Time to Fix the Bus

Posted on October 11, 2019 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Back down the road we Americans shared a “magic bus” with four tires – two left and two right. The wheels needed to be aligned every once in a while, but generally they all pulled in the same direction and took us to a place that was better than where we came from. If we ran into a rough road, we were able to pull together to get to the other side.

The conservative right side were the sensible ones, watching the checkbook, protecting us from those who would harm us. The liberal left side were the champions of the needy, the downtrodden, and the oppressed. They were thought to be the conscience of America.

But then somehow the left became mean and ugly, adopting a one-world, “America-is-evil”, big-government-over-individual-freedoms ideology. They are now consumed with killing babies, obsess over color of skin instead of content of character, and deny biological science.

Meanwhile the right took their eye off the road and when they had opportunities to do great things for the people, some of them were only interested in holding on to their comfy positions of power.

Now that the Democrats own Congress, they seem to have lost interest in serving the people.

“Nonsense” Pelosi could be dealing with the homeless crisis in her own backyard. Instead, we learn that three years after Los Angeles taxpayers put up $1.2 billion for homeless housing, not a single unit has been built. Cities all over the USA are dealing with record numbers of homeless, despite the best employment numbers in our history, and instead of working for solutions, Democrat leaders double down with policies that make things worse.
Democrats decry the state of education in our country, but instead of taking meaningful steps to improve the quality of our schools by stopping illegal immigration, implementing school choice including support for home schooling, and focusing on productive curricula, they emphasize social/sexual/political indoctrination.
Liberal leaders promote extreme socialism that would consume our annual GDP many times over, thrusting the proleteriat into abject poverty, without a shred of concern for quality of life as long as the ruling class is protected.

True conservatives would happily join forces with Democrats who sincerely want real solutions to humanitarian problems, preserving the best of our American way of life and standard of living. But the liberals are suddenly determined to go off-roading.

Our bus is broken. The wheels on the left side of the bus have fallen off, and the right rear tire is flat. Our president is driving to our future on a treacherous mountain road in a Godless vehicle with only one good tire.

We have to get our bus fixed before we run completely off the road and into a ditch we can’t get out of. Liberals must turn away from the blatant dishonesty of their “big wheel” leaders. Conservatives must get back to the business of serving all of their constituents, not just the ones that will get them re-elected.

All aboard.

Every day I get in the queue (Too much, Magic Bus)
To get on the bus that takes me to you (Too much, Magic Bus)
I’m so nervous, I just sit and smile (Too much, Magic Bus)
You house is only another mile (Too much, Magic Bus)

Magic Bus – the Who

Young Americans Are Screwed – They Think Capitalism Is Just Not Fair

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

Checking-Smartphones

I’m worried about our American youth. I know, grandpas have been saying that forever. But I am worried, and it’s not about social changes. It’s about our economic future. Here’s why:

The Millennials are mostly socialists. The battle for ideological control of our schools has finally been completely won over by far-left socialists. There is no longer any competition – the history and values that were the core of education up until the sixties are now banished from all schools, kindergarten through college. Patriotism, pride in our history, self-sufficiency, respect for all religions, reverence for truth, the importance of marriage and family, the virtue of colorblindness – all are gone. Maybe forever. Students are not allowed to question or oppose any of the socialist tenets. But the larger problem is this:

Young people are not taught to understand or value free-market capitalism, and this will doom them and future generations to mediocrity at best.

Also, an exponentially growing proportion of our residents immigrated from nations with government-controlled economies. Many move here to take advantage of free-market capitalism, only to find our government, media, and schools openly hostile to it. Financial success is vilified and wealth is assumed to have been stolen from the people. Showered with social services and cash benefits, and plugged into school systems that immediately indoctrinate their children to idolize American socialism, our immigrants, like Millennials, offer little hope for the advancement of capitalism and free enterprise.

I recently met an Uber driver in Washington, DC. Bright, outgoing, and optimistic, he loves Uber because it enables him to make a few bucks in between classes. He plans to graduate from his all-black university next year with an IT degree and then get a good job. The young man graciously allowed me to offer him some “grandpa” advice, which was this: “Please consider at some point going into business for yourself. Find something you can provide that is really in demand, and it will make you happy and wealthy. I learned in my career that owning your own business is more fun, rewarding, and fulfilling than working for somebody else.”

He pondered that for a few minutes, and then thanked me profusely. “Nobody ever told me that,” he said. “My advisors only talk about getting a job. I’m going to really think about this.”

Ironically, the young driver is already an entrepreneur, but doesn’t recognize his Uber gig as the epitome of free-market capitalism. Sadly, but predictably, Uber is under attack by leftists all over the world. After all, capitalism is just not fair.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Well, you know in the old days
When a young man was a strong man
All the people, they’d step back
When a young man walked by
But you know, nowadays it’s the old man
He’s got all the money
And a young man ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days

Young Man Blues – the Who

Drummer Keith Moon steals the show on this live classic by The Who. Fun!

Obama Regime Kicks Max Baucus Under the Bus

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Tom Balek Standard 3

Max Baucus I would bet that most of you who Rock with me On the Right Side probably are not on the President’s mailing list. I am.

Call it espionage, if you must. Actually, I just find the way the Obama regime manipulates its subjects so entertaining.

Today the administration is blasting Max Baucus for finally – finally – representing his Montana constituents. And as they almost always do, they lied to their gullible subscribers without shame. Here’s the e-mail they sent me:

Friend —

Senator Max Baucus is hoping you weren’t paying attention.

Last week, he was one of 45 senators who decided to stand with the gun lobby, blocking a bill to expand background checks — a measure that 79% of Montanans support.

OFA supporters across the country are holding their senators accountable — today, Senator Baucus needs to hear directly from the people who sent him to Washington. One simple, very public way of doing that is to get on Twitter.

Tweet @MaxBaucus now:

We have your senator’s Twitter handle and a sample tweet ready to go, but feel free to make it your own. As long as Senator Baucus hears from you today, that’s what counts. And believe me, the senator and his staff are watching their Twitter accounts pretty closely.

The reality is, keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally unstable should be a no-brainer. It’s overwhelmingly popular. Senator Baucus could have easily stood up to the gun lobby and said, “I have to do what my constituents sent me here to do.”

Instead, he caved and we took a step backward in the fight to prevent gun violence.

Whenever this happens — whenever Congress chooses to cater to special interests at the expense of the common good — OFA is going to hold them accountable in a very public way.

It’s why we’re here.

After years of selling out to the big political contributors who got him re-elected six times, Baucus finally grew a spine. He admitted that the Obamacare program he co-sponsored is “a train wreck”. He voted against the Democrats embarrassingly bloated budget, saying it raised spending too much. He stood up to the over-reaching gun control extremists – and by the way, if you believe 79% of Montanans support gun control, you have never whiffed one breath of Big Sky air.

The left is on him like magpies on a road-killed whitetail. Washington Post: “Baucus Retires, A Grateful Nation Cheers”. The Daily Beast: “Good Riddance, Max Baucus”. And, of course, the divider-in-chief, through his puppets, grabs his smelly bite of scavenged meat, booting his once-faithful comrade to the curb with snarling contempt. Stay classy, Mr. President.

Announcing his retirement, Baucus said in an AP interview, “I don’t want to die here with my boots on. There is life beyond Congress.” I think it’s kind of cool that he finally bought a pair of boots. He hadn’t seen Montana for so long, I doubt he knows which one goes on which foot.

One of the last letters I wrote Senator Baucus was a promise. I told him that if he continued to push for ObamaCare I would do everything in my power to see that he would never be elected again. We both lost. ObamaCare became law, and Max will never be elected again.

I guess Montana lost twice, though. Here comes Brian Schweitzer.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

No one knows what it’s like to be the bad man
To be the sad man behind blue eyes.
No one knows what it’s like to be hated
To be fated to telling only lies

But my dreams they aren’t as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance that’s never free

Behind Blue Eyes – the Who
with rare footage – Keith Moon Speaks!

Absentee Ballots – Invitation To Voter Fraud

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard 11

There are so many things going haywire in our nation that you just can’t keep up with them all.

It’s like whack-a-mole. “Federal Land Grabs!” Bam! “Agenda 21!” Bam! “Election Fraud!” Bam! Bam! Bam! You can’t keep up – when you try to smack down one issue, two or three more pop up.

Yesterday a friend and I made a trip to our County Courthouse to meet the Clerk and Recorder and learn all about our old ES&S 570 tabulator (vote counting machine). We wanted to know exactly how this thing works and if there are any weaknesses or opportunities for hanky-panky. We were warmly greeted and our Clerk went out of her way to answer all of our questions. She even took time out of her busy day to give us a test drive.

The machine is a pretty clunky old gal, but understandable and serviceable. There are opportunities for people error, but the machine itself is pretty fool-proof as near as we could tell. However, our visit actually pointed us to an unexpected and much bigger problem – absentee ballots.

Our secretary of state, Linda McCulloch, insists “voter fraud is nonexistent in Montana“. If your local fire chief tells you “fires are nonexistent in my town”, you’d better start looking for a new fire chief. He not only may not see fires that do occur, he also doesn’t feel the need to prevent them. Great gig if you can get it.

The fact is, our absentee ballot system is a neon-flashing, irresistible invitation to any unscrupulous group wanting to control an election. Here’s why:

Every voting jurisdiction in Montana, and in most states, mails absentee ballots to out-of-state addresses. Many are sent to people who previously lived in the district. Some are college students who originally registered using their parents’ address. In any event, if someone is registered to vote in the district, all they have to do is request an absentee ballot, fill it out and sign it, and return it to the county clerk. As long as they keep voting, they remain registered at the last address on file and can continue voting forever, regardless of where their ballot is sent. They never have to set foot in the state.

I asked our clerk if they check to see if these out-of-state absentee voters are also registered to vote in other states. “No,” was the succinct reply.

How many votes in Montana elections are being placed by people who no longer live here? Or perhaps never did? How easy would it be for me to register to vote in Montana, using a fictitious name and/or address, and then ask for an absentee ballot to be sent to me in Newark, New Jersey? Using technology, why couldn’t I do this a thousand times or more?

It may sound like too much work for an amateur like you or me for just one vote. But elections are no longer just about choosing the right person for a local government office. There are huge government dollars at stake and deep pocket special-interest groups who will do and spend whatever it takes to throw an important election – think, for instance, Al Franken. And what’s the down-side if you get caught?

The only verification of absentee voters is a brief check of the signature on the envelope against the scanned signature on the registration at the secretary of state’s website. In our courthouse, whoever gets the mail performs this function. It is unsupervised and unscientific at best (I watched a small batch being checked-in and saw a very suspicious signature accepted.) I know there are many conscientious employees in our county offices, but if it’s a busy day, especially in a very large district, is this a step that might get skipped? Following up on a suspicious signature is tedious and time-consuming. Who would know the difference?

We all love the convenience of absentee voting, and its use is exploding all over the country. I maintain that vote fraud will explode right along with it unless we take one or two preventative steps:

stop mailing absentee ballots out of state
develop a nationwide registration system and cross-check registrations, similar to that built by True The Vote, a national voter integrity advocate group

I know my libertarian friends oppose national ID cards and related identification processes such as fingerprint and retina imaging, but this would be yet another perfect justification for their use.

This is not an indictment of our County Clerks and their employees. In our sparsely-populated, rural state, there is probably less election fraud than in populous areas. In larger cities, where ballots are handled in huge batches and nobody knows anybody else, and where votes are worth big money, it looks like easy money.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

This video of the Who in 2001 includes
bassist John Entwistle just before his death, and
Zak Starkey (Ringo’s son) on the drums –
sure looks like his Dad, but plays even better!

Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?

Who Are You – the Who

60s and 70s Protest Music – It’s Relevant Today

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Country Joe McDonald at Woodstock

Ah, the great music of our youth – all those protest songs extolling the virtues of Freedom, and railing against government corruption. Songs about how a person shouldn’t be judged or given favors because of the color of his skin.

It was a time when the Leftist youth of our nation took us all by the sleeve and cried out for peace, and justice under the law, and tolerance for others who might have a different point of view. “Let us run the world!” they sang. “We’ll make it all better!”

And now, the Leftists are in power. They got their wish. They do rule the world.

Funny thing is, I listen to those lyrics and they still ring true today – only the players have changed. Our government is more corrupt than ever, picking winners and losers based on contributions and voting blocs. Our laws are a shambles as our administration chooses which ones to enforce and which to ignore. Racial and social divides continue to widen as self-serving politicians separate us into groups to pit against each other.

Now it’s the aging Tea Party people who cry out for Freedom from a government that has turned its back on the Constitution. It’s the grandparents who fear that government corruption will destroy their life savings and the economic futures of their grandkids.

I can’t make the case any better than Pete Townshend did in 1971 (below).

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

There’s nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again

We Won’t Get Fooled Again – the Who