Its not the land of Fruits, Nuts and Flakes for nothing ...

California is a wonderful place ... lets face it where else can you go snow-skiing in the morning, mountain climbing in the afternoon and take a moonlit walk on the beach in the evening after eating at a cozy little hide-away ... no other state has as much to offer as California does in art, entertainment, sports, culture, luxury, natural beauty and the truly great life. Like Achilles we have only one flaw (but it truly is fatal) ... we have more than our share of truly out of touch people ... those we used to call the granola people when i was a young man.... and unfortunately we still have at least ONE too many .... and so i offer as Visual Exhibit #1 ... the Queen of Granola ... US Senator Barbara Boxer ...

On behalf of the millions who did not vote for her i apologize to my fellow citizens ... please do not think ill of ALL Californians because of her ....

But i do have to say i think the best line came from the Ohio Representative who said that she had constituents who lamented:

"'Stephanie, I did not get my vote counted. My vote did not count. I was denied the opportunity to vote.'"

my question to them and to Representative Jones and Senator Boxer is: How do you know your vote was not counted? Did you see someone tear your ballot up? Did you see the machine shut off just as you were casting your vote?

Ms. Jones may i ask for substantiated proof of these allegations? It is all together too easy to make such blanket statements ... the proof is in the pudding, though, as they say ... so Ms Jones ... name names .... show tallys ... PROVE IT WITH FACTS .... not rhetoric. Heck i can say my vote wasn't counted too especially since the people i voted for didn't win ... but i know better ... i know that my vote went in but the person i voted for JUST DIDN'T WIN ....

PS .. No it was not you MS. Boxer .... just in case you MISSED it earlier ....

The unfortunate thing for America is that we have gone from a society where you played by the rules and were mannamimous in victory and gracious in defeat into a society where "its not my fault" "they cheated" "how can 35 million people be so stupid" and "I'm suing" are the watchwords of the day .... when supposed Liberal thinking minds can and do say with all candor that the only reason the "RED" counties and states voted that way is because they are ignorant and bigoted.

Friends it does not have to be this way either ... but then again just as i wrote that .. i realized that unfortunately YES IT DOES ... because you see until personal responsibility is brought back into the fabric of American values and American lifestyles we will continue on the slippery downward path of always blaming others for our mistakes. our actions (or inactions), blaming them for our difficulties, for our inability to succeed.... so long as WE as AMERICANS continue to look away from personal responsibility we will continue to be pulled further and further into the abyss leading to anarchy.

and it begins with each of us ... as individuals who determine to be responsible for our own actions and activities and then by our votes to insist theta our representatives are also accountable for theirs .... It will take much bravery on the part of many who will not survive the political battles ahead ... MANY sacrifices MUST be made and WILL be made ... Or if not we are doomed to being even more irrelevant on the world stage than is Benin or even France.


and now a big thank you to those daring and resourceful men and women of our ARMED SERVICES ... who by the way continue to serve and fight and die yet who are in a lot of cases too unimportant to have their votes counted too ... or am i asking too much Senator Boxer or Representative Jones?


U S Air Force - the men, women, Cadets, faculty and staff of the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado ... Aiming High .... into the Wild Blue Yonder

U S Marine Corps - 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, Marine Corps Base Hiwaii, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii

U S Coast Guard - USCG Cutter Wyaconda (WLR-75403), Dubuque, Iowa

U S Army - 254th Base Support Battalion, Schinnen, The Netherlands

U S Navy - the men,women, Midshipmen, faculty and staff of the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland.

My continued thanks to all of you and your families for your service, your dedication, devotion to duty, honor and country and your sacrifice....