A neat toy..

Man if I was 20 years younger and in better shape. I would try this in a heartbeat. It looks so cool!

Great Quote from Theodore Roosevelt

This quote came from a response he wrote to the Kansas City Star during World War 1.

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
"Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star", 149May 7, 1918

I thought I would also append 2 of my favorite Roosevelt quotes.

"There are good men and bad men of all nationalities, creeds and colors; and if this world of ours is ever to become what we hope some day it may become, it must be by the general recognition that the man's heart and soul, the man's worth and actions, determine his standing."Letter, Oyster Bay, NY, September 1, 1903

"The object of government is the welfare of the people." "Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us.""The New Nationalism" speech, Osawatomie, Kansas, August 31, 1910

Voting Recap

Well, it has been over a week and I keep forgetting to post here.

I really enjoyed working election day. It was great to help people vote. I worked with a great team at the polling precinct. It was funny the hardest thing I had to do was to get people to turn off cell phones and blackberrys. We also had to tell people to take off buttons and other political items. I was amazed at how busy we were. We did not have a let up till around 1:30pm. The precinct I worked at had 83% voter turnout for the precinct. That is not including absentee ballots that had been recieved and logged prior to election day.

In regards to the results, I have to commend the Bush campaign staff. They judged what would motivate the electorate better than the Democrats did. I dont agree with the tactics, because as a student of history they strike me too close to those used by Goebbels and others of that ilk. I think it is poor way to get votes.

We shall see what happens in the next 4 years. I hope for the best, but realistically I have fear that we will not have a good future. My biggest hope is that those that I care about stay safe during that time.

Election Day

Well, tomorrow is the day. Make sure you vote. Vote for or Vote against. Just Vote. Vote because you can.

For all its problems, we have a chance to make even small changes to our government that others cannot. Nothing is perfect, but having been in other countries I wouldnt want to live anywhere else.