Day490 Sunday 01/01/12

ran 0.1 miles

Welcome to 2012. Last night, while we were ushering in the new year, Barack Obama seized the opportunity to sign the National Defense Authorization Act. This act, among other things, allows indefinite detainment of American citizens with no trial for any reason our government sees fit.

Any time our federal government signs something into law on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, I think it is safe to say that what they signed is usually a huge injustice to the American people. It’s a sucker punch. It’s a cheap shot. And they only get two of them per year so you know they choose the most controversial laws they can find for these two holidays. For example, the Senate passed Obama’s health care bill on Christmas Eve, 2009.

The reason they pick these holidays to enact absurdity is because the media is reporting holiday stories the next day---and, people don’t want to think about the nonsense that is churning daily in Washington on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve. So they swoop in and pillage while we are distracted by warm, pleasant holidays with friends and family.

President Barack Obama released a signing statement after signing the act. While most of it strikes me as disingenuous fluff, this one particular quote caught my attention.

“Moreover, I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation.”

There are so many things wrong with this statement. This is a pledge coming from the same man who said he would be a one-term president if the economy was not fixed in three years. It’s been three years and the economy is far from fixed. Those are some strict terms but he set them, not us.

Obama has lost credibility when it comes to the economy. However, the one area he has thrived in is dealing with terrorists. And now that every American is a potential terrorist threat and can be snatched up in the middle of the night, just not under his administration, Obama does have credibility in Bill of Rights defying nightmares like this. He signed this monstrosity into law, but as a consolation he claims that his administration will not authorize “the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens”. Beyond the fact that those words mean nothing, what about the next administration and the one after that? Barack Obama has signed into law the biggest threat to civil liberties we have seen in a very long time. He has cracked open a gate and eventually this gate will be wide open.

“…I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a nation.” Traditions and values? These are laws. These are laws that America was built upon. They are the essence of America.

Almost forgot...today ends week seventy of running against Obama. I ran 20.7 miles this week, averaging 2.96 miles per day.

592.7 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day125.

Day489 Saturday 12/31/11

ran 2.9 miles

Here is a short video explaining the history, meaning, and method of voting for the Iowa caucus. Republicans and Democrats each have their own unique process. I learned a lot in just over a minute. Tuesday, January 3, is the big day.

Hope 2011 was a good year for you and happy New Year’s Eve! Bring it on 2012!

592.8 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day124.

Day488 Friday 12/30/11

16 MONTHS!!!

ran 3.2 miles
A little more than ten months of running against Obama to go. It’s been a long journey to this point but November 6, 2012, will be here before we know it. Thanks for reading the blog and keeping up with the miles. It is going to be a turbulent ten months and not one thing will surprise me along the way or shock me once we reach the final destination of election night.

When I started running sixteen months ago I had the naïve idea that somebody, anybody, would emerge as a hero much like Reagan did against Carter, ultimately achieving a similar landslide victory. Reagan took 44 states to Carter’s 6 (plus D.C.) in 1980. In 1984, he carried 49 states to Walter Mondale’s 1 (plus D.C.). Sixteen months later, I don’t foresee anything like that happening in 2012. Rather, America seems to be dividing in the middle and pulling apart in both directions.

Division. Here’s a mathematical analogy for America. One side wants to divide 5 by 2, which appears to be a perfectly natural idea on the surface, but the other side demands there be no decimal points. One side wants 2+2 to equal 5 and the other wants it to equal 3. The idea of two plus two equaling four is unacceptable in the political arena.

That being said, there is a lot of blame to pass around for our current state but Barack Obama has done little to dig us out of our hole and much to bury us deeper. And as he continues to raise our national debt I feel no consolation when he says things like “it would be worse if we hadn’t taken these measures”. That is a statement that cannot be proven and I expect more from a president than mere speculation about such consequential decisions regarding our economy and the debt that unborn generations are going to be born into owing upon arrival.

Ten more months, America. What’ll it be? Barack Obama or Someone Else?

595.7 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day123.

Day487 Thursday 12/29/11

ran 3.5 miles
Three more states to go. Here are some stats and facts about the state of West Virginia (to check out stats and facts about more states click on “states of the union” on the right):

• West Virginia was the thirty-fifth state to join the union on June 20, 1863, one year before Nevada and two years after Kansas.

• Population, as of 2010, is 1,852,994.

• Senators are Joe Manchin (D) and John Rockefeller (D).

• Representatives are David McKinley (R), Shelley Capito (R), and Nick Rahall (D).

• West Virginia has five electoral votes. An interesting fact about West Virginia is that the state seceded from Virginia after Virginia had seceded from the union during the Civil War. Historically, West Virginia has voted blue 20 out of the last 37 presidential elections, but red for the last three elections. The state historically swings from red to blue but is expected to lean Republican in 2012. In 2008, McCain defeated Obama 56% to 43%.

And here is a little something extra. While certain states exhibit their sovereign interests in slowing down the gates of illegal immigration, Barack Obama has established a hotline for illegal immigrants to call for help if they were so unlucky as to be apprehended. The hotline exists for detainees to call in case they may be U.S. citizens and not realize it or in the event that they feel they were victims of a crime. Here is the story.

598.9 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day122.

Day486 Wednesday 12/28/11

ran 4.2 miles
Here are some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 23% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 41% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –18.

• Overall, 45% of voters at least somewhat approve of Obama’s performance while 54% at least somewhat disapprove.

• Only 20% of American voters polled believe America is heading in the right direction.

• Building the Keystone XL Pipeline earns 53% approval.

• Election 2012: Generic Republican 45%, Obama 44%.

• Among American voters polled, 53% favor repeal of Health Care Law

And from A CNN poll, Iowa has Romney at 25%, followed by Paul with 22%, Santorum with 16%, and Gingrich with 14%.

And one last thing, there is a lot of chatter about Hillary Clinton switching jobs with Joe Biden for the 2012 election. Aside from being a national insult to Joe Biden, the move would be a plus for Democrats. If Obama does wiggle his way into another term, Clinton would be a much more feasible presidential candidate in 2016 to continue Democratic leadership compared to Joe Biden and his tenacity to constantly say the worst possible thing at any given moment. But that is just speculation at this point.

602.4 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day121.

Day485 Tuesday 12/27/11

ran 2.0 miles
Barack Obama is obviously not the only member of our government-spending machine that is up for reelection in 2012. Every House seat is up for grabs every two years, but I haven’t heard much about the Senators whose jobs are in jeopardy so I took the liberty of looking it up.

Thirty-three Senators are up for reelection or have decided to retire. As of today, in fact, Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska announced he would be retiring, topping the list so far of seven Democratic Senators lining up to retire.

There are twenty-one Democrats, two Independents, and ten Republicans up for reelection or retirement. Those are some good numbers for anyone interested in the possibility, albeit a slim one (this is Washington D.C. we are talking about), of lowering our national debt and empowering the private sector, among many other things. Here they are.

Democrats:

Akaka, Daniel K. (D-HI)
Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM)
Brown, Sherrod (D-OH)
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA)
Cardin, Benjamin L. (D-MD)
Carper, Thomas R. (D-DE)
Casey, Robert P., Jr. (D-PA)
Conrad, Kent (D-ND)
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
Gillibrand, Kirsten E. (D-NY)
Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN)
Kohl, Herb (D-WI)
Manchin, Joe, III (D-WV)
McCaskill, Claire (D-MO)
Menendez, Robert (D-NJ)
Nelson, Ben (D-NE)
Nelson, Bill (D-FL)
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
Tester, Jon (D-MT)
Webb, Jim (D-VA)
Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI)

Independents:

Lieberman, Joseph I. (ID-CT)
Sanders, Bernard (I-VT)

Republicans:

Barrasso, John (R-WY)
Brown, Scott P. (R-MA)
Corker, Bob (R-TN)
Hatch, Orrin G. (R-UT)
Heller, Dean (R-NV)
Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX)
Kyl, Jon (R-AZ)
Lugar, Richard G. (R-IN)
Snowe, Olympia J. (R-ME)
Wicker, Roger F. (R-MS)

606.6 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day120.

Day484 Monday 12/26/11

ran 4.8 miles
Santa left a copy of “Atlas Shrugged” under my tree yesterday. I had read the book years ago (it ranks as one of the top three books I have ever read) and I saw the movie earlier this year. Santa Claus nestled a copy of the movie under my tree and I watched it last night for the second time. If you have not seen this movie I highly recommend it.

It is the path we are on. This prophetic book was written in 1957 and our president and his liberal ideas are fulfilling its prophecy. I used to grasp into the future wondering to myself how things would be in twenty or thirty years. Lately, I find myself disparately looking into a nearer future wondering how things will be in the next five years. All of this hinges on whether Barack Obama gets reelected or not. Every presidential election is big and possesses its own unique circumstances, but this one in 2012 is a monumental intersection in American history.

After watching the movie I pulled my copy of “Atlas Shrugged” off the bookshelf, blew the dust off, and skimmed over a few sections. One of my favorite chapters is in Part 3, Chapter 7, “This is John Galt Speaking”. Galt takes over the airwaves and makes a profound broadcast that fits easily into our current time.

This monologue is not the end of the book, but it is a big moment. If you haven’t read it yet then this is your official spoiler alert. This monologue is one of the longest in American literary history at fifty-four pages long. Here it is abridged to 964 words from WorkingMinds.com:

“For twelve years you've been asking, "Who is John Galt?" This is John Galt speaking. I'm the man who's taken away your victims and thus destroyed your world. You've heard it said that this is an age of moral crisis and that Man's sins are destroying the world. But your chief virtue has been sacrifice, and you've demanded more sacrifices at every disaster. You've sacrificed justice to mercy and happiness to duty. So why should you be afraid of the world around you?

Your world is only the product of your sacrifices. While you were dragging the men who made your happiness possible to your sacrificial altars, I beat you to it. I reached them first and told them about the game you were playing and where it would take them. I explained the consequences of your 'brother-love' morality, which they had been too innocently generous to understand. You won't find them now, when you need them more than ever.

We're on strike against your creed of unearned rewards and unrewarded duties. If you want to know how I made them quit, I told them exactly what I'm telling you tonight. I taught them the morality of Reason -- that it was right to pursue one's own happiness as one's principal goal in life. I don't consider the pleasure of others my goal in life, nor do I consider my pleasure the goal of anyone else's life.

I am a trader. I earn what I get in trade for what I produce. I ask for nothing more or nothing less than what I earn. That is justice. I don't force anyone to trade with me; I only trade for mutual benefit. Force is the great evil that has no place in a rational world. One may never force another human to act against his/her judgment. If you deny a man's right to Reason, you must also deny your right to your own judgment. Yet you have allowed your world to be run by means of force, by men who claim that fear and joy are equal incentives, but that fear and force are more practical.

You've allowed such men to occupy positions of power in your world by preaching that all men are evil from the moment they're born. When men believe this, they see nothing wrong in acting in any way they please. The name of this absurdity is 'original sin'. That's impossible. That which is outside the possibility of choice is also outside the province of morality. To call sin that which is outside man's choice is a mockery of justice. To say that men are born with a free will but with a tendency toward evil is ridiculous. If the tendency is one of choice, it doesn't come at birth. If it is not a tendency of choice, then man's will is not free.

And then there's your 'brother-love' morality. Why is it moral to serve others, but not yourself? If enjoyment is a value, why is it moral when experienced by others, but not by you? Why is it immoral to produce something of value and keep it for yourself, when it is moral for others who haven't earned it to accept it? If it's virtuous to give, isn't it then selfish to take?

Your acceptance of the code of selflessness has made you fear the man who has a dollar less than you because it makes you feel that that dollar is rightfully his. You hate the man with a dollar more than you because the dollar he's keeping is rightfully yours. Your code has made it impossible to know when to give and when to grab.

You know that you can't give away everything and starve yourself. You've forced yourselves to live with undeserved, irrational guilt. Is it ever proper to help another man? No, if he demands it as his right or as a duty that you owe him. Yes, if it's your own free choice based on your judgment of the value of that person and his struggle. This country wasn't built by men who sought handouts. In its brilliant youth, this country showed the rest of the world what greatness was possible to Man and what happiness is possible on Earth.

Then it began apologizing for its greatness and began giving away its wealth, feeling guilty for having produced more than its neighbors. Twelve years ago, I saw what was wrong with the world and where the battle for Life had to be fought. I saw that the enemy was an inverted morality and that my acceptance of that morality was its only power. I was the first of the men who refused to give up the pursuit of his own happiness in order to serve others.

To those of you who retain some remnant of dignity and the will to live your lives for yourselves, you have the chance to make the same choice. Examine your values and understand that you must choose one side or the other. Any compromise between good and evil only hurts the good and helps the evil.

If you've understood what I've said, stop supporting your destroyers. Don't accept their philosophy. Your destroyers hold you by means of your endurance, your generosity, your innocence, and your love. Don't exhaust yourself to help build the kind of world that you see around you now. In the name of the best within you, don't sacrifice the world to those who will take away your happiness for it.

The world will change when you are ready to pronounce this oath:

I swear by my Life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine.”

608.6 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day119.

Day483 Sunday 12/25/11

Merry Christmas!!!

ran 3.4 miles
Today ends week sixty-nine of running against Obama. I ran 16.6 miles this week, averaging 2.37 miles per day.

“I like the commercial Christmas we now practice in this country. You know why? Because I'm an American. I love Santa. And Christmas trees, and lights, and presents and everything that makes you feel warm inside. Because I'm an American.”

This is the opening line to an article at the HuffingtonPost by Cenk Uygur. He makes some valid points about Christmas, this holiday that is scrutinized more and more each year for reasons that go right over the heads of those who have problems with the sight of a Christmas tree or the utterance of “Jesus”.

In terms of a pie chart, which has only a fine sliver of representation belonging to those who seem to dislike Christmas to the point that they would rather do away with it all together, it is a shame that so many of us who do love Christmas for a multitude of assorted reasons have to slowly watch the holiday get begrudged more and more each year. As Uygur goes on to explain, there is a larger American picture that is severely missed.

613.4 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day118.

Day482 Saturday 12/24/11

ran 3.5 miles
Merry Christmas Eve!!!

It was on this day in 2009, yes, on Christmas Eve, that the Senate passed the controversial health care reform bill, which is Barack Obama’s top domestic achievement (or failure, depending upon whose side you’re on).

While America was trying to embrace and celebrate Christmas and rightfully paying little attention to politics, the Senate slipped this thing through at the most opportune time of the year excluding Christmas day itself.

The vote was 60 to 39. Every single Democrat voted for it and every single Republican opposed it (Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, who opposed the bill, was the only Senator to skip the vote).

Less than a year later the mid-term elections were held and what used to be 60 Democratic seats is now only 51.

The House had passed the bill a month earlier 220-215. Representative Joseph Cao of Louisiana was the only House Republican to vote for the measure.

One year later the mid-term elections were held and there are currently 242 Republicans and 192 Democrats in the House.

Looks like a case of voter’s remorse. Things certainly haven’t gotten much better, but take a look at the possibilities of where we would be today had Barack Obama walked out of the mid-terms unscathed, or unshellacked, continuing with a significant Democratic majority in the Senate and control of the House for another two years.

What has changed to prevent another mass exit for liberals in 2012? The liberal trend lately is for them to detach themselves from Barack Obama and his legislation in order to get elected or reelected. Republicans have not changed a whole lot of America’s immediate direction but they have certainly succeeded in linking their arms together to create an obstacle for Barack Obama and his endless spending. That is enough for me until we get a new president in 2012.

Someone Else is his or her name at this point and anyone of the candidates we have to choose from will be better than the spending administration we have now.

616.8 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day117.

Day481 Friday 12/23/11

ran 0.2 miles

Yesterday’s post is late but here it is. No excuses. I was also only able to run 0.2 miles yesterday (the end of my street and back) and I’ll have to catch up.

The Occupy Wall Street movement has not been in the news too much lately. Aside from costing taxpayers millions of dollars to allow the movement to persist as peacefully as possible, not much is notable in terms of accomplishment. Congress continues to prolong progress as long as possible, earning themselves dismal approval numbers, and our president seems to be most concerned right now with his re-election---four years of "Lame Duck" leadership that he will never have to answer for with a third election. Or maybe he will just continue as president. There is currently a lot of legislation out there violating the civil liberties we have held so high for a very long time. If these can be changed all of a sudden then what else can? The answer is anything.

620.3 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day116.

Day480 Thursday 12/22/11

ran 3.5 miles

On the surface, all of these FEMA detainment camps and their immediate efforts to contract service providers to run them within a hair’s diameter of Congress passing a bill to lawfully detain American citizens indefinitely without trial presumably appears to be meant for “terrorists” or genuine threats as you and I understand them. But, why are there over 600 of these camps?

Rhetorical question. This is a way for our government to pry its federal foot into a gate that was never intended to be opened. Given the slightest scenario of catastrophe or upheaval in the near future, the act of locking our doors at night will lose all sense of security it once offered.

620.5 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day115.

Day479 Wednesday 12/21/11

ran 4.5 miles
Here’s your Christmas dose of propaganda from Barack Obama’s campaign team. When you get together with your family this year for the Christmas holiday, be sure to convince as many uncles and aunts as you can to vote for Barack Obama in 2012. Forget about the simple pleasures of the holiday and the quality time spent with family. This man needs another term. Don’t make Christmas a wasted opportunity to discuss politics.

And here is an early Christmas present from Chuck Woolery. He has made a series of videos for his "Save America one trillion dollars at a time" campaign and this is his latest release (slightly humorous but fortified with truth):



624.0 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day114.

Day478 Tuesday 12/20/11

ran 0.2 miles
Last week I ran the largest amount of miles I have ever run over the course of seven days. This week I am paying for it. After running 30.2 miles last week I ran 1.3 miles yesterday and a whopping 0.2 miles tonight. I hate to admit it but I am exhausted. This week has been a brick wall so far.

Getting home from work today, it was raining and I had zero desire to get wet or to break a sweat. I ran to the end of my street and back, which took everything I had. All of the surplus miles I earned last week are being compromised by a complete lack of energy this week.

But, I am more than maintaining the budget of miles I had set for myself and I have no shame in offering transparency at every step of this campaign. I have some catching up to do, but it is planning for occasional shortcomings and unexpected obstacles that keep any set of numbers from reaching deficits. If only economies were this logical to manage by planning for mistakes and lulls.

Speaking of not planning for mistakes and exhibiting absolutely no restraint for spending, here are some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 21% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 39% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of –18.

• Overall, 47% of voters at least somewhat approve of Obama’s performance while 51% at least somewhat disapprove.

• Generic Congressional Ballot: Republicans 43%, Democrats 40%.

628.5 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day113.

Day477 Monday 12/19/11

ran 1.3 miles
“I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln —in terms of what we’ve gotten done.”

This was an omitted quote from Barack Obama’s recent 60 Minutes interview. According to TheBlaze, the quote surfaced on the official transcript but was not aired on television. Obviously, an arrogant account of one’s self, this president certainly does have audacity to compare himself to other president’s who only time and history have the ability to look back on and rate for superiority.

And here’s the best part. Note how President Obama cited his accomplishments over the first two years of his term rather than acknowledging the full three that have spanned his presidency. After the first two years of his presidency and as a consequence of the decisions he had made in that time, his actions directly led to the American people firing handfuls of Democrats in the House and Senate during the midterm elections of 2010.

Replaced by a large number of newly elected officials that swore to not raise taxes and to essentially oppose the core direction of Obama’s first two years, which he holds in such high esteem, the people have spoken and through their actions clearly went to their voting precincts and collectively sent a message that completely contradicts Obama’s notion that his administration and his actions are comparable to Johnson’s, F.D.R.’s, or Lincoln’s.

628.7 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day112.