I'm an American who wants truth and transparency in my government and from media. I respect all opinions even if I don't always agree. I will, however, "Disagree With Dignity".
Harrison Ford has been one of my favorite actors since Star Wars. He’s also a pilot who owns seven airplanes. Tuesday on Capitol Hill, where he was speaking about general aviation, sponsored by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, he told environmentalists, who were giving him a hard time about flying the friendly skies, that he would walk everywhere when they walked everywhere!
Way to go, Harrison!
As far as I’m concerned, he’s RIGHT! One thing I cannot tolerate is a hypocrite, i.e. Al Gore, who preaches about the environment and how air travel is bad for Mother Earth, yet he owns a private jet. Um, if it’s SO bad, Al, why, number one, do YOU fly in a plane? And number two, why is it a PRIVATE jet?
One thing I have always tried to do is walk the walk and practice what I preach, and I MOST certainly don’t tell someone to do something I wouldn’t do myself.
So, if you want ME to stop flying, YOU stop flying. If YOU want ME to stop using gasoline, YOU stop driving. If YOU want me to read in the dark, YOU use candles!
Practice what YOU preach or shut the heck up already. For those who DO, well, we’ll have to disagree with dignity, because I don't believe in man-made global warming. [There I said it] There are scientists on BOTH sides to counter one another, so for those of you who DO believe in man-made global warming, we’ll have to agree to disagree.
Over the last year the Dems have pushed for health care reform. Ramming thru two thousand page bills which haven’t been read nor understood but telling the American people that they are GREAT! Not only that, they want the American people to accept these bogus bills, but they, as in Congress, aren’t willing to give up their Mercedes health care plan and sign up for the plan they want to implement for the country. Hmm, kinda hypocritical if you ask me.
We also had to listen as Nancy Pelosi told us we had to pass the bill before we could find out what was in the bill! WHAT!? I mean WHO in their right mind would sign a contract THEN read it? Not any sane person on the planet! Well, it seems HER rationale has come back to haunt her.
According to the Congressional Research Service the new bill may “remove members of Congress and Congressional staff” from their current coverage, in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, before any alternatives are available.
I’m not a nasty person nor do I seek revenge. But I’ll tell you what, I’m hoping for JUSTICE right about now. And that justice would be that this little “error” can’t be corrected and congress is FORCED to accept the bill they hail as the be all end all health care bill. They work for us therefore they should have to accept the same health care plan that they implement for Americans. Period.
Mr. Johnson had concerns that the small island of Guam, being only 212 square miles, wouldn’t be able to accommodate the additional troops and their families. It’s true that an island that small might have a problem with the additional people considering it’s already strained on resources, like water and drainage systems. But Representative Johnson wasn’t worried about those; he was more concerned with the island tipping and capsizing.
Yes, you read that correctly. He feared that the island would TIP and CAPSIZE.
Congressman Johnson told Admiral Willard, “My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize.”
Admiral Willard replied, “We don’t anticipate that. The Guam population, I think, currently about 175,000, and again, with 8,000 marines and their families, it’s an addition of about 25,000 more into the population.”
A spokesperson for Mr. Johnson issued this statement:
"I wasn’t suggesting that the island of Guam would literally tip over,"said Johnson. "I was using a metaphor to say that with the addition of 8,000 Marines and their dependents – an additional 80,000 people during peak construction to the port on the tiny island with a population of 180,000 – could be a tipping point which would adversely affect the island’s fragile ecosystem and over burden its already overstressed infrastructure. "Having traveled to Guam last year, I saw firsthand how this beautiful – but vulnerable island – is already overburdened, and I was simply voicing my concerns that the addition of that many people could tip the delicate balance and do harm to Guam."
Sounds reasonable, or does it? A metaphor is an analogy between two objects or ideas. I think Mr. Johnson meant he was using a “hyperbole”, which is rhetorical verbiage used for exaggeration to create a strong impression, but not meant to be taken literally. At $174,000 a year salary, on the tax payers’ dime, shouldn’t we EXPECT him to be able to at least look up the square miles of Guam, instead of asking the Admiral, on his tax payer provided computer with tax payer provided internet service? And what about general knowledge of geography and the English language? Shouldn’t our Officials be competent enough in those areas? My 12 year old knows islands don’t TIP AND CAPSIZE. He also knows the difference between a metaphor and a hyperbole—the latter would be the title of my post.
If Mr. Johnson is apprehensive of an island tipping and capsizing, why isn’t he worried about Manhattan, Staten and Ellis Islands? After all, Manhattan is only 23 sq miles and has a population of 1.6 million people. If all those people aren’t strategically placed, it could TIP, or worse even CAPSIZE! For Pete’s sake someone write an ordinance to keep those people strategically coordinated! Someone tell me how the heck did they prevent Ellis Island, which is only 58.38 acres, from tipping and capsizing between 1892 and 1954 when 12 million immigrants passed through?
It’s very difficult for me to imagine that Mr. Johnson wasn’t serious by watching the video and it’s frustrating as heck to know that we are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to maintain these “brain trusts”. I know, I know, they are ELECTED. I get it. But it doesn’t make me feel any less frustrated because Hank Johnson isn’t the only one who has said something really…um…unintelligent.
This is a PERFECT example of WHY the American people NEED to educate themselves BEFORE they elect someone to public office. This is also another EXCELLENT example of how our public school system has FAILED.
I’ve said it before, but it deserves repeating, we need to educate ourselves and our children. America IS exceptional and we must KEEP her that way. Please educate yourself and ensure that your family is informed too. There is nothing more criminal than generational-educational-theft.
