Day428 Monday 10/31/11

Billboard in Clovis, New Mexico

ran 3.5 miles
“…President Barack Obama will ‘continue’ to act ‘independently’ without congressional authorization to ‘benefit the American people’ as part of the White House’s ‘We Can’t Wait’ campaign.”

“He [Obama] fully understands that the kinds of things that are contained within the American Jobs Act require congressional action, require laws being passed, and that’s why he’s pressing for Congress to take action legislatively.”

“But he can also act independently or, rather, administratively, and exercise his executive authority to benefit the American people in other ways. And he will continue to do that.”

Nicholas Ballasy of Daily Caller quoting White House Press Secretary Jay Carney

Barack Obama is acting more like a king than a president. While he travels around in his black “Death Star” buses blaming Republicans for obstructing his Jobs Act, it goes right over his head that on November 2, 2010, during the mid-term elections, America fired a large portion of his liberal counterparts and replaced them with Republicans who campaigned on obstructing him from raising taxes and further stimulating the economy, which is what his jobs plan is. Congress is not bullying him. The Americans who put Republicans in office are not bullying him. American voters deemed Barack Obama and what he represents in his first two terms as unacceptable. So now that new members of Congress, and older ones who are no longer willing to put their political careers on the line, defy and block the president from his agenda, they are somehow made out to be the bad guys.

The only thing left for this man, lost, mindlessly roaming the halls of the White House, to do is executive orders that usurp Congress and the natural process of legislation. He is blazing a path in the opposite direction that American voters demanded he follow in November of 2010.

796.2 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day63.

Day427 Sunday 10/30/11

14 MONTHS!!!

ran 2.1 miles
Today ends week sixty-one of running against Obama. I ran 21.9 miles this week, averaging 3.13 miles per day.

Today also ends 14 months of running against Obama. After 427 days of running against an administration that encourages an abusive reliance on government and discourages the ambition necessary for Americans to challenge themselves, to take some risks, and to ultimately succeed---after 427 days, I find that liberal ideas broadly weaken the morale of the millions of people they affect and when these ideas are unleashed at the height which they currently are under Barack Obama the only rationale and sense that is left is to get angry, violent, and to act like a spoiled child. There you have it. That is my brief description of the liberal mindset. It is playing out right before our eyes.

Barack Obama has not been a successful president. The occupiers in the streets of our cities, who have way too much time on their hands, are costing taxpayers even more money, they are disrespectful to our police officers, and they are serving no real purpose other than to distract the entire country from how miserable of a job President Barack Obama has done and continues to do. The biggest accomplishment our president has, which many consider yet another failure, is his health care bill. America does not want it. Repealing it is on the top of the list for most of the candidates running to replace him. I don’t think he has done anything that we can all agree on. And one of the few things we can all agree on is a good economy.

“It’s the economy, stupid.” That line surfaced while Clinton was running for president and it is being screamed even louder now.

Our president had two years with a Democratic Senate and House. He could have done anything he wanted. He made his choices and they have not only failed but set America that much further back. He has stimulated us to the edge of oblivion with monopoly money that has served no noticeable purpose.

I often wonder where the focus would be right now if these young, restless people weren’t in the streets marching around, distracting. I think the focus would be on a failed president and the excitement involved in getting him out of the White House.

799.7 miles to go.

Day426 Saturday 10/29/11

ran 3.2 miles
Some stats and facts about the state of Utah:

• Utah was the forty-fifth state to join the union on January 4, 1896, eleven years before Oklahoma and six years after Wyoming.

• Population, as of 2010, is 2,763,885.

• Senators are Orrin Hatch (R) and Mike Lee (R).

• Representatives are Rob Bishop (R), Jim Matheson (D), and Jason Chaffetz (R).

• Utah has six electoral votes. The state claimed the third largest population swell over the past decade (nearly 24%) and gained one electoral vote for the next decade. Historically, Utah has not voted blue since 1964. In 2008, McCain defeated Obama by 28%.

This is from an ABC News article, “The one thing that we absolutely know for sure is that if we don’t work even harder than we did in 2008, then we’re going to have a government that tells the American people ‘you are on your own’.”
That quote from Barack Obama is the most refreshing thing he has said in three years. “On our own” is what we want. Although the quote was uttered during a fund raising dinner in San Francisco, I don’t think Obama has any clue how successful he could be as a president if he would only phrase those words in a different context. Something to the effect of “We cannot continue spending ourselves into oblivion and we cannot continue encouraging Americans to be so reliant upon the government”.

I can’t understand the sense of entitlement so many people in this country feel is somehow owed to them. Get off your rear-end and move forward. We are all victims of the same circumstances. Things could be better and they could be worse. Some of us choose to achieve, no matter how small or large the task, during these hard times and others choose to do…less, for lack of a better and less severe term. Too many have made their government a sedative to everything America has to offer.

801.8 miles to go.
Here is what happened one year ago on Day61.

Day425 Friday 10/28/11

ran 3.1 miles
This evening, the deadline to appear on the ballot for the New Hampshire primary arrived. The official date of the vote is yet to be determined but it is expected to be January 10. This next bit of information I found to be absolutely shocking. There are THIRTY Republican candidates running in this primary! Who are these people and where did they come from? This total number of candidates surpasses the previous record of twenty-five in 1992. Furthermore, there are thirteen Democrats in addition to Barack Obama.

Here they are:

Republicans

Ron Paul of Lake Jackson, Texas, Fred Karger of Laguna Beach, Calif., Andy Martin of Chicago, Ill., Jon Huntsman of Salt Lake City, Utah, Buddy Roemer of Baton Rouge, La., Herman Cain of McDonough, Ga., Vern Wuensche of Houston, Texas, Rick Santorum of Great Falls, Va., Mark Callahan of Eugene, Ore., Mitt Romney of Belmont, Mass., Hugh Cort of Birmingham, Ala., L. John Davis, Jr. of Grand Junction, Colo., Joe Story of Jacksonville, Fla., Linden Swift of Plainfield, Ind., James A. Vestermark of Taylor Mill, Ky., Jeff Lawman of Derry, N.H., Joe Robinson of Newton, Mass., Keith Drummond of Katy, Texas, Newt Gingrich of McLean, Va., Randy Crow of Kelly, N.C., Michele Bachmann of Stillwater, Minn., Michael J. Meehan of St. Louis, Mo., Benjamin Linn of Milford, N.H., Christopher V. Hill of Prospect, Ky., Stewart J. Greenleaf of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Gary Johnson of Canoncito, N.M., Rick Perry of Austin, Texas, Timothy Brewer of Dayton, Ohio, Kevin Rubash of Wilmette, Ill., Bear Betzler of Philadelphia, PA.

Democrats

Barack Obama of Chicago, Ill., Darcy G. Richardson of Jacksonville, Fla., Aldous C. Tyler of Madison, Wis., Robert B. Jordan of Garden Grove, Calif., John D. Haywood of Durham, N.C., Bob Greene of Mountain View, Calif., Craig Freis of Lake Elsinore, Calif., John Wolfe, Jr. of Chattanooga, Tenn., Randall Terry of Purgitsville, W.V., Ed Cowan of Moretown, Vt., Cornelius Edward O'Connor of West Palm Beach, Fla., Bob Ely of Lake Forest, Ill., Edward T. O'Donnell, Jr. of Wilmington, Del., Vermin Supreme of Rockport, Mass.

I had no idea there were so many candidates. I took the liberty of looking a few of them up and they are a colorful bunch. I had begun listing some details about some of them who I found to be a bit more eccentric than others but then decided against it. If there is one thing I have learned about following the news and blogging everyday it is the fact that we are all very different and very easily offended. What I may find as comical or ridiculous, others might hold in high regard and take quite seriously. I highly recommend Googling every name above you have never heard of.

805.0 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day60.

Day424 Thursday 10/27/11

ran 3.8 miles

What would be going on right now if this childish, prefabricated parade of whining was not being choreographed and portrayed on the American stage by so many angry and vulnerable malcontents? If Wall Street had never been "Occupied" then our current president would have been that much more exposed for the failure he has been over the last three years. Take away the drama and the masquerading in the streets that is demanding so much of our attention and what do you have left? A failed president who has no leg to campaign on except for the opportunities he seizes in the near future of chaos that is unfolding.

808.1 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day59.

Day423 Wednesday 10/26/11

ran 3.1 miles

811.9 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day58.

Day422 Tuesday 10/25/11

ran 3.4 miles

Today I stumbled upon a quick, easy test you can take to see how closely you fall in line with the ideas of the presidential candidates. Not only do the results place your likeness with candidates but with members of Congress, as well. The results elaborate on each candidate or member of Congress explaining in what ways your views match or oppose theirs. Not sure where you stand? This test might help.

Coincidentally, if you click on Day57 below there is another quick, informative quiz.

815.0 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day57.

Day421 Monday 10/24/11

ran 3.2 miles
Some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 19% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 40% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –21.

Overall, 45% of voters at least somewhat approve of Obama’s performance while 54% at least somewhat disapprove. The president earns approval from 80% of Democrats while 91% of Republican voters disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 44% approve and 55% disapprove.

Among American adults, 41% say their views are closer to the Tea Party than Occupy Wall Street while 34% are closer to OWS.

In case you didn't know, our federal government will be turning off all television and radio communications simultaneously on the afternoon of 11/9 for the first time in American history. It will occur at 2:00pm (EST). This shut down is a test for the national Emergency Alert System. Or is it? Remember Egypt's uprising when the government blacked out the internet because the protestors were so well organized and were growing too powerful through the use of sites like facebook? Perhaps this test is filled with innocent, good intentions but we will no longer be curious whether our government has the power to completely cut off communication and news. Pretty scary. Especially when our president is a leader who openly entertains the idea of overriding Congress when he cannot get his way. If this country keeps crumbling in division, potential actions like these become desperate measures for desperate times---and America is getting desperate.

818.4 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day56.

Day420 Sunday 10/23/11

ran 3.1 miles
Today ends week sixty of running against Obama. I ran 28.4 miles this week, averaging 4.06 miles per day.

It appears that Occupy Wall Street is showing early signs of internal frustration and implosion. From www.nypost.com, here are some facts and quotes from Ginger Adams Otis’ article “They want $lice of the occu-pie”.

Occupy Wall Street’s Finance Committee (ironic, right?) has around $500,000 in donations in a bank (ironic, right?) and, as donations continue to grow, different factions of protestors are losing their patience with the Finance Committee’s inability to properly redistribute the donations to meet the needs of every protestor.

One small example, a few protestors with drums were angry after fellow protestors vandalized their drums on Wednesday night. The drummers requested $8,000 for new drums and the construction of a small building to lock their drums in at night. They were turned down by the Finance Committee. These individuals are now threatening to protest elsewhere.

“F--k Finance. I hope Mayor Bloomberg gets an injunction and demands to see the movement’s books. We need to know how much money we really have and where it’s going.” This from Bryan Smith, a Californian who joined OWS three weeks ago. Is he looking for fiscal responsibility and effectiveness? I think I heard hints of a desire for him and his faction of protestors to receive what they worked so hard to earn, rather than work hard for no reason because those who put in so little claim so much. That sounds American, and dare I say conservative?

“The other day, I took in $2,000. I kept $650 for my group, and gave the rest to Finance. Then I went to them with a request -- so many people need things, and they should not be going without basic comfort items -- and I was told to fill out paperwork. Paperwork! Are they the government now?”

Smith went on to explain that the Finance Committee hordes the dollars raised by all occupiers, but doesn’t give it back (that sounds familiar). Bryan Smith’s Comfort group receives an allowance of $150 per day as bigger groups, such as the Kitchen group, get nearly $2,000 each day.

“What can I do with $150?” said Smith. “We have three tons of wet laundry here from the rainstorm -- how do I get that done? We need winter gear, shoes, socks. I could spend $10,000 alone for backpacks people need. We raise all this money. Where is it?”

821.6 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day55.

Day419 Saturday 10/22/11

ran 5.8 miles

Today was Election Day for Louisiana. In my hometown of Lafayette we voted for nine district councilmen or women, Lafayette City/Parish President, consolidation or de-consolidation, judges were on the ballot, some important amendments were presented, we voted for governor and lieutenant governor, and more.

There is something that irks me throughout every one of these election seasons, though. It’s the signs. These signs are everywhere. Every time I drive by one I want to pull it out of the ground and put it in the yard of whoever's name is on it. Let them collect there instead of on the side of every street we drive on.

The pictures above are from a boulevard leading up to a voting precinct in Lafayette. It looks like a thin, grassy strip of multi-colored vinyl tombstones laid down haphazardly in oddly dimensioned 6’ by 120’ strips. As you drive by you feel you are being screamed at by colors and names that change so quickly you can’t make sense of any of it.

But I get it. It is what it is. We voters are all whimsical subterraneans who lack the ability to form our own decisions within two seconds of pulling into the voting precinct, which those in higher elevations who are running for office find an opportunity to sway we feeble-minded voters. These signs and the abundance in which they are chaotically piled one upon another are ugly and insulting. And, unfortunately, they are obviously effective. Otherwise, the act of putting 800 different signs on a 10’ by 10’ strip of grass would not have endured for as long as it has. It is a reflection of how superficially voters can be swayed at the last second and how predictable those who run for office assume our intelligence to be.

It costs a lot of money to get elected, and the higher the position the more money. We accept this fact because it has been this way for so long, but it is a shame. It is further evidence that money buys all, even though we all know better.

824.7 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day54.

Day418 Friday 10/21/11

ran 1.7 miles

Democrat Representative Dennis Cardoza of California bitterly announced his retirement yesterday and the five-term congressman also took the liberty of lambasting President Obama on his way out. In a post by Jim Hoft of www.thegatewaypundit.com he elaborates on how Cardoza “issued a scathing parting shot at President Obama’s track record on his way out”.

In a statement describing the reasons for his decision to retire, Cardoza claimed he was “dismayed” by the administration’s “failure to understand and effectively address the current housing foreclosure crisis”.

“Home foreclosures are destroying communities and crushing our economy, and the Administration’s inaction is infuriating,” Cardoza said.

Cardoza is the sixth Democrat to announce intentions to retire. There are many Democrats who are keeping their distance from Obama, and this is most evident in the Senate where Democrats control the majority and even they will not pass his jobs bill. The bill had failed to pass a couple weeks ago and it failed again recently.

830.5 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day53.

Day417 Thursday 10/20/11

ran 4.1 miles

Gaddafi is dead, as I’m sure you’ve heard. All the way back to the 1980s, Ronald Reagan even waged war on this man, ultimately seeking an assassination. More than two decades later those involved in the United Nations’ efforts to support the Libyan rebels and their cause have successfully eliminated this tyrant. Although it was a collectively international effort, our own president has no qualms about saying “your welcome”.

President Barack Obama might encourage adults to suck off the teat of the government as awkwardly as one may find a twelve-year-old boy being breastfed by his mother, he may discourage hard work and those who are far more enterprising than himself by wanting to tax them into an oblivion that would absolutely stun all of his hungry mouths and the American economy at large, he may constantly contradict himself, as so many American presidents do, but this Nobel Peace Prize laureate is killing the competition. Under his administration we are killing some serious international obstacles.

I am not insinuating anything in particular, but it is sort of ironic that the one crowning achievement our president has, which everyone can agree on, is that, under his administration, our most serious threats are dropping dead at a rate that few other presidents can surpass---and with a Nobel Peace Prize paid forward in the first year of his term.

Ironic.

Speaking in Sirt, marking the twenty-forth anniversary of Reagan’s attack on Lybia, Gaddafi had this to say of Barack Obama:

"At the time, we were the target of the American cannon, the American navy challenged us in the gulf of Sirt and attacked us all along Libya's shores. America tested Libya, and the Libyan people resisted the large country, but today, thank God, the difference is great."

How did that work out for you, Gaddafi?

"Now, ruling America is a black man from our continent, an African from Arab descent, from Muslim descent, and this is something we never imagined – that from Reagan we would get to Barakeh Obama."

One more.

"I urge all peoples to give him this chance and to support this policy, because America is a country that, when its policy is bad – harms the world, and when it is good – it helps the world."

Okay, one more.

"…The dream that Obama has for a world free of nuclear weapons will come true. This is something that no previous American president has proposed. Obama is a man who opposes wars that previous American presidents were entangled in; he has declared that he will withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq – something which has never been proposed before."

I promise, this is the last one.

"The Arabs hate America, there is no doubt. There is not an Arab that loves America, and even the leaders who the United States considers allies or friends – hate it. The external love is merely hypocrisy or pragmatism. The reason for this is clear – Palestine."

Ironic.

832.2 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day52.

Day416 Wednesday 10/19/11

ran 4.3 miles

I’m going to defer on tackling the news of the day and jump back into history tonight. Something fun and interesting. It is one of many examples of historic global ironies, in which the humble, universal human element is blinded by pride and power.

On this day in history in 1958, the first world’s fair was held since before World War II in Brussels, Belgium. The theme was “A World View, A New Humanism”. Forty-two million people had visited from all over the world. The fair was intended to celebrate the common struggles of the human condition and to move forward with peace. Recently ripped apart by war, the idea of peace and equality was quite popular, yet the nations of the world were now in the grasps of the Cold War.

The United States and the Soviets, the two undisputed world powers at the time found opportunity, however, in exhibiting their own unique world views and inherent greatness. Both sides viewed this world’s fair as a competition with one another, a battle to be won. Located directly across from one another, their exhibits were clearly in direct competition for the approval of the world.

The Soviets focused on technological and scientific feats of their communist state. A full-scale model of Sputnik I, the unmanned satellite launched into orbit by the Soviets in 1957, was the headlining piece of their exhibition. America, on the other hand, depicted the common life of Americans. Voting booths, the latest fashions modeled by attractive women, modern furniture and flashy appliances were all in bulk. The centerpiece for the United States was the full-scale construction of an American “Main Street”.

Here is the irony. This face-off between these two world powers ended with a result of Czechoslavakia winning first place for the best exhibition.

836.3 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day51.

Day415 Tuesday 10/18/11

ran 3.9 miles
I’ve posted quite a few videos on this blog over the last year but this one is the best I’ve seen. The guy talking, Chris Savvinidis, is a machine. I have to admit I am a bit jealous of his ability to wield such concise logic and such an immense amount of useful information at such a rapid and articulate pace. He made more sense than a dozen of any other protestors combined. These people in the streets, far the most part are too blinded with anger and cannot unite, except for the ability to make some clever signs and to rebel for the simple sake of rebelling. If only one-third of them would rally around this guy, who brought some true problems and some crystal clear solutions to the table, they would make a far larger impact. Instead, they walk the streets like incoherent zombies, which, in fact, many protestors dress up as for added effect.

840.6 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day50.