I'M TIRED AND FED UP

A lot of us can identify with this.


"I'm Tired" by Robert A. Hall



I'll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when
jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but
job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some
health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick
in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job
or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no
retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth
around" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the
government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it
to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to
"keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm
willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of
our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the
leftwing Congress critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community
Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them-with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by leftwing
millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood entertainers who
live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years,
if they get their way, the United States will have the religious freedom and
women's rights of Saudi Arabia, the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the
press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Gay
people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela. Won't
multiculturalism be beautiful?

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace,"
when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their
sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor;" of Muslims rioting
over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because
they aren't "believers;" of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims
stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery;" of Muslims mutilating
the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur`an
and Shari`a law tells them to.

I believe a man should be judged by the content of his
character, not by the color of his skin. I'm tired of being told that "race
doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of President Obama, when it's all
that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and
graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government
contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and
fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the
appointment of US Senators from Illinois.

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less in an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and
inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost,
were wonderful. That thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of
presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to
control weight and stress. That picked over every line of Bush's military
records, but never demanded that Kerry release his, that slammed Palin with
two years as governor for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama
with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever.

Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or
switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the
media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other
cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and
madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group
is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia
to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to
fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live
in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We
also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live.
Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're 95% greener
than Gore, you're green enough.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease,
and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did
a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up
their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people
choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And
I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I
tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented
workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare
or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"?
And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic and it's been
a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm
willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person who can speak
English, doesn't have a criminal record, and who is self-supporting without
family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.
Those are the citizens we need.

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never
wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their
entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our
military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make
split-second d ecisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth
better people then themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our
troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that
were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years-and still are? Not
even close.

So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the
humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo,
and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims
who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who
tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the
Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found
in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia,
because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and
American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for
help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner
on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the
papers-bums are bi-partisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need
bi-partisanship. I live in Illinois, where the " Illinois Combine" of
Democrats and Republicans has worked together harmoniously to loot the public for 20 years. And I notice that the tax
cheats in Obama's cabinet are bi-partisan as well.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and
politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes
or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was
getting caught.

I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with
air-conditioned homes, color TVs, and two cars called poor. The majority of
Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The
poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the
dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for
their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or
discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because,
mostly, I'm not going to get to see the world these people are making. I'm
just sorry for my granddaughter.

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five
terms in the Massachusetts state senate.

He blogs at www.tartanmarine.blogspot..com