Kevin McGinty, Presents: "Room 235"

No Game This Sunday...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 20:31:00 +0000

I'm getting off topic here. But I just found out that due to lack of ticket sales, the Chiefs have blacked out this Sunday's game against Cleveland.

I'm sure the Chiefs management or players don't give a shit one way or the other but in my house, Sunday's revolve around the Chiefs game. Win or lose, we've always been there. We all get together, cook up a ton of food. We laugh, cuss, and dicuss everything under the sun. As the game wears on, there are high-five's, and a lot of groans. I always hang out my huge Chiefs banner on the front of the house. Yeah, even when they lose, it's still a good time.

But now things have changed. They tell us that because not enough people are actually going to the game, my family and I can't even watch them on TV.

I'll tell you what, Chiefs. How about you kissing my ass. How about not sucking so bad for a change and maybe people will start going again.

We'll still get together and we'll still have a good time. But there'll be no banner hanging on the front of my house tomorrow. Probably not for the rest of the year either.

Better be careful, Chiefs. You might just run off the few fans you have left and I'm one of them.

Yeah, why don't you just kiss my ass. I can live without you. But how long can you survive without people like me...

A Letter To The Editor...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:11:00 +0000

I read a letter to the editor in another paper the other day where the writer complained that the only purpose being served by the “Climategate” e-mails was to muddy the waters in the ongoing Global-Warming debate.

Wow, I thought the debate was over. I mean that’s what the believers and their idiot hero, Al Gore keep telling us.

Actually, because of these hacked e-mails, we’re finally having that debate whether the doom and gloom crowd like it or not. Funny how that works.

Speaking of all that, I’d like to give a quick, well deserved, “shout out” to Congressman Dennis Moore for being the first (of many) Democrat loser in the 2010 elections. You don’t suppose he’s seen the writing on the wall for his predictable, rubber stamp vote on the “Cap and Tax” Bill, Obama’s trying to shove down our throats, do you?

Oh yeah, one more thing. I really enjoy reading the stories and the comments on CJ Online, but some of you guys take yourselves way to serious. The other day during one of the usual insult, counter insult exchanges, one poster actually put another poster “on notice” for something they’d written. I’m not sure exactly what being “put on notice” was supposed to mean, but it was good for a laugh.

I’d suggest some of you need to step away from your keyboards for a while and enjoy life in the real world. Spend a little time with your family and friends, enjoy the holidays and quit being so jacked out of shape all the time. I’m just saying. Merry Christmas, all.

The Debate Is Over - We're All Screwed...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:56:00 +0000

We might as well pack it in, boys and girls. Back on October, 19 Gordon Brown told the UN, there were only 50 days left to save the world from the ravages of global warming. If he’s right, we won’t even make it till Christmas and I doubt they'll be able to do much between now and then. So it looks to me, we're all screwed. Might as well live it up then.

You know, you global warming people might be taken more seriously if you didn't get so far out there. That and the fact that you’ve been wrong about every prediction you’ve ever made, starting way back in the 60’s with your global cooling hysteria. You said we’d all be dead by now. And the outrageous claims you made way back then were just as wrong as the one’s you’re making today.

I came across a list of a few of the things you claim global warming is responsible for and some of the one’s you claim are coming. Go grab something to drink, this might take a while.

They tell us we can say goodbye to French wines because the grapes will burn up on the vines. Thanks to killer beetles and global warming, we can say goodbye to baseball because of the ash trees, the one’s baseball bats are made of will all die off. Entire forests in British Columbia are dying, so looks like we can say goodbye to the Christmas Tree.

Evidently Rainbow Trout are all going to die, so we can forget about fly fishing too. How about those ski competitions we all like to watch. Well, they’ll be a thing of the past too once the snow stops falling in the mountains.

Maybe you’re into snorkeling. Forget it. Carbon dioxide is killing the oceans too. How about a nice tropical island vacation this year. Not going to happen, most of the islands we all know and love will be under water before we know it. Salmon and lobsters will die as will the sharks and whales, so you can forget about going out to Red Lobster to eat.

Maybe wildflowers are your thing. Better hurry up, according to your fellow crazies at least a fifth of all wildflower species will be wiped out and replaced by dominant grasses anytime now. Dandelions will take over our lawns, mosquitoes will thrive as will poison ivy along with a long list of noxious weeds.

Birds will die. Once the polar bears run out of food, they’ll resort to cannibalism. We’ll experience a huge increase of brown bear attacks on people because the bears will have to travel farther and farther to find new food sources. Emperor penguins and frogs will be gone. But then so will the Artic fox and the walrus. There’ll be no more Koala bears either. Jelly fish will move closer to shore and start attacking more people than ever before. Now we even have to worrying about giant squid attacking us.

There’ll be no more sheep, goats, deer, rabbits, or lizards. But because global warming will extend the cat-breeding season, there’ll be more stray cats to contend with. But we can say goodbye to the beloved snail.

All the glaciers will be gone and the coveted Northwest Passage will become a reality. The oceans will turn to acid. The great barrier reef will be a thing of the past and some of the world’s largest rivers will dry up. If you’ve never had the chance to see the Mississippi river, you’d better get going soon. Lakes are drying up as we speak. We’ll see a huge surge in volcanic activity. There’ll more and bigger hurricanes. We’ll have more wildfires and floods. New York City will be under 20 feet of water and we’ll return to the dust bowl days of the 20’s.

Global warming will kill millions of us. Malaria, cholera, small pox, and lyme disease will be out of control. And if the diseases don’t get us, war will. Countries will start attacking each other over the few resources left in the world. Mass starvation and famine will become the new normal in the world.

They tell us mankind's very existence is at stake. I'd say our wallets and more importantly our way of life is at stake here. They were wrong forty years ago and they're wrong today.

Goodbye Mearl

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:04:00 +0000

Damn, it’s good to be home. Let’s see, in the last month I’ve worked in Ogallala and Superior, Nebraska. Spent two days in Torrington, Wyoming. From there they sent me to Hays, Salina, three days in Beloit, and I just finished up a week in Concordia. And actually, I was scheduled to be in Great Bend this week, but things change.

I got home Saturday night, my wife and I went out to eat and headed to the casino. We walked into the Sac N Fox with a hundred dollars apiece and ready to kick some serious casino ass. Well, that plan didn’t work out. We walked out a couple of hours later, and the only thing left in our pockets was a little bit of lint. Oh well, we still had a lot of fun and got to spend time together.

Sunday was a wonderful day. The kids and grand kids all came over to watch the Chiefs beat the hell out of Oakland. We ate, talked, gossiped, played some mean games of ping-pong, and just generally enjoyed being together. Yeah, it was a good day.

Earlier tonight, I was able to go to my niece’s fifth grade, music program. I just love those things. I really enjoy watching the kids singing their little hearts out.

Yeah, it’s good to be home. So good in fact, that every once in a while, even if it’s only for a few minutes, I’ve been able to forget why I was able to get my schedule changed in the first place. You see, a good friend of mine died the other day and tomorrow, well, they’re going to bury him.

Mearl was a good guy. To a lot of people he was probably just another old guy. But to those of us who worked with him and got to know him, he’ll always be well thought of and will always be remembered. Mearl had been fighting pancreatic cancer for the last year or so. He was slowly losing the battle but in the end that’s not what killed him. He had a heart attack last Thursday night. It was a bad one. One that he’d never recover from.

I hadn’t talked to him for a while. I knew his cancer was terminal. But it had been in remission and he’d been feeling better the last couple of months. Like always, I put off calling him. I was either too busy, or just figured I’d call him later. Well ,later came and went. Now it’s too late, he’s gone and I regret not making that phone call.

I’m not telling you this story to bum you out. I guess I’m telling it so that maybe you don’t make the same mistake. If you have someone you care about, maybe it’s a your mom or dad, could be your brother or sister, maybe it’s just a good old friend who’s not feeling well. Call them. Tomorrow just might be too late…

THANK YOU VETERANS...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:40:00 +0000

As you go about doing what it is that you do today, stop and at least give a thought to why you're even able to do it in the first place.

It's because of the sacrifices people have made before a lot of us were even born. In every instance (bar none) when our liberty and freedom has been threatened we've turned to the military to bail us out.

Regardless of the situation, regardless of the personal sacrifices it required, regardless of where or when, regardless of the conditions they were asked to fight is, the American Veteran has never let us down.

I have plenty to say about the killing spree at Fort Hood the other day, but I'll just hold my tongue till tomorrow.

Today, it's about thanking all Veterans for the sacrifices they've made in the past and the one's they continue making to this day. We owe them a debt we can never properly re-pay.

Hey Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:16:00 +0000

You Gotta Be Kidding Me...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:46:00 +0000

Man, I'm having a really hard time trying to figure what to write about this week. It's not that there's nothing going on. It's more like how do you just focus on one thing at a time. So I've decided to touch on several things, if for no other reason than to get it all off my chest. Bear with me.

I was reading an article in USA Today a little while ago about the new "electric" cars Obama and his enviromental extremists are pushing for. The article talked about the benifits to the enviroment by getting thousands of planet killing, co2 spewing, gas powered vehicles off the road.

That's all good and fine with me, I guess. If you don't mind paying up to $90,000 for one, you don't mind traveling along at a 45 m.p.h., don't have to carry much more than a grocery bag with you, and you don't need to travel more than 40 miles before you have to re-charge it. Other than all that, it's a pretty good deal.

Well there is one little thing they seem to have forgotten about. They've forgotten about how much more electricity will be required to run these little pieces of crap they're trying to shove down our throats and we all know how much they hate elecrticity.

The UN in all their infinite wisdom told us a couple of weeks ago that we only had 50days left to save the world from global warming. Here's the way I see it, guys. That was about 20 days ago. So now we only have 30 days left, hell we won't even make to Christmas. Why bother. Live it up, man and party like hell...

You guys ready for some good, old-fashioned, Government run, health-care? Just look at the stories around the country about the shortages of the H1N1 vacinations we're facing. They can't even get this one thing right and they want us to believe they can take over the entire thing. You gotta be kidding me!

Oh yeah, the elections last night. Don't you believe for one minute that conservatisim in America is dead. Conservatives spoke in one, loud, crystal clear voice and kicked the Democrats out on their asses.

Obama tried his best to put a positive spin on things though. He even issued a statement that he wasn't even paying attention as the results were coming in. I gotta be honest, I had one of those "Joe Wilson" moments and called him a "LIAR."

Here's the deal, Obama. You've shoved way too much down our throats in 2009. Come 2010, we're going to shove it right back up your ass, and mark my word, last night was just the beginning.

Thank you, Barrack Obama, we love you...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:37:00 +0000

How about this idea...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:25:00 +0000

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Last weekend my mother showed her true colors. This is going to be hard for me to talk about. I mean with the shame and all. But hey, I’ll do the best I can.

I’m not sure exactly what led up to my mom’s comments but she let it be known, that she believes we owe it the kids to take care of them, no matter what. She believes we have a moral obligation to do so. That and it’s just the right thing to do.

The whole “it’s for the kids” argument has always been popular. It’s also hard for a politician to campaign against. As soon as they try, they’re faced with attack ads, painting them as kid haters. Well, I’m not running for anything, so I’ll give it a shot.

Really, I only have one question. Why? Other than “it’s just the right thing to do,” why do we owe anybody, anything? Hard-hearted? I’m sure some of you will take it that way.

But really, isn’t that what we’ve been doing all along? If welfare, food stamps, medical cards, free education, free school lunches, free public transportation, automatic increases in benefits for every new born kid, unemployment insurance, free re-training programs for those looking for a job, free county run health clinics, free rehabilitation programs, free marriage counseling programs, Section 8 housing programs. The list could easily go on and on, but I think you get the point.

Free this, free that. When’s it going to be enough? If these programs aren’t for the kid’s, what is? We’ve been dolling out one entitlement program after another. What good has it done? The poor are still poor. The only difference is, we’ve been doing it for several generations now.

It’s all worked according to the plan, too. Make people dependent on the Government, keep them that way, and sooner or later, it becomes a way of life. And that , my friends, is exactly what this is all about.

Here’s what I believe. We should take care of those who can’t take care of themselves. No question about that. Other than that, I believe there are three more groups we should take care of. Veterans and the elderly. The veterans for obvious reasons, and our parents, well, because we owe it to them. Last but not least, I believe we owe all unborn kids, the most fundamental right there is. Simply the right to live.

Mom, I love you and all, but how about this idea. How about people taking care of their own kids for a change. You know, the way most of us do. But I suppose that’s just crazy talk in today’s world, isn’t it.

Oh yeah, the whole Obama thing I threatened to write about. I was just seeing if you guys were paying attention.

Later…

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:53:00 +0000

Should be up and running by Wednesday night...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:05:00 +0000

Sorry, guys, my schedule's been crazy the last couple weeks. But I am working on something.

But first, I probably ought to warn you Obama supporters out there. You're probably gonna be offended, so you might want to skip this one. I'm just saying...

Wussification of America

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:53:00 +0000

The stupidity just keeps coming, doesn’t it. The other day a six-year-old boy was suspended from school and condemned to reform school for 45 days, all because he brought a stupid boy scout knife to school with him.

Somewhere a parent was arrested for the horrible crime of washing out their kid’s mouth with soap. Imagine that.

Just the other day, an apartment complex manager in Albany, Oregon threatened to evict a tenant because of the American flag he was flying on the back of his motorcycle. They were worried it might offend someone.

The kid with the knife thing. Yeah, I can see where a school wouldn’t want a kid’s bringing knives to school. We all get that. How about this approach though. How about taking it away from the kid and calling his parents to talk about the incident. Nah, that would make way too much sense.

The soap thing. You gotta be kidding me. If that had been a law when I was a kid, my mom would still be in jail. We’re living a new kind of world today. It’s a world where the government has more and more say about how you raise your own kids. It’s just going to get worse if we let it, too. During the campaign anyone calling Obama a socialist was labeled crazy by his followers. Now that all doubt has been removed about his agenda they ask, what’s so bad about Socialism?

Oh yeah, the apartment complex fiasco. Why would anyone be surprised by that one. Hell they’ve been doing the exact same thing with God for years now. The American flag is the next logical target for the left-wing loons. In their world, America is the root of all evil. Well, that and God. So the only logical thing left to do is to remove all symbols that remind us of who we are.

The crowning moment for the extremists had to be the day Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. For what? For embarrassing us by kissing the world’s ass? And what do we get in return? Nothing!

A man of peace my ass. He’s divided this country deeper and faster than anyone has ever been able to do before him. His attacks on those who disagree with him are an attack on millions of Americans, we‘re offended, and we‘re mad as hell. Don’t think for a minute we haven’t noticed or that we’re going to forget.

The 2010 elections will be here before you know it. You had your chance, but it’s time for the adults to take over again…

At Least I Still Have a Job...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:40:00 +0000

At least I still have a job.

Oh sorry. You caught me talking to myself. It's just that I have to keep reminding myself of the fact that millions of people have lost their jobs in the last couple of years and that I'm lucky to have mine.

That's true enough, I suppose. Sometimes though, I'd just as soon let one of them have mine so I could sit on my ass for a while.

Let's see, in the last five weeks I've worked in Hutchinson, Great Bend, Manhattan, Beloit, Garnett and Topeka.

I got home yesterday (Tuesday) with the agreement that I'd finally get to spend the rest of the week at home. Well that lasted about 24 hours. It's almost 6:00 P.M. and I'm waiting for the word of whether I'm going to either Manhattan or Hays. Either way, I have to make the trip tonight. In the line of work I do, we're usually at work by 2:00 in the morning. So I'd rather make the trip tonight and get a few hours sleep in a motel before I have to get up again.

So here I am, waiting. Waiting for that phone call. Waiting to see where I'm going next. Waiting to see what the people who sign my paycheck have in mind.

Yeah, I know. At least I still have a job...

Barack Husein Obama, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:19:00 +0000

Just for the record, I have no intrest in the Olympics what-so-ever, let alone where they hold them. So when we learned today that Chicago had been eliminated in the first round of voting, it was more of a yawn moment for me.

Well, it would have been if it weren't for the fact that our arrogant, egotistical, rock star president, Barrack Obama went to bat for us and failed.

This is par for the course though. Here we are, two wars going on. More and more Americans are dying in Afghastan. And for what? Millions of Americans are losing their jobs, unemployment is at it's highest level since the early 80's.

We're told if we don't pass his Health care plan, we'll all die. We're told if we don't sign on to his Cap and Trade fiasco, we'll all die. He ridicules CEO's for wasting money by flying on private jets and such, yet he has the gall to jump in Air Force One to give his pitch to host the Olympic Games. Whatever!

I know, like always, the press will do their best to put a positive spin on the whole thing. But think about it, guys.

What's the man actually done for us? Any of us? Okay yeah, he's done a lot of television. He's trotted around the globe, running America down. He's bowed down to Saudi Kings, he's apologized to the world for everything (good or bad) America has ever done.

What good has it done? Have any of our NATO allies stepped up to the plate and offered to help us out in Afghastan? How about North Korea and Iran's nukes? How's that working out? It's not.

How about withdrawing the missile defense from Poland? Do you really believe Russia is all the sudden going to help us out and support sanctions against Iran? I guess we'll see. I wouldn't count on it though.

The way I see it, is he's emboldened our enemies by showing weakness. He believes if he apologizes enough and makes nice with them , they'll be more willing to do what he wants. It's not going to happen.

And you can bet, they're all having a good laugh right about now.

He's the ultimate left-wing lunatic. And we elected him to lead us.

God help us!

The Numbers...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:22:00 +0000

Every once in a while someone will ask me why I've named my blog "ROOM 235." Hopefully, this will help explain it...

Numbers. I've never been a numbers guy, never really gave them much thought one way or the other. But over the course of the last 23 days I've learned numbers can literally mean the difference between life and death.

Numbers like 17, 235, 15,12, 160, 87, 65/45, and 23 all became to mean everything in my Granddaughter's world. Emily was born 17 weeks premature on November 12th.and was transferred to “room 235” of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Stormont-Vail Hospital. This was also the day my journey through her world of numbers began.

Good morning Emily, I'm your Grandpa. I know, I'm kind of big and probably a little scary looking but you'll get used to me. Hey, look at those numbers on the ventilator. The nurses tell me 15 is excellent for your oxygen level. And that the vent setting doesn't get much better than a 12. I know it's been a pretty rough first day for you, so I'm not going to stay too long. You be a good girl and mind the nurses, I'll see you in the morning. And remember that Grandpa loves you.

And so our daily routine began. We talked about the adventures we were going to have once she got to come home. First and foremost I explained she was going to have to put on some weight. At 1lb., 4oz., it was going to be hard for her to ride a bike. I offered to start bringing her chocolate chip cookies and pop. While Emily thought it was a good idea, the nurses didn't think so. We talked about her first day of school, about the fishing trips we were going to take. She was really excited about going 4-wheeling in the mountains of Colorado.

I told her how lucky she was to have two Grandmothers Linda and Debbie that loved her so much. We talked about her aunts, uncles, and cousins. I warned her about the stupid cats and dogs she'd meet. I even warned her about staying away from boys. I'm not sure, but I think I saw her blushing after this conversation. But mostly, she liked hearing about her Mommy and Daddy.
Over the next few days I learned about the other numbers on the monitor above her bed. The top one was her heart rate. I learned that 160 was a very good number indeed. And that 87 indicated how much oxygen was in her blood. The 65/45 was the blood pressure.

All day and night long the doctors and nurses watched these numbers. They made adjustments to the machines or medications according to what the numbers told them. They were very up front with us from the beginning. Some days were pretty good. Others were pretty bad, it all depended on the numbers. The nurses referred to this as the roller coaster ride.

Monday December 4th was an exceptionally good day. Emily's numbers were even better that they had been the previous weekend. She was finally able to open her eyes for the first time. They were the biggest, most beautiful, brown eyes I had ever seen. We talked about riding the train at Gage park. I blew her a kiss, told her Grandpa loved her, and assured her I'd see her in the morning.

Sometime around 9:00 Monday night the hospital called. Emily had taken a turn for the worse, and we needed to get there as soon as we could. It was the numbers, the 15and 12 had turned into 101 and 40. The 160 was now a 50. The 87 was somewhere around 35 now, and the blood pressure that once read a steady 65/45 wasn't even registering anymore. They told us her system was shutting down, she was dying, and didn't think she'd be able to hang on for much more than 3 or 4 more hours.

Ultimately the numbers did get the best of her, but Emily did beat the 3 and the 4. She was able to hang on another 24 hours. And in doing so we were all able to say our goodbyes. I'm not sure what the others said to her. For me, I just held her tiny hand, kissed her on the forehead and told her I understood that she had to go, I promised I'd never forget her, and told her to remember that Grandpa loved her.

We had Emily with us for 23 days, 4 hours, and 42 minutes. And for that I'll always be grateful.

You can get a hold of me at my blog www.rm235.blogspot.com or you can e-mail me at: www.kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net

The Phone Call...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:14:00 +0000

The first thing I did once I got settled into my daughter's car was to look in the rear-view mirror. There she was, my little, Sofie, sound asleep in her car seat. Sophie's my grand daughter. She's almost two-years-old now, and she's my best buddy. It had been a little over two weeks since I'd seen her and I had really missed her.

I just kind of stared at her for a while. There was this perfectly innocent little girl sound asleep and totally unaware of why we were meeting in St. Mary's for lunch and completely unaware of how close she had come to losing her dad today.

You never really know when you're going to get one of those phone calls, do you? It was about 10:30 or so this morning, I was about to leave Manhattan and finally make it home. Really, I'd been ready for a while, I was just kind of hanging out with the guys. We had been talking about our kids and how they had all grown up, married, and moved away. You know, that kind of stuff, when my cell phone started ringing. It was my daughter, Misty. One of the guys named, Hudson laughed when I told him who it was. He said she probably knew we were talking about her.

What's up kiddo? Dad, Travis has been in a bad wreck. He rolled his work truck a little west of St. Mary's on hi-way 24 and I'm on my way. I talked to him and he says he thinks he's okay.

Okay, kiddo, I'm on my way. I grabbed my lap-top and coffee cup, told the guys what happened and hit the road. I didn't know what I expected to find and wasn't sure what I'd do once I got there. All I knew was that my kids were in trouble and needed my help.

Travis, my son-in-law, had been heading west on hi-way 24 and was just coming into the little town of Bellvue when he slipped off the right shoulder, he probably over-corrected and sent his truck into an out of control slide across the oncoming lanes and rolled the truck into the ditch. Luckily, the truck came to rest on it's wheels and was sitting half way in the ditch and half way in a corn field.

Travis was outside the truck when I arrived. The cops and EMT's had already left by the time I got there, so I pulled over the the edge of the road and talked to him. He assured me he was okay. I knew he was shook up and just wanted to go home. But I also knew he didn't want me to know that. So I didn't argue with him when he told me he was going to stay and help his boss clean up the mess and told me not to worry about him.

With that said, I hopped in my truck and headed up to where my daughter had pulled over when she arrived. She was about to lose it and asked if I'd stay in her car to keep an eye on Sofie. I assured her It'd be my pleasure.

I sat there watching her sleep in the rear-view mirror and thought to myself, Sofie girl, we dodged a really big bullet today. Funny thing is, you'll never even know it.

Racism My Ass...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:10:00 +0000

Okay, I know I promised to drop the political stuff for a while. I really just wanted to talk about the State Fair and all.

I will say it's now Day Six and we're reached the half way point. It's been a lot of fun, I've met a lot of good people from all across the country. But it's been a hell of a lot of work and I'll be glad when it's over so we can all take a break.

But here's the deal. I'm really pissed by the way the "irrelevant", so called main-stream media, Obama, members of Congress, and Democrats in general are constantly playing the "race card" as a means to discredit their critics.

I don't have a lot of time this morning, so I'm not going to be able to get into it till later.

In the mean time, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the subject.

For now though, I have about two hours to get ready for the masses. Today is "Kids Day." Great!!!

NEVER FORGET

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:13:00 +0000

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:32:00 +0000

Kansas State Fair: Day One...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:04:00 +0000

I left the house about 5:00 this (Wednesday) morning to head out for my latest assignment. I‘ll be spending the next two and a half weeks working the State Fair in Hutchinson. As soon as I got to town, I hooked up with my partner in crime, a guy named, Huey Nelson. Actually, Huey is the brains of the operation. I’m not sure, but I think we might be in trouble. Today was really just a day of getting in touch with food vendors to make sure who made it again this year and who didn‘t. For the most part, the same people who were last year are all here again.

There was the guy from Florida, he’s a good guy. The old guy and his wife who live and breathe KU football was back. The guy from Jersey and his son were back and ready to get this thing started. The grouchy old lady from somewhere in Oklahoma hadn’t arrived yet. Good. We went from one stand to another and just about the time we were finished the old guy from Tulsa who sells turkey legs showed up. He’s probably the coolest old guy I know. It was especially good to see because last year he told us he was hanging it up. He was going to sell his stand and finally retire and enjoy life for a change. I think he decided this is what he really enjoys and when it came right down to it, he wasn’t ready to hang it up after all.

The carneys are hard at work getting their rides set up. It’s really hard to imagine that in just one more day this place will transform from the mess and chaos it is now to the showplace that it will become in order to be ready to welcome and entertain hundreds of thousands of people from all over the place.. Ah, The State Fair, there’s nothing like.

The place is a mess. Food service trucks are everywhere. Electricians and plumbers are busy making sure everybody’s stands are working like they’re supposed to. People are unloading their cars, vans, pickups, and trailers all over the place. Everyone of them hoping to sell enough of whatever it is they’re selling to make it all worthwhile. It’s easy to spot the Fair Officials, too. They’re the one’s running around with really stressed out looks on their faces and talking on their radios.

Crap, my partner just showed up. I’ll check in with you guys later. It’s time for me to get to work. 24 hours till the gates open. It’s crunch time!!!

Okay, that’s done. Looks like we’re dealing with about 30 food stands. We’ve got them all filled up and all are ready to go. The rest of the day is mine to do as I see fit.

I’m always impressed at how the midway (rides) go together. This morning it looked like complete chaos. This afternoon, it still looks like chaos, but they’ve got a lot done. I gotta tell you though, some of the people they have working on the stuff are a little scary looking. Oh well, that’s another story for another time.

Kansas State Fair: Part One

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:57:00 +0000

Let's do something different for a while. How about we just get away from politics all together. Well, with 9-11 and the Tea Parties all over the country, that might be hard to commit to.

I've just spent the evening packing for a three week road trip to Hutchinson, Ks. to work the State Fair. This is the second time I've worked it. It's a hell of a lot of work but there's always a little free time to check out the sights too. Especially this year, the boss had this brain fart a while back and mentioned it might be cool to have a travel trailer for us to hang in whenever we had a little down-time. I told him, oh yeah, that'd be a hell of an idea.

Anyway, one thing led to another and now they've decided since they went to all the expense and trouble of getting that trailer I should just sleep there too.

So her we are. I'll be heading out by 6:00 in the morning. And you're more than welcome to come along...

Let's Throw These Bums Out...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:01:00 +0000

A friend of mine asked me to post this for him.

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:25:00 +0000

Letter to the Editor 9-3-09

Are You Smater than a Congressman?

Take this simple test. Maybe you could be smarter than a Congressman, especially in the North East or West Coast States, if you were to move there.

1. Would you read a bill, before voting for it?

2. Would you avail yourself or your staff to actually understand what you were voting on?

3. Would you care if it added trillions of dollars to our national debt, indebting future children and grandchildren of the citizens you represent?

4. Would you think about future negative consequences of the bill you were about to vote on?

5. Would you show leadership by putting yourself and your family under the same program you were voting for, I.E. Health Care Plan?

If you answered in the affirmative on any of these first four questions you could be smater than 50% of our current Congressmen. If you answered yes to question 5 you have more guts and integrity than most Congressmen. This country needs a serious recruting effort for next year's elections for Congress. American deserves a better effort from those we elect.

Joseph Ledbetter, Veteran, J.D.
Topeka, Kansas

Sorry Guys, But I gotta Go...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:06:00 +0000

Farewell Metro News...

kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net (Kevin McGinty) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:02:00 +0000

Sorry guys, but this is going to seem a little weird. Last week I talked about the Topeka Metro News being sold and how the new owners decided they, either didn’t have room for or simply weren’t interested in hearing from any local writers. Anyway, they dumped us all. If you think about it, it is a little weird for a local paper not to want anything to do with local people, hmm.

Hey, that’s just life. I knew going in, that nothing’s forever. It’s funny, too. Because, the older you get, the more you understand just how true that is. I really wanted to the chance to say goodbye. And I still believe they owed me that much. But hey, it’s their world and I was just passing through anyway.

So today, even though I’m not really going anywhere, I’ll still be ranting and raving on the blog, I just won’t be in the Metro News, I’m going to go ahead and write the farewell column I should have been allowed to do in the first place.

******************************************************************************************************

Well guys, looks like this is it. This is the last column I’ll be writing for the Topeka Metro News. I always knew that sooner or later this day would come. Still, I wish it could have lasted a while longer. Like twenty or thirty more years.

And you know what? For the first time in a long time, I’m not sure what to say. I guess I should start out by thanking you, the readers. It was an honor and a privilege to be able to spend a little time with you guys each and every week. I thank every one of you who either, wrote a letter to the editor or sent an e-mail my way because of something I’d written. That’s not to say everyone agreed with me either. But, what it meant to me, was the fact that you were reading my stuff and that it made you stop and think for a while. Thank you. That’s really all I was trying to do in the first place.

Sure, from time to time, I got a little controversial. I might have even gone over the top every once in a while too. I’ve received e-mails from people demanding that I apologize for this or that. Here's the deal, I didn’t apologize then and I’m sure as hell not going to start now. Someone a lot smarter than I said it best, "I meant what I said and I said what I meant."

You see, in America, at least for now anyway, we still have this little thing called the 1st amendment, you know, the whole freedom of speech thing. I’m real big on that one. In fact, I’m going to give it one last shot today.

America! What the hell were we thinking of when we elected Barrack Obama as our president. A lot of us did our best to warn you. We warned you about the left-wing radicals he liked to hang out with. Reverand Wright, with his special brand of racisism and hatred come to mind. The guy responsible for planning the bombings of police stations and the Pentagon, Bill Ayres was another. We warned you about the Socialist agenda he would bring with him. You accused us of using scare tactics and called us racists and fear mongerers. Whatever.

I believe with all my heart that we're in the middle of the fight of our lives. If this country is going to survive (the one I grew up in anyway) we’ve got to get our butts off the couch and do something about it. Don’t sit back and wait for your neighbor to do it for you. Is it going to be easy? Hell no it won’t. Make that phone call to your Senator! Write that letter to the editor! Turn off MTV and American Idol long enough to find out what’s going on in the real world. Pay attention to the "TEA PARTY RALLIES" being held all across the country over the next few months. Hell we're even going to have our very own rally here in Topeka on 9-12, make plans to be there if you can. It's important, even if it's only symbolic. We gotta get the message out that we're mad as hell and we're here to stop these idiots in Washington dead in their tracks. Tell em loud and clear, "this is our country and we're here to take it back!"

Just remember, if you decide to take that stand, you'll be in for one hell of a fight. The left-wing loons will come after you like nothing you’ve ever seen. They’ll mock you. They’ll call you every name in the book. Trust me, the first thing they'll acuse you of is being a racist. That's seems to be pretty popular these days. They’ll use anything they can think of against you in order to silence you. Just remember, because of the antics of the extreme, left-wing lunatics, only 20% of the American population is still willing to call themselves liberal, they’re loud and the press gives them a lot of attention, but because of their numbers, they’re becoming extremely irrelevant. Think about that.

Anyway, do you guys remember watching the Carroll Burnett Show? If so, I'm sure you remember the way she always ended it by singing a little song that went something like this, “I’m so glad we had this time together. Just to have a laugh and sing a song. Seems we just get started and before you know it, comes the time we have to say so long.” Remember that?

For me, this is kind of like that. Thanks for everything guys, it was one hell of a ride.