Desecration of the Honor or Heroes

Hello, my friends,                 

They’re at it again and I’m mad as hell!

Westboro Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church based in Topeka Kansas and headed by Fred Phelps and family, is nothing more than a legalized hate group; not too far afield of Nazi-ism if you ask me . . .  but . . . I digress.

These people go all over the country touting their so called “religious” beliefs—disguised as Christians who defile the American flag but shroud themselves in the Bill of Rights—by protesting at the funerals of the very heroes who died to preserve those rights. They preach hate and intolerance and are constantly monitored by the Anti-Defamation League. They advocate prejudice against all who do not follow their practices and deem them “Satanic” and bound for hell. This is not true Christian behavior. Christianity advocates love, honor and respect for their leaders and the warriors who are charged with the protection of the people.

How can this be allowed? You might ask.  Well, this issue was brought before the United States Supreme Court in March of 2011 and in a vote of 8-1 ruled in favor of the church. 

It seems that they have the right to disparage the honor of our fallen heroes as often as they like and just about any manner they choose because it is in the Bill of Rights. You know, that line about freedom of speech and the separation of state and church.  But I ask you this: How could a group of people who so openly abhor this country and shout as loudly as they can that God hates American and we should all be destroyed, they hold up signs that say “Thank God for dead soldiers”; a group that has ridiculed America, expect to be protected by the rights those same dead soldiers they protest against, died for?  Can you say: “double standard”?

Just this past Saturday, January 7^th, 2012 one of the fallen heroes, a young Pfc. named Justin M. Whitmire, only 20 years old, was laid to rest in Simpsonville, South Carolina and this band of hoodlums tried to stage a protest.  Do they not realize the agony the families of these fallen young men and women are going through? This young man was training to be a medic; not only was he a soldier to protect his country but he wanted to be a healer as well and these . . .  I have no words to describe them! Scum?  Disciples of Lucifer? However you describe them they are heartless and soulless to celebrate the death of one so good and pure of heart.

They tried to dishonor a hero. They tried to discredit his life’s purpose.  But they failed! Halleluiah, AMEN!

The Patriot Guard Riders, a group of motorcycle riders that formed in 2005 to protect the families of deceased soldiers, was on hand at Pfc. Whitmire’s funeral and stood to protect his loved ones from the protest.  I’ve also heard it on good authority that Hell’s Angels were on hand as well.  From the “grapevine” I heard the Hell’s Angels blocked Frank Phelps and his hoard of heathens from even attending the funeral by blocking the parking lot of a store where they had convened: to “pray” I would imagine.

This country was founded on freedom.  Young men and women have suffered, bled and died for over two centuries to protect those freedoms and I for one believe they should be given proper respect.  There is a difference in “freedom of speech” and down right “hate propaganda”.  Frank Phelps and his “hoard of heathens” he calls a church’s actions may not be technically defined as treasonous, but what do you call it when a group of American Citizens spew out such diabolical rhetoric defaming this country’s military? It aids the enemy in breaking down the morale of our citizens. It gives an opening to home grown terrorists to step in and stoke the flames of discontent within our borders. This administration’s approval rating is at an all time low as it is, not to mention this is an election year and focus is split in a myriad of directions.

The “hoard of heathens” are aiding and abetting terrorist activity. For the sake of and the safety of this country we all need to do something about this situation.  I suggest everyone write their city council, state representative, governor, congressman, hell write the president and let them all know we will not tolerate the desecration of the honor of our fallen heroes.

I only have one last thing to say to those who hate America: Don’t let our borders hit you in the ass on your way out!!!!!

God Bless America, and have a great day.

Kate

A New Year; A New Attitude!

Hello friends;
Well, it's a new year and all things are possible!
Just think: the turning of a new page means that you have the chance to start fresh. Begin anew. Old things are passing away and new things are about to begin!
 By all means I would never suggest that you leave behind the things that are important such as your loved ones, bills that need to be paid, that place where they hold your paycheck hostage and you dread leaving the house every morning just to put in your forty plus hours. Those tangibles that we must endure to survive in a world spinning out of control. The rampant commercialism, mud slinging political campaigns, (it is an election year after all); looming global economic collapse and, well, I think you get the picture.
Hmm, not exactly the most promising picture I'm painting is it?
That's where the turning to a clean page comes in: Everyone knows and suffers with the tangibles . . .  but what about those intangibles?  Like attitude? Self esteem? Tolerance of others? 
Let's take these intangibles one at a time:

Attitude:  Webster's New World Dictionary defines this as: 1 a bodily posture showing mood, action, etc.  2 a manner showing one's feelings or thoughts  3 ones disposition, opinion, etc.  4 (slang) a quarrelsome or haughty temperament or manner. 
If you ask me these are all things that we have total control over--in ourselves that is.  I have decided that the way people perceive me is due to the attitude that I project from within. No one controls that except ME. I am in total control of my attitude.  So that can only mean one thing: If I don't like what I see in the mirror I am the only one that can change it.

Self esteem:  1 self respect  2 undue pride in oneself; conceit
Yes, I have spent a lot of my life with what could be termed "Low self esteem"  I had no respect for myself, and was my own worst enemy. I was also a self-saboteur.  I felt I was unworthy of anything better and for many wasted years I did nothing to change that until I saw the light with a simple remark that my best friend told me about twenty five years ago, give or take a couple of years, "People will treat you the way you teach them to treat you."  WOW! That one took me by complete surprise when I realized that it was absolutely true.  I projected a poor attitude of myself and others picked up on that.  If I didn't like me then why should they? I never saw myself as attractive, desirable or even smart back then. I've always thought of myself as plain, common and nothing special. And thinking that way about me I sent out these tsunami waves of negative energy and others picked up on them.
Once I realized what I was doing I did what I had to do.  It wasn't easy and I fell back into that "woe is me" attitude on occasion but I have finally come to realize that I am special: to myself.  I am attractive and desirable, (someday someone will realize that I am unique and special but I refuse to wait around until that day comes. I can do what ever I wish to do because, "I CAN"). I am an intelligent woman and I learn new things every day.  I stopped believing the worst about myself and I finally convinced myself that I wasn't really a waste of fresh oxygen and chromosomes.  I would catch myself putting me down with degrading remarks such as; "I am so stupid.  Why did I do something so dumb?" Or, "Look how fat I am." And the coup de gras "I wish I looked like (fill in the blank with the current supermodel here)."  These are all things that told me I was not good enough and I was lacking.

But, you know what? Like that old song by Patti Labelle "I've Got A New Attitude"

I stopped telling myself what was wrong about me and started finding things that were right about me.  Each day I told myself something good about myself and that no matter what I was going to find something good to make even my darkest day just a little bit brighter.

If not, well, Tomorrow will be a brighter day!

Tolerance: The last item on my intangibles list.  1 being tolerant of others' views, beliefs, practices, etc.  2 the amount of variation allowed from a standard  3 med. The (developed) ability to resist the effects of a drug, etc. (this one has no bearing on my point but thought I should add it anyway.)

Well, this one is pretty self explanatory I would think.  You should have a little more tolerance for yourself when you make a mistake.  Don't beat yourself up over a bad decision, a broken relationship that should never have been a relationship in the first place, or backing into that pole the other day.  Things happen, deal with it and move on.  Easier said than done, I know, I know.  I am my own worst critic and I should practice what I preach and for the most part I do.
It's not the mistakes we make that make us, it's how we deal with those mistakes and what we learn from them.

It's all in the attitude, self esteem and tolerance.

Tomorrow will always be a brighter day . . . even when it rains it could be always be worse.  You could be living in a country that shuns democracy and advocates the subjugation of women.
Think about it.

Start your New Year with a Great New Attitude!
Later
Kate