You and Me? or You and I?

My grandmother, Mimi, was an English teacher; grammar was taught by her in our home. It was so engrained in my everyday being that I can't help but secretly correct people. I do, however, attempt to keep the corrections to myself (unless, of course, it's my child or husband committing the infraction).

With the prevalance of social networking, grammatical mistakes are in plain view. Whether it be ignorance or deliberate attempts at sounding "social", people all over the internet commit my biggest pet peeve: whether to use "you and me" or "you and I" or, heaven forbid, "me and you".

English teachers will be quick to tell you the rules of sentence structure, but Mimi explained it much easier.

"Mason and I went on a walk in the woods."

"Mason and me went on a walk in the woods."

Which one is correct? Well, just drop Mason and read the sentence, "I went on a walk in the woods." It's that easy!

"A picture of Cassie and I at the football game."

"A picture of Cassie and me at the football game."

Again, drop Cassie and who is in the picture? That would be me! "A picture of me at the football game."

And so I offer this as a little public service. As with many things, ignorance is bliss, so unless you know these simple rules, you were probably never bothered by it! Hope I didn't shatter your glass...

Ethics in politics?

Not many politicians are known for being ethical. It wasn't a huge surprise to most of us when Charlie Rangel was accused and convicted of some major ethics violations (taking vacations from donors, cheating on his taxes, using a rent-controlled apartnment for his campaign...) since we assume most politicians just haven't been caught yet.

What I found most interesting about this situation is that he then stole money from his campaign to pay for his defense lawyers! Then, when the money ran out and the lawyers quit, he complained that he was denied due-process and the right to an attorney. The man paid $2m for those attorneys and they didn't even stay for the trial! Sounds like someone got boondoggled.

Finally, Charlie Rangel decided to just walk out of the hearing and later stated that the results shouldn't be trusted because he wasn't even there.

We now have a new line of legal defense - I wasn't there to hear the verdict and therefore it can't be trusted! It is really that easy? I mean, I never heard in traffic court before that someone could just not show up and consider the judgement flawed. Or what if our violent offenders were somehow able to leave the court room during the trial, is the trial then invalid?

Poor Charlie - 40 years in government, making $174,000 in 2010, and he can't afford a lawyer. Man, times are tough.

Post-election: remember to keep them in line.

Well before the moment that President Bush enacted the TARP bill, many of us knew that our country needed change. We tried to educate our friends and family during the 2008 primaries, but they were drinking the anti-Bush kool-ade. Unfortunately, our research and insight were met with Hope & Change, and the Republicans did nothing to promote a Constitutionally oriented candidate.

Back in 2008, the TEA Party emerged. It didn't matter who signed that TARP bill, TEA Party supporters knew that it would stimulate our country as much as The New Deal. After TARP came the Stimulus and then Cash for Clunkers, all of which only deepened our national debt and increased job-loss.

So we set our sights on the 2010 election knowing full-well that between 2008 and 2010, many of the Hopey/Changey crowd would open their eyes to see what was really happening in America... our government was digging a hole so deep that even our grandchildren have a price on their heads. We've now sent that message that was so easily ignored - it's time to get back to our roots! Our roots would be in the Constitution with FREEDOM as its foundation.

Let's all remember that this election is not the end. This historic election is just the beginning and we must focus on keeping our elected officials in-line. It isn't the Democrat's fault that we're in this situation today - and it isn't the Republican's either.

Check out this video: the Story of Spending.

It's OUR fault, as citizens of this great country, for not keeping tabs on our government. We are the ones who take voting for granted, who glaze over when politics are mentioned, who beg for social services and gladly take our "refundable" tax credits. It is WE THE PEOPLE who must be in charge.

Keep in touch with your new Congressman or Senator. It's vital that we put this country back on track.