When my mother died way too young, my grandparents stepped in, because that's what family does. My grandparents had little in the way of financial resources, or put another way: "We was Po."

I think that in order to understand where you are going, you must remember where you've been. For me, that is a remembrance of the America I knew growing up; and where I've been.

I joke with audiences when I speak that, we were so poor, the electric company came to our house once and blew out the candles.

But as poor as we were, we were oh so rich! We ate together, played together, and prayed together.

I recall one birthday, eating a hamburger the size of a dinner plate at the Nighthawk Restaurant in San Antonio, TX. That was the first time I ate in a restaurant...a rarity for my family. My grandfather took me there as a treat, because he worked there as a cook.

I can count the number of Christmas presents I received as a child on both hands, and I remember every one of them. I treasured my toys, and I don't feel like I missed anything not having more. Give me marbles and a spinning top, and I could play for hours, outside...in the heat!

I got lots of whoopin's, most of which I deserved. Back then they called it discipline; however today it's called child abuse.

I remember my family taking road trips with my grandfather smoking so much the car looked like it belonged in a Cheech and Chong movie, the smoke billowing out when my grandfather thankfully cracked the window enough to see where he was driving.

We camped and fished, visited family often, and saw friends even more frequently. We always knew our neighbors, the people we did business with, and a handshake was better than any paper contract.

I carried those memories and good feelings into adulthood. I never thought about terrorists.

Then 9-11 happened. It changed us. Terror in America was now a real possibility.

But on 9-12 America came together like no other time in my lifetime. On that day, I was never more proud to be an American. It was a day when partisan bickering was cast aside and the America where I had grown up was back.

Flags flew all across America, and Americans were pissed off!! Somebody had attacked our homeland, there was to be hell to pay!

President Bush came on the television, and he said that he would track down the perpetrators, and we would have our justice. I get goose bumps thinking about that.

On 9-12, we weren't thinking about the Geneva Convention and other nonsense. And if somebody had said that waterboarding is torture, we would have publicly waterboarded him! 9-12 was the only day that I actually tolerated politicians on the Left! That day, America was prepared to rally against any enemy, foreign or domestic.

A world away Muslims were celebrating the event that created the largest single loss of American life ever, and the biggest loss of life on American soil-"Those Infidels are getting what they deserve."

What a difference a day makes

******



I've told you where I've been, now let me tell you where I believe we are headed.

America has changed dramatically since 9-12 of 2001. You couldn't have told me that after 9/12 we would have elected a junior senator from the most corrupt political machine on the planet, based on nothing but "hope and change."

And I wouldn't have believed that a junior senator whose background raises more questions than answers was elected and re-elected, but a governor and successful businessman with a proven record of accomplishment, an American patriot, father of 5 sons and testament to capitalism was considered "more of the same."

We knew he would have cabinet issues right from the start, because he selected Joe Biden as his VP. The only good thing that came from this is we were guaranteed that we will always know where to find the village idiot.

Post 9-12, patriots are called extremists, Nazis, Neanderthals, and mobsters, and our military men and women are suspected terrorists and put on 'watch lists.' But a terror attack by a devout Muslim in our military in the name of jihad is called "workplace violence."

Trillion is now a familiar part of our lexicon, and it is an unfortunate truth that our children and grandchildren may know what it means to be trillionaires and quadrillionaires in their lifetimes, and they will likely have less than we do.

Our irresponsible people and our failing companies expect and receive bailouts, and that only compares to the bailouts paid to millions of irresponsible mostly lazy minions who have come to depend on the government for their livelihoods.

We live in a time, when a woman living in government subsidized housing, receiving food stamps, called 911 to report her 52" flat screen stolen, homeless people carry cell phones, our poor have cable TV, X-boxes, wheel spinners, diamond and platinum grills, $350 throwback jerseys, $150 tennis shoes -- and I don't think I need to tell you who foots the bill,

Racial polarization is cloaked in the guise of racial reconciliation.

The situation in which we find ourselves begs the question: What is the only thing worse than an incompetent liberal President? Answer: A competent liberal President.

Liberal logic can be summed up in this statement by Marion Berry, 4 time mayor of DC.

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country."

Liberal logic, my fellow patriots is not only an oxymoron, it is un-American! These people make no sense.

They will tell you that what you actually read in their legislation is an optical illusion, so stop believing your lyin' eyes.

Their weapon: the cry of RACISM!. As you already know, a big percentage of conservatives are racists, according to the Left. The good news is that for the Left, all you have to do to lose that distinction is declare yourself a Democrat or a Progressive, and presto-change-o, and you are "clean," and able to bomb countries with brown people with impunity.

I'm here to tell you that it is they who are the racist.

******



It was supposedly an historic event to elect a black president. The side who voted for him -- the real racists -- marveled that a black man could be elected; while we took it as a non-event. I speak for many of us, when I say that we just didn't elect the right black man.

Conservatives knew that America had long been ready to elect a black president. We knew this because we are not racists.

The fact is our problem with Obama is not because he is black. Our problem with Obama is his policies mimic those of African dictators, of which he may very well be one!

We are witnessing first-hand the attempt to dismantle America as we have known it. And the Left fight tooth and nail, armed with nothing but EMOTION, and not a lick of truth or logic. Because they could not care less about truth and logic, and truth and logic tend to get in the way.

Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.

Here is what 9-11 is all about.

Africa is a glorious continent, with spectacular people representing 53 countries, and who speak 422 different languages. I have witnessed Africa's splendor first hand. The diversity of wildlife, the Nile River, Victoria Falls, the Sahara Desert. African beaches are truly awe-inspiring and host some of the world's most majestic sunrises and sunsets. Africa has a unique beauty.

All that said, I would not trade one acre of America for all that is Africa...for I am a pre-911 American.

Kevin Jackson blogs at The Black Sphere.

