Trust in God

Life is way too funny the way it turns out sometime.

Sometimes or more often cases, a lot of times, it doesn't turn out the way you want it to. Sure, I've had things in my life that have not come easy, but that's most everyone. I'm through with placing these burdens on myself and give them to God. That's the only thing we can do sometimes.

I'm only 25 (*almost* 26 ... ) but my mom has always told me even from a young age, that life is not and never will be fair. I'm so glad she didn't sugar coat things for me. I never felt entitled to anything in life. I was never an A+ student, but I got by. Finding employment has never been easy for me. I've just now recently found some part-time work. I realize that God knows our path in life and I completely trust Him in where he wants to take me next.

Life is too short to be miserable. So give your worries and burdens to God, and watch him go to work in your life. Something I constantly have to remind myself.

And maybe you need reminding too.

Toying with our emotions

Gabby Giffords wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times yesterday in regards to the senate vote on gun control.

As you can imagine, it's dripping with heart-felt emotion:

SENATORS say they fear the N.R.A. and the gun lobby. But I think that fear must be nothing compared to the fear the first graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School felt as their lives ended in a hail of bullets. The fear that those children who survived the massacre must feel every time they remember their teachers stacking them into closets and bathrooms, whispering that they loved them, so that love would be the last thing the students heard if the gunman found them. On Wednesday, a minority of senators gave into fear and blocked common-sense legislation that would have made it harder for criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get hold of deadly firearms — a bill that could prevent future tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., Blacksburg, Va., and too many communities to count.

Let me start off by saying, I have the utmost respect for Gabby Giffords (former Democratic Senator from Arizona, who was shot in the head on January 8, 2011). She has fought a courageous battle in recovering. She has been an inspiration for many Americans, and she should be commended for that.

However, in saying that, background checks could not have prevented the actions of Adam Lanza and other madmen from doing the horribly, horrific acts they committed. The weapon Lanza used belonged to his mother, who would have passed the background checks. If we banned certain "assault" weapons, this isn't going to stop a criminal. Connecticut already had a ban on these weapons. 

Letting emotion dictate our policies is not only incredibly foolish, but dangerous.

We do need to come togehther to try and come up with a solution, but placing more background checks and placing bans on certain assault weapons isn't going to accomplish anything. The 2nd Amendment, and I will state it for you in case you have forgotten what it actually says (and means)

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

The orignial intent of the 2nd Amendment is to protect citizen's rights to bear arms against a tyrannical government. Any infringement upon these rights is deemed unconstitutional. Senators like Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz are fighting for our constitutional rights as American citizens, and it is a damn shame that protecting civil liberties is now seen as "extreme," or somehow those not in favor of gun control legislation do not care about the victims whose lives have been lost. 

You know what is a shame? Legislators, senators, and our current administration using victims of these heinous acts, as propped up political propaganda. It's disgusting. 

And even more amazingly now, there are comedians like Jay Mohr and Lawrence O'Donnel actually blaming the 2nd Amendment for the bombings in Boston earlier this week. We have to stop this blameshifting.

Our priorties are all wrong. 

Post Inauguration Thoughts

I've had a lot on my mind recently in regards to the state of politics in this country. Ok, let's be honest, I always have that on my mind. As I was driving home from Florida, Monday, I had time to collect some thoughts as President Obama was inaugurated into office for his second term.

I often think my opinion is not the popular one, but then I realize lots of people relate to me. As I mentioned on facebook Monday, I never like to be labeled anything for that matter, but definitely not another anti-Obama person. Let's get one thing clear, because of my beliefs politically, I am not a Barack Obama supporter. I never have been. BUT, let's also get one thing clear as well, the problem in this country for a long time has been status quo politics. We have politicians who claim to be fiscally conservative like Paul Ryan, who is nothing short of a moderate. Ryan is about the furthest you can be from being a fiscal conservative.

I was a fan of George Bush, the person, not George Bush the President. Many Obama supporters are obviously not Bush fans or fans of the GOP party altogether, and rightfully justified in most instances, but if we take away the Obama name, he is hardly different than Bush. Their foreign policies are the same, they are both big spenders. Obama claims, or at least claimed to be anti-war back in 2008, but he's hardly that. Obama tried to extend the war in Iraq, wanting to keep thousands of troops there passed the proposed deadline, which was set in place already by... yep you guessed it, Bush.

I imagine if Obama was a republican, most in this country would be chastising him for supporting NDAA, Patriot Act, TARP Bailouts, and don't even get me started on the drone strikes in Yemen and Libya or the whole Benghazi ordeal.

Four reasons why Obama was reelected:

1) Ignorance by his policies
2) The U.S. is becomming more socially liberal
3) Too many in this country are dependent on government handouts
4) Mitt Romney was the LAST choice of many in the GOP

Social issues are important to most people, and I consider them important as well, but to vote for a president solely based on the fact that he has come out in support of gay marriage is, well pretty dumb if you think about it. Obama is not going to somehow legalize gay marriage. It is a state by state issue. And further more, why do people not realize he has pandered to the LGBT community to get their votes. A presient's personal view on gay marriage is pretty much irrelevant. I understand that most in the gay community feel like they have a voice with a president supporting this, but in reality, he can't do anything because it's a state issue.

The republican party is seen by most as backward, because of some of the comments made by Todd Akin and others regarding abortion. The GOP is also seen as anti-science and anti-gay. This is why they are failing to attract the youth vote.

As I have said before, the GOP must embrace libertarianism, and libertarian-minded republicans if they want to change their party's platform. For a die hard conservative, you have to realize if you support a libertairan candidate, you're not giving up your socially conservative values, you just have to realize the government has no place enforcing morality. The GOP should want to limit government overall.

Grassroots activists did not support Romney, and he was the last candidate they would have chosen. If the GOP wants to win, they have to have the support of these individuals who will get out, knock on doors, put up yard signs, make phone calls, etc. The GOP must also not continue to shun libertarians, particularly at national conventions like we saw this past year in Tampa. If the GOP continues to elect more "fiscal moderates" because they think they are more electable, the GOP will continue to spiral downward.

Lastly, I thought I would post a YouTube video that clears up some of the confusion most have about libertarians. Julie Borowski is a policy analyst for FreedomWorks, and is one of my favorite libertarians.