Kick Ass!

I saw the movie Kick Ass over the weekend and I liked it a lot. I never doubted that I would, however, seeing as though I'm a huge comic book fan. In a Kick Ass world, regular folks could stand up to drug lords and murderers leaving a trail of scumbag corpses in their wake. But we all know this sort of thing could never be in the real world. The law forbids that kind of justice and instead, we're left with corrupt peacekeepers and slimy lawyers who think we are best served by molding us into the cream-filled weenies depicted on Law & Order.

There's something noble about standing up for basic good when people look only to words in a law textbook for the difference between right and wrong. Few seem to realize these days that some things can't be found in dusty tomes and amendment-addled legislation. Some things are just what they are, as they have been for centuries upon centuries. Perhaps this blind faith in words is due to a evolutionary inability to make decisions. Instead of doing what must be done, people mull their decisions until someone or something talks them out of going down the right road. Unfortunately, liberal ideology is wrought with 'easy way out' shop talk that often leads the weak astray. Just as the hybrid car crazy demonstrates, something may seem like a good idea at first, but really isn't if you examine the basic facts. A hybrid may use less gas, but it costs much more than a regular car and makes little monetary difference in the long run. On top of that, half of the environmental impact is simply displaced to the power companies. Just because you get to plug the car in instead of always filling it with gas doesn't mean you're being any more 'green'.

The Arizona illegal immigrant legislation is a perfect example of taking the reins and making the right decision, no matter what some may think. This move on Arizona's part is a natural, common sense maneuver to protect its citizens, something the federal government doesn't seem to have the stomach for. Either D.C. is bogged down in chewing their 'social justice' cud, or they're scared to step on toes, either way, Arizona beat them to the punch. And just like scalded law enforcement, the 'feds' are irritated that a state dared to take justice (albeit perfectly legal) into their own hands and make them look bad. The Obama administration has been drawing weak-principled lines in the sand for a while. It was high time someone braved to step over.

The arguments against the legislation are many and as most liberal arguments are, they're as noisy as a flock of agitated geese and just as messy. Does it infringe upon basic human rights as they may argue? No, not really. When someone comes across our border, they must abide by our laws of immigration and naturalization and if they don't, they must be removed. Is it hostile? No, if done properly as dictated in the actual legislation, it is not. But the senseless anger continues. None of these protesters seem to care about the welfare of actual U.S. citizens. Arizona is simply doing what it must in a charged climate, but the liberal machine and jelly-spined RINOs, won't have it. Basic good, common sense, these are not things in which they dabble.

In the film, Kick Ass says "with no power comes no responsibility." Later on, he retracts that belief. In some cases, those without power are the ones who must make efforts to be responsible; those with power too easily forget how. Just like Arizona, the conservatives in this country have spent too long believing they are powerless to instigate real change. And just like Arizona, we must wake up and realize that we do, in fact, have power. If evil does truly triumph when good does nothing, we can't watch from our windows any longer as freedom is beaten to death. My friends, it's time to kick ass!

Dear Hollywood: Stop Bullying Me!

When my husband was in lower education, he was bullied quite a bit. He was overweight, wore glasses, and spent a lot of time in shop class. Through the eyes of a jock, he had the geek trifecta. The jocks called my husband names, they knocked his backpack off his shoulders, and one particular bully made a game out of running up behind my husband and knocking his hat off his head nearly every day with a rather violent slap. After months of this behavior, my husband had had enough. When he heard the footsteps behind him one afternoon, he steadied himself, turned, and punched the bully in the face. Shocked by the show of initiative from this 'freak' and nursing a bruised ego, the bully skulked away, never to speak of the incident or repeat the bullying again.

I like to hear that story. Aside from how it makes my husband look (quite manly), it makes me feel better about having stood up for myself over the years. Sure, it's wrong to resort to physical violence most of the time, but it's more wrong to needlessly bully someone. In recent years, people have become more vigilant about bullying. We've all seen PSAs on the subject, from the 'old-fashioned' kind, to the cyber kind. Bullying can do a great deal of damage to a child. But what about adults? What about groups of people? What does bullying do to them?

The liberal media machine is excellent at the art of bullying. No one seems to know better how to sucker punch conservatives and their values. They will do and say almost anything to paint a sad, stupid, or evil picture of the people who oppose their opinions. If it isn't a crime show plot about a right-wing Christian with a sex addiction who abuses children, it's constant one-liner jabs about how stupid Sarah Palin is and how people who like her have to be equally as inept. Of late, the Fox hit Glee amplified its stance on conservatism by blatantly smearing Palin and making veiled jokes about Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck. It wasn't enough they had already blasted conservative principles on numerous occasions. They even went as far as to suggest the stereotypically stuffy, obviously well-off white Christian parents of a teen mother would kick her out of the home for the shameful sin of pre-marital sex. I don't know any Christians who would do such a thing.

Glee is supposed to be about the struggles of outcasts. These are geeks, freaks, and pariahs with issues ranging from dowdiness to obesity to homosexuality. These kids are the epitome of bully fodder, but yet the show continues to senselessly pelt its viewers with hate. Perhaps its the pressure to be 'cool' or the need to 'fit in,' but I find it rather sad. How on earth are you supposed to teach individuality and strength when you go out of your way to run with the crowd?

You'd think as an informed society we would be more opposed to overt bullying. Perhaps it's that trembling child in all of us who takes the punches, just waiting for the beating to subside so we can run away. But I think it's time for us to turn around and face the bullies. It's time to make a statement. If you see something in film or on television that upsets you, complain! If it's bad enough, talk to your friends about it, and stop watching. My husband and I gave up on Family Guy a long time ago. No amount of Star Wars jokes were worth the hate directed at what I believed and who I respected. Though I enjoy a lot about Glee, I'm growing weary of the taunting. It's truly a shame when bullying becomes so strong that an attack on an idea can be as painful as a slap to the head, but I am ready to fight back.

Space: The Wayside Frontier

"Space is the breath of art." -Frank Lloyd Wright

Who among us has not turned their face to the evening sky and wondered what was out there in the deep vastness of space, dotted with firefly-like stars, swathed with the gauze of galaxies. The unknown, which is now known a bit better thanks to the innovations of Americans stands to fade again into the realm of private industry seclusion. Thanks to Obama's cuts to the shuttle program and the cancellation of a possible second NASA moon voyage, things for NASA are looking rather... terrestrial.

It's important to say that I don't believe space travel is completely dead at this juncture. No, private industry will do fine with it as long as the government doesn't interfere, but there's something noble about our country leading the way into the last frontier. The quest for understanding of the heavens brought a unique kind of patriotism to the United States. Children were able to see their fascination with space meld with service of country. Budding scientists and physicists were led down a different path, from development of weapons to development of innovation. One of the most significant human accomplishments was the moon landing. What more proof of forward thinking and hard work could there have been than planting the Stars and Stripes on the moon's surface?

When I was a child, there was still a lot of interest in space. We had lengthy studies in my middle-grade schooling on the subject. One of my science classes actually built a shuttle simulator. Space was the things dreams were made of, it was the wistful impetus of imagination. 'Space Camp' was almost as cool as Disney World and was a huge experience for many children. Though I understand the effort to cut funds, I don't understand the choices of where to cut. We've essentially given up our interest in the last, untamed frontier in favor of yet more entitlement programs. We've tossed aside the pioneering spirit that made us Americans in order to pay for things we should never be paying for.

The quest for the conquest and exploration of space is an ideal, a symbol, like the flag or the bald eagle. There's something uniquely American about it. Now, like many things, Obama has seen to ignore that tradition in favor of things he feels are better traditions: entitlement, repression, and domination. I say we rebel; I say we fight back. Tell Washington what we want, what we need. Let November 2010 and every following November be a testament to American values and dreams. Look up to the sky, lose yourself in the infinity and smile; because as long as there is a canopy of sapphire and diamonds above our great nation, there will be genuine hope.

Sowing Seeds of Self Love

"The biggest problem we have in the world is lack of self love. Every cruelty comes from those who don't understand what they're worth!" -Jim Carrey

Mr. Carrey posted this on twitter recently, smearing his pompous ignorance on the computer and iPhone screens of millions of fans. With these two sentences, he proves he actually does know how to tell a joke. This joke is on him and all those who somehow find sense in his logic. Indeed, self love is the biggest problem we have, but a lack would only be the solution. Theodore Dalrymple on Self-Esteem versus Self-Respect states: "Self-esteem, it appears, is like money or health: you can't have too much of it." I think this is one of the reasons the 'self love' Mr. Carrey speaks of is such a pox on our society. Just like lusting after money, we have a need, an addiction to self-esteem. We crave prop-ups and pedestals, we thirst for mere ounces of praise and when we get them, we thirst for gallons. As the gallons come, we search for easier and easier ways to get more. Like Narcissus and his reflection, we've become unable to tear ourselves away... from ourselves.

Years of liberal indoctrination and preoccupation with 'self love' has seen to the formation of the 'entitlement gene'. This gene is passed from one self-esteem drunken moocher to the next by way of crippling stereotypes and baseless buzzwords. If you break down a great deal of the activism in our society today, you will always find overblown narcissism hiding under a rock in the background. Let's look at some examples.

• ACORN and other community-activist-type groups grew from the notion that by rights of ethnicity or degree of laziness, people are entitled to homes and sneaky tax breaks. We know now the lengths these people would go to in order to get their agenda across. The offenses range from advising a pimp on how to make his 'business' appear legitimate to the US government to registering dead and imaginary voters as default votes for Obama. There was nothing humble about ACORN. Everyone involved saw their cause justly because it's what they would want from the world. Why would they advise law-breaking prostitution-peddlers to clean up their act when they themselves live on the stolen rewards of other people's hard work? Why would they be equal in their voter canvasing when they know the 'other guy' makes no promises where entitlement is concerned? Every decision, every bit of advice, came from their darkened heart of self-adoration.

• Feminist organizations come from the same stock. Most believe women deserve certain things just for being women. If a woman and man were up for the same job, the woman should automatically get the job even though the man may be more qualified. And why would someone believe that? Simple. These women know that's what they would want. They know genuine respect comes from genuine hard work and frankly, they're not ready to do that hard work. They look in the mirror and hear the oft-whispered mantras "women are special, things are harder for women so the world must make consolations, women deserve to this respect because they're women." Humility teaches that in order to surmount obstacles, you must work harder. Vanity uses non-issues as crutches to hop undeservedly into the 'special' line.

• Anti-war fanatics, aside from being grossly undereducated in history and civics, are usually the kind of people who wish nothing more than to rule as dictators over their own life and the lives of those around them. Their crusade against war is a surrogate for the battle they are afraid to wage against their own insecurity. Facing up to the truth of the world would mean facing up to the possible lies they live by and that's just not easy for people who think the world tips on them as an axis. War is a mirror and these people prefer only the mirror that tells them they're the fairest in the land.

Communists, socialists, and entitlement junkies everywhere are little more than vain children. How else could you explain someone's belief that the spoils of hard work and dedication of someone like Bill Gates belongs to them when they've done nothing to deserve it? When I think of entitlement, I recall the folk tale 'The Little Red Hen.' The hen works at planting wheat, cultivating it, harvesting it, and baking to produce a loaf of bread. From the planting stages to the work of baking, she asks for help from her farm friends who all simply say "Not I." When the bread has been baked, the friends are more than happy to help the hen eat it. She, in efforts to teach her friends the errors of their selfish and lazy ways, refuses to share her bread.

Our society today is so poisoned by entitlement it's hard to imagine a future without it. But we must soldier on. Peace, charity, hard work, all of these things have a requirement so many refuse to fulfill: humility. On the hard-labor-bended backs and in the blister-peppered hands of those before us, our country has been carried in humility. Wars have raged, tensions abroad and at home have waxed and waned, tragedies, both man-made and natural have tested us, and we have remained. We must now concoct an anecdote to the self-love epidemic that ails us. We must replace selfish esteem with self respect. You reap what you sow, not what others sow for you. The entitlement gene is pushing the American ideal into extinction. Now is the time to sow humility and accountability before all that remains is ashes and dust.