Author Archive
OPERATION GRATITUDE – We’re still here. Because they are still there.
President Obama has announced that the U.S. will pull out all of our troops from Iraq by the end of this year. Of course this is wonderful news for the families of those stationed in Iraq. But let us remember that there are still thousands of military personnel in Afghanistan, other areas in the Middle East, as well as those serving aboard ships at sea. In addition to those serving in hostile areas, there are the thousands stationed in places such as South Korea, Japan, Germany.
The stated mission of Operation Gratitude is to “put a smile on a service member’s face and express our appreciation and support.” Men and women in our military weren’t drafted — they volunteered. In this day and age of ultimate creature comforts and conveniences in America, the fact that someone would set their comfortable life aside to serve their country, being assigned to places and jobs they may never have imagined, is beyond admirable. We owe each and every one of these wonderful men and women a debt of gratitude for standing watch while we go on with our comfortable lives.
Operation Gratitude continues sending care packages to our troops. As long as we have troops far from their home, we will continue to let them know they are in our hearts. As always, our care packages contain fun items such as DVDs, CDs, books, snacks; comfort items such as chapstick, sunscreen; and always, always, letters from grateful Americans. We welcome support from people all over the country.
To see how you can support Operation Gratitude, please check our website www.operationgratitude.com.
The Spoiled Brats of OWS
This was written by my friend Leah in Los Angeles. I think people will find it interesting and thought-provoking. Leah has a unique perspective as you will see in this excellent piece.
The spoiled brats of OWS.
There is always a moment when an image is like a punch in the stomach – leaving me amazed and gasping for air. The whole phenomenon of OWS has been disgusting, the hatred, the anti-Semitism – the dirty hippies who have multiple higher education degrees but no job is up to their standards.
What really got me was the image of a gay kid hugging another man while holding up a sign that said: Gay Kids, don’t kill yourselves, kill your parents.
There in a nutshell is everything I hate about Gay Inc. As the parent of a gay young man – this hits me extra hard. Of course I know that there are parents out there that won’t accept their gay children – some literally kick them out of the house, others won’t acknowledge the gayness of their child and simply ignore that subject. But in this day and age, they are a minority and if gay kids are having an issue with their parents – maybe it’s time they looked at themselves before they rush to accuse their parents of ‘not accepting’ their lifestyle.
I haven’t met a single person who didn’t grapple with coming out. Being gay is being different, no one wants to be different, especially not teenagers. So the gay person goes through a period of soul searching, is this it? Is this just a phase? Will I grow out of this? At some point they realize that yes, this is it, they are gay, and they come to accept this fact about themselves. Usually they share this info first with close friends, then maybe a sibling. The parents are rarely the first to know.
By the time the kid or young adult comes out to his/her parents he is comfortable with himself. For most parents, it’s a bombshell. The child often demands full and complete acceptance from the parents – never giving them the luxury of time he had. Most parents want to reach that point – but it takes time – to adjust – to accept that their dreams of the future have just been shattered. Yes, we want our children to marry and give us grandchildren – despite all the hype – this is still a rarity in the gay community.
So the parents try, they do the best they can, but here is where the gay child fails. In many cases, gay= immature, narcissistic and self absorbed. The last thing the child will do is give his parents a chance – the same chance he gave himself – to gradually accept the situation. Any reservation, any sorrow at this news will be viewed as rejection.
And so the resentment gets deeper, at some point the parents give up – especially if the child no longer lives at home and there isn’t daily interaction. And the gay child builds up a wonderful narrative about the victimhood of his life because his parents don’t accept him 100%. To be honest, this is a normal adolescent stage – most people outgrow it – especially when they have children of their own and realize how difficult parenthood is. But most gays will never have children – let alone a real relationship with another human that lasts more than a month. So they are stuck in perpetual adolescence – hating their parents and of course wearing the badge of victim proudly.
The story that really sticks in my mind is the parents who graciously accept their son and his partner in their home as equals to the straight siblings. Yet this ungrateful man can only complain that his parents don’t really love him – since they are Republicans, they haven’t changed in every way to mirror him – so they are deeply flawed.
We as humans will never be perfect, as parents it is impossible. Yet most parents try their best, they acknowledge their mistakes, they are more flexible than anyone else in coming to terms with the curve balls that life throws our way. If the other side is so intractable – so demanding of perfection from others that they never expect from themselves – then the result is the poster seen at OWS. Of course I’m sure that sentiment resonated with many of the spoiled brats who are showing us the true face of anarchy – they all are the perpetual child – demanding to remain infants – with the adults taking care of all their needs – while giving them all the resources and freedoms to live like savage animals in our parks and streets.
Yes, I’m being very harsh here about the gay community. I have the luxury of coming to know many incredible gay men and women. I would love to think they are the silent majority, maybe they are. But Gay Inc (leadership, hate mail, anti Mormon protests) has done a yeoman’s job is giving us the impression that they aren’t. The hatred directed towards Mary Cheney for living her parent’s values is proof enough. I can’t think of a better example of a parent then Dick Cheney – yet the hatred towards him is legend. They have called upon Mary to renounce her family and embrace ‘the gay family’ – which to all appearances is what we see in OWS – filth, the hatred, the rapes and the violence.
The parent child relationship isn’t a one way street – calling for killing of parents just doesn’t fit in with the message of love and acceptance that Gay Inc is demanding but clearly isn’t willing to take on themselves.
Leah In Los Angeles.
Posted by Penny4HB
I do not have a gay child but my daughter has a number of wonderful close friends who are gay men. Two of these men grew up in Southern California and in both cases, their family has totally accepted and embraced their sons’ gay life. [One of them has a mother who told me she always hoped her son would be gay.] It’s possible that growing up gay in Southern California conveys an easier acceptance than other areas of our country. I don’t know. This entire OWS phenomenon is bringing back very bad memories of the 60s protests while I was in college. The only difference seems to be that in the 60s they were basically protesting the Vietnam War (though it morphed into protests against other issues, resulting in a lot of hate being exhibited then too, like today’s protests). I think those protests in the 60s ushered in the beginning of a social degradation in our country, and it seems that generation of hippies is still around, and have raised more generations of ungrateful hippies.
What do you think?
“Cain vs UnAble”
This is a bumper sticker you can get from Herman Cain’s website.
I’ve been an admirer of Herman Cain for several years, since I heard him substitute for Bill Bennett on Dr. Bennett’s radio show “Morning in America”. We are always hearing that someone “speaks from his heart”. Herman Cain speaks from his brain, and when asked a question, he answers THAT question. Several of my favorites of his responses to debate questions have begun “Let’s first define the problem”. Herman Cain is a clear thinker. He’s been very successful in the business world, and his successes are not due to affirmative action, but instead, to the hard work that Herman Cain has done to achieve those successes.
Followers and admirers of Sarah Palin should take a look at Herman Cain. I’ve liked Governor Palin since her nomination for V.P. in 2008. I saw her at an event when she was out in California, and thought she was clear, bright, focused, and genuine. She is an upbeat, happy individual who loves her life and her family, is very strong in her faith, and believes in and loves America. I thought she was much smarter than she was ever given credit for, and had a boatload of experience and positive results, all of which, I think, qualified her for the office for which she was nominated (I won’t even go into the LACK of qualifications of the man who currently occupies the White House). The hypocrisy of those on the left who decided on day one that she was to be belittled, disregarded, ridiculed, and ultimately destroyed, was staggering. They elected to the Presidency, a man who had accomplished nothing at all during his life other than being elected, while continually beating the drum about how unqualified Sarah Palin was to even occupy our planet.
Now that Governor Palin has announced that she will not be a candidate, I know there are legions of people feeling adrift. I urge them to look at Herman Cain. Go to YouTube and watch some of his recent speeches, debates, and interviews. (For those with an interest, he also has a beautiful baritone singing voice and you can find a very moving video about 9/11, with Herman Cain singing “God Bless America” in the background). He has a remarkable clarity when he speaks. Answers have a beginning, middle, and an end, and make sense. His responses do not come off as though he is addressing crowds at the coliseum (surrounded by styrofoam Greek columns), but rather as actual answers to the questions being asked, and solutions to problems that exist.
His “9-9-9” tax plan makes sense to me. He proposes to end the payroll tax, end capital gains tax, end the death tax, and replace them with a 9% Business Flat Tax, a 9% Individual Flat Tax, and a 9% National Sales Tax. (For details see http://www.hermancain.com/999plan). As a businessman, he understands that our economy thrives when businesses thrive, and that uncertainty in the economy causes businesses to be cautious, lay off workers and/or not hire, not invest in growth, and in far too many cases, relocate their companies (and thus, their jobs) overseas. This is madness, and is dragging our economy down. It will only continue under Barack Obama. Herman Cain believes we have to create conditions under which private businesses, large and small, will have the confidence that they can grow their companies without being demonized and penalized with taxes and punitive regulations. It will take a seasoned, successful businessman to dig our country out of the business-killing hole it has been thrust into. Academics who have done nothing in the business world, but have gone to school, gotten several degrees, and have been appointed to the President’s cabinet based on no real-world experience, have proven to be anathema to preserving our economic strength. Theory alone cannot replace experience.
Herman Cain proposes to bring America back to its position of strength in the world by supporting our military and ending the decimation that is currently being done to them. He believes in the strength and greatness of America and Americans, and wants to see us once again be the great, powerful, respected nation that we always have been. He sees the damage that has been done these past 20 months and vows to reverse that damage. He believes there is a total lack of leadership in the White House right now and he promises to provide that leadership.
Herman Cain is grateful to America for the opportunities he has had in his lifetime, that have enabled him to become the successful man he is. And he shows that gratitude by excelling and striving to continue to be a success. His father raised him to understand that he was not a victim. Any racial issues he was subjected to as he was growing up (and he was), did not cause him to curl up, whine, and blame everything on others. He does not have a chip on his shoulder over the discrimination his grandparents, his parents, and he and his brother may have suffered in the past. He truly overcame those issues by rising above them and working hard. He is not filled with rage, anger, bitterness, hatred for whites, or resentment for anyone more successful. Herman Cain is a happy, fulfilled man. He loves his life, loves his family, has very strong faith in God, and believes in and loves America.
Isn’t it time we had a president who reminds us what a great people we are, and what a great country America is? Not someone telling us we have “gotten soft”, or to “stop whining”, to “take off our bedroom slippers and put on our boots”, or reprimanding people for their success. Not someone telling us we can’t have our thermostats at a comfortable temperature anymore, or can’t continue to go out to dinner, or we should stop going to Las Vegas. Not someone telling us of the evils of America, telling us we aren’t and can’t be a great country, that Americans are selfish (Michelle Obama said this), that we need to strive to be like European countries, that we all need to sacrifice, that we need to “share the wealth”, and that we just don’t measure up to his standards. We don’t deserve to be treated like children who are disappointing their parents.
Americans deserve better than a dour, above-it-all scold in the White House. Herman Cain is a pleasant, upbeat, positive presence. He would bring back “Morning in America.”
I encourage Americans to stop listening to the media mantra that Herman Cain is “unelectable”. Only the voters can determine that and only on election day 2012.
I don’t know who the Republican nominee will ultimately be. I’m still doing my research on the candidates. Please do your own research. But include Herman Cain on your list of candidates that you research.
Welcome to the new civility
In January 2011 in Tucson, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot and critically wounded by what was described as a “crazed gunman.” The paramedics hadn’t even arrived before the media was out in force trying to tie the “crazed gunman” to the Tea Party, or to Sarah Palin, or at the very least, to conservatives.
Six people died in that shooting. They were innocent people who had come to hear Congresswoman Giffords speak. A few days after the shootings, President Obama addressed the nation and expressed his concern over a “lack of civility” : “If, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse,” Mr. Obama said, “let us remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy — it did not — but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud.”
Pundits and commentators far and wide picked up the mantle and called for a “new civility”, expressing or implying that the Tea Party and angry conservatives are guilty of incivility, hateful rhetoric, intolerance, racism, homophobia, islamophobia, and the most laughable, violence. There has been no violence at any Tea Party event since the Tea Party began in the spring of 2009, with the exception of the beating of Kenneth Gladney, a conservative African American who was beaten by SEIU thugs who attacked him and called him “the ‘N’ word” for being a black conservative.
Tea Partiers are, for the most part, middle-aged Americans who are angry with the out-of-control spending going on in Washington, the increase in taxes, the increase in punitive regulations, the class warfare, and the mandates, rules and restrictions being forced upon everyday Americans. We just want to be left alone to raise our families, pay our bills, earn our livings, and worship as we choose. We want the America that our founding fathers gave us. We sing the National Anthem and recite the Pledge of Allegiance at all of our meetings. This is apparently the “hateful rhetoric” of which we are guilty. We aren’t violent, we aren’t profane. We are Americans who love our country and want it back.
Welcome to the new civility. In the past couple of weeks, we have seen the following:
Michael Moore on Keith Olbermann’s show:
“…and the smart rich know, they can only build the gates so high, and, and, sooner or later, history proves that people, when they’ve had enough, aren’t going to take it anymore, and [it's] much better to deal with it non-violently now, through the political system, than what could possibly happen in the future, which nobody wants to see…”
Morgan Freeman on Piers Morgan’s show said the Tea Party’s goal is “screw the country, we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man out of here.” Freeman concluded: “It is a racist thing.”
Maxine Waters addressed the unemployed during a forum in Inglewood. A day after new statistics were released showing that California’s jobless rate last month went up to 12%, from 11.8%, Waters vowed to push Congress to focus on creating more jobs. “I’m not afraid of anybody,” said Waters. “This is a tough game. You can’t be intimidated. You can’t be frightened. And as far as I’m concerned, the ‘tea party’ can go straight to hell.”
Yes, it’s clear that the Tea Party and conservatives have to learn to be more civil.
How the left remembers and forgets
The 10th anniversary of 9/11 is coming up this weekend. Others have written about how this specific event has been hijacked by political correctness. I will discuss how the left nitpicks what is worthy of remembrance and what is not.
I am a docent at LACMA, the largest art museum in Los Angeles. Like Kevin life in Boystown – it’s very lonely there. There are a handful of GOP voters but although we acknowledge one another, we stay under the radar.
LACMA, a proud far left institution, has purchased a very disturbing ‘artwork’; it is basically a full size display of a black man being castrated by 5 masked white men – after being accused of raping a white woman. (I won’t publicize this work. If you must, go to LACMA’s website for details). 50 years ago the artist couldn’t sell or display it here in America. Of course Europe and Japan have been thrilled to shame America by displaying this travesty for years.
The museum, the LA Times, and NPR are all celebrating this most important event – a way to shame and insult America. They who claim to be beyond race are stoking the racial flames, because to be honest, we as a society have moved beyond those awful days of lynching. Today more violent evil crimes are perpetrated by black against themselves or white people. Just look at the murders in Chicago or the black flashmobs. I am not suggesting we create art to teach and inform the public about these events – that is what news media is for.
Which brings me to the whitewashing of 9/11 — within a month of the event, we no longer saw or heard the news reels of the towers falling. The images of 200 people hurling themselves out of the windows of the towers, the awful sounds of their bodies hitting the pavement, have been erased from our memories.
The left is doing its best to erase the evil of 9/11, because they and the Islamists share a common enemy – us. On the other hand, we as a nation have progressed far in race relations – real true honest progress. That dismays the left, they hate that to such a degree that they will go out of their way to shove it back down our throats. They will see to it that although this mythic event in the mind of the artist 50 years ago, the image is shoved into our faces as if this was the news headline of today. Of course in doing so they once again show us who the real racists are.
I will be vocal about my opposition to this ‘exhibit’. I have my response to my horrified fellow docents who will call me narrow and closed minded. I will ask them why we don’t have a piece of artwork displaying the thousands of gay men being hung today in Iran? Why is this issue less worthy of art? Is it because slamming white racists from 50 years ago is so much easier than dealing with real issues that affect people today?
Leah, a tea party, American Jewish mom in Los Angeles
Musings of a conservative mom of a gay conservative
Let’s be honest, no matter how open minded and accepting one is – finding out that my son is gay was not welcome news. My oldest son had just gotten married, we took a ‘honeymoon’ with the two other boys and towards the end, my youngest son, 16 at the time came out to us as gay.
First reaction was shock, disbelief and of course denial. Of course first thing we did was give him a big hug and tell him we love him. Then began the long road to adjustment, an immediate question was – what about your strong Jewish and conservative beliefs? They won’t change he said.
Thankfully this was his senior year of high school, he was home, we could adapt together. He had already come to grips with his sexuality – but no matter how much I love my child – that is a seismic shift is my desires and expectations for his future.
Thank a Veteran
America owes our Military Veterans an eternal debt of gratitude. Operation Gratitude has a program dedicated to showing our veterans of past wars and conflicts that we have never forgotten them and we remain grateful for their service. This is a program within Operation Gratitude that is separate from our care package for the troops program. The “Thank a Veteran” program sends letters to veterans, no packages. Letters come from grateful Americans and are sent directly, via snail mail, to a deserving veteran.
Here is what you can do:
A. Send us the name and Address of a Veteran. If you know a Veteran who would like to receive a Letter of Gratitude (or if you would like one sent to him/her), please provide the name of the Veteran, regular mailing address (we want them to receive the letter in their physical mailbox at home), and specify in which war(s) they served. Email the information to Penny at: OpGratVolunteer@yahoo.com
B. Write a Letter of Gratitude to a Veteran
. It is long overdue, but never too late. Write a Letter of Gratitude to a Veteran thanking him or her for all they did for our country.
For information about how to write a veteran or a soldier currently serving, and where to send them, please visit:
http://www.operationgratitude.com/letters-to-heroes/
PLEASE NOTE THAT LETTERS TO VETERANS ARE DIFFERENT FROM LETTERS TO THE TROOPS, and are sent to a different place than letters to the troops are sent.
Thank you for your support of all our men and women of the U.S. Military –past and present!
