Budget Woes, 911 and Drugs

Usually, public radio, or even certain programs on PBS drive me crazy.  NPR for instance - the firing of Juan Williams, a liberal democrat drove me out of my mind.  Remembering that I am a conservative Republican, I may not have agreed with Juan Williams on most topics, but I believed and still believe him to be a fair and honest reporter. I also believe in Free Speech, whether uttered responsibly or not.  Hell, you have to start thinking that for FOX News; the "bad guys" against main stream media, to back Juan when he was dismissed from NPR, that there is indeed validity to my assertion of Mr. Williams' level of professionalism.

So, a routine Saturday evening found me watching a program on PBS about the history of the state park system in my native California.  I am of the belief that you can value the state park system and still be a Republican. Nothing can bring me more clarity then walking on a shaded trail, listening to silence. The sights, sounds and smells of a park can almost completely quell my anxieties.

Anyways, the state park budget woes.  The message, if you will, of this PBS program was chatting up one side and down the other of what I can only refer to as "confusion" of the masses.  PBS had different experts lamenting as to the budget woes in California.  Their argument was that more state parks and trails are falling to the wayside and being closed due to a budgetary crisis in the state.   While I can certainly appreciate their devotion to the preservation of California's beauty and the state parks, I'm also realistic that first and foremost, job preservation takes precedence over fig trees and forest space.

I'm not a cold hearted bitch.  I'm just speaking plainly about where the priorities of our nation needs to be; even where our states need to be.  In my opinion, jobs that create safety i.e. police, ems and fire need to be taken care of over state parks.  I love animals, and little furry creatures that run through state parks across our nation.  But what if we, as a nation, decided to pour money into land rather than paying our public safety servants a wage they so richly deserve?  Who cares if the spotted owl is endangered, when drug cartels own the streets, threaten our safety and there is no one to protect us?

I saw the movie, "End of Watch" over the weekend.  It's a very intense film.  If you can hear past the coarse language, and the displays of violence, there are many lessons to be learned from the movie.  Having lived in the Los Angeles suburbs growing up, we simply did not know about the gangs.  That was somewhere else; it was someone else's problem.  I knew that if I were to be on Parthenia Avenue, near Corbin Street, I was going to see a ghetto type neighborhood.  That was 40 years ago, and the gang infestation of Los Angeles continues.

Often times I ponder as to whether or not people living in the 'burbs realize just how hard core south central L.A. is, or what the drug cartels are doing to the City of Angels.  Our borders are simply not being protected enough.  I wonder if our President stops to think, between his rounds of golf, visits to The View, his jiggy fun time with celebrities,  the hard core cartels are making their way over our borders, filling our kids with drugs, and also putting our public servants at risk.

The POTUS is really just the white junk that comes out of a really big zit when you try to squeeze it. The meat of the pimple is the local politicians on the state levels.  Does Mayor Villaraigosa pay any attention to the LAPD, LA City Fire and/or EMS?  What about Moonbeam Jerry Brown?  Does he bring into consideration that cops are dying on the streets fighting against criminals that have body piercing ammo, being fired from weapons bought with illegal drug monies?  
 
Why do we hesitate to deport those who are in this country illegally?  How is it that Border Agent Terry was shot and killed with weapons that came from this country to fight the border wars?  Why is Eric Holder not being held responsible?  Shouldn't we, as voters, expect the people we vote into office to be held at a higher standard rather than keeping those same corrupt or inept politicians in office?

The argument being made on the program I watched via PBS lamented as to what will happen if California doesn't fight to preserve the state parks.  I think the state is on the verge of bankruptcy, and first and foremost, they need to be worrying about border control, protection of the private citizens and hefty raises for those men and women who so bravely walk out their front doors every day, to fight the good fight by protecting us.  What good is a spotted owl to a drug cartel?