Tolerance, Politics, and the Muppets

It should come as no surprise that I am conservative.  I am not a liberal in my ideals and beliefs.  So what do I believe in, politically speaking and how does this relate to the Muppets?  (I'll answer the first question now, the second in a bit.)  I believe in small government.  I don't want the government to be meddling in my affairs and I don't want the government to be handing out "benefits" left and right, bailing out companies and handing out welfare checks to any Tom, Dick, or Harry.  I say Merry Christmas and God bless you.  I believe that our country had every right to go into Afghanistan and Iraq and hunt down those cowards who attacked our country 10 years ago.  I support the right to bear arms and would cringe if law abiding citizens were denied that right.  I don't think that health insurance is a right.  I think it's ridiculous that citizens of this country who pay taxes, work hard, and earn a honest living pay for, well, everything of those who are not citizens, don't pay taxes, or live off of the government.  We are all to be "tolerant" of every other religion, system of belief, and lifestyle choice but it seems to me that Christians are the least tolerated out there.  There is no public outcry when the Koran is taught in class but God forbid we "meet at the pole", say "Merry Christmas", or try to talk about the Bible.  Christ was the most tolerant of those who walked the earth.  He reached out to the Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees, the prostitute, and the tax collector.  I'm not talking about religious fanatics preaching doom and gloom to all.  I'm talking about those who realize that all of us are sinners and none of us are perfect and we are just trying to live our lives the best we can and we aren't tolerated for what we believe in.  I believe in absolute truths, not relative truths.  So yes, I believe that not all ideals are equal but I don't go around yelling at all those who don't believe the same way I do.  This country was built on Christian principles and Thomas Jefferson didn't want religion to be totally separate from government; he just didn't want a government run church.  That was what our founders had fled. They wanted freedom to make their own choice. So let the nativity go up in the town square next to the Santa who's next to the menorah.  Let "In God we trust" and "One nation under God" stay.  Put up a Easter bunny in your yard and a witch in your tree at Halloween because I don't care if you do and it certainly does not offend me.  Just allow me to put up my cross, my nativity, and don't raise a ruckus.  That's true tolerance.  But I digress......

Being that I am conservative and believe more so in the ideals of the Republican party than the Democrat, I vote for the "right".  I don't like Obama and so far the only thing about him that I agree with is re-opening the horse slaughter plants (read earlier post).  He doesn't support Israel, refuses to put his hand over his heart for the pledge and anthem (who doesn't do that?!), and, well, I just don't agree with anything that comes out of his mouth or he stands for.  I know that many made fun of George Bush's way, his personality, his intelligence but I respected this man for his political beliefs just as much as for his religious beliefs.  (Remember that it takes about 8 years for an economic plan to reach full potential and he was simply trying to fix what the previous president had set in motion.)  He didn't do everything right but he led this country during hard times.  I look at the current pool of candidates and I'm not impressed.  I see democrats and republicans setting laws into motion that they don't have to abide by (Health care?), trying to fix the economy while making sure that their retirement pensions are fine (serve one term, get that salary for life?  What!?), and being above the law (just read about several accused of insider trading from all parties).  I don't see selfless, giving politicians concerned for the welfare of their constituents.  I see selfish, greedy, politicians doing whatever they can to do absolutely nothing but find themselves not seeing the big picture.  They think they do us good by giving us more "rights", welfare, etc but they aren't solving the underlying problem.  Don't treat the symptom, find a cure.  I'm looking for a visionary.  Someone who can truly fix this country's woes by inspiring the people to take responsibility for their own actions and not have the government bail them out.  Someone who will force businesses to also take responsibility.  You know what?  If I don't have money, it's because I spent it all.  No one else should bail me out of my mistake.  Maybe I'm not looking for one person, but I'm looking for a team.  One who's the visionary, another with financial prowess, another versed in constitutional law, and so on and so forth.  I just want someone who'll take us back to the basics, the foundation of this country.  But where is this person?

I am a huge fan of the Muppets.  I watched the Muppets show growing up and the Muppets Christmas Carol is the best Christmas movie ever.  Watching the show was a surefire way to get a deep contagious laughter or a case of the giggles from me.  Listening to the old guys make fun of the rest of the Muppets, the facial gestures that conveyed so much, and the little one liners......ah, I love it.  I can't wait to see the movie.  I read an article this morning that said that Fox analysts were declaring that the Muppets were brainwashing our kids against corporate America.  Huh?  Their reason?  The "evil" guy in the movie is a rich Texas oilman.  Really Fox?  I like Fox News because it isn't as frustrating to listen too as those other networks (CNN, MSNBC) which, in my opinion, are biased too heavily to the left for my liking.  (Yes, Fox is biased too but being that I like how they are biased, I like it! :-)  )  But really?  Every movie has to have a big bad evil guy that the good guys have to rally against.  Are they brainwashing our kids?  Are they biased against corporate America?  Whatever.  It's a movie folks.  Get over it, enjoy it.  And if you are letting a child's (and big kids too!) movie sway your beliefs or believe that a 2 hour movie will brainwash your child, then maybe you really shouldn't be watching it.  That just means more seats for me to choose from when I go watch it.  My closing thought?  I don't think I have a clever one liner to end this.  I've said my peace.  I don't talk politics because people get too emotionally charged over it or get offended if you believe differently.  So there you have it.  I'll sign off for now.  After I see the movie Saturday, I'll let you know if I've been brainwashed.  Although if I've been brainwashed, will I know?  I'll never know.........