Call-Ins

By Michael Ostlund

  The results are in: the GOP won, America lost. Just a little more than one third of the nation's eligible voters went to the voting booths this election so about 20 percent of the eligible voters were allowed set the agenda for the next two crucial years by your disgusting apathy.
  So what happened? The Pastor Billy-Bob's around the country succeeded in getting their brain washed minions to vote. The broken glass conservatives voted. The greedy voted. The Red Necks succeeded too. And they succeeded largely by screaming the word LIBERAL at their neighbors with the same hatred and ignorance they once reserved for the word Nigger.
  The larger majority of registered voters stayed home and will now be shut out of the major decisions shaping the future of this once great nation.
  The right wing is clearly in charge now. We can reasonably predict ultra conservative judges to be appointed to the bench. Women will most likely lose the control they've taken for granted over their reproductive system. Civil rights will be eroded. Corporate crooks will get away with their crimes. Government intrusions in our life will increase.
  Ever expanding war is now a given. The youth of our country will most likely face the draft again in the near future and the body bags will pile up. The ones who escape will join the ranks of the growing homeless and unemployed. Crime will continue to increase. Housing will continue to be unaffordable for the next generation. Tax burdens will rapidly be shifted to the poor and middle class as the tax breaks for the rich increase. Old folks will probably be hurt the most and many of the baby boomers will most likely be starving soon. Health care will continue to be out of the reach of millions of Americans. And the divide between the haves and have-nots will increase even more drastically.
  And it's all your fault, you didn't get off your butt and vote. All across the nation people stayed home this election, you just didn't care. And now, neither do I.
  I've written my column every week for two years apparently in vain. It's for sure I didn't write it for the money, after all it appears in DreamForge. I wrote it mostly out of disgust over Bush's appointment to the White House and the direction the country has taken since. It's apparently been a futile attempt on my part to energize the masses to take back control of our government and future.
   I'll still drop in now and then if Rick will have me and offer my opinions for what they are worth but my weekly crusade is over folks. You just don't care and I understand that now.
   I'm comfortably retired. I own my home. I'm not dependent on Social Security. I don't need a job. I have access to health care. I live in a small town that most likely won't be effected much by terrorism. I'm too old to be called upon to fight this war. My life won't change much. I'll continue to write my novels and short stories, work on my yard, and enjoy my life. I've already made my contributions to society and I sleep well at night.
   As for the rest of you…Good luck! You losers are going to need it.

Until next time,

Michael

Copyright 2002 Michael S. Ostlund, All Rights Reserved.

Written by Ted Nugent, the rock singer and hunter/naturalists, upon hearing that California Senators B. Boxer and D. Feinstein denounced him for being a "gun owner" and a "Rock Star". This was his response after telling the senators about his past contributions to children's charities and scholarship foundations which have totaled more than $13.7 million in the last 5 years!!

   I'm a Bad American - this pretty much sums it up for me. I like big trucks, big boats, big houses, and naturally, pretty women. I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some mid-level governmental functionary with a bad comb-over who wants to give it away to crack addicts squirting out babies. I don't care about appearing compassionate. 
   I think playing with toy guns doesn't make you a killer. I believe ignoring your kids and giving them Prozac might.
   I think I'm doing better than the homeless. I don't think being a minority makes you noble or victimized.
   I have the right not to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird or make me mad. This is my life to live, and not necessarily up to others expectations. I know what SEX is and there are not varying degrees of it. I don't celebrate Kwanzaa. But if you want to that's fine; I just don't feel like everyone else should have to.
   I believe that if you are selling me a Dairy Queen shake, a pack of cigarettes, or hotel room you do it in English. As of matter of fact, if you are an American citizen you should speak English. My uncles and forefathers shouldn't have had to die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come disrespect ours, and make us bend to your will. Get over it.
   I think the cops have every right to shoot your sorry butt if you're running from them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word 'freeze' or 'stop' in English, see the previous line.
   I don't use the excuse "it's for the children" as a shield for unpopular opinions or actions.
   I know how to count votes and I feel much safer letting a machine with no political affiliation do a recount when needed. I know what the definition of lying is, and it isn't based on the word "is" -ever.
   I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you qualify for any special loan programs, gov't sponsored bank loans, etc., so you can open a hotel, 7-Eleven, trinket shop, or any thing else, while the indigenous peoples can't get past a high school education because they can't afford it. I didn't take the initiative in inventing the Internet. I thought the Taco Bell dog was funny. I want them to bring back safe and sane fireworks.
   I believe no one ever died because of something Ozzy Osbourne, Ice-T or Marilyn Manson sang, but that doesn't mean I want to listen to that crap from someone else's car when I'm stopped at a red light. But I respect your right to.
   I think that being a student doesn't give you any more enlightenment than working at Blockbuster or Jack In The Box. I don't want to eat or drink anything with the words light, lite or fat-free on the package.
   Our soldiers did not go to some foreign country and risk their lives in vain and defend our Constitution so that decades later you can tell me it's a living document ever changing and is open to interpretation. The guys who wrote it were light years ahead of anyone today, and they meant what they said - now leave the document alone, or there's going to be trouble.
   I don't hate the rich.  I help the poor. I know wrestling is fake.
   I've never owned, or was a slave, and a large percentage of our forefathers weren't wealthy enough to own one either. Please stop blaming me because some prior white people were idiots - and remember, tons of white, Indian, Chinese, and other races have been enslaved too - it was wrong for every one of them.
   I believe a self-righteous liberal Democrat with a cause is more dangerous than a Hell's Angel with an attitude. I want to know exactly which church is it where the "Reverend" Jessie Jackson preaches; and, what exactly is his job function.
   I own a gun, you can own a gun, and any red blooded American should be allowed to own a gun, but if you use it in a crime, then you will serve the time.
   I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it makes you mad, then invent the next operating system that's better and put your name on the building. Ask your buddy that invented the Internet to help you.
   I don't believe in hate crime legislation. Even suggesting it makes me mad. You're telling me that someone who is a minority, gay, disabled, another nationality, or otherwise different from the mainstream of this country has more value as a human being than I do as a white male. If someone kills anyone, I'd say that it's a hate crime. We don't need more laws! Let's enforce the ones we already have.
   I think turkey bacon, turkey beef, turkey fake anything sucks.
   I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child - it takes a parent with the guts to stand up to the kid and spank his butt and say "NO!" when it's necessary to do so. I'll admit that the only movie that ever made me cry was Ole Yeller. I didn't realize Dr. Seuss was a genius until I had a kid.
   I will not be frowned upon or be looked down upon or be made to keep silent because I have these beliefs and opinions. I thought this country allowed me that right. I will not conform or compromise just to keep from hurting somebody's feelings. I'm neither angry nor disenfranchised, no matter how desperately the mainstream media would like the world to believe otherwise.
   Yes, I guess by some people's definition, I may be a bad American. But that's tough.

Ted Nugent