You see?  I'm a VietNam Vet!  Spent two tours there.  Enlisted.  Saw good friends become wounded, disabled and killed!   And when I tell people this, I usually get the same five questions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Normally, I start these things out by saying "My Fellow Americans."
Not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don't know who
more than half of you are anymore.  I do know something terrible has
happened, and that you're really not fellow Americans any longer.
   
I'll cut right to the chase here: I quit. Now before anyone gets all
in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid
prosecution or something, let me assure you: there's been no breaking of
laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

The reason I'm quitting is simple. I'm fed up with you people.  I'm fed up because you have no understanding of what's really going on in the world. Or of what's going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too damned lazy to do your homework and figure it out. Let's start local. You've been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media. Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that's despite record numbers of homeowners including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners. And while we're mentioning minorities, I'll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high. Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton Administration. I've mentioned all those things before, but it doesn't seem to have sunk in.

Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has
rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating
in these markets. Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and
most of you are too damn stupid to realize that gas prices are high
because there's increased demand in other parts of the world, and because
a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and
beachfront property than your economic security.

We face real threats in the world. Don't give me this "blood for oil"
thing.  If I was trading blood for oil I would've already seized Iraq's oil
fields and let the rest of the country go to hell.  And don't give me this
'Bush Lied People Died' crap either.  If I was the liar you morons take me
for, I could've easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could
be 'discovered.'  Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence
was faulty. Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam
had the goods, same as me.  Let me also remind you that regime change in
Iraq was official US policy before I came into office.  Some guy named
'Clinton' established that policy.  Bet you didn't know that, did you?

You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy.  Back during
the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic 
models squaring off.  We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do.  We were simply able to
outspend and out-tech them.       

That's not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don't care
if they survive.  In fact, they want to die. That'd be fine, as long as
they weren't also committed to taking as many of you with them as they
can. But they are. They want to kill you.  And the bastards are all over
the globe.

You should be grateful that they haven't gotten any more of us here in
the United States since September 11.  But you're not.  That's because
you've got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law
enforcement and homeland security people have worked to make sure of that.
When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and
difficult fight.  I'm disappointed how many of you people think a long and
difficult fight amounts to a single season of 'Survivor'.

Instead, you've grown impatient.  You're incapable of seeing things
through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do.  You think that
wars should last a few months, a few years, tops.

Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy.
Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a
cut-and-run Democrat's political campaign, well, dammit, you might just as
well Fedex a grenade launcher to a Jihadist.  It amounts to the same thing.

In this day and age, it's easy enough to find the truth.  It's all over
the Internet.  It just isn't on the pages of the New York Times or on NBC
News. But even if it were, I doubt you'd be any smarter.  Most of you would
rather watch American Idol.

I could say more a bout your expectations that the government will
always be there to bail you out, even if you're too stupid to leave a city
that's below sea level and has a hurricane approaching.  I could say more
about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where
the money comes from.  But I've come to the conclusion that were I to do
so, it would sail right over your heads.
   
So I quit.  I'm going back to Crawford. I've got an energy-efficient
house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully
self-sufficient.  No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and
as soon as I'm done here pretty much no one will ever hear of it again.
Maybe I'll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of
America fall.

Oh, and by the way, Cheney's quitting too.  That means Pelosi is your
new President.  You asked for it.  Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there're just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.
So that's it.  God bless what's left of America.  Some of you know
what I mean. Good Luck!

 

 

 

 

 When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Tampa, Florida, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.

Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

One nurse took her copy to Missouri. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News
Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental Health.  A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.


And this little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this "anonymous" poem winging across the Internet.


Crabby Old Man

What do you see nurses? ......What do you see?
What are you thinking......when you're looking at me?
A crabby old man, ...not very wise,
Uncertain of habit ........with faraway eyes?

Who dribbles his food.......and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice....."I do wish you'd try!"
Who seems not to notice ...the things that you do.
And forever is losing .............. A sock or shoe?

Who, resisting or not...........lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding ...... The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?   Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse......you're not looking at me. 

I'll tell you who I am .......... As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .....as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten.......with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters ..........who love one another

A young boy of Sixteen ...with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now. ..........a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty ........my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows........that I promised to keep.

At Twenty-Five, now .......... I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty ......... My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other ........ With ties that should last.

At Forty, my young sons ....have grown and are gone ,    But my woman's beside me........to see  I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .......... Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children ......... My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me .......... My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ............I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing ...young of their own.
And I think of the years...... And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old man.........and nature is cruel.
Tis jest to make old age .......look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles..........grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone........where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass ...... A young guy still dwells,
And now and again ........my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys.............. I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living.............life over again.

I think of the years ....all too few......gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact........that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people ..........open and see..
Not a crabby old man.  Look  Closer... see... ME!!!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within.....we will all,
one day, be there, too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ducks advance to Stanley Cup finals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott Niedermayer's goal on a six-on-four power play ties it with 47 seconds left in regulation, and Selanne's overtime goal gives Anaheim 2-1 win over Red Wings and 3-2 series lead.

By Eric Stephens, Times Staff Writer
1:10 PM PDT, May 20, 2007

DETROIT -- Less than a minute remained in a game the Ducks had no business winning, with the Western Conference finals possibly about to turn for good in the direction of the Detroit Red Wings.

Perhaps the only opportunity to change their fortunes stood before them. One final power play with two extra men on their side after pulling goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

With two shocking flash-point moments in Game 5, the Ducks might have destiny on their side.

Scott Niedermayer's deflected goal tied the score with 47.3 seconds left in regulation and Teemu Selanne won it 11:57 into overtime to give the Ducks a stunning 2-1 victory Sunday at Joe Louis Arena and an advantage of three games to two in the best-of-seven series.

The first team to win consecutive games in this hard-fought matchup, the Ducks now head home with the opportunity to clinch their second trip to the Stanley Cup finals in Game 6 Tuesday night in Anaheim.

"It's huge," Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf said. "To come up in this building and steal a game tonight and battle back the way we did, to stay focused and stay on the job at hand, it's good for our group.

"We've just got to continue on, and hopefully we can get it done at home."

Game 5 had been the Red Wings' domain in this year's Stanley Cup playoffs — they won it in the first two rounds against Calgary and San Jose to help them close out those series in six games.

The near-sellout crowd of 20,003 anticipated a similar result. It seemed as if the Red Wings would make defenseman Andreas Lilja's first playoff goal stand up as they dominated play for most of regulation.

Except there was the final minute to be played. Pavel Datsyuk went off for interference at 18:13 of the third period, leaving the Ducks with the final 1:47 to play with an advantage.

The Ducks called a timeout. Giguere, who kept them close with a stellar game, went to the bench and his teammates went to work with two extra attackers.

Chris Pronger, who returned from his Game 4 suspension, got the puck along the left side and dropped it down low to Selanne. Selanne spotted Niedermayer in the slot and shuttled a pass to him.

Niedermayer caught the puck with his right skate and shifted it to his shooting side.

"I didn't think about the series at that point," he said. "I'm just thinking about scoring a goal. That's what I think most of us are thinking. Just try to get a goal here to tie it up and go from there."

Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom got into position to make a play on Niedermayer's shot. The puck deflected off Lidstrom's stick and hopped over the left shoulder of Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek, to the dismay of a crowd awaiting a celebration.

"I was going to put it off the crossbar and in," Niedermayer cracked.

With renewed energy, the Ducks took the offensive in overtime and forced a crucial mistake by Lilja.

Lilja barely escaped a speeding Selanne behind the net, but Andy McDonald cut off the defenseman as he headed up ice. Selanne jumped on the turnover and faked Hasek to the ice with a move before flipping a backhand shot top shelf on only his second shot of the game.

"You've just got to take advantage of the opportunities when you get the chance," McDonald said. "When Teemu gets that opportunity, he usually buries it."

All of this would not have happened if not for Giguere. He made 36 saves for the second consecutive game, including consecutive stops on Datsyuk and bang-bang saves on Johan Franzen in the third period.

Burned by Detroit's power play all series, the Ducks killed off seven disadvantages largely because of their goaltender's play. Giguere is now 12-1 in overtime playoff games.

"They're carrying the play, but it was only 1-0," Ducks center Todd Marchant said of Detroit's lead. "Jiggy played unbelievable for us. As a result, he kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win.

"We rewarded him with the overtime win."

Said Pronger: "It easily could have been 3-0 or 4-0 [Detroit]."

In truth, the Ducks also have fared quite well in the fifth game of series this postseason. They've used it as the series clincher against Minnesota and Vancouver.

Now that the pivotal game is theirs, the Ducks are on the brink of reaching the place they aimed for all season.

"In the end, we found a way to get it done," Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. "There's been no quitting in this group whatsoever, right from the beginning early in September [during] training camp, right through to tonight."

eric.stephens@latimes.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 PS:  Have your speakers on!!