I Can Do Better By Mistake

I Can Do Better By Mistake

Troy J. Klein

Print ISBN: 978-1-48357-240-6

eBook ISBN: 978-1-48357-241-3

© 2016 Troy J. Klein. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Dedication

This is for my children Amy, Christian, and Troy II for understanding that being a dad means more than just being a softie. I love you all more than you will ever know.

This is for my ex-wife Marianne for always being my champion and my ex-wife Lucia for all of the good and bad that helped me grow as a person.

This is for HHB 3/60 ADA and 1/10 Armored Cavalry. They were so many of my fellow soldiers that impacted my life that I would need pages to list them all. These people were not just my fellow soldiers but my friends, brothers, and sisters and I love you all.

This is for my 2 best friends Andrew Wilson and William Chandler. No one could ever be better friends.

This is for my brothers Cliff Klein and Eric Vibert as well as my sisters Dede Wagner and Lori Tomczak.

This is for my mother and father without which I don’t exist.

This is for the late Thomas Colpean for being a better man and stepfather than anyone has a right to. If a there is another heart out there which is bigger, I have never seen it.

This is for Bonnie King my 5th and 6th grade teacher. She had a way to make you want to be better and was the single most influential person in my youth.

This book is also dedicated to both our fore fathers and all of the soldiers who came before me for helping to forge and protect the greatest nation on Gods green Earth.

Thank you to all of the wise people both past and present who said it better than I ever could. I would especially like to thank Dave Ramsey who I listen to almost daily. You do a whole lot more than give people financial advice, big guy. God bless you.

I would like to extend a special thanks to Konnie Williams for the front and back cover layout and design.

I wish to thank God and our lord and savior Jesus Christ for showing me the way and giving me the ability to articulate and write this book as well as all of the many blessings that they have bestowed upon me in my life time.

I welcome your feedback. Please send all comments to icoulddobetterbymistake@hotmail.com

About the Author

Troy J. Klein is the product of a lower middle class upbringing in Saginaw Michigan growing up in a neighborhood where they all played baseball in the streets and football in a, usually muddy field. Upon graduation from high school Troy joined the U.S. Army the day after his 18th birthday. Not taking authority well, the first 3 years were beset with demotion and a whole bunch of extra duty. After a year out of the military, Troy gained a huge appreciation for the teamwork and selflessness and rejoined. He quickly moved up the ranks to become a Sergeant, and by extension, a leader of men and women. His career was cut short during a NATO field exercise where his was pinned in between two very heavy vehicles breaking his hip. Not able to do the running anymore Troy made the decision to leave rather than suffer a desk job and not being able to lead anymore.

Returning to the states, Troy bounced around from one dead end job to the next and wasting what little money he had on a multitude of get rich quick schemes in an effort to provide a better life for his family. After arriving in Phoenix and selling cars for a while, Troy gravitated towards retail management. Although retail can be very thankless, Troy welcomed the challenge and was successful for many different companies. Troy measured his success not in dollars and cents but rather how many he was able to mentor and to see them flourish under his training and become managers themselves.

Troy always harbored a passion for writing. As a teenager he had a part time job a freelance writer for a local newspaper but it would take three more decades to realize his dream. Imagined obstacles such as family obligations and career led him to believe that he had no time for dreams. One day, however he found a reason to make the time. Troy was heartbroken and angry over the way our leaders lacked any real leadership and seemed to have no concern for our country or its citizens. After four long years of stopping and starting the dream was finally realized.

Troy currently resides in the small community of Holbrook Arizona in the White Mountains of Northern Arizona. He has been both the Vice President and President of the towns Chamber of Commerce. Troy is currently the General Manager of a large Truck Stop/Travel Center and, though his business, has raised over $20,000 in toys for the poor children of the community during the holidays.

Table of Contents

Dedication

About the Author

Introduction

The Horse and the Carrot

We Are ALL Accountable

Broken and Betrayed

Dumbing Down

La Migra

Let There Be Peace on Earth; Really?!?

Divisions within Divisions

Foreign Aid

Tax This!

Crime and Punishment

The Unaffordable Healthcare Extortion Act

The Art of War

What’s Wrong with Your Rights?

Blah Blah Blah

Patriots Stand Tall While the Rest Whine

Short Shots

Chains of Freedom

Introduction

I am commonly opposed to those who modestly assume the rank of champions of liberty, and make a very patriotic noise about the people. It is the stale artifice which has duped the world a thousand times and yet, though detected, it is still successful. I love liberty as well as anybody. I am proud of it, as the true title of our people to distinction above others; but…I would guard it by making the laws strong enough to protect it.

Fisher Ames

Throughout history, no matter how great the nation, society, or empire, man has risen up and built anew upon the ashes of ruin. The larger questions that we always ponder are the cause and effect. Were they destroyed by apathy, lack of vigilance, greed, technology, religion, or was it the grand plan of the creator? The sick joke is that no matter how many times ruin has occurred during the brief history of mankind; we seem doomed to repeat the same mistakes as if caught upon some great cosmic circle of life. The same blunders time and again as if history had never existed and there were no lessons to be learned.

A morsel of genuine history is a thing so rare as to be always valuable.

Thomas Jefferson

Truth be told, is does not take a degree in clinical psychology to understand the dire and ugly reality of why the same mistakes seem destined to be revisited upon us like a medieval plague. The most difficult action that someone can take to become a complete person is to accept the reality of whom and what we are as it can be beyond painful to look in the mirror and be truly honest with no one other than ourselves. Take that one step further and imagine that on a much larger scale where the most dishonest people are the ones making the decisions, at the leadership level, for a community or a nation.

How can people that cannot be honest with themselves be expected to work in the common interest of millions of others who they never have, and most likely, will never come in direct contact with? To be sure there is a small minority who takes up public service with high ideals and seeks to make a difference but they are quickly run over and corrupted by the same political system that they swore to change for the betterment of all.

Even the father of our country, George Washington, understood that political divisiveness would be the bane of our nation. How is it that this truth, spoken by a true leader during the infancy of our budding Republic could be so lost on the decision makers of today?

Many have unanswered questions that they don’t really care to have answered as the truth is more horrible than the problems that pose most questions in this country.

A nation under a well regulated government should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is the monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support.

Thomas Paine

The first thing in finding answers is to really and truly be prepared to accept the truth in its unabridged naked reality. Fact is, NBC, no body cares. That’s right, I said it, the skeletons have come cascading out of the closet and there is no way to shove them back and close the door. Don’t be afraid, it’s both worse than and not as bad as it seems.

Percy-Now just a damn minute Troy, first you say it’s not so bad and at the same time you say it worse. Which is it?

Troy- Like I said, it’s both. If that seems contradictory, you will need to read further as I illustrate both the disease and the cure.

(At this time folks, let me introduce you to Percy. He is your average guy who thinks the world owes him a living and that the government knows how to run your life better than you do.)

It should not take a great deal of intellectual thought to discover the reality of why we are in this mess and what it will take to set it straight. I do not intend to bore the hell out of you with a bunch of useless facts and figures. You could get all of that on the internet much quicker than reading this book. What I am going to do is lay it out in such a way that any rational human being would have a difficult time in refuting.

At this point you are asking who is this guy? I am just your average tax paying citizen who has an unrivaled passion for his country. I grew up in the Midwest, spent 9 years in the Army, and have managed businesses for more than 2 decades. I have gone through 2 divorces, raised 3 great children and I am just as flawed as the next guy down the street. I know that at first glance, the title alone makes me sound like an arrogant prick but stick with me and all will be made clear soon enough.

I am a 52-year-old working the same 9 to 5 for past 2 decades and looking in the mirror every day knowing that I am squandering my God given talent and playing it safe. Sound familiar? Most people spend a lifetime coming to terms with who they are and what they should be doing and most go nowhere fast. Who am I? Nobody special to be sure, just one of many of the millions of Americans who see what is happening to our great nation only I am tired of staying silent. I did not spend 9 years in the Army, defending this nation and its constitution to watch it all go the way of the Romans.

I do not possess any unique qualifications to speak on the issues of the day. Or do I? What qualifies me to write this book as if I am authority on the subject are two unique accreditations that make me an expert. I have a master’s degree in bullshit detection and a PHD in common sense. Life has taught me at a personal level what it takes to live a good life and to lead others. I am not rich or wealthy, at least not according to my latest bank statement, but if I ignored the basic truths of life in the same manner as our government, I would be on the street living in a box.

The last time I checked, the Constitution was written in plain readable English and should not require a group of Supreme justices to explain it me. Public school actually taught me how to read and write and common sense choose to use it or not, is in each and every one of us. What I write about in these pages is not my opinion but straight forward facts. Yes, I said facts. I challenge anyone, politician or otherwise to debate the truth of what you are about to read. To some, this will be an indictment of your entire life and/ or public career. You will not see many facts and figures as the truth needs no supporting documentation.

Facts are stubborn things.

Ronald Reagan

One thing you will see throughout your journey is the wisdom of ages. There have been many that have come before you or I whose message has been lost through the ages. I think that it is critical to re-introduce you to the words of people who have said things better than I ever could. You will see quotes from our founding fathers as well as from our contemporaries. I find it especially telling that most of the troubles we have as a country today were addressed by our forefathers; Congress, pay attention please.

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attach it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

Winston Churchill

Let me clear one thing up right from the start and then you may continue to read or burn this book depending on which works for you. It is not in my genetic structure to apologize for telling the truth no matter how much it may hurt or offend. It is still a free country so get past it and you may just remember what it felt like to be an AMERICAN. At times I will be articulate (that means big fancy words) and at times my writing will be perceived as vulgar, rest assured, that everything written is done in a very pre-meditated manner to provoke a specific emotional response. This is not to say that I am attempting to sway your way of thinking but rather to wake you up so you will stop letting other people do your thinking for you.

In the last few years, the very idea of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is dredged up only as a final resort when the alternative options of deception, threat, and bribery have all been exhausted.

Michael Musto

It is not required that your beliefs match mine 100% nor is that the purpose of this book. I only ask you to keep an open mind and allow the truth to steer you to the ultimate end. Do not allow yourself to be clouded by party prejudices as political parties run on a very specific belief system almost as if it was religious dogma. They’re agenda, on both sides, is designed to sway your way of thinking which, in turn, will help to secure their power. They have an agenda which puts them first and the people they were intended to serve as a distant afterthought.

THE TRUTH HAS NO AGENDA

My goal is to tell the truth at the most basic level which leaves no room for doubt. By the time you have finished reading. I want you to be pissed off. Why you ask? Because that will mean that I have reached my goal. I want you to be pissed off, not at our government, but rather yourself for being so apathetic as to let a body of greedy, self serving, degenerates do your thinking for you. It is time to be accountable. Once you start reading, there is no turning back. Are you prepared to look in the mirror?

I want you to wake up to the fact that it okay to be a proud American. It is not okay to be an ignorant American. We do not owe the world an apology for forging the greatest country in the history of mankind. (I will go into this more, later in the book)

Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance.

W. Clement Stone

This will require a huge leap of faith as millions of people in this country have their head so far up their ass that blood will be drawn with the effort. In this case, the destination is worth the journey so start tugging.

I am not a liberal, conservative, para-military or racist. Simply put I am a proud American! (Damn, gives me goose bumps just saying it) There are so many issues currently in our country that it would take an encyclopedia to catalog them all. In this book I will focus on the most basic and most important. They are not important because I say so but because any semi intelligent person knows them to be important. I am no comedian but, being a natural born smart ass, some of what I write may seem comical. It is not. I