Something To Think About

There's something about the small towns of Montana that intrigues me. You never know what you're going to find. Take Big Timber for instance. It's a relatively sleepy little town, quite typical of those around the state. It has, however, the Grand Hotel. One of those wonderful old places that devoted owners pour tons of money into to preserve the history. We stay in them often.

The Grand also has a grand dining room and the chef is one of the best self taught chefs you'll find anywhere. It has been the reason we've gone there quite often. You'd be surprised at how many of them there are! It's a culinary delight when you find them!

The town also boasts the manufacturer of Sharps rifles. Beautiful hand made replicas of the rifles that helped win the west. Hub had always wanted to see how they were made so we stopped in and were offered a tour which we eagerly accepted. It is also Montana gun country. It's political, oh yes. As you can imagine. While there I picked up my free copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, a little booklet distributed by the Heritage Foundation. Various fliers were also on the table sporting jokes and other bits of information to contemplate. One in particular caught my attention. I found it thought provoking enough to devote a post to it.

If you cross the North Korean border illegally you get 12 months of hard labor. Iran - you're detained indefinitely, Afghanistan you get shot, Saudi Arabia you get jailed, China you may never be heard from again, Venezuela you are branded a spy and your fate is sealed, Cuba you'll be thrown into a political prison to rot.

Think about recent happenings around the world where these fates have befallen Americans!

If you cross the U.S. border illegally you get a job, a driver's license, a social security card, food stamps, a credit card, subsidized rent or a loan to buy a house, free education, free health care, a lobbyist in Washington, billions of $ worth of documents printed in your language because you don't speak ours and the right to carry your flag while protesting that you don't get enough respect.

This is an unusual post for me. It's more like one of the multitudes of forwards we get daily in our e-mail. With the debate on immigration reform looming, however, I thought it worthwhile seeing this in one spot just as a reminder of how it works.