Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah

Merry Christmas SUFA! I hope that you are all enjoying time with friends and family!

Post Election Reflections from a Different Voice…

Greetings again SUFA. Someone shared the following article with me the other day and I wanted to share it here with all of you in order to see what all of you have to say. It the aftermath of an election that I think many are not thrilled about (meaning those on the right are depressed and those in the center felt it was the lesser of two evils and those on the moderate left felt he wasn’t a great choice but wasn’t a bad one either), there are a lot of different trains of thought going on out there. My personal thoughts are that I am not happy with Obama. I would have preferred Romney (by a very slight margin and mostly because I think that Obama may be the most dishonest President in history) and that we were screwed either way. I don’t think much changed with this election, but I could be wrong.

A Very “Sandy” Reality Check

I saw a few comments here from the discussions around Hurricane Sandy, the efforts to help afterward, and the apparent previous discussions around what should or should not be done for those in need. Allow me to admit up front that I have not had the time to go back and read all that was written in the back and forth comments here at SUFA regarding this issue. But I saw enough that I felt like I wanted to weigh in and offer my thoughts on what I am seeing and what I think the proper role of the government is in this situation.

Let me first say that I do not believe that the answer to this situation is “people should have better prepared and if they didn’t, then screw them.” As most of you know I am a strong proponent of personal responsibility. That does not mean that I believe everyone should rely on themselves only at all times. Extreme circumstances call for a different way of looking at things. When I talk personal responsibility, I am talking about pulling up the bootstraps, working to improve your life, and not waiting on government to fix things for you. YOU are ultimately responsible for your own success or failure. I absolutely believe that. I think that overall most people do believe that.

Time to Add a Thought or Two

Well now, I am back from a blistering trip to South Africa (blistering because every day was filled with lots to do). Mrs. Weapon and I survived the sharks, the Cheetahs, the Lions, the Rhinos, the Leopards, the Crocs, the Baboons, and all the other creatures of the continent. I will share a bit more of the trip as we go, but I wanted to take some time and add a few thoughts to the fray as we near yet another election of the person to “Lead” this country. I put lead in quotation marks because leadership has not thus far been a very strong characteristic of those in the position. I think the last few have preferred to “Rule” as opposed to “Lead.” I have to tell you up front that I am severely disappointed in this election cycle, just as I have been in others in the past. But it really does seem like each election cycle gets exponentially worse. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am…

Knock It Off with the Posting Under Your Own Name Stuff

Just a quick thought as I have encountered this several times and saw it again tonight as I was reviewing some comments on the site. Some people have to let go of this personal attack about not posting under your real name. It is a childish way to attack someone when you know darn well that posting under one’s own name carries inherent risk. Allow me to share a quick story with all of you that solidified my position and reinforced that I made the right decision to do so myself…

Mitt Romney is the Better Leader

Good Morning all you SUFA folks! I thought I would share this article written by someone many of you are familiar with from her past dealings with SUFA. Rani Merryman, as many of you know, is one of my dearest friends whom I have known since we were kids. She recently wrote this opinion piece that was published in the Baltimore Sun. Rani is one of the better critical thinkers that I know and I highly value her opinions on political matters. No matter where you lean on politics, I think you can appreciate her take on the lack of leadership from our current President. Without further bloviating by me, here is Rani’s article published in the Baltimore Sun on Thursday, September 6th:

Penn State Proud…

OK. So several of you asked for my thoughts on the sanctions levied against the Penn State University Football program last week. I initially thought that it would be unwise for me to weigh in. It is certainly a subject that I am passionate about. One that I am emotionally attached to. My concern was that those who oppose my point of view would remain as callous as they have been in the past, that logic and thought would not be applied to the subject, and thus I would be doing nothing but setting myself up to get angry and to hold a grudge against some folks. I have given myself a week to settle down, really think about what has transpired, and try to look at different points of view. So I will offer my thoughts. Realistically, I don’t much care who does or doesn’t agree with me. These are, after all, only my opinions and thoughts. Take them for what they are worth…

Weapon’s Conundrum

Well, SUFA, it has been a bit since I have offered you something new to read. And that is precisely what I am here to discuss with all of you (the few who remain 🙂 ). I come today prepared to hear everyone’s thoughts on the future of Stand Up For America. I got an email from the good Colonel a few weeks ago asking if I was shutting down SUFA. I had to answer that I don’t know what I am doing. But I think the time has come to have the discussion. So I will lay out where I stand on things and allow all of you to weigh in with your thoughts on how we should proceed. The reality is that we cannot proceed with the status quo (because the status is NOT… quo bonus points to those that can tell me where that quote comes from!)

What Do We Need This Government For?

From Common Man

Thought about the need and benefit of government and outside of a Military (designed to protect both the country and its citizens from aggression) and a limited court system, don’t see much to warrant the need.

The Plan… from Common Man

Good Evening Everyone! Tonight I am posting an article from Common Man. Admittedly this has been sitting here in my inbox for a bit. CM was out of town for a bit and then once he returned, I was so tied up with work I didn’t even think about it for a week! But now I share his article with all of you. His work days are pretty busy these days so he may not be able to comment much during the day, but he will he checking in when he can. So enjoy…

North Carolina Shows Its Ass…. Again

Well, as a resident of the above mentioned tar heel state, I find myself this evening feeling a bit dirty, like someone spilled oil on me that I can’t get off. There have been times in my past that I wasn’t proud of “where I come from, ” and this is another. As some of you know, I grew up in a rather smallish mountain town (NOT South Park) in Pennsylvania. I wasn’t proud of it, but as I grew older, I became less embarrassed by it and now find that I am proud of where I grew up. Several years ago (11, in fact) I moved back to North Carolina. I had lived in NC for many years in the military and wasn’t thrilled about the idea of coming back here 11 years ago. But I have changed in that as well. I love living in North Carolina. It is a great state filled with good people.

Voter ID Does NOT Equal Disenfranchisement

I saw this discussion going on here at SUFA during the day yesterday and decided I would wade into these waters with my own thoughts. I won’t spend hours writing, but I will simply offer up what I think and allow the debate to grow from there. There were some who claimed that voter fraud wasn’t as rampant as reported. I am unable to prove that claim right or wrong, although I think that it is clear that there are cases of voter fraud out there. Do they have a significant impact? I think that they can. I also think that in certain races and certain voting precincts that there have been those who fully exploited the system to create a big enough impact. But I will focus only on the concept that has been put forth, primarily by the Democrat party, that to require ID at the voting booth disenfranchises the poor. I find this to be an utterly ridiculous claim. And here is why…

Because It’s Offensive to be Thought Stupid

Greetings SUFA. I have a theory that I would like to present regarding political discourse in America and the bitter divide that exists between so many Americans and further between Americans and the politicians that are supposed to represent them. I made the following claim some time back to Charlie Stella: “I believe the primary reason that people seeking some sort of social justice like you have thus far failed in your quest, is that you continue to use irrational logic and emotional appeal in your claims, while calling us names and treating us like we are stupid for having a different belief.” I am going to attempt to expand on that statement and make my case regarding this theory. I look forward to the thoughts any of you may add.

Screw John Calipari….

First let me say congratulations to the Kentucky Wildcats. They are a great example of what happens when you put five guys on the floor who should be playing in the NBA against a team that has a player or two who may end up there (at least one, Robinson, will). I don’t hold any ill will towards these kids. They are 19 year olds who were handed a National Championship because they are talented (6 guys on the team headed to the NBA).

I don’t really respect the win, however. It is kind of like what the NBA has become with all these teams creating “super teams” by having superstars get together like Miami, LA, Boston, and NY have done. It isn’t all that impressive to win a championship when you get to have all the best players on your team. This is much the same way I felt about the NY Yankees for so many years. Unfortunately, my Red Sox and some other teams have joined them in compiling superstars to compete with teams that can’t afford any. Realistically, the Sox, Yanks, Tigers, Phillies and others who adhere to this tactic should be embarrassed every time they don’t win a championship (which is why I still say the Yankees are the biggest losers in baseball…. Highest team salary in the game and not nearly enough rings to show for it). 

A Few Trayvon Martin Thoughts

This seems to be getting so much air time these days and the folks on one side of the issue are using it as an excuse to make all kinds of demands. Let me say up front that what happened to this young man was a tragedy. If the facts as we know them stand, George Zimmerman should go to jail for a very, very long time. Will he or won’t he? Hard to say. I believe that in the end, justice will prevail in this case. I guess the real question is whether justice would have prevailed if people hadn’t screamed loud enough to basically force outside looks into how the Sanford PD was handling this case. With all that said, I offer my thoughts on what happened, hoodies, the resulting “movement”, and the Stand Your Ground law…

Some Explanations are In Order…

Greetings SUFA! I know, you are wondering who is this stranger and why is he acting as if he knows us. But it is me. I am still alive. I figured that it was about time that I forced myself to sit down and offer some explanations as to why you haven’t seen very much of me over the last few months. I do honestly feel bad about it. Here I went and created this site and after three years of ranting and arguing, I up and practically disappear on you. There are several realities that have contributed to this and I am hoping to fill you all in on them today. I will also discuss the future of SUFA towards the end so that we can begin figuring out how to handle these new realities. Because what I don’t want to happen is for SUFA to go away. I believe that somehow breaking through the lack of critical thinking barrier that so many Americans are stuck behind is still way too important to give up now.

RIP Joe

It Couldn’t Be Because You Suck….

Another day, another claim from a Democrat that opposition to someone is surely based on the fact that they are not white. Eric Holder, embattled Attorney General, gave an interview to the New York Times. I read the interview and was utterly shocked (sarcasm mode activated) to find that he believes the criticism of his actions while Attorney General are based on the fact that he is black. I don’t want to make this about Democrats and Republicans, but this has been, overwhelmingly, a tactic employed by the Obama administration and the Democrats over and over again throughout the last three years. And it isn’t going to stop until they face the backlash that they should face for it.

Merry Christmas to All

Hello all my SUFA friends and family!!  I imagine that you have all assumed that I dropped off of a cliff and some of the regulars are taking the time to build a workable robot to replace me. You would think that with the Black Flag computer program we would already have the initially planning completed! The truth is that I have been extremely busy over the last month or two. I owe a great debt for LOI and others who have realistically been the voice and heart of SUFA when I have been unable to. I cannot promise that my schedule will let up just yet, but I do have a few things to say…

A Video Worth Sharing

Thought some of you might enjoy this and others might need to give it some serious thoughts. An excellent presentation by a 19 year old University of Iowa student named Zach Wahls. If only there were more like him….

Fox News Makes Me Dumberer

I had to post this. Since our resident lefties went on the attack this morning against good ole USW when I called this study complete BS. Of course, no one bothered to address the study itself. They simply took shots at me and shots at Fox News in general. But a simple reading of the article that Mathius provided regarding the study was enough, in my opinion, to prove my point.

Open Mic Thread November 30, 2011

Sorry for my lack of participation lately. A whole lot going on the USW world. I will provide more information when I have the time to do so. In the mean time, here is a new open mic thread for everyone.

A Heavy Heart…. The Penn State Scandal

I have gotten a few emails and messages asking my thoughts on the Penn State scandal over the last few days. It doesn’t surprise me that I am being asked an opinion. I am an alumni. I have met Joe Paterno and spoken with him. I am a staunch advocate for the University. I love my school. I will admit that this is all a little painful. Not only the treatment of Paterno, which I think borders on ridiculous. But just the overall black eye that it being given to my beloved alma mater hurts. But I won’t back down here from writing about it. And I won’t stop loving PSU either…

America, Once Upon A Time by Plainly Spoken

Our American society is going through tumultuous times.  Politically the country is continuing the heightened battles of beliefs that have been exacerbated by ten years of war and unpopular governance by the party in power.  Acerbic demonization of the political opposition is daily fair for consumption by the people coming from the mainstream and social media in America.  The American economy has been beaten down with people struggling to maintain their livelihood, leading to comparisons with the Great Depression in the intensity of the difficulties.  Families are fighting to hold on to their homes, with a foreclosure epidemic still unchecked from years of suspect lending practices and inflated housing markets.

Capitalism: A Hate Story, Part I

The discussions the last few days around the “Occupy Wall Street” crowd has resulted in some interesting thoughts coming out on all sides. A few weeks ago (months ago?) Mr. Stella claimed that I must know that Capitalism is a failed enterprise because I refused to answer Noam Chomsky’s claim that capitalism would not survive for five minutes without government. A claim that tonight I call nonsense. And I will tell you why, Mr. Stella. It is because in the first place, what Chomsky refers to as capitalism in most of his “intelligent” discussions is actually nothing more than a convenient manipulation of the definition of capitalism in order to fit his argument.

Open Mic for October 28, 2011

Good Friday to everyone. I know that the last few weeks have been rough as I haven’t been around much to post articles or offer my thoughts. Work certainly hasn’t slowed down any but I am making an effort to at least get some stuff posted. I will also work with the other authors here at SUFA so that they can make things happen when I can’t. Thank you to LOI and G-Man who both took time to make SUFA work over the last few weeks. I will offer up a few topics for open mic this morning. Not a ton of time to comment on them but I will offer my quick thoughts…

Let’s Not Forget Reality

With the news last week that President Obama intends to have all troops out of Iraq “by the holidays,” many of the major “news” outlets have begun a campaign to give the President an inordinate amount of credit for what many Americans feel have been foreign policy wins. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Even here at SUFA we had folks give him more credit than he deserved for foreign policy actions in the past. But before we start just handing out “Obama 2012: Tough on Terror”campaign buttons, we really should take a look at how we got to where we are before we start pretending that the President is somehow a foreign policy savant. Because the reality is that the media’s plan to paint Obama as having victories in the foreign policy realm are really nothing more than an attempt to pretend that the economic ineptitude of his administration isn’t a reason to not re-elect him….

Lack of Content…

Just a quick note to apologize for the lack of new articles lately. To say that I have been busy would be an understatement. I have not, however, given up my passion for SUFA. I will try to get some new articles posted very soon…

Guest Commentary: Part II From James Adams

This morning I offer Part II of the three part series from James Adams, author of Waffle Street: . Many of you last week found James’ first installment interesting and offered some insightful comments to his article. I imagine that this will be the case again this week. Part III will follow next week as James will wrap up the series with some practical application. Don’t forget that you can order his book via the link to his page over on the right hand side of the SUFA home page. As I said previously, it is an entertaining and enlightening book that I highly recommend. I will do my best to participate in the discussions throughout the day as I find all the talk about economics fascinating as well as extremely important. So I now turn the floor over to James Adams for his second installment on economics…

Guest Commentary: James Adams on the Economy

Today I am excited to offer another new guest commentary provider here at Stand Up For America. Mike, a good friend of mine, a year or so ago recommended to me that I pick up a book written by a friend of his, “Jimmy.” Knowing my passion for politics and my lambasting of federal economic policy over the years, he posited that I would enjoy the book, and insisted that he wasn’t just saying so because he was friends with the author. Those who know me are aware that I am an avid reader. But I have been burned on book recommendations from friends in the past. So I was skeptical, to say the least. But Mike wouldn’t relent…