Kenders' Musings

Hello Iowa,


I want to take a moment to talk to you, state to state. For better or worse your people have chosen to start picking a presidential candidate rather early, but that's ok.

As a state that is supposedly full of "blue staters" you would think it odd that I am about to ask your people to vote for a conservative, but the truth is that once you get away from my lovely and rugged coast lines and head inland I am a rather Red State. All those liberals on the coast give me a bad reputation, so please ignore Hollywood and the ultra-liberal Sand Francisco set, and trust me when I say I know what I am talking about.

And what I want your people to do is to go out and choose Fred Dalton Thompson as their choice for the Republican Candidate for president.

There are several reasons whey I, as a State in this Great Nation, am endorsing Fred Thompson for President. Aside from the fact that he reminds me of one of my favorite former residents, Ronald Reagan, I think he is the only person running for office that has been consistent to what he says he believes in for his entire life.

As a state that cares deeply about the principles that made me the great state I am, I want to see those principles and beliefs pushed forward, to give other states the chance to achieve some of the greatness I have experienced since my induction into this great country.

Lately I have been under attack by folks streaming over my southern border and millions of others that wont work and think that the state government owes them something, and that reflects badly on me as a state. I don't like it. We must bring about change in this country and bring us back to the beliefs and policies that made us great in the first place, and conservative principles, and a strong leader that embodies as many of those principles as possible, is the only way to do that.

So Dear Iowa, ask your people to go out and support Fred Thompson for President. My friend Kender, who let me use his blog to get thi smessage out has told me that you can click the link below and donate money to Fred to help him get his message out. Tell them that Kender and The Great State of California sent you.

Last year, on Dec. 23rd, while doing a show on Wide Awakes Radio with I can’t remember who now, as things got real blurry for a bit and then, for reasons that will become clear, remain etched in my soul, I got a call that my Mom, who was quite ill with cancer, had been placed on a ventilator.

I was listening to some music we were playing very loudly, with headphones on, and at the end of the song I noticed the message light on the station phone blinking, which I thought was odd because I didn’t hear it ring. As I took off the headphones to check the call my girlfriend appeared at my side and asked if I had heard the call. She had been sitting in the other room, watching TV and heard the ring, and the message, and looked very worried.

She said “That was your sister, your mom is on a ventilator, and I think we should go to the hospital.”

Now, in my family we are no stranger to death, having had the old guard pass away, leaving us “kids” to marvel at how drab life can be when cherished childhood traditions, such as dinner at grandmas or Labor Day parties at the Aunt’s house are no longer there, and you’re left with a sense of longing and loss that is both nostalgic and regretful.

Sometimes, when the weather is just right and the light catches the mountains at just the right angle, or a certain scent plays out on the breeze, memories flood back and I am transported, just for that millisecond, to a childhood that seems so close I can touch it, but so far away that it may as well be galaxies away from me.

So we’re heading to the hospital, flying down the freeway, and my girlfriend, attempting to offer words of comfort, says “I’m sure your mom will be fine.”

Now before I go any further, you must know that it was my mom that gave rise to my theory that people are like pendulums. The farther they can swing in one direction, they can go equally far in the other. The nicer and more helpful a person can be, the farther into the other side of behavior they can swing. My mom would, if she liked you, do whatever she could to help you out, many times to her own detriment, but if you were on her hit list you weren’t safe from anything she could come up to do to you, and she could be a very vindictive woman when she was angry at you. But her anger was always quick to fade.

I looked over at my girlfriend and said, very matter of factly, “No, it will be Christmas Eve in a few minutes, and if anyone is going to die on Christmas Eve and make the rest of my Christmases a remembrance of death, it’ll be her.”

At the hospital she seemed rather unresponsive, but when I stood at her bedside and looked into her eyes, I saw recognition and a single tear that slowly rolled down her cheek. My sister, brother in law, cousin, my girlfriend and my mom’s husband, who was my friend long before he married her, stood there with me for a bit. We decided to go down to the cafeteria to get out of the way of the nurses that were working feverishly to stabilize mom, who had started declining as we stood there.

Mom always made sure we went to church when we were kids, whether we wanted to or not. Many years later, sitting in a barn at Santa Anita, I asked her about why she always made us go but didn’t go herself. She said something very profound, that, now that I look back at it, helped shape me into the person I am today.

She said “Me and God are good friends. We’ve had our talks, and my church is this barn. I care for these horses, and God talks to me through them. God is all around us, in everything we see, everything we touch, every sound and every smell. I know God, and it was my job to make sure you know him too. I just hope they have horses in heaven.”

Later, heading back up to the ICU we heard a call for a Code Blue in ICU, and instinctively knew it was mom. When we got up there she was in full arrest, and the nurse asked our permission to stop all measures and let her go. Mom’s husband, the man she had spent the last 17 years with, who depended on her as a friend, confidant and lover, could barely talk as he said to just let her go. Then he promptly collapsed against the wall and into my sister’s arms, wailing in such a way as to let anyone hearing him know that his heart had just been torn from him.

I stepped outside to call family members that were awaiting word, and the next week is a blur. I don’t remember that Christmas, or anything much until the funeral, which was well attended, a testament, I guess, to how many people she touched in her life.

I miss her terribly, but I am not sad. I believe there is an after life, and if I am wrong I will never know it, but if I am right I will see her again.

But like I said, some things get seared into your memory and they will be a part of you until you die. What is seared into my memory about Christmas now is those last few moments with mom.

As we were leaving for the cafeteria, I stood at mom’s bedside and held her hand, and I could see the pain in her eyes from enduring something she plainly said she didn’t want to have happen to her. Thankfully left alone for a moment I took that time to lean in close and told her “Let go mom, it’ll be ok, I’m sure they have horses in heaven.”

Its become a popular yearly tradition now to send the Anti-Christian Liars Union grinches a Christmas card. I personally think its ineffective, and that the money you waste on a stamp for the organization to toss in the shredder would be better served towards a good cause. So, I encourage you to save that money, dig a little deeper, and contribute to an organization that fights the ACLU and defends Christmas. The Alliance Defense Fund, and the ACLJ are both great organizations that defend Christmas each year. The Alliance Defense Fund does it for free. Why not help groups like that out this year?

However, from experience last year...I know that many will insist on sending the ACLU a Christmas card. Afterall, it is tradition. If that is how you want to make your message...we have some great greeting cards and postcards available at our online store. Plenty of other great Christmas gifts too.

Send your Christmas card to the ACLU at:

ACLU

125 Broad Street

18th Floor

New York , NY 10004

The House rushed through legislation that would force "Anyone providing an 'electronic communication service' or 'remote computing service' to the public who learns about the transmission or storage of information about certain illegal activities or an illegal image" to report it or face up to THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS in fines!!!!

This includes the corner coffee shop with the free wifi. So now you are going to have the coffee shop owner forced by law to keep an eye on your surfing while you down that double soy decaf latte mochachinno frappawhatthehell...nice huh?

This bill went through without any kind of review, and the greatly changed text is not available for public review. That's the Democrats for ya....."Shut up and do what we tell ya, don't ask questions, it's for the children."

When the republic fails I want you to please take note that it was the left stealing your rights and snooping into your life. The Right believes you are a friggin grownup and can make your own decisions.

Nanny statism at it's virtual worst.

Click the title....it's awesome.