Cuckoo's nest

Sometimes, I think we're all living in an insane asylum that is run by the inmates and the rest of us are too busy going about our daily pursuits that we don't notice or don't care. Then, when the crazy rules that are made pierce our personal bubble and affect our lives, we wonder, "Where did that come from?"

Last week, the nut jobs in the Senate passed a bill that grants illegal aliens access to Social Security. Under this legislation, illegal immigrants who are breaking the law just by being here will be able to support themselves with menial jobs and send SSI benefits to their families south of the border. Two years after they get said benefits, they undoubtedly will be eligible for Medicare -- or more likely Medicaid -- benefits.

Then just a few days ago, a California state legislator proposed a bill declaring it a misdemeanor to spank your child, 4 years old or younger. Now, kids of that age should receive no more than an I-mean-business swat on the rear, but a ban on ALL spanking? Even Gov. Schwarzenegger backs the legislation, saying taking away play time is a better discipline than spanking. Evidently, Arnold hasn't seen a particularly strong-willed child; his muscle-bound physique probably played more of a role in his children behaving than he thinks.

So, it looks like this state will soon be overrun by bratty kids and illegal aliens who send donations back home to Mexico courtesy of the American work force -- that is, if we haven't already been overrun by both. Maybe we just never realized it.

Abraham Who?

I think, in today's political climate, even Abraham Lincoln might have failed as president. Now, I'm not saying that George W. Bush is another Lincoln, but I do believe he has tried to do a noble and smart thing in Iraq, only to see those in this country who hate him -- for what they thought was stealing an election in 2000 -- undermine his success there more than the insurgents that are killing scores of Iraqis in Baghdad.

The cloud of Vietnam is again hanging over our heads, blown there by the hot air of the Democrats, who would rather lose this war than win it. They rant about how many lives Bush has sacrificed in Iraq for nothing, yet fail to realize that, should we lose, we will lose far more lives to an emboldened enemy somewhere else in the world, and will have to fight the terrorists right here at home.

They vilify Bush for not having a coherent strategy, yet they offer none themselves, other than to redeploy troops out of Iraq. But that would be an acceptance of defeat, embolden the terrorists for future actions of violence and open Iraq to all-out civil war. Iran and Syria would then move in and put their stamps on that country's destiny and the Iraqis would end up worse off than they were under Saddam.

Wake up, Democrats! Wake up, pacifists! We need to win this war, not just for the Iraqis, but for the sake of the Western world, us, our children and our children's children.