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I'm 63 and I'm
Tired"
by Robert A. Hall/
I'm
63. 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" 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 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 left-wing 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 left-wing 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 economy
of Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of
China , the crime and violence of Mexico ,
the tolerance for Christian people of Iran, and the freedom of
speech of Venezuela .
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'm
tired of being told that "race doesn't
matter" in
the post-racial world ofObama, 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
U.S. 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 theEmancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president
was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the
individual
and less arrogantly of 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 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 decisions under life and death
circumstances,
and bad mouth better people than 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 bipartisan. And I'm tired of
people
telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the
"Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years.
Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet.
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 have 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.
