Life’S Like That: An Old Texan Looks at Life Volume I

By Jerry McKee Bullock

Lifes Like That was born when I was having trouble getting clients at the Family
Counseling Center. That is a fancy name that came from my family counseling career.
I thought I needed to get some ads in the local newspaper. That led to my meeting Mr
Rowe Ray, the managing editor of the San Marcos Daily Record. I simply wanted to explore
possibilities but ended with an invitation to write a weekly column for the newspaper.


I can honestly say I never broke my word on confidentiality; i.e., everything we talked
about stayed in the Center, everything that is except the funny things. I was counseling
with a game warden that told me about a lady who was losing a sheep a night to one old
hungry coyote. Whenever the warden came out, she would start feeling sorry for the
coyote and asked the warden not to shoot it. Finally she had five sheep left. She called
the warden and once again told him she wasnt ready to have him hunt down the coyote.
The warden looked at the little flock of sheep and said, Mrs. Jones, whatever you say,
but weve only got five more days anyway. As you read this book there will be tears and
sunshine. The good news is you dont have to sit down and read it all at once. Life Really
Is Like That.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477270530

Jerry McKee Bullock

Col Bullock is a native Texan born from two pioneer families dating to the Republic of Texas (1836–46). He grew up on the western plains of Texas during the triple influence of the dust bowl, the great depression and the onset of World War II. He spent 28 years in military service, retiring in 1981 as the Vice Commander of the Air Force Office of Security Police. As an only child of well-spoken and well-educated parents, at an early age he was comfortable in conversation with adults. Too young to be in World War II and in college through the Korean Crisis, he was nevertheless already in uniform through the ROTC programs at Sunset High School (Dallas), Texas Technological College and East Texas State University; his life work was set. After graduating from East Texas State University in 1953 and at the same time being commissioned a second lieutenant in the U S Air Force – all of which was followed by a wedding to the loveliest girl in the world, Lucille Young, in August 1953. As born-again Christians, their love for Christ is prominent in these articles. Answering God’s call to the ministry, the author was ordained a pastor long before he retired from the Air Force. In this book he shares with you the gleanings of 80 years. In his dash between birth and death he has written four books; served through the Cold War; saw the Berlin wall before and after it fell; served as a missile launch control officer on the Atlas ICBM; was executive director of a non-profit corporation; operated a business; had a family counseling service; wrote for and edited several journals; was director of human resources for a major corporation; and wrote about 1400 newspaper articles called Life’s Like That.

Book preview

© 2012 by Jerry McKee Bullock. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse   11/13/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7055-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7054-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7053-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012917090

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Acres of Diamonds

Your Last Six Seconds

Three Little Words

Hiding Behind Your But

Y2K (1999)

Spell Check

Plan for the Day

Jay Leno Didn’t Say It, But He Should Have

Mountains Out of Molehills

All the World’s a Stage

Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

What Do You Know, Joe?

I Know the Woods of Southern Texas

It Is Christmas!

Hannah, a Pattern for Motherhood

Involvement/Commitment

Be An Overcomer

He Is Risen!

Change I Can’t to I Can

Empty Nest

We, the People

My Dad

Encounters with the Iron Horse

Robert E. Lee’s Father

Sun Time or Railroad Time?

Smoking

Promises, Promises

Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?

Pleasing Everyone

What Does a Respectable Messiah Look Like?

New Year 2012

Honor Our Mothers

Wars and Rumors of War—Again May 27, 2012

Wars and Rumors of War

May Day! May Day!

Make It Natural

Love/Courage

Lawyers

New Year 2003

July 4, 2002

Death of Two Heroes

God’s Promises

Rushing Christmas

God Fearers

Reality Check

Purple Martin House

Get Out of the Rut

It’s the Spirit

Happy Birthday, America!

Humility—Same Boat

Love One Another

If You Called the Tail a Leg

Honor the American Flag, 2002

The Congregation

Pay the Price

A Mother’s Love

He Has Come!

Do Not Cast Me Away

Global War on Terrorism

Lighten Someone’s Burden

Blogs

Prophet Swallowed by Whale

The Day Terror Struck

Children See Fathers in Different Ways at Different Times

Choices

And the Birth of Christ

It Has Always Been the Soldier

Graduation

Amazing Grace

Making Christmas Special?

Ancestors: Horse Thieves and Kings

Frustration with Computers

Whatever Happened to Independence Day?

Wisdom/Education

Don’t Believe It

Presidential Election

Dog Collars

Embarrassing Moments

Where Is the Outrage?

Enjoy the Present

The Parable of the Taters

What Have You Done With Chris?

God and Generals

The Hodja

FYROM

Intelligent Design

Love of Words

Money Isn’t Everything

Parenting Isn’t Easy

Guns—a Perverse Generation

Hermits

The Real Reason for Christmas

We Will Win This War

A Day’s Work for a Day’s Pay:

Watch Out for the Little Guy with a Bow and Arrow

How to Stay Young

A Noble Undertaking

Servant/Priest

Believe in Me

Bob Hope… 2003

Call to Arms

Four Freedoms… July 4, 2010

Choices—Right or Wrong

Peace on Earth

Reading

When a Python Grows Up

Our Constitution, a Living Document

Now an Insulting Computer

On the Table Side by Side

Truth—Not Half Truth

Divorce

What Are You Going to Do for Easter?

Election 2000

The Messianic King

Encourager

Father’s Day

Fear Not

Almost Christianity

Columbia Disaster, Feb. 2003

Pardon My French

Defilement

Why Does God Not Seem to Answer My Prayers?

Jesus, High and Lifted Up

Paul Must Have Been a Baptist

Understanding Women

Women’s History Month

Pray in Faith

Ponderables and Imponderables

Old? I’m Getting There

Sense of Humor

New Year’s Celebration

Preventive Morality

The Reveille of Freedom

My Most Memorable Memorial Day

Malapropisms—Right to Choose

New Year

Mistakes Do Not Turn a Person into a ‘Failure’

Laughter Really Is the Best Medicine

Kylie Strikes Out

July 4, 2009

New Year—Recession 2009

It’s Funny How…

Grace—God’s Gift

God’s Love

Gluttony

I Found the Master

Will You Be a Saint or a Frisbee?

The Devil Made Me Do It

Meeting Granddaddy

The Power of No

Don’t Stop Now

To Tell The Truth

Change

Clapping and Cheering

Adventures of a Grade School Santa

Compliments Trump Complaints

Decisions, Decisions

Do It Now—Read the Instructions Later

Faith Is the Substance

Saving Private Ryan

Management

George Washington

Labor Day

Honesty Today

Well, He Did Have a Cap

Financial Freedom

Marriage—Unity Candle

Expressions Women Use

The Steel Magnolias

One Man and One Woman Together for a Lifetime

Heroes

Hollywood’s Rating System

Understanding Death

Accountability: The Mark of Character

Your Line Is in the Air

Constitution Week

Well, God, I See She Made It

Be Patient

Always Ask God

Genocide

Booger Red Gets His Marker

Palm Sunday

Contradictions of Life

Keeping in Touch with God

No Room, No Room

What Did He Say?

Be Satisfied

Flat Cat

Out-of-Pocket—Yours

New Year 2002

Up From the Grave He Arose!

Ash Wednesday

It Came to Pass

Strength Through Organization

Prayer Works

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my wife, Lucille. She made it possible with her tireless typing, proofreading, and critiquing the thirty years worth of work.

Acknowledgements

Thanks go to Mr. Rowe Ray, managing editor of the San Marcos Daily Record, for encouraging me to write these articles by providing me with the medium in which to write and for his patience in my tardiness in making deadlines.

I would be remiss if I did not thank those folks who encouraged me each time I got tired and was ready to quit writing the weekly column. It never failed that when I was tired and felt I had exhausted all my ideas, someone would comment on how much they enjoyed reading the last column. So thank you, friends. You know who you are.

Acres of Diamonds

Russell H. Conwell is hardly a household name in America today. At the turn of the 20th century he was known far and wide as a lecturer and author. He was known mostly for one speech that he repeated on the lecture circuit throughout this land: Acres of Diamonds. He told the story of an ancient Persian named Ali Hafed.

Ali Hafed lived in the area of Mesopotamia formed by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. He owned a large farm and had all that he needed to keep his family well and was a happy and contented man. Then one day a traveler came along with tales of great wealth in diamonds. One diamond, he told Ali Hafed, would be worth as much as all his farm.

That night Ali went to bed troubled. His mind was excited as he thought of the great wealth that awaited him if he could find such a diamond. The next morning he asked the traveler where to look for diamonds. Go and find them, he was told. Find a river that runs through white sands between high mountains, and in those white sands you will always find diamonds.

Ali immediately sold his farm, put his family up in rented quarters, and set out on his quest. Years passed; impoverished and ill, Ali in desperation and despair threw himself into the waters of the Persian Gulf and died a suicide.

As we would say today, meanwhile, back at the ranch Ali’s successor was working in the garden one day when a curious flash of light caught his eye from the white sands of the stream. He picked up the stone, rubbed it clean, and took the curiosity into his house. Some days later the traveler passed that way again. He saw the stone and asked if Ali Hafed had returned with his diamonds. No, he was told. That is just a curious stone which I found in my stream.

That is no ordinary stone, said the priest. I know a diamond when I see one. Where did you find it? Together they rushed to the old garden and stirred the white sands, only to find many more diamonds. The tale is historically true; the mine came to be known as the Golconda diamond mine, one of the most exceedingly wealthy mines in the entire world. Ali Hafed had only to look in his own yard to discover an acre of diamonds.

I was reminded of the story this past week. We had a visitor from out of state who had never seen a bluebonnet. Although the season is well spent, I thought we could surely find just one to show her. We drove several miles looking in the bar ditches and hedge rows to no avail and finally gave up. Several days later riding my bike in our own neighborhood I came on a beautiful bed of late blooming bluebonnets. All the time they had been almost in my own back yard.

The moral of the story is plain. We spend too much time looking for something that will make us happy everywhere but in our own little universe. God placed us where we are for a reason. The task He has for us may take us many places, but we need to assure we have finished the job where we are before we go elsewhere. God put you where you are. This is your part of the world and here you are expected to be about the Father’s business.

Conwell put it this way, Let every man or woman here, if you never hear me again, remember this, that if you want to be great at all, you must begin where you are and with what you are.

Your Last Six Seconds

What will you do with your last six seconds? This is a story you probably won’t read in the news section of most newspapers. Just two more Marines killed in action. But there is so much more to the story than this. Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines. The same broken down ramshackle building was also home to 100 Iraqi police.

The mission orders they received from the sergeant squad leader, I am sure, went something like: Okay, you two clowns, stand this post and let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass. You clear? I am also sure Yale and Haerter then rolled their eyes and said in unison something like: Yes, Sergeant, with just enough attitude that made the point without saying the words, No kidding, sweetheart, we know what we’re doing.

Minutes later, they looked up to see a large blue truck turn into the drive to the gate. It was moving at a great speed, dodging slalom-like the concrete jersey obstacles intended to slow their progress. The Marines immediately recognized the threat and began to fire on the vehicle. They hit and killed the driver and, exposing themselves to the danger, they stood their ground. Six seconds from the time the truck turned into the drive and only feet away from the Marines guard post the truck exploded, killing the two young Marines with a blast that would have meant death to most of the barrack’s occupants

You can watch the last six seconds of their young lives filmed by a security camera at the gate. It took about a second for the two Marines to separately come to the same conclusion about what was going on once the truck came into their view at the far end of the alley. There was no time to talk it over or call the sergeant to ask what they should do. Only enough time to take half an instant and think about what the sergeant told them to do only a few minutes before: let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass. The two Marines had about five seconds left to live.

Yale was a dirt-poor mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter and a mother and sister who lived with him and he supported as well. He did this on a yearly salary of less than $23,000. Haerter, on the other hand, was a middle class white kid from Long Island. They were from two completely different worlds. Had they not joined the Marines they would never have met each other. But they were Marines, combat Marines, forged in the same crucible of Marine training, and because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same woman. They gave their lives for others and for the cause of freedom.

One day every one of us will face our last six seconds. Will you be prepared to stand and do your job, to praise the Lord and pass the ammunition? I believe these young men had prepared themselves to stand to the end. That sounds a lot like the Apostle Paul when he said that those who persist would win the crown of victory.

Three Little Words

One does not have to be a brilliant conversationalist to say the right thing at the right time. Normally it takes only three words to get across a special message to someone you care about and who cares about you. Here are some examples:

I’ll be there. A friend will be there when you need him or her. They will come whether the weather is bad or the sun is shining, and they will pick up the pieces that have got you down. These are good words and will keep friendships alive.

I thank you. This is a simple and cheap way to say you are honored by the actions of another. It is amazing how often it is forgotten. A phone call or a card with these words on it is priceless. Once upon a time in my career I was in the personnel business with a large corporation. Job seekers would come in for interviews and frequently people would ask for a courtesy interview to hone their interviewing skills. In the seven years I did this kind of work only two ever thanked me for the interview (one of them got the job). I tell people who are looking for work to carry a supply of thank you cards along with their resumes. Have the cards addressed and ready to mail when you leave the office of the interviewer. You have not only done the right thing but you have just increased your chances of being hired.

When the argument gets hot, try Maybe I’m wrong. It will defuse the situation and open doors to understanding. After all, maybe you are wrong.

Count on me. This is a close cousin to I’ll be there. In this case you are walking in where others have cleared out. This is remembering someone’s grief six weeks after the funeral. These are words of hope to someone who has just about given up hope. As with all of these phrases, don’t say it unless you mean it. Failure to follow through just adds to the hurt.

I forgive you. Now we have stepped into the deep water. The Bible says a lot about forgiveness. Jesus in His model prayer, the one we call the Lord’s Prayer, put it pretty plainly. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. (See Matt. 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4.) That makes it rather clear that if you want God’s forgiveness of your transgressions, He expects you to forgive others who have hurt you. Wow, that is hard. You say that you can’t do that because of what someone has done to you. I don’t know what other people have done to you. I do know what they did to Jesus. I know he was beaten until the flesh sloughed off his back and that a crown made from the large thorns of a thorn bush was slammed down on his head. I know He was nailed to a cross by His hands and His feet. And I know that He said, as he hung on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.’

Finally, the greatest three words of them all: I love you. Without those none of the other phrases would have any real meaning. It was love that led Christ to the cross and it is His love that leads us to the cross. Forgive as Jesus forgave.

Hiding Behind Your But

1 wouldn’t say he’s old but his Social Security number is 2.

They say elephants never forget but they really don’t have a lot to remember.

Did you hear about the boy dog that was accidentally entered in the dog show in the female classification? He wasn’t commended but he was delighted.

No, he’s not that old but he has enough wrinkles to use his face as a snow tire.

I won’t say he’s old but when he was a child the wonder drug was Mercurochrome.

I think but is a cowardly word. We hide behind it like a wall. In our conversation, it usually means we will say whatever it was we just said we were not going to say. You know what I mean.

I won’t bring this up again, but…

I really don’t care what you do, but…

It’s none of my business, but…

She said it was a secret so I won’t tell you, but…

We really shouldn’t do this, but…

Then when we hurt someone, we jump behind our abutment and say, Well, I did not mean to bring it up, you know.

Another way we use but to hide behind is to excuse our inaction when action is called for. As a counselor I became very familiar with the game people play called Yes, but. Usually, they know what they need to do to solve a problem. You can point out the solution and it may take only a word on their part to put it into action. Yes, but will stand like a stone wall in the way. I have heard them all. I know I should get rid of my credit cards, but… Surely I’ve forgiven him or her, but… And so it goes until the wall is either broken down or the person goes away dejectedly, as broken as before.

The Bible gives us some classic examples of the danger of but. I shall paraphrase a little. The rich young ruler came to Jesus to seek salvation. He was told what he must do and answered, Yes, but I’m wealthy and can’t surrender my wealth. When the Lord sent out invitations to his party, one person replied, Thank you, but I’ve just married and must go to my wife. Another said, Thank you, but I must look to my new piece of land. Yet another said, Thank you but I must go and bury my father. Because of these buts they missed the greatest gift, the gift of eternal life.

How often have you walked away from life because you let such a little word get in your way? Most of life’s questions can be answered if we will simply have the boldness to avoid the sidetrack of a but.

Y2K

(1999)

Americans are the most blessed people in the world. We have more, spend more, waste more and worr(k) more than any other people in the world. We work at finding things to be worried about. The last (k)ear of the 1900s is passing like a supersonic jet. September, Labor Da(k), and only 117 da(k)s to go until the dawning of the (k)ear 2000. Therein lies the worr(k). Y2K, doom, disaster, the end of the world as we know it. All because of two little zeros that won’t have a clue what (k)ear it is on Januar(k) the first.

I am not making light of a situation that ma(k) in fact be a ver(k) dangerous situation. It ma(k) in fact be a most difficult time, but I find it hard to believe that we are so dependent upon the computer that we can no longer function in a non-computer mode. If m(k) word processor ceases to process words on Jan. 1, 2000, (and it might since it is an older version of Microsoft Word) I can still take pen and paper and write whatever I please. The disaster ma(k) be that no one can read what I have written.

I will go out on a limb and make some predictions. I predict:

1.   Most people will not even be aware of the computer glitches that will occur on Jan. 1, 2000.

2.   No aircraft will fall from the sk(k).

3.   No banks will fail.

4.   No major investment funds will be affected.

5.   Grocer(k) stores will be open and transportation will run on its regular schedule

6.   The most probable effect will be the paranoia that has been brought on by those who have cried the sk(k) is falling.

Real gut wrenching worr(k) is a product of our desire to believe the worst and fear the unknown. It is not the Christian wa(k). We are told that Satan is the author of fear. If that is so and God is the author of hope and our faith is the substance of things hoped for, then we are doubting God’s abilit(k) to protect us and care for us when we allow worries, even well founded worries, to bring us to desperate measures.

The measures urged by most of those who would teach us to prepare for Y2K are good advice for us for an(k) time. To have some food ahead, to keep some extra cash liquid, all are wise things to do for an(k) number of potential emergencies.

It is not the preparation that I am concerned about but the desperation that I hear in some people and the pla(k) on that desperation b(k) those who would sell them on desperate measures.

As a matter of fact, I do not see what the problem is an(k)wa(k). As you have noticed I am alread(k) fully Y2K compliant and have carefull(k) changed every y to k. You can do the same and I wish you good luck and God bless.

Spell Check

My New Spelling Checker

I have a spelling checker

I disk covered four my PC.

It plane lee marks four my revue

Miss steaks aye can knot sea.

Eye ran this poem threw it,

Your sure real glad two no.

Its very polished in its weigh,

My checker tolled me sew.

A checker is a blessing,

It freeze yew lodes of thyme.

It helps me right awl stiles two reed,

And aides me when aye rime.

Each frays come posed up on my screen

Eye trussed too bee a joule.

The checker pours o’er every word

To cheque sum spelling rule.

Bee fore wee rote with checkers

Hour spelling was inn deck line.

Butt now when wee dew have a laps,

Wee are not maid too wine.

And now bee cause my spelling

Is checked with such grate flare.

There are know faults in awl this peace

Of nun eye am a wear.

To rite with care is quiet a feet

Of witch won should be proud.

And wee mussed dew the best wee can

Sew flaws are knot aloud.

That’s why eye brake in two averse

Cuz eye dew want too please.

Sow glad eye yam that aye did bye

This soft wear four pea seas.

I could not resist it. I write a lot and depend on my spellchecker. However, I know that when I’m finished I have another spellchecker who is going to find misspelled words all through what I have written. I still have to get a smiley face from Lucille.

I have another piece of software that is even more amazing than the spellchecker. It’s called Dictate and just as its name implies when I have Dictate turned on I can sit here and talk and the computer will write it down just as I have said it… well, more or less. It is a wonderful piece of software and it saves me a lot of time.

Several years ago Microsoft produced a piece of software called Via Voice. It was supposed to do the same thing that Dictate does. It included stories and prose that you would sit and read until the computer, through the program, recognized your voice; then you could dictate what you wanted to write.

I read those stories and the prose over and over again but the program never did understand West Texas talk; somehow the drawl escaped the software. So it was with some misgivings that I began to use Dictate.

Lo and behold, I read one paragraph and before I was through with that paragraph the computer said to me, I have analyzed your voice and you may now begin to dictate.

It doesn’t always work but it does most of the time—unless someone comes in or you get a phone call and you talk for a few minutes before you realize you still have your Dictate microphone turned on. Then you can get some real strange results.

One of my favorite sayings has long been that the computer is not your friend. Nothing very profound today but I had to share the little poem with you. God bless and enjoy.

Plan for the Day

A fellow in Washington State—where they grow apples in abundance—was rather discouraged one year. The price of apples dropped quite a bit, so when he heard the price of pork was going up, he bought some hogs. He figured that he could feed the apples to the hogs and make a little money in the deal. One day a friend passed by and saw the farmer carrying one of his hogs through the apple orchard and holding the porker up to eat the apples off the trees.

Doesn’t it take an awfully long time to feed your hogs that way? he asked.

Well, yes, the farmer replied. It takes a while, but time don’t mean too much to hogs.

The Christmas season causes us to think about time. How many times have you heard someone say, I cannot believe it is Christmas already? It seems like only yesterday that we were putting up the Christmas tree for last year. We have hardly put the ornaments back into their boxes, and it is time to get them out again.

If you are like me, when you look at the coming New Year, the really scary thing is to try to remember what you have done with all the days in between. I can hardly remember what I did with yesterday, and now it is already almost tomorrow. I hope I used the time wisely, because each of us has only so many days allotted.

Each day of this new year we have within our power the ability to make someone happy or sad. We can use our days to enrich our lives and to enrich the lives of others, or we can waste the time and end up being bored with life.

In the day in which we live no one should ever have a boring day. Life is too rich; there is too much happening around us. There are places to go, books to read, people to meet and others with whom to share the pleasures of the day.

Each day should have a plan. There should be a goal we hope to reach in the twenty-four hours we are given. Put together, these days should lead to a meaningful goal for our lives.

I believe that a television is a destroyer of goals and a thief of time. It is a road that leads nowhere and steals from us the time that could have been spent on more valuable endeavors. Oftentimes I have fallen victim to this thief. I have so many things I want to do but too often an evening or even a day has slipped by with nothing more valuable learned than a football score and some beer commercial messages.

There is an ancient proverb on this subject of time: For yesterday is but a dream. And tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

The holiday season is a time of hope. It is the time when man recalls the coming of the King of Kings. A time when we are reminded that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall have everlasting life. If you have placed your trust in Jesus and have allowed His vision to be your vision and your goal is set on obedience and love, then there is truly meaning in this New Year… a true vision of hope in 1995!

Jay Leno Didn’t Say It, But He Should Have

This piece has been going around the Internet and attributed to Jay Leno. Unfortunately, on further investigation it turns out to be just another Internet myth. Sorry, but it is not from Jay Leno. However, as we approach this Memorial Day and a presidential election it jolly well needs to be said by someone.

"As most of you know I am not a President Bush fan, nor have I ever been, but this is not about Bush—it is about us, as Americans, and it seems to hit the mark. The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right?

"The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence two-thirds of the citizenry just are not happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking—What are we so unhappy about?

a.   Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

b.   Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

c.   Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

d.   Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

e.   Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

f.   Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

g.   I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough either.

h.   Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

i.   Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.

j.   You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames, thus saving you, your family, and your belongings.

k.   Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bulletproof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

l.   This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

m.   How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

"Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.

"The fact is we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don’t have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

"I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander-in-chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

"Did you hear how bad the president is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn’t take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it… are you upset at the president because he actually caused you personal pain or is it because the ‘media’ told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

"Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this