You might be a redneck IF...

OK, time to take a break from the doom and gloom of politics and stuff and just add some laughter to our lives. Received these in an email, enjoy.

Notice individual on right, nice earplugs

REDNECK BUMPER-DUMPER

How To (re)Shape Baghdad

With the sectarian violence growing in Iraq and especially Baghdad, what will Bush need to do to secure a victory? There have been many answers from many different sectors of the political world. From both Democrat and Republicans. It seems that the main thrust of the insurgency has moved from the rural areas of Iraq to Baghdad itself. But the primary question lies as to why they have moved back into the capital and why they are going almost untouched. The answer just might lie from within Iraq not from outside.

An article published on the 17th of January, in the Azzaman, an Iraqi paper, tells it from the Iraqi side what must be done to retake Baghdad and secure it. While I agree with how the violence can be stopped, I disagree with who should do it. In the article, it describes the US as being the main thrust into securing Baghdad. However, I think that the Iraqi Army should be the tip of the spear so to speak on leading the retake of the city. It describes US troops being the ones as needing to not just crush the violence but also take charge in capturing and detaining the leaders of the militias.

This is a step that the Iraqi government and army take the forefront in. The US would act in a supportive roll providing air and tactical support. But the actual door to door securing of the city should be done by the Iraqi forces and the civilian population. Yes, the civilian population needs to come behind their closed doors and start working with those that are truly concerned in securing a democratic country. For as long as the civilian population continues to hide and shelter these thugs and militia members no safety is in sight. The country has spoken, they want a democracy. Now they must take part in securing these freedoms that they want to enjoy. Will deaths occur? Yes, plain and simple. But as I have stated so often in many other posts, FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!

As long as leaders such as MUQTADA Al-SADR continue to run free and have little to nothing to fear from its own government, violence will continue to hold the main title in headlines. It is true that thousands of Iraqi's have died since the fall of Saddam, what even more relevant is that they are being murdered by other Iraqi's. Yes there are insurgents mixed in, but the basic thrust of the violence is being conducted by Iraq's militias upon Iraqi's. The US has laid the foundation by taking care of their one time dictator, now they (Iraqi's) must stand up and be a major part in making this change work.

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE

I received this poem in an e-mail from my brother-in-law in Kansas City and knew I just had to pass it on. I know not the author...but whoever he is, deserves a big salute.

I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease..
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.
I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington
No, freedom isn't free.

Enjoy Your Freedom & God Bless Our Troops

How Long Do You Give Them?

Well, the Dems now have control of Congress, their tour of duty is offical. They have started their first 100 hours and are doing everything in their power to "sock it to the Republicans". But I guess after being the back seat passengers for the last 12 years, they need to try to flex their muscles a little. No where does it say that they have to be polite, congenial, or even honest. I said back in November that they would not have the backbone to hold true to the course and that they would try to undermine the military at the first chance they got. And low and behold they are. Cut the funding and run the troops out of Iraq as fast as they can. Pressure Bush to succumb to their wishes by threatening to override any vetos.

Yep, they are even threatening ( they call it negotiating) drug companies to lower their drug costs to seniors. Oh, wait a minute hasn't that already happened with Walmart working out a deal on certain drugs and other companies joining some type of alliance to help out those that can't afford certain drugs. I would say that Congress is a little late on this game. As for cutting the funding and dragging our troops out of Iraq, well I just hope that they can explain that to the vets and troops that have been over there and seen their buddies die, and to the families that the loss of their loved one was for nothing. Becasue if they drag them out now, that is exactly what it will mean. Oh, and let's not forget to thank the democrats for getting ready to reinstate the draft. Something that hasn't been done since Nam. But wait, why have a draft if they are going to bring our troops home? What will be the need to bring back the draft? Could it be so that when the UN snaps its fingers, the US will willingly and happily slide our boys under the UN flag to go do their bidding? After all, can you name one case where the UN has been involved in a foreign country and had it work out.

But, Nancy and the boys will get everything straightened out. Raise the taxes, vote same sex marriages into law, reduce the military (again), and make us more of an isolationist style country as it was before WWI. How about those Dems, raising the minimum wage to over $7. There's a move that will definitely help the economy, or is it the unemployment lines that they will help. Forcing the small businessman to tighten up his belt, cut back on employees, and charge them more for insurance coverage.

Yep, it even looks like they will get the White House in '08. I mean really, who do the Republicans have that can match up to Obama, Hillary, Kerry, and Edwards? So come on America, stand up and cheer for the Dems. After all, what has been accomplished over the last few years...lower taxes, more income, some of the lowest unemployment percentages in history, more small businesses opening up, more students attending college, and the list goes on. So step up to the plate Congress and let's see how far down you bring "your fellow americans."

Just under 24 hours To decide...

Well here we are just one day before the elections. Will the Dems gain enough seats to take over the House? Will the Republicans hold on by the skin of their teeth? Will Saddam's verdict effect the election and how? If the Dems do win the House or maybe even the Senate, will they stay the course in the war on terror, or will they cut and run like we did in Vietnam? Will the Dems finally step up to the plate and show some backbone? If they win, what will be their first order of the day?

Will they go after Bad Boy Bush, or will they just coveyhole everything he sends their way? Can the Republican party ever regain faith in their commander and chief? Will Hillary finally make the decision as to whether or not she is going to run in '08? SOOOO MANY QUESTIONS?

There is only one way to determine the outcome of this election...GET OUT AND VOTE!!! But do everyone a favor, forget about party lines. Forget about who the talking heads are supporting, vote your gut feeling. Do we want a safer country, or one offered up to the illegal aliens and Fanatic Muslims? What's even worse is do we want a country like France or Germany, where the Extremists pretty much pull the strings? Hey you decide. But whatever you do GO VOTE.

Mr. Kerry...we are fine and well in Iraq

Recently Mr. John "I was for before I was against" Kerry made a comment regarding the need for a better education and or continuing educational goals. Don't get me wrong, I think everyone should further their education, including Mr. Kerry. However, I think the troops in Iraq answered Mr. Kerry's comment the best as provided in this picture. Plus considering the fact that todays troops are much more educated than when I was in the service, I mean look at the equipment that they have to use on a daily basis. Does Mr. Kerry think that he can operate this equipment without an education? Their response just goes to show you Mr. Kerry how much they think of you, being a Vietnam HERO and all.

This is not to say that they all have college degrees, but there are a majority who are taking advantage of the military's educational programs and those that are continuing their education through various colleges while in the service. Not to mention those that go on to continue their education after serving their country. Bad joke, yes; poor taste, to say the least. And this was the best that the Democrats had to offer in '04, I am just glad he didn't win; and so are the troops. HOOAH!!!

Is Too Much Time Taken...NOT A CHANCE!!!

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the newest addition to the Drake Clan. His name is Samuel Hagerty, born August 15, 2006. He is the son of Capt. Scott Hagerty (USAR) and Daphne Hagerty (my daughter).

This is one of the reasons for which I have not been blogging much lately. He is a wonderful joy and occupies much of my off time. His father Scott was on assignment in East Africa at the time, but was given leave to be present for his birth in August. Scott is now back in Africa, but should be able to be home for the holidays. This is Scott's second year of being away on military orders. His first stint was in Iraq for 12 months, during the transition period. He was a liason between the US and the interim PM, and worked in intelligence information gathering, which by the way helped lead to the capture of Saddam and other hinchmen in his circle.

Samuel is my second grandson and both spend a lot of time at our humble abode. At the time this photo was taken, Samuel just turned 2 months old. So if I am not online, you will now know why. Got to enjoy them while they are young, and while there is still time to do so.

Been Awhile, BUT I AM BACK!

Hello fellow bloggers, it's been a while. Sorry I've been away for so long but there were some things that came up that kept me away from being able to blog with you and post my opinions. I really can't go into a lot of detail regarding the reasons but please understand that I have definitely missed your company. There was a stretch there where the hours working made it hard to spend much time on the computer.

I know my last blog was sometime back and I haven't really been able to watch that much TV and gather much information of what's going on in the news. Physically I'm fine, thank you for your concerns and questions as to my whereabouts that some of you have posted in the past few months. Hopefully, I'll be able to be on here a little bit more often now and give my two cents on what's going on in the world.

As you notice My recent post is in regards to a college football game balance played this last Saturday. How outrageous some of the calls were by the officiating crew. As you can tell I am a Sooners sports fan and have followed the Sooners quite avidly for the best part of the last 32 years. HA HA!

With the November elections coming up and all the to do about the war and Iraq and the war on terrorism it would seem that the democrats are still up to their old antics, trying to scare the people into believing that we're no safer now than we were before. We've covered this topic indepth in a number of other posts. So I'm not going to go into much detail at this time, however I will say that unless the republican party starts coming together as a whole they will lose in the November elections. There is way too much division within the party for them to secure a true victory in this election. Although I don't always agree with everything that Bush does or says, he is the leader of that party. In the past, 98 percent of the republicans in Congress have agreed with and voted for the things that Bush has presented to them for approval, now it seems that there are jumping ship to save their own butts their reelection year. The democrats to my knowledge still have not presented a true and honest guideline as to what they will do if they win the election, other than impeach Bush.

I look forward to hearing from all of you and as usual welcome your comments on this posting site. I am glad to be back in the fold so to speak.

Were they wearing blinders or just BLIND

Well, I don't know how many of you watched the Oregon/OU game saturday, but it the last minute of the game was an embarassement to the officiating club in the NCAA. Be you a anti-Sooner fan or an advid Sooner fan you have to agree that there were some major problems in how the final seconds of the game were called. Don't get me wrong, OU played very poorly during the first half of the game and made one of their wild comebacks in the second half. Their defense isn't what it should be and the secondary is definitely one of the weak spots for the Sooners. However, be that as it may, the Sooners did take charge of the game in the third and most of the fourth quarter.

Almost every sports organization out there has agreed though on one thing, OU was raped of its victory in the last minute or so of the game. Two very game determining calls gave the game away to the Ducks. The on-side kick, that was supposedly recovered by the Ducks, and the pass interference call. The on-side kick, which in fact was recovered by the Sooners, gave the ducks possession of the ball inside OU territory. Yet on TV and on the screen at the stadium it was very obvious that the Ducks 1) touched the ball before it had went ten yards and 2) the Sooners recovered the ball after it had squirted out of the pile. OK, missed call number one. Then on the same drive, OU was called for pass interference, when on the replay there was evidence that the ball had been tipped by an OU player at the line, therefore negating any chance for any pass interference. These two very controversial calls ended up giving the game to the Oregon Ducks giving them their first victory over the Sooners in six trys.

What should be done? Good question. First the game will not be overturned by the NCAA. But it should not count as a victory or a loss for either team. The officiating crew should be suspended pending review of their actions on the field and in the review booth. Both clubs should be given a draw (or tie) since neither team had any direct connection with the calls from the officials. This should leave both teams were they stand in the rankings or move both up considering the losses over the weekend by ND, LSU, etc.

Well that is my take on the issue, what's yours?