Day181 Saturday 02/26/11

image from photo-pluis.net

ran 2.7 miles
Friday, March 4, threatens to be the first government shutdown since 1996. The current budget will expire if Democrats and Republicans fail to agree on spending cuts in the next few days.

Barack Obama says, “For the sake of our people and our economy, we cannot allow gridlock to prevail.” Yet, the spending cuts he wants have no momentum in working to slash our debt and they suggest no sense of urgency toward the weakened state of our economy. Obama threatens to veto any rational proposal Republicans submit.

House Republicans proposed $4 billion in cuts as part of legislation to keep the government running through March 18. Democrats want a short-term extension at current spending levels to allow more time to negotiate the best and most effective ways to attack our trillions of dollars in debt. Basically, Republicans want to extend the deadline for more debate while also effectively tightening the budget for the duration of the extension and Democrats want more time to debate with absolutely no tangible effort to tighten the budget until an agreement is made.

House Speaker John Boehner insists that a short-term bill without spending cuts is unacceptable.

The liberal interpretation of the fact that America’s economy is suffering and needs to be repaired seems to be delusional and misinformed based on their actions, or inactions. The conservative perception of our economy seems to be fully aware of the crisis America’s future faces and they seem to be the only side willing to make the hard decisions the majority of Americans want.

"Our goal as Republicans is to make sensible reductions in this spending and create a better environment for job growth, not to shut down the government. Getting our debt and deficits under control is the first step we can take, and the single most important step Washington can take, to get our economy moving and create the jobs we so badly need."

Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio)

1,573.1 miles to go.

Day180 Friday 02/25/11

ran 3.3 miles

• Michigan was the twenty-sixth state to join the union on January 26, 1837, eight years before Florida and one year after Arkansas.

• Population, as of 2009, is 9,969,727.

• Senators are Carl Levin (D) and Debbie Stabenow (D).

• Representatives are Dan Benishek (R), Bill Huizenga (R), Justin Amash (R), David Camp (R), Dale Kildee (D), Frederick Upton (R), Timothy Walberg (R), Michael Rogers (R), Gary Peters (D), Candice Miller (R), Thaddeus McCotter (R), Sander Levin (D), Hansen Clarke (D), John Conyers (D), and John Dingell (D).

• Michigan has sixteen electoral votes. It was the only state to lose population in the 2010 Census, forfeiting one electoral vote. Historically, the state voted primarily red until the Great Depression. From the 1930s to the 1960s Michigan alternated between the two parties and from 1972 through 1988 the state voted exclusively Republican before becoming the Democratic state it is today. Barack Obama beat John McCain 57% to 41% in 2008.

In current news, during an exclusive interview with Newsmax, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in an effort to point out the hypocrisy that exists among the left and the mainstream media, claimed Barack Obama’s decision to not fully enforce the Defense of Marriage law could lead to a constitutional crisis. “Obama has directly violated his constitutional duties by arbitrarily suspending a law.” This is technically grounds for impeachment, not that it will be pursued, but it is what it is.

Gingrich speculated that if a potential “President Sarah Palin” had committed this action, there would have been immediate demands for her impeachment. When asked whether President Obama was subject to articles of impeachment, Gingrich replied, “Clearly, it is a dereliction of duty and a violation of his constitutional oath and is something that cannot be allowed to stand.”

This double standard was no different after Sarah Palin received so much heat for crosshairs she superimposed on certain voting districts on a United States map shortly before the Arizona shootings. Everything the media had to report dealt with Sarah Palin and the Tea parties she supports encouraging violent behavior. A little over a month later and crosshairs are on posters all over Wisconsin encircling their governor’s face as Barack Obama encourages protestors to refuse to relent. This is typical leftist double standardization, in which they feel no shame in doing exactly what they deplore whenever they deem it is necessary for their own interests. And they receive little ridicule or criticism for their blatant hypocrisy from the larger part of national media.

1,575.8 miles to go.

Day179 Thursday 02/24/11

500 miles!!!

ran 4.2 miles
Some polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 26% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 40% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a regressing presidential approval index rating of –14.

• Overall, 47% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Obama’s performance and 53% disapprove.

• Falling to the lowest levels since Obama took office in January of 2009, only 37% of likely U.S. voters say Barack Obama is doing a good or excellent job as a leader.

• Among likely U.S. voters, 48% back GOP Governor in Wisconsin and 38% support the Unions.

• A large majority of Americans, 67%, say the United States should leave the turmoil in the Arab countries alone.

• Only 26% of Americans believe our nation is heading in the right direction.

• Among likely U.S. voters, 56% favor repeal of the health care law, including 43% who strongly favor repeal.

I ran my five hundredth mile today! I’ve been running against Obama for nearly six months and in that time I have gotten involved with some local political organizations and met some inspiring people. Following current events closely and discussing them with others at local, state and federal levels has been extremely eye opening. I found it nearly effortless to passionately disagree with Barack Obama’s agenda when I began running against him. Having a virtually nonexistent interest in politics until recent years, getting involved and listening to others who have so much more experience and knowledge to offer has been the greatest opportunity of this small campaign to contribute whatever I can to restore America, which starts with making Barack Obama a one-term president.
Looking toward my seventh month of running against Obama and seeking more traffic from like-minded others who agree with the message of this blog, if you follow these posts regularly or just happened to have stumbled upon the blog and like the content and agree with the campaign to make Obama a one-term president, check out runningagainstobama on Facebook and give it a “Like”. Or you can become a “Follower” on the top of this page.

Thanks for following the first five hundred miles!

1,579.1 miles to go.

Day178 Wednesday 02/23/11

ran 4.9 miles

On this day in history, Marine photographer Louis Lowery captured the Pulitzer Prize winning photo of five Marines and one Navy Corpsman lifting the American flag atop Iwo Jima at the crest of Mount Suribachi. This image lives on as the most reproduced photograph in history.

When I look at that photograph it stirs an immense sense of pride in America and immeasurable gratitude for the sacrifices our military men and women have made and continue to make. It reminds me of how petty my own grievances are and how often I neglect to appreciate every freedom I have as an American.

When I look at that picture I do not think of Senators fleeing from their states to hide from the law making process that defines America, which so many countless numbers of men and women have fought and died for. I don’t think of a president who condemns the Arizona tragedy one month and then the very next month encourages union protestors to “Get in the face of" anyone who opposes them. When I look at that picture I don’t think of ungracious, selfish politicians who make their own rules when the fabric of democracy goes against their grain.

If the brave men in that epic photograph had fought cowardly as the Democrats from Wisconsin are now America would have ceased to be what our forefather’s intended long ago.

1,583.3 miles to go.

Day177 Tuesday 02/22/11

image from bigjournalism.com

ran 5.9 miles
Following the tragic Arizona shootings Barack Obama spoke to the nation about carrying on out of necessity and working to create jobs, improving the economy, shoring up the budget and bringing down the deficit.

“These are challenges I believe we can meet. And I believe we can do it a way worthy of those who sent us here to serve. So as business resumes, I look forward to working together in that same spirit of common cause with members of Congress from both parties---because before we are Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans.”

Barack Obama spoke of unity and working to move this country forward. He painted an ideal picture filled with a lot of realistic thoughts and goals that sounded momentous for our nation. However, after the past week of protests in Wisconsin his actions speak for themselves, making his words disingenuous and purely intended to appease a vulnerable nation mourning.

Taking into consideration the message he conveyed in Arizona, he is now actively encouraging the protestors in Wisconsin to “Get in the face” of those who oppose them. Wisconsin's governor has been compared to Hitler and posters hover above the heads of protestors with crosshairs on the governor's face. The DNC is instrumental in organizing the protests and the democratic senators of Wisconsin have fled the state indefinitely. Is this sort of behavior that Barack Obama was talking about when he said we have a common cause and that before any political labels we are Americans?

If Tea party members were trying to pull this shallow, unconstitutional and illegal charade, and George Bush was encouraging it, this volatile scenario that is playing out would have been lambasted with every negative and hateful adjective in the dictionary.

The senators who have fled the state (forgot to mention, Indiana’s democratic senators have also fled their state) took an oath to support and defend the Constitution and they have fled. Who does that? Do they not have any dignity? The law is what it is. Without respect for our laws we bare no resemblance to what America is intended to be. Who do they think they are to bend the laws and our Constitution to suit their needs?

I have been immensely discontent with Barack Obama being the president of this great nation for the past two years, but I accept him as my president because he won the election. It was an outcome I nor anyone else had any right or power to disrupt, which is exactly what these fleeing senators are doing. They are blatantly disrupting the legal process of law as conducted in the United States of America according to our Constitution.

1,588.2 miles to go.

Day176 Monday 02/21/11

image from zimbio.com

ran 7.2 miles

You may not know this, but seventy-four House Democrats have signed a letter to Clarence Thomas requesting him to recuse himself from any deliberations on the constitutionality of Barack Obama’s health care law. The Democrats’ argument is that his wife’s work as a lobbyist implies “The appearance of a conflict of interest”.

The health care law’s constitutionality will more than likely be decided by the Supreme Court and this is the latest tactic by liberals to detour the natural path of justice to their own ends. This is an excerpt from the letter:

“The appearance of a conflict of interest merits recusal under federal law. From what we have already seen, the line between your impartiality and you and your wife’s financial stake in the overturn of health-care reform is blurred. Your spouse is advertising herself as a lobbyist who has ‘experience and connections’ and appeals to clients who want a particular decision — they want to overturn health-care reform. Moreover, your failure to disclose Ginny Thomas’s receipt of $686,589 from the Heritage Foundation, a prominent opponent of health-care reform, between 2003 and 2007 has raised great concern.”

In an article from outsidethebeltway.com, by Doug Mataconis, he outlines the specific law House Democrats are referring to in the Code of Conduct for United States Judges:

A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances in which:

(d) the judge or the judge’s spouse, or a person related to either within the third degree of relationship, or the spouse of such a person is:

(i) a party to the proceeding, or an officer, director, or trustee of a party;

(ii) acting as a lawyer in the proceeding;

(iii) known by the judge to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding; or

(iv) to the judge’s knowledge likely to be a material witness in the proceeding.

There is little legal validity in the request for Justice Thomas to recuse himself. His wife is affiliated with a Tea Party group that has taken a particular position on the Affordable Care Act, but her involvement is hardly sufficient to result in a biased approach on the part of Justice Thomas regarding the requirements from the code of conduct.

This letter from the liberals arrived on the heels of a letter from Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) last week, which suggested that Justice Elena Kagan should recuse herself from consideration of the health care law’s constitutionality because of her previous position as U.S. Solicitor General.

“I think that Kagan, who was the solicitor general at the time this was all done, probably should recuse herself, which means it might not be resolved by the Supreme Court,” Hatch told Fox News last week. “That means the lower court decision will be the acting law.”

Kagan’s circumstance differs from Thomas’ and holds much more validity:

A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances in which:

...the judge served as a lawyer in the matter in controversy, or a lawyer with whom the judge previously practiced law served during such association as a lawyer concerning the matter, or the judge or lawyer has been a material witness;

Justice Kagan served as Solicitor General for the duration that PPACA was being discussed by Congress. If at any time her office gave legal advice to the White House pertaining to the constitutionality of the law being considered, then a firm argument stands for her to recuse herself.

Both sides seem to be preparing for the worst and are resorting to any measure possible to ensure the outcome of their interests. I'm obviously quite partial to the shredding of all but maybe fifteen pages of ObamaCare's five inch thick text of socialized health care.

1,594.1 miles to go.

Day175 Sunday 02/20/11

ran 3.3 miles
Today ends week twenty-five of running against Obama. I ran 27.6 miles this week, averaging 3.94 miles per day.

Representative Jim Jordan’s amendment to the Continuing Resolution will be debated and voted on today. In an article by Netright Daily, without treading through too much waist-deep political jargon that few can understand, this resolution deals with the battle between liberals (who refuse to make significant spending cuts) and conservatives (who refuse to continue spending). If an agreement is not reached by March 4, our government shuts down indefinitely.

Obama’s idea of slashing spending is to not slash at all. Our current national debt is $14.2 trillion and according to Obama’s plan by 2021 it would be projected at $26.4 trillion---an increase of $12.2 billion or 86%. This is not saving. It is not even shaving the tip of the iceberg. The amount of debt proposed by Obama’s budget is larger than the total amount of debt accumulated by the federal government from 1789 to January 20, 2009. Furthermore, if the deficit figures proposed by the budget are realized, all fourteen of the highest deficits in U.S. history will have occurred between fiscal year 2008 to 2021. What is there to argue about the fact that we need to stop spending?

However, amidst all of this irrational debate, Representative Dan Lundgren (R-CA) is opposing Jordan’s spending cuts and sent a letter to his colleagues urging them to vote “No”.

February 17, 2011

Vote NO on Amendment 104

Security & Oversight: Cuts We Can’t Afford!

Dear Republican Colleague:

I urge you to vote no on Amendment 104 to H.R. 1 that would dramatically impact the House’s ability to maintain adequate security and conduct effective oversight. The Amendment’s proposed cuts would also impede on each Member’s ability to communicate and serve his or her constituents.

This amendment would severely restrict the U.S. Capitol Police’s ability to secure the Capitol complex by slashing its budget 11%. A cut of this magnitude would force Capitol Police to face today’s ever-growing security threats with significantly fewer resources and officers.

The Amendment would also hamper the House’s ability to conduct effective oversight and impede on Members’ ability to serve their constituents by cutting committee and Member budgets an additional 11% on top of the 5% cut adopted last month.

In November, we promised a government that would be more efficient, more accountable and more transparent. However, keeping that promise means we need vigilant oversight.

While I support this effort to reduce federal spending, I fear the wholesale approach proposed in this amendment will render the House and its members incapable of upholding our promise to the American people. For these important reasons, I strongly urge you to vote no on Amendment 104.

Sincerely,

Daniel E. Lungren
Chairman
Committee on House Administration

Interpret that for yourself, but all I see between those lines is a representative who wants to sit idly by and kick his feet up in his congressional office while this nation slips further from the loose grip it has on an economic cliff's edge..

1,601.3 miles to go.

Day174 Saturday 02/19/11

ran 3.8 miles
Barack Hussein Obama is an open book of shameless disregard for everything American. This man goes out of his way to show and tell all of America exactly what his ill intentions are for this country. At first, I had within me a fiber of patience to give him a chance. Two years later and all patience has been not only lost but it is critical to get this man out of the White House.

Regarding the current Wisconsin issue with the unions, Barack Obama is attempting to buck Democracy as we know it and to change the rules of engagement in American lawmaking. The protesting in Wisconsin is being organized and directed by Barack Obama’s Organizing for America and the Democratic National Committee. Obama instructed supporters to “Get in the face” of those who oppose them. The only thing he is achieving is to possibly derail the lawful legislative process we as a nation have been using for over two hundred years.

If you didn’t read yesterday’s post, the liberal Senators of Wisconsin fled across the state border to avoid state law enforcement from forcing them to attend the vote for the legislative session concerning the unions. The liberals have a minority in the State Senate and are powerless to stop the legislation from passing in the event it ever gets voted on. So they ran away from the Democratic process they swore to defend and abide by. Now Obama is riling up all the protestors and encouraging them to get in the faces of those who oppose them. Our president’s actions are defying the lawful legislative process, which is the spine of our nation. His actions speak for himself and it will not stop here.

Plain and simple, the majority of states in this nation are fighting as hard as they can to defund and separate themselves from Obamacare. That is only one issue, but it is a big one that trickles down into every nook and cranny of America’s immediate economic future. Obamacare, like so many other defunct endeavors our president has, consists of spending, spending, spending. When you run out of money, spend some more. Create new agencies. Push some more paper around. Talk about twenty years from now with blatant disregard for the present or the more immediate future. Green, green, green. Certainly don’t drill for oil in the Gulf. That would create thousands and thousands of jobs and bolster our economy far too much. Keep paying foreign nations, many of whom despise America, for the majority of our oil when we have enough here to fit our needs. Give other countries billions of dollars in aid while our own economy crumbles. And, all of this on the backs of the taxpayers with no hope or change in sight until he is out.

Barack Obama’s actions and words have a numbing effect because there is so much of it to go around every single day. Some of the things he says and does no longer draw reactions out of people because we have grown complacent in his abundant trait to disappoint. So, rather than say “Obama did this” or “Obama did that”, let’s simply acknowledge the fact that this man evoked the massive and widely successful uprise of the Tea party, he currently has an overwhelming majority of states doing everything they can to avoid his health care law, and today he encouraged Wisconsin protesters to get in the face of the lawful legislative process. What other president can you name that has angered and disappointed so many Americans and entire states to this rare extent in such a short period of time? Who? Do you want four more years of this?

1,604.6 miles to go.

Day173 Friday 02/18/11

image from eshop.mainevent-tickets.co.uk

ran 2.9 miles

• Massachusetts was the sixth state to join the union on February 6, 1788, two months before Maryland and one month after Connecticut.

• Population, as of 2009, is 6,593,587.

• Senators are Scott Brown (R) and John Kerry (D).

• Representatives are John Olver (D), Richard Neal (D), James McGovern (D), Barney Frank (D), Niki Tsongas (D), John Tierney (D), Edward Markey (D), Michael Capuano (D), Stephen Lynch (D) and William Keating (D).

• Massachusetts, having lost one electoral vote as reapportioned by the 2010 Census, now has eleven electoral votes. The state has lost one-third of its electoral votes since the 1920s, falling from eighteen to eleven. Historically, the state has been reliably blue since 1928, only voting red four times since then (twice each for Eisenhower and Reagan). Obama beat McCain 62% to 36% in 2008.

In current news, the governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, is being bullied by union protesters and democratic lawmakers. One of the most childish and ridiculous tactics I’ve been alive to witness was the fleeing of Democratic state senators in Wisconsin across the border to Illinois to hide and postpone the vote, which would force public-sector workers to pay into their own pensions (as most others do in 401k plans) and health benefits (as most others do) and the removal of collective bargaining rights for some. When you were in elementary or middle school, if you ran from a fight, or went to the extreme of not only running from a fight but crossing a state border to avoid it, even at that young age you were laughed at and your pubescent dignity was not spared. These are grown men and women, senators of a state in the United States of America, running for the hills. They fled to Illinois to avoid being brought back to Madison by Wisconsin state law enforcement.

Steps like these are what is necessary for America to rebound and more tough choices like this need to happen on local, state and federal levels. Governor Walker fired back at Barack Obama’s criticism of his actions by saying, “We are focused on balancing our budget. It would be wise for the government and others in Washington to focus on balancing their budgets, which they are a long way off from doing.”

Looking at the larger American picture, Wisconsin is taking a preemptive measure by attempting to correct their budget now before it becomes too volatile and dangerous shortly down the road, Arizona is fighting the federal government on immigration issues that are getting worse and worse as the federal government does as little as possible to correct the problem, and a large majority of the states in our union are taking all the steps they legally can to defund Obamacare so it never becomes a reality. What is the common denominator here? Obama claims Governor Walker’s actions are an “Assault” on the middle class, the federal government Obama is the leader of is in the courts with Arizona over actions the state has taken to quell their illegal alien issues, and a substantial majority of people and states are doing everything in their power to stop what Barack Obama would define as his legacy legislation, health care reform. The common denominator, which becomes more and more clear, week after week, is Barack Obama and his inability to do anything that more than half the people or states in this union don't vehemently want to overturn or pursue with an opposite approach.

Barack Obama is achieving something America has not seen in decades. He is uniting men and women from state to state to state to such a degree that “The people” or actually putting the federal government back in the place it belongs, inspired merely by passion for this great nation that Obama is trying to turn into an unrecognizable and unremarkable state of socialistic equality. Dare I say it, that states are once again wanting to distance themselves from the American government, the way it was intended to be. During the Civil War, numerous states actually seceded from the United States union, rejoining later. I am not alluding to state secession as a possibility in the near future, but what is happening is that many states are sending a universal message to the federal government and that message is “Leave us alone. If you would just leave us alone and allow each state to handle its own affairs depending on that state's own circumstances, this country would be a much better place. Leave us alone. You are only messing things up.”

For example, Arizona obviously has some serious border issues given their geographic location. In what world does it make sense for the federal government to legislate border control across the American landscape when certain states, like Arizona, are special cases that need special legislation. And in Wisconsin, Governor Walker was elected by the people of that state and he is doing the best and most effective thing he can for the long-term prosperity of his state. Barack Obama’s response, and liberal lawmakers’ reactions in general to what he is trying to do are absurd. Washington D.C. has no business interfering with American progress and that message is becoming louder and louder as each day passes.

Our federal government was never intended to have even half the power it now possesses and individual states are working to take their rightful power back. If nothing else, Barack Obama walked up to a sleeping giant, which is the American people, and he woke that giant up by slapping him in the face.

1,608.4 miles to go.

Day172 Thursday 02/17/11

ran 4.3 miles

Some polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 28% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 37% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential approval index rating of –9.

• Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of Barack Obama’s performance and 50% disapprove.

• Among American voters, 55% of voters say that Obama’s proposed budget does not cut spending enough.

• Only 31% of voters think America is generally heading in the right direction.

• Just 28% of voters believe the government today has the consent of those it governs.

• Among American voters, 57% at least somewhat favor repeal of the health care law while 38% are at least somewhat opposed. Those figures include 45% who strongly favor repeal and 31% who strongly oppose repeal.

On Day163, I posted about the “Health Care Compact”, a constitutional method for an unlimited number of states to band together and legally refuse to participate in the federal government’s mandated health care bill, which a significant majority of Americans want no part of. Check out Day163 for the details. The compact is a fairly simple and highly effective concept. The most exciting element of ratifying compacts is the fact that Barack Obama, or any elected president, does not have to sign it and he cannot veto it. It becomes law after the House and Senate. And once two states establish the compact, precedent is set and other states can join, gaining momentum state after state. Currently, more than half the states in America are eagerly pursuing the Compact at the state level.

In fact, today Arizona took a huge step toward the Compact. This is an article from www.azcentral.com.

Arizona Senate approves states’ rights measures

"Vowing to push back against Washington, the state Senate's majority Republicans want Arizona to join other states in a compact to challenge the federal health care overhaul and its mandates on individuals.

The Senate approved the health care compact bill Thursday as it also voted for a Republican bill to declare that federal government has no power to regulate commerce that doesn't cross state lines.

The intrastate bill would make it a low-grade felony for a federal official or a misdemeanor for an Arizona public employee to attempt to enforce federal regulations that violate the proposed state law.

Democrats voted against both bills, which now go to the Arizona House."

Check out www.healthcarecompact.org for more details.

1,611.3 miles to go.

Day171 Wednesday 02/16/11

image from Ex-Genius

ran 3.9 miles

Someone Else. We are hanging on to what this country was intended to be with one hand clinging to the edge of common sense and the other urgently grasping for something that simply isn’t there. On the precipice of damaging America for generations to come, an America bearing little resemblance to the nation we have known for so long, Barack Obama seems more determined to deconstruct the America we have had for so long and to turn it into some kind of unrealistic utopia, which by definition is “An ideal and perfect place or state, where everyone lives in harmony and everything is for the best”. That is something you tell your six-year-old if he or she happen to ask you why we all exist or who God is and why did he put us here.

Someone Else. Who are you? Where are you? The utopian state is a state of communism. It has failed in so many other places for so long and now our president wants to implement it here. Socialized health care, which more than half of the states in our country are vigorously trying to fight, is the first big step towards taking money from the large majority of people who work hard in this country and giving it to the much smaller number who do not, regardless of whether they are highly unmotivated or here illegally. Our government’s solution is to continue robbing so many people of their own goals and contributions to society by sending them a check each month and, regarding the millions of illegal aliens in America, our government seeks to grant them amnesty, as though we were not already paying for their medical needs and giving them tax returns that surpass my own when they don’t even pay into the system. Ultimately, Barack Obama’s agenda points to a leveling of opportunity for all. It sounds nice and fair, but it is not the American way. If our country continues to regress into what we fought so hard to separate ourselves from over two centuries ago, then what was it all for? In America, your rewards are designed to be proportional to the hard work you invest in your goals. If you invest a lot of time and work then you reap many rewards. If you put forth little or no effort then you receive little or no reward. It has been this way for a very long time and it is not that complicated of a template to follow. These principles are being compromised, though, and even apologized for as though they were shameful or wrong.

Someone Else. Will you put America first? Will you embrace the elitism we once possessed and wield it within our own borders? Will you not tolerate other countries that laugh at and mock America? Will you continue to give them so much of our taxpayers’ money when they despise our nation? Who is Someone Else in 2012? Who will save the middle class, which is so instrumental in continuing the nation America was intended to be? In 2012, Someone Else needs to reignite the American flame that made this nation so strong and resist the convenient excuses we’ve become so used to. There are no excuses. Barack Obama would have you believe that blaming others and making excuses are a vital part of being the president of the United States of America and that our nation’s success is contingent on tenets of communism, but it is poisonous Kool-Aid. Don’t drink it.

Someone Else.

1,615.6 miles to go.

Day170 Tuesday 02/15/11

ran 5.2 miles

On Day156, I had made my first post honoring Black History Month. The man I had spotlighted was Alan Keyes. Tonight I am going to post about Allen West. He is a freshman Representative out of Florida and he has been speaking loud volumes for Conservative values. He delivered an impressive keynote speech at CPAC recently. These are a few of his quotes.

“Political correctness has no place in our national security strategy.”

“Liberal progressivism evolved after our Constitution. It has repeatedly failed all over the world so why do we think it could be successful here in the United States of America?”

“I say this to the President: The good things in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: closing the doughnut hole, making sure that we take care of people with the preexisting conditions, keeping our young kids on our insurance, I can probably fit that in five to ten pages. It’s the other two thousand four hundred ninety pages with eleven new taxes, a hundred fifty- nine new government agencies and beauracracies, and sixteen thousand new IRS agents, that the United States of America does not want!”

“We welcome the beliefs of others in America, but our coexistence must be based on a simple premise: when tolerance becomes a one-way street, it leads to cultural suicide. And American cultural values shall never be subjugated to any other as long as I have air in my lungs.”

After citing “Hostile attacks from the liberal left”, which characterize conservatives as racist, West commented, “Perhaps they should see who is standing up here as your keynote speaker.”

Allen West was born and raised in Atlanta, GA, in the same neighborhood Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr once preached. He retired highly decorated from the military as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and in Afghanistan. After retiring from the military he moved his family to South Florida and taught at a High school. And in November of 2010 he was elected to be a Representative in the United States Congress.

1,619.5 miles to go.

Day169 Monday 02/14/11

ran 4.2 miles

Happy Valentines Day. In case you didn’t know, on this day in history, approximately 278 A.D., Valentine, a priest in Rome during the rule of Claudius II, was executed. In an effort to maintain a strong army “Claudius the Cruel” observed that men were unwilling to join his military because of their strong ties to their wives and children. To reverse this problem, Claudius banned all engagements and marriages in Rome. Valentine deemed this decree to be unjust and defied Claudius by continuing to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. Upon discovering Valentine’s actions Claudius ordered his arrest and sentenced him to death. He was beheaded and eventually declared a saint for his great passion and service to holy matrimony. Over time, February 14 became a date for exchanging love messages and poems or simple gifts such as flowers. So that’s where Valentines Day came from.

Back to the present, Representative Steve King of Iowa is working toward an effective halt to Obamacare. Through a tactic used by democrats to put a halt to the Vietnam War decades ago, he plans to add an amendment to the continuing resolution, which will prohibit all federal funds from being spent to enforce the provisions of Obamacare.

In an article from The Washington Times, King explains that when Obamacare was drafted Democrats “Quietly included provisions that trigger automatic and mandatory funding in the law. An additional $105.5 billion is about to be spent to implement and enforce Obamacare unless action is taken in the continuing resolution to stop it.”

This continuing resolution, the same tactic that ended the Vietnam War and can end Obamacare now, would completely defund Obama’s unconstitutional health care law. The unfortunate alternative is that the first $105.5 billion gets pumped into Obamacare, like lighting a highly explosive ignition source that can’t be put out, and any measures taken after that to repeal Obamacare is weighed against the fact that so much money has already been invested in it. And with every argument made against it and every proof of its unconstitutionality revealed, money will still be pumping into it, lighting the fire more and more, until right and wrong no longer matter. The only argument that’s left is, “Well, we just invested hundreds of billions of dollars in this thing. Are you going to tell America that all of that money is lost?”…or something of that conniving and deceitful politic-speak nature.

This story should be in the news tomorrow and the House of Representatives has a useful majority of conservatives who are primed to fight for their constituents, so hopefully it works. The first step was taken today in a committee meeting and passed eight to four. But, like everything else in Washington this will likely drag on for a while. Something has got to give soon or the Obamacare train is going to roar out of control.

1,624.7 miles to go.

Day168 Sunday 02/13/11

ran 2.8 miles

Today ends week twenty-four of running against Obama. I ran 24.0 miles this week, averaging 3.43 miles per day.

Late last night I stumbled across some exciting news worth sharing. Ayn Rand’s classic 1957 novel “Atlas Shrugged” has been made into a movie and it will be in theaters on April 15, 2011. What was exciting to find last night was that the trailer had been released for viewing. It’s worth checking out at www.atlasshruggedpart1.com.

If you look back to Day18 of this blog, I focused on “Atlas Shrugged” and gave some comparisons of how parallel the novel is to what is going on in America today. One fact I listed that ought to intrigue anyone who does not know a lot about Ayn Rand is that the Library of Congress conducted a survey and concluded that “Atlas Shrugged” was number two next to the bible as the most influential book read in America. If you haven’t read the book then this movie will definitely open your eyes up to the direction America is heading under Barack Obama's leadership.

1,628.9 miles to go.