Editorial: I'm Tired

"I'm 63 and Im Tired"

by Robert A. Hall


I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce

in a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every

day, I've worked hard since I was 18.

Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks and

haven't called in sick in seven or eight years.

I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and

I worked to get where I am.

Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired.

Very tired.



I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people

who don't have my work ethic.

I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned,

by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.



I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people

in their homes."

Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help.

But if they bought Mansions at three times the price of our paid-off,

$250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing

Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the

Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble, help them

with their own money.



I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires

like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who

live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers.

In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the

economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime

and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Christian people of Iran,

and the freedom of speech of Venezuela.



I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every

day I can read dozens of stories;

of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their

family "honor";

of Muslims rioting in the streets over some slight offense;

of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't

"believers";

of Muslims burning schools for girls;

of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery";

of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls, all in the name of Allah

because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.



I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world

of Obama when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower

college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming

them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the

ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities

more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from

Illinois.



I think it's ok that we have a black president and that a black child is

doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation

Proclamation. I just wish the black president were Condi Rice

or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual

and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.



I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fund raising and inaugural

expenses were obscene but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were

wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential

time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control

weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records,

but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with

two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted

Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president

ever.

Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to

Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media

and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.



I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must

let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa

Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group

is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi

Arabia to teach love and tolerance.



I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global

warming which no one is allowed to debate.

My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together

five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where

our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about

5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.



I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must

help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a

giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder

up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think all Gay

people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to

take drugs.

And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak

when I tell them I never tried marijuana.



I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers,"

especially the ones who aren't working but are living on welfare or

crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented

Pharmacists"?

And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and

it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for

my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic

person who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and

who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves

honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens

we need.



I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the

uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped

kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military.

They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second

decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better

people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet.

Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with

the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years

and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal: I'll let myself be

subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists

at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to

captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in

Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col.

William Higgins in Lebanon,

or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia

because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes.

British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that

civilians came to for help and handouts instead of hiding from in fear.



I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue

and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers;

bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need

bipartisanship. I live in Illinois where the "Illinois Combine" of

Democrats has worked to loot the public for years.

Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet.



I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of

both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or

youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was

getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or

poor.



Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned

homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans

didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know

we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the

definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.



I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives

and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or

discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.



Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63 because, mostly,

I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making.

I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

Robert A. Hall is a U.S. Marine Vietnam veteran
who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.