It's what real men do; the Harvey hurricane and flood

This has gone viral. Can't find the original source. I've seen it combined with video of a redneck monster (huge tires) car pulling a submerged military vehicle out of the muck.

"Let this sink in for a minute.....Hundreds and hundreds of small boats pulled by countless pickups and SUVs from across the South are headed for Houston. ...Almost all of them driven by men. They're using their own property, sacrificing their own time, spending their own money, and risking their own lives for one reason: to help total strangers in desperate need.

Most of them are by themselves. Most are dressed like the redneck duck hunters and bass fisherman they are. Many are veterans. Most are wearing well-used gimme-hats, t-shirts, and jeans; and there's a preponderance of camo. Most are probably gun owners, and most probably voted for Trump.

These are the people the Left loves to hate, the ones Maddow mocks. The ones Maher and Olbermann just *know* they're so much better than.

These are The Quiet Ones. They don't wear masks and tear down statues. They don't, as a rule, march and demonstrate. And most have probably never been in a Whole Foods.

But they'll spend the next several days wading in cold, dirty water; dodging gators and water moccasins and fire ants; eating whatever meager rations are available; and sleeping wherever they can in dirty, damp clothes. Their reward is the tears and the hugs and the smiles from the terrified people they help. They'll deliver one boatload, and then go back for more.

When disaster strikes, it's what men do. Real men. Heroic men. American men. And then they'll knock back a few shots, or a few beers with like-minded men they've never met before, and talk about fish, or ten-point bucks, or the benefits of hollow-point ammo, or their F-150.

And the next time they hear someone talk about "the patriarchy", or "male privilege", they'll snort, turn off the TV and go to bed.

In the meantime, they'll likely be up again before dawn. To do it again. Until the helpless are rescued. And the work's done.

They're unlikely to be reimbursed. There won't be medals. They won't care. They're heroes. And it's what they do."

Their dream, our nightmare

Ordinary people get it. Why doesn't Congress?

In one month, we've lost more value in our retirement funds than the value of the mortgages of many of the home buyers the government is trying to bail out. Why are we being punished for the misdeeds of Congress, who actually alotted $20,000,000 a year to protect buyers from "predatory lenders" while forcing banks to make risky loans.

We played by the rules--bought our first house in 1961--didn't exceed credit limits or go into consumer debt, lived in a crummy neighborhood, got fixed rate mortgages, fixed up our homes and never missed a payment. We weren't the ones who thought low income workers had to have "the American dream." We actually understood from 47 years of home ownership that a home isn't an investment, it's a place to live that you care about more than the place you rent. Period.

But Congress thought it was a good idea to provide NINJA loans (no income, no job, no assets) and push low income people into the suburbs to fill up cheaply built houses where they had no network of friends, services or church and a long drive to work. Not the best place to be when gasoline prices started to soar due to more diddling by Congress with e-regulations.

All this was encouraged by the other dream--"wealth redistribution" and "justice" (just-us) pushed by the left, by church groups and "organizers" with their hand out, like ACORN, and the clever entrepreneur real estate home flippers, and wealthy CEOs atop the Fortune 400 who never miss a chance to make a buck with government loop-holes.

Now you want to hand out below market rates to rescue these mortgages, and that's what got my retirement account where it is? Are you guys crazy? Why do you want to rescue people who couldn't make it the first time, but not me who did?