I'M 63 AND I'M TIRED
By Robert A. Hall
DennisMillreRadio.com
Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who
served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate
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 of 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 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 the Emancipation 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
mandrassa 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.