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…

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…

Answering Some Inquiries About SUFA Readership

I am postponing the guest commentary for tonight. I will post it tomorrow night, but wanted to discuss something else for this evening’s topic. I noticed in the comments on the Tuesday Night Open Mic that some folks (specifically Cyndi) were asking about where people went who used to post here regularly. Black Flag, always my champion for the site, noted that he believed that readership at SUFA was as high as ever, but that I could perhaps offer some stats. So I figured I would offer what is actually happening at SUFA and ask for everyone’s thoughts on why that might be or what I could do differently. Sadly, Black Flag’s optimism around the readership at SUFA was incorrect. I have been bleeding traffic for a couple of months at this point. Readership of this blog during the month of August looks as though it will be the lowest that it has been since March of 2009. I have some thoughts on why this might be occurring but I am open to what everyone else thinks as well. Once I lay everything out below, I will open it up for all of you to offer your thoughts and suggestions. Perhaps together we can build SUFA back up to where it once was and even go beyond that to the readership that I hope to have.

Just a Quick Prayer for the Miners

I am not looking to get into a political debate or a pissing contest over the fault of the owner or anything else. I just want to ask that everyone take a moment and say a small prayer for the families that have been torn apart by the mine explosion in West Virginia. There is a time for political discourse, and a time to remember that these are regular people who were working to support their families in a dangerous job. I have known several coal miners from West Virginia over the years. Every single one of them was as hard working as anyone I knew and as good-hearted as well. I cannot imagine the pain their families feel and I certainly cannot imagine the anxiety that exists for the families of the four that they are hoping to find in the safe room. It doesn’t matter who you pray to, just a quick moment for those families and a small prayer that those four missing are found alive. It is just a terrible disaster.

Merry Christmas to All…

Allow me to take just a few minutes to wish everyone who reads and participates here at Stand Up For America a happy holiday, or more specifically, a Merry Christmas. I don’t mean to dismiss those who don’t celebrate Christmas, but being in the non-secular world today, I am still put off by the idea that Merry Christmas is somehow offensive to someone. Can’t say it in the business world, might offend someone who isn’t Christian. To that I say bah, humbug. That someone would be offended by a well wish using the greeting that is pertinent to 70% of Americans is both childish and ignorant. SO I am saying Merry Christmas and if you don’t like it, tough. But I will say some for the rest of us too. And offer some Christmas Cartoons to boot!

Thank You Veterans

I wanted to take a moment on Veterans Day to give my heartfelt thanks to all of you who have served or are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. As a veteran myself, I consider you all to be part of a brotherhood of people who I am proud to belong to. Service to our country began over two centuries ago when the Colonial Army was formed and George Washington led them to victory and our eventual Independence. Thus, patriots of the 18th century began a long tradition, by standing for what the United States of America had the potential to be. In the 200+ years since then, American men and women have carried on the tradition of working to serve the country that has afforded them so many great opportunities and privileges. There is but one day truly set aside as a day to honor those who serve. And today is your day….

Labor Day Resting…. Sort Of

Labor Day. For most of the world an extra day spent with family, enjoying the last of summer. But for USWeapon, another day spent at work. Just like every other holiday. I don’t get them or the weekends off. So while most of you have today to rest, I do not. So I am taking a bit of a holiday from the blog for the night by offering some quick thoughts on other topics out there. Kind of like an open mic without the open mic part, lol. I can tell you that part one of the health care reform series is 95% done and should be posted tomorrow night. I look forward to getting into that debate. So here are a couple of quick thoughts from me…

A Thought on Dividing the Discussions…

I have been sitting around the last couple of days thinking about the direction of the site. For anyone who has not done so, I have to say that it is really daunting to write your own blog, especially when it concerns something of substance. What I mean by that is that writing a blog about your dog is easy. Writing a blog about college life is easy. Writing a blog about politics…. NOT so easy. Especially when I have managed to bring together some really intelligent people from all over the political spectrum. From one angle I have those coming from the point of view of BlackFlag and Kent. Two highly intelligent guys who challenge me on every principle and force me to seek true freedom. I also have Just A Citizen and PeterB.(although Peter is quickly moving more towards BF than JAC! LOL), who are similar in their intelligence and principles, but slightly different in their political views. Folks like these four routinely challenge me in great ways to stick to principles and morals, even when doing so makes my task a hundred fold harder.

Not Politics Tonight… Easing Back Into the Fray

Whew…. I have to say that I have missed being able to interact on the site. Paying 75 cents a minute is simply not possible when the Tuesday night post ends up with close to 900 comments! But I am back from my excursion to the Great White Northwest. It was a beautiful and restful trip. Rather than jumping right into the politics this evening I figured I would share a bit of my trip with all of you. I am hoping that no one finds it too boring that I do so. For those that are not interested in hearing about my trip or seeing any of the pictures that I took, I understand. Fear not, tomorrow we go back to our regularly scheduled programming and discussing politics. But for tonight, I ease back into the everyday writing practice of the blog. So what has kept me from my wonderful readers these last ten days or so? Alaska and Canada, my friends. And I wish I didn’t have to come back from up there….

Tuesday Night Open Mic for Jun 30, 2009

Another Tuesday night Open Mic. We have had some interesting discussions already this week. Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor seemed to be a topic that got some people fired up and the ABC infomercial seemed to be a hot topic for everyone. But there are plenty of other topics out there that we have not yet touched on this week. So we will do the open mic thing, but I also wanted to let all of you know how the next couple of weeks are going to play out here at Stand Up For America. I know that many of you are eager to get back to the “Building a Foundation” series, and I promise that we are soon going to be getting back to that. The past couple of weeks have seen us covering some topics with each of you having the ability to apply what we discussed earlier in the series. And there will be some more of that coming soon.

A Response to Ray (and my other Critics)

Because of the view that I get of the comments that come into the site, I see what is posted in the order it was posted, not under whatever topic it is posted under. I know that many of you don’t always go back and read the past articles comments looking for new responses, and even if you wanted to, some of them have a long list of comments to look through. The other night I singled out Ray, stating that he “will label me a closet Republican who is serving a secret undercover agenda, possibly with the assistance of Dick Cheney and Sean Hannity”. To be fair, Ray, you have leveled claims somewhat to that effect at me, but I meant it as a joke. I did not mean it maliciously or as a jab at you, so I wanted to say that publicly and hope that you accept my apology if it offended you. But there is more for me to say here…

Tuesday Night… Open Mic Nights

Well, I was struggling with what night would become the official “open mic” night. It seems to me that Tuesday night is the perfect night for it. Middle of the week so that people are settled into the week. Two posts from me before it, and two posts after it leading up to guest commentary (which I am again running thin on!). So the idea here, just so that anyone who wasn’t part of the discussions leading up to open mic night, is that instead of throwing articles that are off topic into the discussions on other days, we save them for posting on this day. I know some of you read a lot and want to discuss a lot of different topics that I am not covering. This is the time for that. So jump in and discuss what people throw up here. And if there is an article or topic that you want to discuss, start a thread for it by replying to the main article. I look forward to the topics that you guys contribute!

Nothing New, But Important Questions Here

At the request of several of the folks who read here regularly, I am not going to offer a new topic this evening. The most recent philosophy post from Just A Citizen is a lot to digest and there are plenty of discussions that still are taking place on that article. It is important that we take the time to hash them all out before we move on. So that is what we are going to do. Additionally, the “Liberal Trap” article requires my attention as well, as I have committed to answering all the questions that are posed there so that we can address and move forward in a positive way. But there have been a few points brought up in that “Liberal Trap” article that I want to address here and get everyone’s opinion on. After all this site is nothing without readers, so I want to go forward with your opinions counted.

Jumping Head First Into the Liberal Trap

I have always had a bit of an adrenaline obsession. At one point it manifested itself as a lust to do dangerous things with my body. Jumping out of planes, climbing mountains, repelling, allowing myself to be sent into dangerous places at the behest of my government. But now I am old. A ripe old 39. So I don’t do much of that stuff any more. Oh I keep in shape, and I imagine if I had to I could take care of myself OK. But I don’t usually go looking for any trouble or excitement any more, unless it is on a poker table. That is another topic for another day. Much against the advice of many of those here who emailed me and told me to ignore such pettiness, I am going to take one last stab at helping some folks who disagree with me understand the error of their ways….

Honoring America’s Veterans

So we find ourselves on Memorial Day. No big topics today. No debate over who is right and who is wrong on the political scales. Instead, a simple recognition of soldiers on one of the few days that are dedicated to them. You know, oddly enough, when I was a new soldier, I saw Memorial Day as just another chance for a 4-day weekend courtesy of the US government. Ah, so young and dumb… you know the rest. But once I learned the meaning of Memorial Day, it became a holiday that I cherished and honored each year. And now here I am, for the first Memorial Day as a person who runs a website. And I am so glad that this gives me the opportunity to offer at least some form of tribute to those fallen heroes that provided me the ability to voice my dissent today.

Passing of Ed Freeman, Medal of Honor Recipient

Just A Citizen passed this on to me in the form of an email. Not a random forward, but a “hey did you see this”. I wanted to include it as a quick post so that everyone gets to see it. The email included a very large “Shame on the Media” at the bottom. I didn’t include it here. I am not so much in the mindset of being upset with the media for not covering it. I merely thought that a true American hero deserves a moment on my blog. So I am posting this with no intent other than to share it will all of you. 

Where Are We Going From Here?

I was asked in one of the comments the other day to further define where we are going. I said in a post that I was going somewhere with all the stuff that I write about. To be honest it is hard to articulate where we are going exactly and how we will get there precisely. But over the course of the last several months, I think most here would agree that we are are all learning just a little bit each day how we can better look at our arguments while limiting the contradictions that naturally occur when we fall back on the ideas and facts presented by today’s politicians. Admittedly I take more stabs at liberal politicians than I do Republican ones. But believe me when I say that I don’t trust most politicians, no matter which side of the aisle they come from. 

Some Links to Those Who Write Here

OK, a long day coming to an end for me. Because I spent my evening at the hockey game and in the traffic leaving it, I simply don’t have the time to write a coherent post this evening. And as an interesting factor in the mix tonight, I am a bit intrigued with some of the discussion on last night’s post. So I am going to fill you all in on my night, offer some interesting reading from some of the folks who write blogs and also comment here, and then direct you to continuing the discussion that we started yesterday. 

Taking a Bit of a Break Tonight (But Please Read!)

As many of you know, I very rarely take a night off from writing the blog. I am pretty committed to writing every night. I enjoy doing so. I also know that many of my readers like to read my ranting over their morning coffee and get a chuckle out of it. And I hate to disappoint my readers. But every now and then I need a break, so I am going to work to build some breaks in, while ensuring that I keep content fresh for all of those who come and read every day. To that end I am going to take tonight to kind of outline my plan and how I am thinking so that you guys can let me know what you think. I will also below talk about some of the changes I am making to the site to make it better for all of you.

A little bit of a Re-Set here folks…

I want to thank all of you for your support of my position on the treatment of our veterans. With one lame exception, everyone agrees that this is an outrage. I want to apologize for my ending tone on that post. I have tried very hard to get fired up and speak my mind often without getting into the realm of the vulgar. I thought this was an especially egregious insult from the Obama administration and I vented a little. I will not take it back. I was glad to see my sentiment shared by so many. But I do want to emphasize that while being angry is OK on this blog, I would prefer that we now return to our more civilized and respectful tones in our discussions. I take a lot of pride in providing a forum where all ideas and points of view can be discussed with respect like adults. Please don’t think that I am berating anyone here. I am not trying to do that at all. I just want to make sure that we don’t lose what has made this site work so well. So let’s get back to arguing… Nicely. New post coming in an hour or so!

Not Politics, Just Somali Pirates for My Mom (Updated!!)

So when I launched my blog, I sent an email to me wife’s family asking for support in the new endeavor. My mother in law took a look at my blog as a show of support (thanks Mom). But she isn’t into politics quite like me (not many are really). She called my wife and said she wants to know what is up with the pirates in Somalia? So because I love her, and she treats me so well, here is an update, just for Mom….

The American Media

I am disgusted by today’s media. Where do I even begin? Let’s start with reality as I see it. This isn’t some partisan BS where I bash one side or the other. But if we are being honest with each other here (and that is my intention after all), there are definite “leanings” on the coverage given by just about everyone these days. But are these leanings the way things should be? 

America Must Control Washington…

OK, so this is the beginning of my blogging career. Not quite the trumpets and red carpet affair that I envisioned. I have written editorials and letters to the editor and sections of books for people, but never a blog. So the question I ask myself as I begin is how do I want to do this? I have a few words that explain my thoughts on style for this blog: Honest, sometimes blunt, fun, insightful, inspirational, but most of all thought provoking. Seems like a lot to ask of myself, but I have never backed away from a challenge before so….