. The money is not the problem.  There needs to be an attitude change about what makes for better education. Once people start to believe that going to class, reading books, and working with kids, their education will improve and their chances to succeed improve even more.

*M

The Home of the Brave

On this day, two hundred and thirty-six years ago, the brave men and women of this country decided to stare tyranny in its eyes and simply defy it.  To declare themselves a free nation, under God, united as one.  United as one to throw off an oppressive and tyrannical Government that was strangling the life out of their businesses and livelihoods.

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security.”- Declaration of Independence

Think about that for a second.  Farmers, blacksmiths, silversmiths, accountants, preachers, and many more set out to take on the most powerful military force in the world.  By the grace of God, were they victorious.  They knew that man was meant to be free and had faith, in divine providence, to preserver and scream, “liberty or death!”  And so, the American spirit was born.  The spirit to work hard and achieve whatever we set our minds to.  That’s really what this holiday is all about, to take a step back and realize who we are as a people.  Who we are as Americans.  To realize that this nation that we live in was born to be a beacon of light and freedom to the world.  It’s also a time to realize that in order for this nation to survive and thrive it had to be protected.  That is why we are the home of the brave.  We have men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.  And we thank them for that on this day.  

So, on Independence day, we recognize the valiant efforts of George Washington, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and all of the founders who laid the framework of this great nation.  A framework that allows man to have their God given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  But, most of all, we recognize the efforts of the citizens who we do not know.  The citizens who, in 1776, decided to band together to throw off tyranny in favor of what they knew was right.  Freedom.  And the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  So, this fourth of July while you are with your families and friends, take a second, to realize just how great this country is and how it was all made possible to live in the greatest nation on the face of the earth.  

May God Bless these United States

*N