Day607 Friday 04/27/12

ran 3.1 miles

Some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Obama 47%, Romney 46%, third party candidate 4%, undecided 3%

• Barack Obama's presidential approval index is -13

• Florida: Romney 46%, Obama 45%

• Virginia: Romney 45%, Obama 44%

• 29% say U.S. heading in right direction

204.8 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day242.

Day606 Thursday 04/26/12

ran 3.6 miles

Governor Jesse Ventura said it best when he made the analogy "Politics in America today are identical to pro wrestling.  And what I mean by that is in front of the cameras and the public we all hate each other...yet behind the scenes we are all friends going out to dinner together...Democrats and Republicans aren't really opposed to one another."

I think in an underhanded sort of way he is basically calling you and me stupid, gullible, ignorant, and so distanced from reality that we actually think we can make a difference with merely a single vote.  I completely agree with Governor Ventura's assessment of calling it for what it is, but all we, as average Americans, walk away with is a sense of "hmmm, that's a good analogy and it makes perfect sense in an upside-down sort of way, but that's just politics".

We all go on thinking only of the tasks for tomorrow with no sense of consequence for the larger horizon before us that keeps getting closer and closer.  

Things only feel normal right now.  Our senses and perceptions are massaged with information that have a placebo effect on the temperament of our rationale.  In simple terms, if the United States of America was geographically constructed in the shape of a human body, China would own an entire arm right up to the shoulder and they would have invested interests in some of the more important vital organs like the heart and kidney of America.  They would want to drill the mind of America.  And what is so ironic about how helpful China is to our debt woes is the fact that they are the international beacon of Communism.  They are the paradigm of everything we have fought to defend from America.  But we are figuratively selling American limbs and organs to them just so we can keep our necks above our sea of debt.

I'm not excited about Romney because this election will be as premanufactured as a wrestling bout between John Cena and Triple H.  And because of that, I feel gypped, but that is why I write this blog and run these miles.  I simply want something real that no government could ever possibly deliver.  I want them to leave me alone and to show others how valuable being left alone and not reliant on the government is.

But, if that were to happen their power to control would cease to exist.  Their purpose would be devalued and their egos deflated.  Their statures would crumble and their strength would diminish.  Americans and the small businesses and corporations that employ them could could call the government's bluff.  Maybe one day.  The first step is getting Barack Hussein Obama out of the Oval Office.

207.9 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day241.

      

Day605 Wednesday 04/25/12

ran 4.2 miles

Marine Sgt. Gary Stein was recently discharged from the Marine Corps for expressing criticism of President Barack Obama on Facebook (this is his page: Armed Forces Tea Party). Interpret the discharge for yourself, but here is yet another pathetic example of double standards I can’t pass up.  Military men and women take an oath and accept that they sacrifice a large amount of their freedom of speech when they enter a branch of the military.  They are not reserved the right to question their superior’s orders, all the way up the POTUS, or to criticize them in a public forum. 

Imagine a scenario where a sergeant, major, or general gives a command and one of his or her troops says something to the effect of “Are you sure?  Is that really what we should be doing?”  This sort of action does not happen on the battlefield and it is not accepted in the political arena, either.  I can see how Sergeant Stein's actions are questionable but I commend him for them, and this is the reason why. What incenses me is the double standard that exists between how black and white it is for military men and women to do as their told without question based upon an oath to serve their country in comparison to how gray and murky our Constitution’s interpretation has become to our political leaders.

Gary Stein is being discharged for arguably using his freedom of speech while President Barack Obama blatantly discards the Constitution that he took an oath to defend.  Sergeant Stein is being discharged while Barack Obama gets away with impeachable actions.

The only example necessary is our president's military involvement in Libya without the approval of Congress.  The Constitution clearly states that war acts have to be approved by Congress and our president completely usurped this law and issued an executive order.  Furthermore, as Syria continues to become worse and worse of a situation, Leon Panetta sits in front of Congress informing them that when he, the president, and United Nations reach a decision they will inform the Senate on what action they will take regarding Syria. 

This is unconstitutional!

If Gary Stein can be discharged for expressing and documenting how terrible of a job he thinks President Barack Obama is doing, then President Barack Obama should be impeached for walking all over the Constitution, which he swore to defend every fiber of, when he is clearly breaking his own oath.

211.5 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day240.

Day604 Tuesday 04/24/12

ran 3.1 miles

"It’s still about the economy…and we’re not stupid."

Here are some excerpts from the AntiObama after 43 primaries and caucuses, which have led him through a rather straight path to the official Republican nomination.  The one main question Romney wants voters to ask themselves is, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"

"Americans have always been eternal optimists. But over the last three and a half years, we have seen hopes and dreams diminished by false promises and weak leadership. Everywhere I go, Americans are tired of being tired, and many of those who are fortunate enough to have a job are working harder for less."

"Four years ago Barack Obama dazzled us in front of Greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change. But after we came down to earth, after the celebration and parades, what do we have to show for three and a half years of President Obama?

Is it easier to make ends meet? Is it easier to sell your home or buy a new one? Have you saved what you needed for retirement? Are you making more in your job? Do you have a better chance to get a better job? Do you pay less at the pump?

If the answer were “yes” to those questions, then President Obama would be running for re-election based on his achievements…and rightly so. But because he has failed, he will run a campaign of diversions, distractions, and distortions. That kind of campaign may have worked at another place and in a different time. But not here and not now. It’s still about the economy …and we’re not stupid."

"I see an America with a growing middle class, with rising standards of living. I see children even more successful than their parents - some successful even beyond their wildest dreams – and others congratulating them for their achievement, not attacking them for it.

This America is fundamentally fair. We will stop the unfairness of urban children being denied access to the good schools of their choice; the unfairness of politicians giving taxpayer money to their friends’ businesses; the unfairness of requiring union workers to contribute to politicians not of their choosing; the unfairness of government workers getting better pay and benefits than the taxpayers they serve; and we will stop the unfairness of one generation passing larger and larger debts on to the next.

In the America I see, character and choices matter. And education, hard work, and living within our means are valued and rewarded. And poverty will be defeated, not with a government check, but with respect and achievement that is taught by parents, learned in school, and practiced in the workplace.

This is the America that was won for us by the nation’s Founders, and earned for us by the Greatest Generation. It is the America that has produced the most innovative, most productive, and most powerful economy in the world, with one of the highest standards of living of any major nation. …"

I'm not entirely thrilled by Romney but I am absolutely devastated by Obama. And if it is Mitt Romney's intention to undo the damage done by Barack Obama then that is enough for me. Whether those intentions and talking points will actually bear action in the future remains to be seen, but they are a far less dangerous gamble than handing Barack Obama four more years with no electorate to answer to.

(Source)

215.7 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day239.

Day603 Monday 04/23/12

ran 3.5 miles 

Few messages are as succinct and powerful as the one in the video above. It usually requires a brilliant 300-page novel or a well-directed 2-hour long movie to build up to a climax in the last few moments that can compare with what this 4 minute and 39 second video achieves in each frame.

Take a look and judge for yourself. 

218.8 miles to go. 

Here is what happened one year ago on Day238.

Day602 Sunday 04/22/12

ran 1.8 miles

Today ends week eighty-six of running against Obama.  I ran 24.9 miles this week, averaging 3.56 miles per day.

222.3 miles to go. 

Here is what happened one year ago on Day237.

Day601 Saturday 04/21/12

ran 3.1 miles 
Allen West, people. Remember the name. He has achieved more for the future of America through his words over the last week than our president has through his actions over the last three years and four months. 

224.1 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day236.

Day600 Friday 04/20/12

600 DAYS!!!

ran 3.7 miles

Today is a big milestone and I'd like to take this opportunity to restate exactly why I have run an average of 3.09 miles per day for the last 600 days.  I run these miles because they represent something I earn by working hard and because they are a product of my hard work that cannot be taken away from me.  These miles are a sort of nontaxable currency that purchase a unique sense of freedom and liberty that our government is incapable of administrating.  This sense of freedom and liberty I am describing stands on the pillars of individual accountability and a government that governs least as possible.

No president can divide the miles I run or the desire I have to achieve my goals by various others’ desire to accept mediocrity or even failure as an American way of life; open mouths reliant on the government's teat---our current president relies on the determination of many to pay for the shortcomings of many others.  This he calls “paying one’s fair share".  Our president is determined to convince the people he leads that they are somehow entitled to the rewards others have earned. 

I run because it is the one thing I thought of to do that Congress could not regulate or limit.  They cannot tell me how, when, or where to run my miles.  No federal government can tax or redistribute my miles.  No IRS can audit or seize my miles.  No government regulatory agency can minimize or maximize the amount of miles I want to run or the amount of days I choose to run them.

I think this is what freedom and liberty were intended to feel like and no one can give you these two items but yourself.  No government can legislate freedom and liberty.  They can take it away, but they cannot convene on how to distribute it.  Freedom and liberty must be earned individual by individual, on their own merits. 

Thank you for following this blog over the last 600 days!

227.2 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day235.

Day599 Thursday 04/19/12

ran 3.3 miles

On this day in 1775, 700 British troops marched into Lexington on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and to seize their arsenal.  What they found was 77 armed minutemen led by Captain John Parker awaiting them in the city.  British Major John Pitcairn ordered the highly outnumbered Patriots to fall back.  After a brief hesitation, the minutemen began falling back until one unknown soldier took it upon himself to fire his gun toward the British.  This became known in history books as the “shot heard around the world”.  Within seconds, musket smoke blotted the battlefield.  By the end of the battle 8 minutemen were dead and 10 were wounded.  One British soldier was injured.

Then came Concord.  The British aimed to capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock.  Warned by Paul Revere and William Dawes that the British were coming Adams and Hancock fled and were able to escape. 

When the British troops reached Concord they were encircled by hundreds of armed Patriots.  A battle ensued forcing Lieutenant Colonel Frances Smith to pull his British troops away and to retreat back to Boston.  Retracing a 16-mile journey, the British were constantly fired upon by Patriots waiting for them in hiding along the path of retreat.  Finally reaching Boston, the British had nearly 300 casualties and the Patriots had less than 100.

The battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the American Revolution, which ultimately gave birth to the United States of America.

I wonder what these brave, rugged individuals who fought and died for the opportunity to embrace freedom and to escape the tyranny of overbearing government would think of America today.

230.9 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day234.

Day598 Wednesday 04/18/12

$5,027,761,476,484.56

ran 4.0 miles

The number above is a recent snapshot of ever-increasing national debt added by Barack Obama.  Having served less than one term, our current president holds the title of first American president to lead the federal government’s national debt into an increase of more than $5 trillion dollars.  Every other president in American history has done less damage with two full terms. 

“At the close of business on Jan. 20, 2009, the day Obama was inaugurated, the federal government’s debt was $10,626,877,048,913.08, according to the U.S. Treasury. By the close of business on April 16, 2012—as many Americans were working to finalize their 2011 tax returns to meet an April 17 filing deadline—the debt had reached $15,654,638,525,397.64."

CNSNews, Terence P. Jeffrey

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 313,385,295 people live in the United States. With that population, each one of us owes $16,043.39. 

(Source)

234.2 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day233.

Day597 Tuesday 04/17/12

ran 4.6 miles 

Not going to lower the price of gas overnight? This trumped up measure will make no difference at all. Presidents make this speech every single year---tightening the screws on speculators and increasing punishments for foul play, policing the system more diligently---blah, blah, blah. Our president does not want low gas prices. Any hint of low prices at the pumps directly takes away from Barack Obama's momentum to explore alternative energy sources with the vigor and lack of all restraint he desires for wasting as many tax dollars as he can in investments to that sector. It amazes me how a president of the United States of America can stand behind a podium in front of so many Americans and say so many words that serve so little purpose. 

238.2 miles to go. 

Here is what happened one year ago on Day232.

Day596 Monday 04/16/12

ran 4.4 miles

The Buffett Rule, a Democratic move to force a 30% tax rate on all households earning more than $1 million per year, failed to pass in the Senate today. For the legislation to pass it required sixty votes to end debate but only garnered fifty-one votes. 

Laws with this much gravity are not going to be passed this close to the election and the vote was nothing more than posturing and pointing fingers among Republicans and Democrats. Both sides walk away from the Senate vote with talking points to campaign on for their upcoming re-election races and Barack Obama now has on record another account proving that Republicans would rather have you drinking dirty water and breathing dirty air. He will argue that Republicans mistreat women and the elderly; that they care little for your wellbeing. He will cast them as generally greedy, heartless, Constitutional fanatics who cling to their guns and religion---among many other outlandish claims, which serve no real purpose other than to earn votes from utterly uninformed individuals.

242.8 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day231.

Day595 Sunday 04/15/12

ran 3.3 miles

Today ends week eighty-five of running against Obama.  I ran 21.7 miles this week, averaging 3.1 miles per day.

Here is something to keep your eye on.  As the election gets closer and the time arrives for Romney to pick his Veep, it will be interesting to see if he chooses Marco Rubio.  Rubio is a top candidate for the job and he would bring a strong Hispanic vote to the Republican party, but, according to our Constitution, he is by definition unqualified.  Small hurdles like this do not usually stop Washington, though.

Marco Rubio 's parents, Mario and Oriales Rubio did not become naturalized American citizens until four years after Marco Rubio was born.  President and Vice President are the only two offices in America that require an elected official's parents to both be legal U.S. citizens at the time of that elected official's birth.  

If Romney were to pick Rubio it would be yet another section of our Constitution shredded to pieces, but it would also be a brilliant move in this political chess match.  Could Democrats conceive a way to call out Rubio on eligibility regarding his parents' citizenship while supporting a president like Barack Obama who clearly has some eligibility controversies of his own?

247.2 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day230.

Day594 Saturday 04/14/12

ran 3.2 miles

It was in February of last year that Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin became a household name to represent the message of conservatives across the country.  This man shrugged union intimidation and liberal numbers from every corner of America.  He pressed his shoulder to the wheel and drove the economic reform he campaigned on to bring the state of Wisconsin closer to a budget that could breathe above the surface of deficit.  He succeeded.

For this, he is forced into a recall election.  Those who signed the petition to have him recalled would argue that he is robbing them of their pensions, their health care, and the promises that were made to them.  I, and many others like me, would argue that he is slowly decompressing a rupturing bubble in Wisconsin that will inevitably pop, sooner rather than later, to avoid the catastrophe of not facing the ugly economic truth before Wisconsin, and so many other states.

250.5 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day229.