Beast7's How it Ought to Be

Time to Clean House

2009-05-19T15:37:00.002-07:00

Its time for Michael Steele to either step down as chairman of the RNC (the honorable thing to do), or get tossed out on his keister. In this current environment, with a Democratic administration in the White House, and Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, and the party still smarting from the aftermath of the last election, the last thing the GOP needs is a chairman who seems intent on stinking up the joint like a Mississippi outhouse in July. Almost immediately after his selection as chair just short months ago, Steele stuck his foot in his mouth and has hardly removed it since. In fact, Steele has gone even further, jumping at every opportunity to voice his just-barely-articulate views in every possible bully pulpit, nearly every such instance requiring rehabbing after the fact by the RNC. Most recently, Steele has come under fire for hiring friends and family of friends as party staff, and at two to three times the salaries of their immediate predecessors.

The popular vote outcome of the 2008 General Election upholds that the country is still essentially a 50/50 bipartisan split (actual #’s are 53%D/46%R). The fact is, however, that the party is hemorrhaging popular and financial support like a leaky lifeboat. Sarah Palin has become little more than a target of opportunity for sharp-tongued pundits. The rising star that was Bobby Jindal has been significantly damaged by his ill-advised performance rebutting the President’s address to the joint session of Congress in February. Steele’s recent comments on a national radio talk show have even begun to undercut the technical frontrunner for the 2012 campaign, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

The fact remains, the Republican Party has a wealth of talent that is in-step with the values and beliefs of the meaty part of its support: Romney, Jindal (after some rehab), Utah Governor and newly appointed Ambassador to China, John Huntsman, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, Eric Cantor, John Boehnor, to name a few. For the cream to rise, though, the party needs to do some house-cleaning (forgive the mixed metaphor), and Steele needs to be the first to go.

I'm Sensing a Pattern Here...

2009-04-01T13:33:00.002-07:00

Once again, a nominee for the new administration’s cabinet has turned out to have failed to properly pay her income taxes, this time due to undocumented and erroneous deductions. Kansas Governor and Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Kathleen Sebelius just recently corrected three years of tax returns and paid more than $7,000 in back taxes—after her nomination. In a letter dated March 31, Gov. Sebelius stated that she and her husband, Gary, a federal magistrate judge in Kansas, paid a total of $7,040 in back taxes and $878 in interest to amend returns from 2005-2007. Honestly, $7000 over three years is not a huge oversight, especially in light of how much THAT family must bring in….but why was it only noticed, and remedied, once her nomination process had begun?

I can only conclude that either our Federal tax forms and instructions are just too complicated for even the best and brightest of its citizens to grasp (are you listening, Secretary Geithner?); or rather that public officials just don’t feel accountable to bear their fair share of the cost of our governance? Any chance we will soon hear of a nominee who has overpaid his or her taxes?

"AIG" on his face...

2009-03-18T08:18:00.001-07:00

While I reserve the right to remain righteously indignant over the payment of $165M in bonuses to AIG executives whose company has been kept afloat, not on the tide of earnings resulting from their savvy financial decisions, but rather, on the backs of taxpayers; one of the loudest protesters may be blowing up a smokescreen to obscure his own culpability in the matter.

Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary (and tax evader), has led a vocal charge against AIG’s bonuses. The detail he all-too-frequently omits from his oratory is that he was a primary author of the AIG bailout plan, and either knew, or should have known, of these bonuses and AIG’s obligations regarding them, several weeks, if not months ago, and could have provisioned AIG’s receipt of bailout funds on restructuring those obligations.

As it stands now, looks like he has “aig” on his face.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

2009-03-17T10:40:00.001-07:00

AIG, one of the biggest benefactors of the recent cash bonanza to flow out of Washington, is now grabbing headlines based on its recent payment of $165 million in bonuses to its executives—those folks MOST responsible for the poor decisions that brought them to the brink of bankruptcy. AIG counters the bad press, on the basis that these bonuses are legal, contractual obligations that have to be met, lest lawsuits argue otherwise. Even Larry Summers -- President Obama's top economic advisor – has stepped up to their defense, arguing, "We are a country of law. There are contracts. The government cannot just abrogate contracts."

That is pretty interesting, seeing as how AIG, which is to a great extent, one of those festering sores on our country’s commerce, an insurance company; one of those rare entities whose business is already universally assured by compulsory auto insurance laws across the country. And, in its capacity as an insurer, AIG and its subordinate companies are sued dozens of times each day for—guess what?—breach of contract.

So I reckon when it comes to performing under its contractual obligations to those people who dutifully pay their premiums and need their benefits to survive; AIG feels less compelled than it does to reward the gross incompetence of those who financial navigation steered the company’s ship aground.

Ethics? We Don' Need No Steenkeeng Ethics!

2009-03-10T08:19:00.000-07:00

Seems Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, is the latest member of the “most honest, ethical, and open Congress in history*” to hit the news for failure to properly pay income taxes. It seems the Congressman has earned more than $75,000 in rental income from a villa he has owned in the Dominican Republic since 1988, but never reported it on his federal or state tax returns. His attorney told reporters that that the congressman would most likely file amendments to his tax returns for the years in question.

Okay, so the unpaid taxes in question would hardly be a drop in the bucket against the rapidly growing national debt. Certainly, there are no jobs which would have been created but weren’t, as a result of his “error.” And, now that he has been caught, things will be brought to rights, at least as far as the Congressman’s tax obligations are concerned.

That aside, the biggest offense the Congressman is guilty of here is his arrogance towards his constituency and those who pay his salary. Jason Mattera, of Brooklyn, NY, and a reporter for Hot Air TV, confronted Rangel about his growing ethical and financial troubles, and the ever-eloquent Rangel responded, “Why don’t you mind your g*dd*mned business?” Fact is, had Rangel been an ordinary citizen, living his life in the private sector, that would have been an entirely appropriate, although decidedly impolite, response. Fact is, though, that Rangel is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which writes the federal tax code, and has pushed for higher taxes on the wealthy. Apparently, excepting him.

*House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Cowboy Creed

2009-03-02T08:28:00.003-07:00

Colorado is cowboy country. Most of the western range is still populated by far more cattle and bison than people. As such, we have one of those chuckwagon deals here, the Flying W Ranch...where the "actual working cowboys" lay out an authentic cattle trail supper and then play cowboy music and tell funny stories. Its a real attraction for out of town visitors, and since the missus has a big family, we have been there many times. On the back of the ticket for the show, they have printed "My Creed," written by an American statesman, Dean Alfange.* I keep a copy of the ticket on my desk, and happened to pick it up yesterday before leaving for work, and was impressed by how timely his words are:

Those these words were written long ago, at least as early as 1950, but could they possibly ring any truer today?

*Born in Constantinople (now Istanbul), in 1899, he was raised in upstate New York and served in the U.S. Army during World War I and attended Hamilton College, graduating in the class of 1922. He attended Colombia University where he received his law degree and opened a practice in Manhattan. In 1942 Alfange was the American Labor Party candidate for governor of New York and a founder of the Liberal Party of New York. Alfange was also Professor Emeritus at UMass Amherst and a leading figure in various pro-Zionist organizations. He died in Manhattan at the age of 91 on October 27, 1989.

My Solution

2009-02-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

Since our President has now given voice to the goals of his administration—universal health care, universal education, and green energy, as well as the bonus opportunity to fix the economy, I figured I’d offer up my ideas to help him move all of his programs along the path to success. My bright idea? Institute a Federal University system.

Need to stimulate the economy? Need to create jobs? Take the (already Federally owned) recently closed military bases and put construction trades to work immediately refitting those facilities into university campuses….complete with ready-made dormitories and dining facilities. Many will also have available on-campus living quarters for faculty and staff, sports and recreation facilities, and some will even have operational medical centers.

Once the physical plant is complete, jobs will immediately open up for food service workers, maintenance and janitorial workers, clerical and administration workers, and of course educators. Tuition and fees could be lowballed enough to put significant pressure on the private and public state colleges and universities to bring their own rates to more realistic levels, and admissions preference could be given to veterans programs, low-income background students, and other folks disadvantaged by the existing higher learning systems. Thus, we are well on our way to making universal education achievable.

Next, these Federal Universities could condition admission to specific areas of study, and on post-graduation service in specific industries: in this case, I am thinking of health care and green-energy engineering. Establish university hospitals on these campuses, and staff them, at least in part, by student-nurses, student-doctors, and student technicians. Recent graduates could populate the professional staff, under the supervision of a skeletal cadre of established physicians. Beneficiaries of “universal” health care could receive their treatment in such facilities and the costs would be reduced dramatically. Likewise, engineering faculty could conduct wide variety of funded research and development projects on green energy projects, with a wealth of students for worker bees and experimenters. Green energy is only going to be feasible when it becomes economically feasible, and few private sector entities are willing to invest the time, effort and economic cost to find that solution.

Since the pocketbook is open, why not try something that might at least work?

He Went Back Up The Hill

2009-02-26T08:12:00.001-07:00

One year ago today, Bob Beck, my Dad, ended his struggle of half a dozen years of dealing with the ravages of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Everything that made me a success as a military leader, and every good quality I have as a man, a husband, and a father, I learned from him. Never a churchgoing man, he nevertheless exemplified love of his fellow man, and was a pure paragon of integrity. A life long sportsman, he continued to run whitewater rivers in canoes and kayaks, and refereed basketball at all levels from church league to college for over fifty years, well into his seventies.

He was also a veteran of the Korean war. While he has often told stories of pranks and goofups from his time in the Army, he shied away from speaking of his war experiences. In fact, he only ever told me a single story from his time in combat, but that story told me more than a twenty more could have.

A fresh-faced infantryman not long out of basic training at Fort Indiantown Gap, he was on Pork Chop Hill, and when the Chinese blew their bugles and charged, he and his buddies were ordered to crawl back to the rally point to reconfigure and refit for a counterattack. As he was moving toward the rally point, he was crawling over the bodies, and body parts, of friends he had gone through boot camp with. It was more than his 19-year-old mind could handle, and he broke down. He was taken to the aid station, got an IV for hydration, and a half-hour's rest. The battalion surgeon offered to pull him off of the line, but instead, this soldier WENT BACK UP THE HILL, to be with his buddies, and see this thing through.
Fifty years later, his dreams were still haunted by the sounds of those bugles and the images of the torn bodies of his friends. Alzheimer’s and dementia left him sometimes unable to distinguish then from now.

He never got any medals for that trip back up Pork Chop Hill, but anyone who has ever been in battle will tell you that the hardest thing is not to hold the line under fire, but rather to leave the relative safety of the "rear" and willingly walk back into the midst of the fray. Most people wouldn't consider him a hero, some might even consider him a coward. But in my eyes, what matters is that he WENT BACK UP THE HILL.

Lessons NOT Learned

2009-02-25T13:38:00.001-07:00

One of my long-standing maxims is “When there are no consequences for substandard performance, substandard performance will become the standard.” Yet, our society, and especially our current administration, seems to want to avoid adverse consequences at any cost.

I have spent a lot of my life in supervision of young men (and a few women), and it sure seemed to me that the default position was to live right at the edge, or beyond the edge, of their income. Little consideration was given, at least initially, to what can I/we afford, as opposed to what do I/we want? The upshot of this was, time and again, that the least calamity in their income stream would totally upset their personal financial applecart.

So now we find ourselves facing the results of such a mindset on a nationwide scale. People over the last half-dozen years or so, at a pace never before equaled, have bought houses with reckless disregard of their ability to afford them. They bought these overpriced homes with overpriced mortgages and agreements that the interest rate on the loan could change at any time, increasing the payment (that, as it was, they could only regularly meet under the very best of circumstances) by hundreds of dollars per month. Unscrupulous mortgage brokers, hungry for easy commissions, painted too-rosy pictures, and home-buyers bought it all, hook, line and sinker.

In some of these cases, actual fraud transpired. In those cases, those buyers have a right to seek restitution, to be put back to rights, and I wish them good luck. Those fraudulent brokers and companies should be imprisoned for the collective terms of those fraudulent loans, or at least strung up in the public square and banned from ever again holding a financial position loftier than cashier at Carls Jr. All that said, buyers need to remember that in a home purchase, there are three parties: buyer, realtor and mortgage broker. Two of these parties have primary interests that stand in conflict with the buyer’s… It doesn’t take a Rhodes Scholar to realize that if it is called an “adjustable rate mortgage,” the direction of adjustment will nearly always be UP. Caveat emptor, as they say in the funny papers.

So now Uncle Sam swoops in to put everything to rights. Since I heard about this “bailout” from the beginning, my stand was that if our government is going to help out the mortgage brokers and companies, then it had an equally compelling duty to help out the note-holders. By “help-out,” I mean underwriting the re-financing of those mortgages, if possible, to a rate tied to the prime lending rate, that the homeowner could consistently make. But if that dawg ain’t gonna hunt, then get’im out of the truck. What absolutely should not happen, however, is that the “bailout” leave these people better off than if they had acted responsibly in the first place.

Fact is, the market has a built in remedy for fiscal irresponsibility. By foreclosing on ill-advised or irresponsible buyers, those properties will likely be available at a more realistic price to people who have accepted ownership for their own financial security and lived within their means.

HOPE and CHANGE

2009-02-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

Our new president, who campaigned on a platform of “HOPE” and “CHANGE,” has now had his fourth nomination for a senior level cabinet post come up as a tax cheat. Of course, the most egregious is the one who was confirmed--Tim Geithner, as Secretary of the Treasury, and ironically, directly in the line of supervision of the I.R.S. When the bright light of day (and of media attention) shone on these nominees’ tax shortcomings, they of course paid up and apologized. Nothing was said of any criminal prosecution (remember, this was the only crime Al Capone himself couldn’t dodge!) for their actions. Would that be the case if it was Joe Tentpeg (or Joe the Plumber, for that matter) who had erred in paying his taxes? First, I doubt that it would have taken a nomination for a cabinet position for such an error to be discovered in Joe’s case, and I’ll bet Joe would have been dealt with promptly and harshly.

This new administration, and its majority party, are unabashed believers in wealth-sharing and income redistribution, only…as it turns out, so long as it isn’t their income and wealth that is being shared or redistributed…During the campaign, I noted that me and the missus have given more to charity during the last four years than our new President and Vice-President…combined! That, and the recently-demonstrated record of Dem cabinet nominees taken together in context, make me wonder: was it that Big O “HOPEs” you won’t notice his parties disregard for paying mandatory taxes, and that you won’t notice the pocket “CHANGE” that constitutes his administration’s personal giving to the poor and unfortunate.

Letter to our "Pro-Life" Gubbinah

2007-02-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

Beastly Intelligence

2007-02-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.
An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.
You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view.
A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary.

You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

What I am Thankful For

2006-11-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

Lies, Damn Lies,......and Democrats

2006-11-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Democratic New York Congressman and newly appointed House Ways and Means Chair Charles Rangel has apparently contracted the scourge of his party, foot-in-mouth disease. In this case, it looks like his Weejuns have reached well past his molars, and are cutting off the supply of oxygen to his (alleged) brain.

This past weekend, the dimwitted Dem opined "If a young fellow has an option of having a decent career, or joining the Army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq," on "Fox News Sunday. "If there's anyone who believes these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No bright young individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment," the congressman continued.

The Army, which was falling short of recruitment goals, has admitted that in 2005, it began accepting more high school dropouts and more recruits with lower scores on intelligence tests. This lowering of standards, however, has gained attention far out of proportion to its actual impact, as the actual effect on the population of the active duty force amounts only to a percentage point or two. In fact, a recent Heritage Foundation Study found that 97% of military enlistees were high school graduates, as compared with about 80% of Americans in general, and that the average reading level of military personnel is a full grade level higher than that of the general populace.

Rangel, a long standing advocate or reinstating a military draft, tossed aside the reports of the Heritage Foundation, instead apparently relying on his own experiences. “…everyone will see what they already know, and that is that those who have the least opportunities at this age find themselves in the military, as I did when I was 18 years old." Congressman Rangel served in the U.S. Army from 1948-52, during which time he fought in Korea and was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Apparently spring-loaded in the “affirmative action” position, Rep. Rangel has authored several pieces of legislation to benefit minority and women veterans, including a successful bill that established the Office of Minority Affairs Within the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Obviously, Rangel believes that a disproportionate amount of the fighting is borne by minorities. In fact, the contrary is true—while the population of minorities, especially blacks is higher in the armed forces:

White: 63% (compared to 60% of the U.S. population)
Black: 20% Hispanic: 11%
Other minorities: 6%

The cross section of the force currently deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other danger spots reflects the opposite:

70% White (compared to 60% of the U.S. population)
16% Black (compared to 13% of the U.S. population)
12% Hispanic
2% Other minorities

(DOD Armed Forces Overview)

Rangel gets it wrong again when he refers to the target recruitment group as being areas of low income and low opportunity. In fact, since 1999, and most obviously since 9/11; it has been young men and women of ALL races from increasingly affluent neighborhoods, with increasingly promising futures who have come to know the cost of freedom, and shouldered personally the responsibility to defend the cause of liberty—here and abroad.

Maybe what Rangel is failing to take into consideration is that many of those in low income areas aren’t motivated to expend the effort to raise themselves up. Maybe what he fails to factor into his equation is that it isn’t opportunity that is lacking in the regions he is concerned for, but rather a sense of personal responsibility for one’s own success.

Says it all....

2006-11-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

These Guys are Celebrating the Democrat's Victories...

2006-11-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

What more do you need to know....?

Donkey...or Jackass?

2006-11-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, Sen. John Kerry noticed that old familiar taste in his mouth.

At a campaign rally on Monday, Kerry stated, "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

There goes that foot-in-mouth disease again, Senator.

While Kerry has spent much of the following days first sidestepping, and then apologizing for his poor choice of words, calling it a “botched joke,” the unspoken fact of the matter is that he said out loud what the vast majority of the Democratic leadership believes. And, once again, they are not only wrong, but far out of touch with what Mr. and Mrs. Citizen believe.

Generally speaking, soldiers are the best people I know. They have more drive, ambition, concern for their countrymen and world citizens, and embrace the concept of that a successful team has more value than a successful individual. Generation after generation have referred to our young soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines as the “best and brightest.” Fact is, it takes a heck of a lot more gumption to enlist, complete training, and serve than it does to languish in community college for six years.

Personally, I enlisted with two years of college, and completed my Bachelor of Science degree within six years—while serving. I served in a variety of positions and units, and left each one better off than when I joined it—better trained, more efficient, more cohesive. After 22 years in office, can Senator Kerry say the same?

Daddy(ies) Warbucks

2006-09-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

Fortunately, for the last couple of weeks anyhow, gas prices have been on a downhill slide lately. When they were at their peak a short time ago, however, one of the favorite stories in the papers and on the airwaves was the tremendous profit margins of the oil companies, and exorbitant salaries and bonuses being earned by oil company CEO’s. A much less publicized, but likely far more tragic parallel to those stories are the obscenely generous salaries currently garnered by Defense Industry CEO’s.

Here is a brief sampling: United Technologies ($200 million), General Dynamics ($65 million), Lockheed Martin ($50 million), and Halliburton ($49 million). Other firms in which CEO compensation over the last four years totaled $25 million to $45 million were Textron, Engineered Support Systems, Computer Sciences, Alliant Techsystems, Armor Holding, Boeing, Health Net, ITT Industries, Northrop Grumman, Oshkosh Truck, URS, and Raytheon.

Meanwhile, the average soldier putting his life on the line in the Global War on Terrorism in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and other garden spots around the globe grosses around $25,000 a year.

Please don’t misunderstand. I believe in capitalism and support those pursuing the American dream of financial success. However, I just don’t cotton to folks making obscenely high incomes on the backs of both the soldiers using the equipment being produced, and the taxpayers footing the bill. Clearly, the DOD is not looking for, nor getting any bargains. Wouldn’t a mere million or two dollars a year be adequate compensation for the executives honchoing these companies?

I’d sure feel a lot better about the whole situation if that additional cash was put back into R&D on that equipment, or its replacement. I know from first hand experience that a good bit of the equipment that GI’s count on is neither foolproof nor 100% reliable. We have all read about soldiers’ body armor that didn’t perform up to spec, yet David Brooks, the former CEO of body-armor maker DHB, made $192 million in stock sales in 2004.

Just how big of a house, or how fancy of a car, does a CEO need to feel gratified?

Rings True

2006-09-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

The latest event the MSM is piling on appears to be remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI during a speech last week at the University of Regensburg in Bavaria, Germany, in which the Holy Father quoted from a medieval text linking Islam with violence. "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached," the pope quoted Byzantine Emporer Manuel II Palaeologus as saying.

Immediately, Muslims everywhere got their turbans in a knot, offended that anyone would ascribe violent connotations to the “religion of peace.” How did they respond? In incidents ostensibly resulting from Muslim anger, an Italian nun was shot dead in Somalia and armed Palestinians attacked Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Anglican churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In sharp contrast, Pope Benedict XVI’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was shot May 13, 1981 at Saint Peter's square by a Muslim extremist, Mehmet Ali Agca. In 1983, the Pope asked for, and was granted a meeting his would-be assassin in Rome's Rebibbia prison. The purpose? Not for revenge, not to harangue his attacker. Instead, John Paul the Great forgave Agca, and asked Catholics around the world to "pray for my brother (Agca), whom I have sincerely forgiven."

Which truly is the religion of peace? The principal prayer of Christians everywhere is the Lord’s Prayer, which asserts forgiveness of “those who trespass against us,” in order that we in turn might be granted forgiveness for our own shortcomings. Rather than calling for vengeful response to affronts, Jesus himself urged:

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:38-40).

What I haven’t heard on the nightly news, or read in the local paper, is that maybe the quotation the Holy Father cited to was spot-on. Which is pretty amazing, since everytime there is an accusation of misbehavior on the part of a Catholic priest, or a Christian minister, reporters are tripping over each other to get the story on the broadcast, or in the headlines.

We Miss You, Johnny

2006-09-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

No Plan B for Salvation

2006-08-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

One of the items seemingly buried amongst the more sensational news items this past week was the FDA’s approval of the over the counter sale of “Plan B,” also known on some fronts as ‘the morning after pill.” While I am certain that this is seen as a victory and cause for joy among women’s’ rights groups and others, it signals two very significant, and very tragic milestones for our country.

First, and clearly the most tragically, abortion is now available over the counter, simply for the asking, (no doctor’s endorsement necessary) to anyone over the age of 17. Certainly some groups, such as Planned Parenthood and others who consider themselves “reproductive rights” organizations, will provide “Plan B” at no cost at their clinics, to the poorest, and yet most promiscuous, of our population. Proponents of the drug assert that this should comfort Pro-Life groups, obviously ignorant of the fact that termination of a pregnancy—by surgery or by drug—IS a de facto abortion. Surely, too, there will be only the flimsiest of efforts made at preventing access and use of “Plan B” by those under 17. This points to the second tragic misstep our country takes with this development.

Newton’s third law of physics provides that “every Action has an equal and opposite reaction.” Interestingly, the same can be said of human life and experience. For every action, (or inaction) choice, decision, etc., that a person makes, there is a consequence. Sometimes, these consequences are immediate and obvious—if I drop this glass, it will shatter, and milk will splash over the floor.” Other times, the consequences are not so obvious, or so soon noticed. Taking all the “bunny” classes in high school, and then not being accepted at the college of one’s choice, for example. More and more frequently, these consequences either lack sting due to decaying values in our modern society, or such consequences are masked by intervening forces. Plan B is just such an intervening force.

The second impact of this trend is a growing scarcity of personal discipline, and the widespread, easy availability of Plan B will only further spur the momentum of this downward spiral towards loss of personal accountability and restraint. Every instance of sexual intercourse has consequences, in some cases, obvious: loss of innocence, enhanced, marital bonding, and commission of a crime when such union is unwanted. Other times, again, these consequences are slower, and perhaps more subtle in their appearance: transmission of an STD, pregnancy, and loss of self-respect. No matter how vocal the arguments of Plan B’s proponents may be to the contrary, this milestone will lead to more widespread promiscuity and subsequently, even more irresponsible behavior. Those who have postponed sexual activity for fear of pregnancy will have one more barrier removed. Those who have decided against unplanned or unprotected intercourse will be one step closer to irresponsible and potentially unsafe behavior. But what is left to mask the emotional impact of realizing that you have killed your own baby, or given your most intimate gift to a total stranger on a momentary impulse?

I have seen firsthand the impact of the diminishment of personal accountability of discipline. People who just can’t get themselves to work on time; people who just can’t manage their budget and pay their bills; people who just can’t remain faithful to their spouse; people who just can’t resist the temptations of drugs and alcohol abuse. Soon these same people are relying on government handouts and welfare for their income, filing bankruptcy to account for their financial misbehavior, and killing both their bodies and their souls, slowly or quickly, by substance abuse, to further avoid the consequences of their misspent lives.

Liberals and media pundits are quick to refer to the “slippery slope” when any potential invasions of privacy or controls on the press are on the table. Yet, every step we take that allows the further masking of consequences of one’s actions is a very slippery slope, indeed—one that slopes towards loss of self-respect, loss of the precious value of life, and towards the ruin of souls.

Please wipe off your feet before you climb up my back...

2006-08-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

I haven’t seen an endangered species list lately, but I’d be willing to bet lunch at the steakhouse that fairness is on it.

You’ll still see the term thrown around a bit, but almost exclusively in “affirmative action” contexts. Mostly, though, you’ll only hear the concept of fairness at issue on elementary school playgrounds and peewee league sports. I reckon most adults are just too self-involved to have any time for such an outmoded idea.

As I have detailed here before, fairness in the workplace (sometimes known as “equity”) is extinct, replaced by the “buddy” network. Fairness in business has gone the way of the horse and buggy—insider trading, raiding employee retirement accounts, and paying exorbitant bonuses to executives while the corporation flounders—all are as common as credit card offers in the mail. Fairness in the courts has been replaced by “bought and paid for ‘justice,’” judicial agendas, and “innocence by technicality.”

Politeness, consideration for others, doing what is right, and the “Golden Rule” have all apparently been replaced by the maxims of “get away with as much as you can,” and “climb on, and over, as many as you can on your way up.”

So, I suppose the last bastion of fairness remains the elementary school classroom. I saw this on a website providing ideas for K-5 teachers:

HOW TO BE A FAIR PERSON

Treat people the way you want to be treated.

Take Turns.

Tell the truth.

Play by the rules.

Think about how your actions will affect others.

Listen to people with an open mind.

Don't blame others for your mistakes.

Don't take advantage of other people.

Don't play favorites.

Imagine how much better this world would be if more of us held ourselves accountable to these simple principles?

St. Michael, Defend Us

2006-08-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

My blood is hot today. I woke this morning to the news that some 21 young Asian (the MSM is oh-so-cautious about identifying middle-easterners as Muslims) men were arrested, foiling their plans to destroy as many as 10 US commercial aircraft operating transatlantic UK-to-US service from London Heathrow and at airports throughout the UK. It seems the terrorists planned to use liquid explosives disguised as beverages and other common products and detonators disguised as electronic devices. The deputy commissioner at Scotland Yard, Paul Stephenson, noted that the plans amounted to "mass murder on an unimaginable scale."

This coincides with, and could, ostensibly, be connected to, the story breaking yesterday that two men were arrested in Ohio on charges of money laundering on behalf of Hezbollah. The two men, Ali Houssaiky and Osama Abulhassan, were also charged with obstructing justice for lying to police about their purchases of large numbers of cellular phones, mostly untraceable Tracfones. Tracfones and similar devices are considered suspicious items as they might be used by terrorists to detonate explosive devices.

Can any Muslim be trusted? Have to say, my take at this moment is no. Fact is, I wouldn’t want to be the rag-headed camel jockey that crosses my path today. There is a part of me, deep down, that wants to collect all of them here in the U.S., and put them in an internment camp, as we did the Japanese during WWII. There is a part of me that wants to see Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and anywhere else these hate-mongering practitioners of the “religion of peace” happen to populate ‘turned into glass’ (GI talk for what happens when a mostly sand-covered region is subjected to nuclear explosions).

Fortunately, there is a stronger part of me that knows that the only way to beat the Muslim is to temper the war against Islamist terrorism with Christian love and prayer for their conversion. This will take a unique kind of warrior, not known in large quantity since the end of the Crusades. One who is a fearless warrior with a pure heart, totally dedicated, and ruthless on behalf of the faith. Are there enough good men left in the world to accomplish this task?

I know one such man.

Poo-Flinging Monkeys (or "I'm Glad I Quit Journalism School When I Did")

2006-08-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

Despite all you may have read, heard, or seen in the MSM, Mel Gibson is very likely guilty of only two things:

1. Negligence and reckless disregard for the safety of others in operating his automobile while intoxicated; and
2. Poor judgment.

Based on the coverage, however, one would certainly think that the anti-Semitic remarks made by Gibson were the real crime, and the drunk-driving charges merely minor coincidental mischief. Last I knew, this was still the United States of America, in which freedom of speech is a long-acknowledged, God-given right shared by both citizens and non-citizens alike. Gibson can certainly hold, and even publicly express, unpopular and “politically incorrect” opinions. Truly, there is abundant recent precedent for just such behavior—Michael Jackson’s crude lyrics "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me / Kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me," from “They Don't Care About Us;” Jesse “Rhymin’ Simon” Jackson’s “Hymietown” comments, and perhaps most notably Al “Valvoline Pompadour” Sharpton’s incitement of anti-Jewish violence in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in 1991 and in Harlem in 1995. In the latter incident he encouraged the explicitly anti-Semitic boycott and picketing of a Jewish-owned store in which eight store employees were killed in a fire started by a Sharpton follower. Where was the righteous outrage in the media over these obviously bigoted remarks? Unlike the latter two, Gibson generally stays out of politic and policy issues.

Generally, I like Gibson’s movies. Braveheart, The Patriot, and We Were Soldiers are among my favorites. I am very disappointed that he would show such poor judgment and self-discipline that he would both drive while drunk and make such obviously reckless remarks; but in no way would I equate the gravity of the two actions. The Los Angeles County District Court will determine Gibson’s punishment, if any, as to the DUI charges, and moviegoers’ dollars will serve as the judge and jury for the impact of his drunken jabberings. As to the media, why don’t ya’ll go see what Cynthia McKinney, William Jefferson, or Ted "Chappaquidick" Kennedy have been up to lately?

Addendum (8/3/06 @ 1251 MST): Take everything Gibson said, and replace "Jew" with American. Whaddya got? A new Dixie Chicks song. Replace "Jew" with "Frenchman" (a.k.a. cheese-eating surrender monkeys)--what have you got? A comedy routine. Replace "Jew" with "Whitey," and you've got the Rainbow Coalition's platform. Replace "Jew" with "Catholic" and you have the bottom-line position of just about every newspaper in the country.

I reckon some people's sensitivities are more, uh, sensitive than others.

The Best Part of My Daughter's Wedding

2006-08-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

My new step-granddaughter, Alexis. That's me on the left, in case you were wondering...

"Nuff Said

2006-08-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

Dog Moo = Bull Poo

2006-07-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

Meet Norman. Norman is a pleasant-enough looking pooch, even seems to be looking for someone to pat his head or rub his ears. Turns out, however, that Norman is the unwitting poster-dawg for gay rights in Colorado.

Colorado Springs has recently been inundated with these “born different” ads on television, billboards, and on banners on city lampposts—the latter stirring up controversy amongst the city fathers. The Denver-based Gill Foundation is running a gay-rights ad campaign in Colorado Springs featuring Norman. The gist of the campaign is that Norman is a dog who, instead of barking, moos like a cow. The idea is that Norman, like gay people, was simply “born different.” The Gill Foundation stated that the ads are running only in Colorado Springs, which was chosen because of its reputation for being unfriendly to gays.

The single, central point that the promoters of the campaign are apparently oblivious of, is that Norman wasn’t born different. He had to be MADE to “moo,” via artificial means, and through the influences of others. No dog was born to moo, just as there is no credible scientific evidence that homosexuals are born that way, as opposed to learning that behavior.

There are plenty of people that truly ARE born different. Some are born without pigmentation, some with cleft palates, some with Down syndrome, some with cerebral palsy, others with wide varieties mental and physical “differences.” I wonder why the Queer Rights proponents haven’t chosen one of these persons to champion their efforts for special rights?

I’m sorry, Norman, that the bad people took away your true voice, and replaced it with their particularly foul brand of “bovine output.”

Once In A While, They Get It Right

2006-07-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

Judges worth their salt are few and mighty far between. Seems like every day the papers carry stories of this wacko ruling in Massachusetts, that illogic opinion in the 9th Circuit in California, and some wrong-headed decision by the nation’s court of last resort, the U.S. Supreme Court. Seems like each judge adopts some sort of “Roy Bean” attitude, and sets out to leave their malodorous mark on the landscape, either by mucking up the works with some poorly reasoned case law precedent; or by ignoring the plain language of the Constitution, instead seeking the advice of foreign courts, or viewing the Constitution as a “living, growing and breathing document,” subject to fast and loose interpretations by liberal judges. I reckon it gets down to Lord Acton’s old saw, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Nowhere in the governing arms of this country is the power entrusted to individuals more absolute than on the various benches of the nation’s courts. Truly, it’s awfully hard to find any honor at all in “Hizzoner.”

Despite all that, a few right-minded and worthy folk do find their way into the black robes. A fine example of just such a case occurred this week when Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan rejected Rep. William Jefferson's argument that his congressional office is "exempt" from a warranted search by federal authorities. Judge Hogan drove the point home brilliantly and succinctly, saying that barring searches of lawmakers' offices would turn Capitol Hill into "a taxpayer-subsidized sanctuary for crime."

In case you don’t recall, the FBI had been investigating Congressman Jefferson on charges of bribery and other misconduct for nearly 17 months, when Judge Hogan issued the search warrant for the overnight “raid” of the Congressman’s office. When the news of the search of the Congressman’s office broke, legislators from both parties cried foul, claim protection from such searches by way of a constitutional provision known as the speech or debate clause, which protects elected officials from being questioned by the president, a prosecutor or a plaintiff in a lawsuit about their legislative work. The judge countered this over-broad interpretation, stating "…the power to determine the scope of one's own privilege is not available to any other person, including members of the coequal branches of government: federal judges ... or the President of the United States."

What it inescapably boils down to, once again, is that a member of Congress is bound by the same laws as any other citizen, and elected officials, at any level, shouldn’t do anything – in or out of their offices -- they wouldn’t want shown on the nightly news, printed on the front pages of the newspapers, or extolled from the pulpits of their neighborhood church back home.

Keep the honor in the Courts, Judge Hogan.

Recto-Cranial Inversion

2006-06-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

Seems you can never please the MSM, or the Lib-Dems, when it comes to classified information. Somehow, it’s a grievous sin to reveal the identity of a (non-covert) CIA operative, but showing our hole card to the terrorists falls within the “free press” fulfilling the “public’s right to know.”

Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines willingly and knowingly sign on to put themselves in harm’s way to defend Americans' rights, yet I wonder how many have made the ultimate sacrifice as a result of a feeble-minded few’s interpretation of these freedoms? Not all information is within the purview of the public’s right to know; in fact, much of how information is classified is on a “need to know” basis. The President, and his subordinates, has the authority to decide what information is appropriate for public dissemination, and what information is more appropriately held “close to the vest.” Members of the press who gain access to, and publicize such sensitive information both break the law and tear away at National Security. Not all information (even when it is clearly compelling) is suitable for widespread distribution. After all, do you want your Social Security Account information publicized? How about your tax returns? Each of these are files held in government offices…

Try as I might, I just can’t make the point as well as this sharp-minded Lieutenant did in writing from the pointy end of the bayonet to the editors of the NYT:

Dear Messrs. Keller, Lichtblau & Risen:

Congratulations on disclosing our government's highly classified anti-terrorist-financing program (June 23). I apologize for not writing sooner. But I am a lieutenant in the United States Army and I spent the last four days patrolling one of the more dangerous areas in Iraq. (Alas, operational security and common sense prevent me from even revealing this unclassified location in a private medium like email.)

Unfortunately, as I supervised my soldiers late one night, I heard a booming explosion several miles away. I learned a few hours later that a powerful roadside bomb killed one soldier and severely injured another from my 130-man company. I deeply hope that we can find and kill or capture the terrorists responsible for that bomb. But, of course, these terrorists do not spring from the soil like Plato's guardians. No, they require financing to obtain mortars and artillery shells, priming explosives, wiring and circuitry, not to mention for training and payments to locals willing to emplace bombs in exchange for a few months' salary. As your story states, the program was legal, briefed to Congress, supported in the government and financial industry, and very successful.

Not anymore. You may think you have done a public service, but you have gravely endangered the lives of my soldiers and all other soldiers and innocent Iraqis here. Next time I hear that familiar explosion -- or next time I feel it -- I will wonder whether we could have stopped that bomb had you not instructed terrorists how to evade our financial surveillance.

And, by the way, having graduated from Harvard Law and practiced with a federal appellate judge and two Washington law firms before becoming an infantry officer, I am well-versed in the espionage laws relevant to this story and others -- laws you have plainly violated. I hope that my colleagues at the Department of Justice match the courage of my soldiers here and prosecute you and your newspaper to the fullest extent of the law. By the time we return home, maybe you will be in your rightful place: not at the Pulitzer announcements, but behind bars.

Very truly yours,

Tom Cotton

Baghdad, Iraq

(hat tip to PowerLine)

Decision Taken

2006-06-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

After the better part of a week spent in discernment, including online research, reviewing my transcript versus the required criteria, taking the practice test for the PRAXIS II, discussing matters with the missus, as well as with my current employers, seeking the Father's guiding hand, and driving out to visit the campus, I have decided to stay with my current employer. I would say that I have decided to stay with my current position, but it appears that that, too, might be in some state of flux as well.

One of the senior attorneys here has decided to move to another firm, and he is taking his paralegal with him. This paralegal has been the staffer most experienced with the complex litigation we practice here, and now, that mantle will fall to me. As will a large part of the caseload that doesn’t walk out the door next week. It is sort of strange, I think, that I am the most junior by far in work experience here at the firm, but in a few days, will be the most veteran legal staffer here by a good bit—and I have never been to a trial, or hearing, or anything else, for that matter. In fact, the only times I have ever even been called to jury duty was when I was deployed outside of the continental US.

I suppose what it boils down to for me is, once again, being the “go-to” guy. Being a valued member of a team. Wanting to see these important and complicated cases through to the end plays an important role, as well. Many of these cases could make a significant impact on Colorado law, and perhaps even on a national level, and I have been there from the first day on some of these cases—even drafted the initial complaint on a few. My immediate boss, he has a lot to learn about leadership. His idea of dealing with adversity is first, find the scapegoat to divert the blame. Hopefully, I can teach him some things without him realizing it. My co-workers are pretty decent folk, but there could stand to be some additional development of the team concept and time/task management. Hopefully, I can contribute to that. The folks here who impacted my decision most of all are the firm’s owner, and the office manager. Though their approaches in doing so are worlds apart, they both have a knack for ensuring that employees’ contributions are recognized, and appreciated.

At this stage of my life, with my children grown and gone, their educations complete, and one career successfully behind me; knowing that I make an important contribution to helping people that otherwise would not be helped, knowing that my skills, knowledge, and abilities are recognized and appreciated, knowing that others seek out my advice when saddled with a troublesome problem—these things have immense value to me. Maybe I still have the opportunity to be a mentor, even while being just a spear carrier....

Perspective

2006-06-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

In recent days, two U.S. soldiers disappeared were presumed kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents. Iraq has once again shown its bald-faced disdain for the laws of land warfare, which include the Geneva and Hague Conventions, as well as numerous other accords and agreements. Soon after their capture, Army PFCs Kristian Menchaca and Thomas L. Tucker were killed in a “barbaric way” and left on the street in Iraq. It seems clear that they were subjected to torture before being killed by the terrorists, ostensibly led by Abu Hamzed al-Nuhajer, the new leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and their desecrated bodies were also booby-trapped.

The next time you see some brushed-and-combed talking head on MSM news broadcasts, sniveling about the poor Iraqi PW’s at Abu Ghiraib being forced to wear panties on their heads, remember Menchaca and Tucker.

The next time you hear some righteously indignant ACLU twinkie lamenting the abuse of Al-Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo Bay in witnessing the Koran being “defiled,” remember Menchaca and Tucker.

The next time some leftist legislator strains his back leaping to conclusions regarding the unfortunate deaths of innocent Iraqi civilians used by Iraqi terrorist fighters as human shields, remember Menchaca and Tucker.

The next time you encounter a Muslim-American protesting the disdain and discrimination resulting from Americans’ mistrust of Islam, take him aside, and tell him of these two young warriors who left home and family, traveled to a far-off land to help achieve freedom and restore order and infrastructure in this distant country, who saw their brothers-in-arms killed and maimed by cowardly devices and undisciplined mobs of insurgents, who were captured, tortured, and then killed in the most horrible fashion imaginable, and their bodies left, laden with devices aimed at crippling or killing those of their comrades who would come to recover their torn bodies so that they might be properly laid to rest. Remind this Muslim-American that these men were captured, tortured, and killed while fighting to secure the freedoms HE enjoys here in this country, for HIS countrymen still living in the daily sectarian struggle of their home land.

Remember Menchaca and Tucker, and the 2,500 before them.

Taking Notes, Pierre?

2006-06-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

Once again, yesterday, the press was plinking cheap shots at their favorite target, US foreign policy generally and President Bush specifically, at a news conference following talks in Vienna. European reporters pressed Bush on widespread anti-American sentiment in Europe, citing recent poll results that many Europeans consider the United States a threat to global stability. Our President responded in his typical, no-bells-and-whistles fashion.

"That's absurd," Bush retorted. "Look, people didn't agree with my decision on Iraq, and I understand that. For Europe, September the 11th was a moment; for us, it was a change of thinking…people can say what they want to say. But leadership requires making hard choices based upon principle."

Principle. That could be the part that confuses most Europeans, notably the all-too-soon to forget French, and the nearly as doltish Germans. One European leader (other than Tony Blair) helped put things in context, with a heartfelt, extemporaneous reminder of how we all got to this place.

Current EU President and Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel recalled memories of World War II and U.S. help in rebuilding war-torn Europe. He warned Europeans that they should not be shortsighted about the threat of terrorism. "Don't forget, I was born in 1945. . . . I will never forget that America fed us," Schuessel said. "I think it's grotesque to say that America is a threat to the peace in the world compared with North Korea, Iran, other countries. "We should be fair from the other side of the Atlantic," Schuessel said. "We should understand what September 11th meant to the American people."

If only the French or Germans had such long memories…

Decisions, Decisions....

2006-06-21T07:51:00.000-07:00

When I retired from the Army back in 2001, I participated in a program that was called ACAP—Army Career and Alumni Program. It is aimed at helping retiring and separating soldiers ease the transition to civilian life, mostly by improving job hunting skills such as resume writing, interviewing, networking, etc. The folks that led the seminars told me I did well, but if, as they say, the proof is in the pudding, then I guess I fell short somewhere. Fact is, I ended up submitting 90-something applications over the course of three months, and ended up getting –count’em—one job interview, for a position as a library assistant at a small town library. Didn’t get the job, either.

Now, I was thinking this would be a breeze—I was a college graduate (BS-Liberal Arts from The University of the State of New York), with 15+ years of management and leadership experience, as well as a dozen years as an administrator in varying capacities. At a minimum, I had twenty years of showing up on time and doing what I was told. Yet, only a single interview came of it.

At my wife’s recommendation, I checked out a school called Denver Paralegal Institute. Six months of school, all day, every day, and you leave as a certificated paralegal (yep, that is the right term). Since I had the GI Bill, and would actually receive a stipend (living allowance, more or less) while I was attending, I signed on. It was very interesting, and just enough work to keep me out of trouble. As the end of classes neared, I fired up the resume machine and sent out a mess of applications again. One week after classes were completed, I had two job interviews in the same day—one with the County Attorney’s office for a position as a community arbitrator, and one with the law firm I now work for. The office manager here called later the same day, and told me the job was mine. I started the following Monday, and have been here ever since. It certainly has had its ups and downs, what with changing who I work for three times, and gradually increasing of the levels of responsibility entrusted to me. The big boss is both exceptionally demanding and exceedingly generous. There are, of course, attendant frustrations in the varying levels of both competence and accountability of my co-workers, but by and large, this place is a good fit.

So I was posed with a serious quandary yesterday, when out of the blue, the superintendent of a nearby school district called to inquire if I might be interested in being the Social Studies teacher at Edison Secondary School in Yoder. He understands that I am not certified and would be ready to take me on as a “Teacher in Residence” while I pursued alternative licensure through the Army’s Troops to Teachers program, which I signed up for way back in ACAP. Downsides include a small drop in pay and about a 45 minute commute each way, while the upsides include a four day work week, summers off, spring break, and such, plus the opportunity to teach.

I am seriously in a dilemma here. If I ever really want to teach, this is very likely the last best chance. On the other hand, I am an established member of the team here, doing important work.

More to follow….

In Other Words

2006-06-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

Depending on which poll you rely on, somewhere between 55 and 68 percent of Americans oppose extending the definition of marriage to include unions between persons of the same sex. To date, forty-five states have acted to ban same-sex “marriages,” and the Defense of Marriage Act provides that no State shall be required to give effect to a law of any other State with respect to a same-sex "marriage." On the other side of the coin, homosexual-rights activists argue that they deserve all the rights and privileges as anyone else.

I would argue that that situation already exists—any gay man can marry any woman (other than his immediate relative) who agrees to do so; likewise, any lesbian woman can marry any man who would agree. What gay activists really appear to seek is to change the meaning of the word “marriage.” Sadly, modern mainstream dictionaries have followed the widespread misuse of the word and now include as a secondary definition of marriage “A union between two persons having the customary but usually not the legal force of marriage: a same-sex marriage.” Clearly, what gay-rights advocates seek, therefore, is not general public, social acceptance of their “unions,” but rather something more rooted in law. To that end, Black’s Law Dictionary, the “horse’s mouth” for legal definitions, defines marriage as “the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife.” No definition, secondary, tertiary, or other, includes any reference to man-and-man, or woman-and-woman marriage.

Words have meaning, and nowhere is that fact nearly as important as in our legal and governmental systems. Changing a definition of a word to accommodate special interests is to diminish the meaning as to both the institution defined and the participants. To illustrate out the ridiculous nature of proposition, I can call my beagle a rottweiler, but it won’t make her any better of a watchdog. I can eat a plate of bacon and call it a salad, but that won’t lower my cholesterol any. I can even call myself a pundit, but it doesn’t improve the quality of my writing at all. Maybe what homosexual rights advocates need to do is invent their own word for what it is they really want—then, they could come up with the definition, too. While I will always oppose homosexual unions for moral reasons, I can’t find any legal grounds for opposition to “garriage” or “lesbimony.”

Depending on which poll you rely on, somewhere between 55 and 68 percent of Americans oppose extending the definition of marriage to include unions between persons of the same sex. To date, forty-five states have acted to ban same-sex “marriages,” and the Defense of Marriage Act provides that no State shall be required to give effect to a law of any other State with respect to a same-sex "marriage." On the other side of the coin, homosexual-rights activists argue that they deserve all the rights and privileges as anyone else.

I would argue that that situation already exists—any gay man can marry any woman (other than his immediate relative) who agrees to do so; likewise, any lesbian woman can marry any man who would agree. What gay activists really appear to seek is to change the meaning of the word “marriage.” Sadly, modern mainstream dictionaries have followed the widespread misuse of the word and now include as a secondary definition of marriage “A union between two persons having the customary but usually not the legal force of marriage: a same-sex marriage.” Clearly, what gay-rights advocates seek, therefore, is not general public, social acceptance of their “unions,” but rather something more rooted in law. To that end, Black’s Law Dictionary, the “horse’s mouth” for legal definitions, defines marriage as “the legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife.” No definition, secondary, tertiary, or other, includes any reference to man-and-man, or woman-and-woman marriage.

Words have meaning, and nowhere is that fact nearly as important as in our legal and governmental systems. Changing a definition of a word to accommodate special interests is to diminish the meaning as to both the institution defined and the participants. To illustrate out the ridiculous nature of proposition, I can call my beagle a rottweiler, but it won’t make her any better of a watchdog. I can eat a plate of bacon and call it a salad, but that won’t lower my cholesterol any. I can even call myself a pundit, but it doesn’t improve the quality of my writing at all. Maybe what homosexual rights advocates need to do is invent their own word for what it is they really want—then, they could come up with the definition, too. While I will always oppose homosexual unions for moral reasons, I can’t find any legal grounds for opposition to “garriage” or “lesbimony.”

Where have you gone, William Natcher?

2006-06-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid growing up in Kentucky, there was a congressman from our state named William Natcher. He wasn’t from our district, and he was a Democrat (which you just about had to be, to be elected to anything from dogcatcher on up in those days). Natcher was a respected member of congress, serving as chair of an appropriations committee, as well as an expert parliamentarian often asked to preside over the House during its most contentious debates. It wasn’t these qualities, though, that brought the 2nd District to retain Natcher in office for forty years, though; it was his unique sense of accountability to his constituents that both endeared him to his electorate, and left his mark on the legislature. Congressman Natcher set a record of 18,401 consecutive Congressional votes from 1954 until he was hospitalized twenty days before his death on March 29, 1994. He also refused to accept campaign contributions, instead financing his campaigns out of his own pocket, usually for $1,000 or less.

These days, Congressman Natcher would hang his head in shame at his would-be colleagues’ antics. Recently we read of FBI “raids” of Louisiana Representative William Jefferson’s congressional offices, investigating allegations he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. Two people have pleaded guilty for bribing Jefferson in exchange for help getting business for American companies in Africa. The FBI says it has videotape of Jefferson accepting $100,000 cash from a government informant, and $90,000 of it was found wrapped in tin foil and Tupperware in a freezer in his Washington home. If that were you or me, no one in Congress would have raised a peep of protest over the FBI investigation. In this case, however, Legislators call “foul,” arguing some obscure breach of the separation of powers act. Specifically, they refer to Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution, which protects members of Congress from being arrested while Congress is in session, save for "Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace..." Section 6 later states that "for any Speech or Debate in the House, they shall not be questioned in any other place." Somehow, these learned legislators contend that the FBI violated these provisions by removing documents from Jefferson's office. Not sure I can see that.

This is the same provision that recently shielded Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) from arrest, when at 2:45 a.m., May 4, 2006, driving with his running lights turned off, he narrowly missed striking a Capitol Police cruiser and crashed into a security barricade. Kennedy (upholding a family tradition of un-accountability for his actions) told Capitol Police that he was “late for a vote,” even sessions had ended hours earlier, and then, hours later, admitted to being disoriented, a result of an addiction to prescription pain medication.

During my twenty years in the Army, one of the basic tenets always upheld was that barracks rooms, orderly rooms, administrative offices, tactical and non-tactical vehicles were government property, and subject at any time to a probable-cause search. I can’t see any distinction between that and the searches conducted-with a properly executed warrant-at the congressman’s offices. Those offices, too, are government property—our offices, and anything these people do in those offices should certainly not be something they are ashamed to be exposed to the light of day, or of public view.

My take is that elected officials should be held to a higher, not lesser, standard of accountability for their actions. They serve, after all, at the pleasure of those who elect them to office. Yet, this is the same congress that has seen former Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay step down over publicity about his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham sentenced to prison for accepting bribes in return for favorable awards of defense contracts. Makes you wonder what it is in those offices they don’t want you to see, don’t it?

Star-Struck

2006-04-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Seems like a whole platoon of retired General Officers have been making known their dissatisfaction with the serving Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. It seems that Marine Gen. Tony Zinni, Marine Lt. Gen. Greg Newbold, Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste, and others have been tripping all over themselves looking for any print or broadcast media that will hear their weighty observations and critiques of the SecDef’s performance.

Some people say the retired generals should not speak out on policy issues while we are at war, asserting that these former soldiers are entitled to the same right of freedom of speech as any ordinary American once they have taken off the stars and the uniform. I guess like so many other Americans, they have forgotten much in a short time. One of the chief things I learned in the Army, and that I like to tell potential employers, is that I have 20-plus years experience in following instructions and doing what I am told. Reckon that might be one thing these more-senior-than-I leaders might have missed out on. Seems like there is a provision in the Handbook For Retired Soldiers And Family Members aimed specifically at curtailing just such behavior:

4-7. Political Activities.

a. There are no statutes or regulations which prohibit retired military personnel from supporting political parties or becoming candidates for public office. The use of military titles by retired officers with respect to politics is permissible provided the usage does not bring discredit upon the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense. Retired personnel may accept positions within the organization of political parties. The Hatch Act is not considered applicable to retired officers who hold no other Federal positions.

b. Retired Regular Army commissioned officers who use contemptuous words in speech or print against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Governor or legislature of any State are subject to trial by courts-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

c. These comments should be considered as advisory in nature only. Definitive opinions and determinations in this area may be made only by the Attorney General of the United States and by Federal courts.

Truly, these men might argue that their comments are not “contemptuous,” nor do they bring discredit upon the DOD; yet I wonder how any of these same officers would have taken during their days of active duty to their subordinates arguing that they be relieved of command? I can see charges of insurbordination being written up at JAG right now. The Army distilled its core values into seven, which it imprinted on a tag to be worn on a soldier’s dog tag chain. Now, understand, that the Army is a little nutso about hanging things on dog tag chains—no keys, no religious medals, no nothing—just your dog tags and now, your VALUES tag. First on the list? Loyalty.

Keep in mind that these Generals, although retired, are still subject to the Army's orders and regulations--their commissions are still in effect. Perhaps they should resign their commissions and then just be Tony, Greg, Paul and John. Sounds more like a rock band than a band of seasoned warriors, right? Perhaps then, their names would stand as they hope their words might--alone, and on their own merit.

Heating Up and Cooling Down

2006-03-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Usually, I am pretty good at taking a lot of crap, and just sucking it up and driving on. Last night, however, I was approaching critical mass, and I had to let off some steam. So, as I was putting together a late supper after coming home from Wednesday night Mass, I let go a tirade to my wife about the injustices I had been experiencing at work.

You see, I am the guy at work with the least experience in the legal field. Pretty much all of my co-workers have worked for ten or more years in various law firms and legal specialties. On the other hand, I am one of the most experienced in the particular niche of law that we practice here at this firm. As a result, I have learned (usually by figuring it out on my own, sometimes by asking the right person to show me how) several tasks that are critical to our cases. These aren’t rocket science by any means, mostly just understanding how things work and paying attention to detail. I have offered to train my co-workers on these tasks, but usually they say they are “too busy.” (How is it that someone can be too busy to learn the things they need to know to do their job?) Yet when these things need to be done, I am expected to drop whatever I am working on and take care of this or that for them. And, I do.

Don’t get me wrong—I like being the “go-to” guy. I was glad to be able to step in and tell the office manager last week, as we were firing up a new national advertising campaign the day after she started a brief and well-deserved vacation not to worry about the details—that I would handle it. And, with the help of the front desk receptionist, we were able to do just that—handle it. No call has been missed, and things are running smoothly.

What I don’t like is being taken for granted (I had a Platoon Sergeant long ago that used to say “taken for granite”), and being expected to pick up every dropped ball. Seems like whenever anybody is out on vacation or whatever, it is just expected that I will be the guy to take up their slack. As it is, when the attorney I directly support doesn’t keep me busy, I go looking for something I can help with. One attorney in particular makes pretty good use of any spare time I have. What I don’t get is that there are six other staff members here—why aren’t they asked to pitch in? A couple of weeks ago, I was sicker than I can ever remember—missed two days of work. Did someone pitch in and help work off some of the backlog? No way.

Like I said before, I am pretty good at sucking it up and driving on. Twenty years in the Army, many times under incompetent leaders who think they are the reincarnation of Patton or MacArthur, taught me to let the BS slide off of me like water off a duck’s back. Every once in a while, though the Yang outweighs the Yin, and I get fired up.

After hearing me vent for a few minutes, my wife walked over to the cabinet by the kitchen sink, and read to me from a clipped out page taped to the cabinet door:

People are often unreasonable, illogical,
and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some
false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you have anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.*

In the time it took for her to read that to me, the tightness in my muscles loosed, and the anger burning up my insides faded. I reckon that is why I have been married to that girl for going on 26 years now. When blacksmiths temper steel, to make it hard and durable, they heat it up white-hot, and then cool it off quickly by quenching in water. I guess I had some tempering yesterday. So, I reckon I’ll make it through another week at work, and manage to still be the go-to guy for another year. In the big scheme of things, I reckon I am glad to have a job where I can do well, where I can help people (our clients, and in some cases, my co-workers), and where I can maybe be a good example. Who knows, maybe someday, it will catch on…

*Attributed to Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Nope, I ain't quit...

2006-03-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

Just ain't had nothing fire me up much lately. But I reckon I'll be back here soon enough...

A Giant Step

2006-03-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

In what could well become the biggest bellwether in states’ rights since the Civil War, South Dakota has just become the most civilized state in the country.

With the stroke of a pen, South Dakota’s chief executive outlawed the senseless murder of innocent unborn babies throughout the state—so far, the only state to do so.

On Monday, Governor Mike Rounds of South Dakota has signed a law establishing that it is a crime for doctors to perform an abortion unless the woman's life would be endangered by giving birth. The new legislation signed by Rounds makes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. A doctor who performed an illegal abortion could be jailed for five years under the law.

Titled The Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act, the new law declares that "life begins at the time of conception" and that an unborn child "is totally unique immediately at fertilization." The fact that life begins at conception is a "conclusion confirmed by scientific advances since the 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade," the new law states. This black-letter law is buttressed by several instances of like precedent in criminal cases across the nation, including the recent conviction of Scott Peterson for killing his unborn son, Connor in left-coast California regarding the humanity of the unborn infant; and sets the stage for what seems an inevitable challenge to the judicial cheetah-flips that resulted in the Roe decision.

Planned Parenthood, which operates South Dakota's only abortion clinic, in Sioux Falls, has pledged it will challenge the measure in court. The national headquarters of the pro-abortion organization has stated ten other states are considering similar laws.

Now, if Colorado’s Governor Bill Owens could just sprout a spine…

Not-so-funny Papers

2006-02-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

For over a week now, you can’t pick up the paper, tune into the news on radio or television without hearing of more deaths arising out of –get this—Muslim protests over cartoons published in Danish newspapers. Three so far today, four yesterday, with dozens more wounded, as well as embassies and businesses attacked or bombed. Why the outrage? Seems that this cartoon included a depiction of Mohammed as a terrorist, and many Muslims consider any portrayal of their Prophet as blasphemous. What I get out of this is two things: first, that these radical Muslim terrorists will seize any opportunity to take on a cloak of righteous indignation, and strike out and kill “infidels,” especially American and European, Christian and Jewish infidels; and second, once again, mainstream Muslims, who seek to exhort themselves as followers of a religion of peace, are notably silent on condemning the vicious, violent acts of these fatwas, just as they have been silent at the beheadings of captured reporters and civilian contractors, broadcast on Al Jazeera.

I guess it simply points out with precious clarity the difference between Christians and Muslims, and between the Islamic world and the Western world. Faithful followers of Christ in this country have been subjected in recent years to such blasphemies as the Piss Christ, (funded by the NEA, no less), images of the Virgin Mother smeared with feces, and most recently, whining, talentless onionhead Kanye (Kan-ye get a real job, feller?) West, seeking to portray the crucified Savior on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. I need not repeat here the many centuries of injustice against the Jewish people from every front.

Again, two things come to mind—first, while offended, Christians honor Christ by forgiving these offenses, and the offenders; and second, a free press must have an entirely different meaning from the Muslim perspective.

Nothing New Here

2006-02-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

Listening (as I always do) to talk radio yesterday afternoon, and again this morning, it seems that all the show hosts were using their bully pulpit to express how taken aback they are that certain politicians (and those who would be politicians) used Coretta Scott King’s funeral as a platform to seek political capital. Myself, I sure don’t understand their surprise; anyone who has watched the Liberal Left for any length of time knows this most basic fact: nothing is sacred to the Dems.

Clearly, life isn’t sacred to them, unless it happens to be the life of a convicted gang murderer. The life of 50 million unborn babies, however, aren’t sacred; nor the life of people whose functions fall below some arbitrary standard known as a “permanent vegetative state. Remember Terri Schiavo?

Marriage, too, isn’t held sacred by the left—demonstrated by their unflagging efforts to pervert the matrimonial institution to include gay and lesbian unions—can human/animal couples seeking the same “rights” be far behind. Again, I guess the only exception that the Dems will make is if you are Michael Schiavo.

None of the fundamental Judaeo-Christian mores that our nation was founded on appears sacred to these self-appointed “guardians of freedom,” either. Let some God-fearing teenager in Heath, Kentucky say a prayer in the high school hallway before the start of morning classes, and someone will cry foul. An elementary school student in California recites “one nation, under God,” during the Pledge of Allegiance, and her father is incensed that she is exposed to the concept of a power higher than himself. Strike “In God We Trust” on the nation’s currency, and someone, somewhere will take offense. But should some value-compromised Rainbow Coalition preacher choose to use the House of the Lord to espouse a particular political agenda, all is well. Should some ragheaded Muslim immigrant on a questionable visa want to broadcast his daily call to prayer over loudspeakers in the public square on Main St., America, go right ahead.

So why then, is anyone surprised when Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Southern Christian Leadership Conference co-founder Rev. Joseph Lowery, and former US President Jimmy Carter turn Mrs. King’s eulogy into just another opportunity to disparage the President—just another whistle stop on the campaign trail? Thankfully, President George W. Bush, and Martin and Coretta’s daughter, Bernice King, recalled the gravity of the occasion, and honored the dear lady’s legacy, and recalled her and her late husband’s constant message, that all seek to live a Christ-like life of peace and unconditional love.

Eternal rest grant upon Your servant Coretta, and may perpetual light shine upon her.

Pro-Life, My Ass

2006-02-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

I read with interest the article, “Anti-Abortion Stance Hurts Candidate” (Gazette, Feb. 5, 2006), mostly based on the headline. Turns out, Colorado gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter isn’t really so “anti-abortion” after all. The article cites his promise to enforce current abortion law, including Roe v. Wade; his intention to restore funding for Planned Parenthood cut by Gov. Owens, and to sign into law a bill favoring emergency contraception (just another term for abortion). Just in what way is Ritter pro-life?

Perhaps the most revealing thing Ritter has said is this: “I didn’t let my personal beliefs get in the way of doing my job as district attorney and won’t let it happen as governor.” What a shame. Voters elect men and women to office based on who they are and what they stand for. When an elected official betrays his faith in “doing his job,” he betrays his constituency as well. Do we want a Governor who can turn his values, beliefs, and morals on and off at will? In Massachusetts, they have a word for such a person--"Senator."

Both Barrels

2006-02-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

Our President gave the radical left wing of the so-called Democratic party both barrels yesterday, with the confirmation of the newest Supreme Court Justice, Samuel Alito, in the morning, and the stirring State of the Union address in the evening. On the other hand, the Dems continue their struggle to further distance themselves from mainstream Americans, despite their endless rhetoric to the contrary.

With the confirmation of Justice Alito, the balance of the Court is restored to more wholly represent a cross section of these United States. Justice Alito brings one of the most singly complete resumes to the bench, having served on both sides of the bar, and having practiced and heard cases at all levels of the United States courts. Judge Alito was unanimously rated "well qualified" to fill the Associate Justice post by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary. In addition, he personally represents many segments of the population recently overrun by the activist rulings of this Nation’s highest courts – second generation Americans, fathers, Catholics, family men, conservatives, veterans. It is likely that his appointment will go far in returning the Court to a more moderate temper without any sacrifice of the Court’s role in the balance of powers.

Yesterday evening, while not at his most eloquent, President Bush’s message was the one Americans needed to hear. His speech served both as a course correction for those whose attention might have strayed from the serious business of our Global War on Terrorism, now possibly encompassing Iran to boot, as well as holding the Dems accountable for their efforts to thwart intelligence gathering efforts, quash the Patriot Act, and to obstruct any efforts to heal a grievously wounded Social Security program.

While not likely bound for Bartlett’s, the following excerpts surely struck a chord with most right-minded Americans, and helped show the Liberals for the self-serving America-haters that they are:
…
No one can deny the success of freedom, but some men rage and fight against it. And one of the main sources of reaction and opposition is radical Islam – the perversion by a few of a noble faith into an ideology of terror and death.
…
In a time of testing, we cannot find security by abandoning our commitments and retreating within our borders. If we were to leave these vicious attackers alone, they would not leave us alone. They would simply move the battlefield to our own shores. There is no peace in retreat. And there is no honor in retreat.
…
It is said that prior to the attacks of September 11th, our government failed to connect the dots of the conspiracy. We now know that two of the hijackers in the United States placed telephone calls to al-Qaida operatives overseas. But we did not know about their plans until it was too late. So to prevent another attack – based on authority given to me by the Constitution and by statute – I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected al-Qaida operatives and affiliates to and from America. Previous presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have – and Federal courts have approved the use of that authority... If there are people inside our country who are talking with al-Qaida, we want to know about it – because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.
…
By 2030, spending for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid alone will be almost 60 percent of the entire Federal budget. And that will present future Congresses with impossible choices – staggering tax increases, immense deficits, or deep cuts in every category of spending. Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security, yet the rising cost of entitlements is a problem that is not going away – and with every year we fail to act, the situation gets worse. So tonight, I ask you to join me in creating a commission to examine the full impact of Baby Boom retirements on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. This commission should include Members of Congress of both parties, and offer bipartisan answers. We need to put aside partisan politics, work together, and get this problem solved.
…
Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. Here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology…By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment … move beyond a petroleum-based economy … and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.

Especially noteworthy was the apparent disdain demonstrated by those on the Democratic side of the aisle, not just for the President, but apparently for the citizens who must bear the burdens of Congress’ actions – and inactions. The American people, if they haven’t already taken note, are being given a clear and precise demonstration of just how far removed from Joe and Jane Citizen these Democrats truly are.

Reload, Mr. President. There’s still a few of those turkeys running loose out there.

Misuse of a Big White Hat

2006-01-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Colorado’s poor excuse for a Senator, Ken Salazar, seems determined to dig a trench to rival the Marianas in how low he will stoop in kowtowing to the demands of the out-of-touch leadership of the Democratic Party. In the last week, Salazar has served as a party mouthpiece in both his vote against confirmation of the single most qualified jurist nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court in our lifetime, and in calling Justice Clarence Thomas “an abomination.”

Elected to fill the vacancy left by Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Salazar ran as a moderate, promising to represent the values of Coloradans. Instead, he has yet to fail once to serve as the willing shill of the farthest left among his party’s leadership.

In his statement regarding his decision to vote against confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Alito, Salazar opined that “Judge Alito will move the Supreme Court outside the mainstream of American law.” I reckon he must have slept through that whole “Ruth Bader Ginsburg” episode. Salazar goes on to describe his concerns that:

Judge Alito's judicial philosophy will expand Executive power too far, hurt the checks and balances built into our Constitution to protect us all, and roll back important civil rights protections that were achieved in our country through the sacrifices of many.
….
Judge Alito would place too much power in the hands of the President of the United States, at the cost of the protective system of checks and balances built into our Constitution.

Ironic, isn’t it? Recall that this is the party that has supported, nominated, and confirmed Supreme Court Justices and Federal Appellate Judges that champion their personal and party’s pet ideas through judicial activism—legislation from the bench, if you will. These juro-fascists have ignored the will of the people and brought this country the depravities of gay marriage, loss of personal property rights, and the execution by starvation of innocent citizens in what is presumed to be permanent vegetative state. The sanctity of life, moral values, or Constitutional protections of the majority curry no favor nor have no advocates in the Democratic camp. These sorts of judicial over-reaching does more to wreak havoc on the balance of powers than Judge Alito ever possibly could as a single member of the Nation’s court of last resort. As Justice Byron White wrote in his dissenting opinion in Doe v. Bolton:

…. The Court simply fashions and announces a new constitutional right...and, with scarcely any reason or authority for its action, invests that right with sufficient substance to override most existing state...statutes."

Indeed, what could be further from what the framers intended? This is what Salazar seeks to oppose so strongly in Judge Alito, without basis, yet is in fact the real product of what Salazar’s Party heads have so strongly championed in their own judicial nominations and confirmation efforts. The good news? Judge Alito will be confirmed in spite of the liberal efforts to the contrary, and Coloradans have long memories…keep that in mind, Senator Salazar.

BOHICA--Chapter 2

2006-01-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Colorado Springs seems to be in the habit of biting the hand that feeds it.

This was pointed out especially clearly in Sunday’s Gazette, in the article “Doctors group will stop taking Tricare” It seems that Gastroenterology Associates of Colorado Springs will discontinue being a Tricare provider in mid-February, after having treated more than 5700 Tricare patients since 2002.

The reason cited? Administrative headaches, apparently arising from delays in getting bills paid, and difficulties in getting the right forms to the right place. I’ll be the first to admit, from personal experience, that Tricare has its problems. That said, I sure don’t understand how any business in this community can turn such a cold shoulder towards the 131,000 Tricare beneficiaries, consisting active duty, retirees and their dependents, who make their home—temporary or permanent--in the Colorado Springs area.

Even more appalling is the idea that many of these beneficiaries have any other option available to them. For most of those covered by Tricare, it is their primary, if not only, healthcare coverage. Tricare is the core health insurance plan for active duty members of the uniformed services and their dependants, and armed forces retirees. Soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, were promised at their induction that they would have free medical care for themselves and their families as long as they served, and for the rest of their lives if they served until retirement. Tricare is the compromise they have had to swallow in the face of this broken promise, and the breach of that promise continues to grow in the light of this and other providers’ refusal to participate in Tricare’s coverage.

There is, perhaps, a workable solution. If we cannot count on the patriotism, respect and concern for those who have served and those who continue to serve in the defense of this country, our citizens, and our freedoms, then perhaps a little “tweak” in the legal system should be worked out. Maybe the laws on the books should be amended to read that any doctor, dentist, surgeon, pharmacist, chiropractor, or other medical professional who used any sort of governmental assistance in pursuing the education that allowed him or her to be a doctor--be it loans, grants, student aid, or what have you—be compelled to accept Tricare (and Medicaid and Medicare while we’re at it). After all, I don’t recall anything on my 1040’s that asked if I thought medical student Jones or Intern Smith was a good bet for financial aid for his medical school education. Were you?

Who's Hand is in Whose Pocket?

2006-01-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

On the front page of Monday’s Gazette, squished to the side of the Bronco’s snivelings, was this headline: “Bill would raise cost of auto insurance.”

How is this news? Seems every time I get a bill, it raises the cost of my auto insurance. It seems that since the demise of No-Fault auto insurance in Colorado in 2003, ambulance services and hospitals are facing an alarming rise in uncompensated costs in providing emergency medical services. As a result, Sen. Louis Tochtrop, D-Westminster, is sponsoring a bill that would mandate emergency medical coverage for Colorado drivers on their auto insurance policies, at, of course a substantially raised premium for this new coverage.

The irony is, we had this exact coverage just a couple of years ago, and it was mandatory then, too. Up until July of 2003, basic no-fault insurance was required in Colorado that provided $50,000 in medical coverage, an additional $50,000 in rehabilitation coverage, as well as up to $20,800 in coverage for lost earnings and up to $9,125 in essential services benefits—at premiums that ran between $100-300 or so per year. And it wasn’t Colorado voters and taxpayers that wanted to bring the end of No-Fault, it was the insurance companies themselves, helped in great measure by the Governor and members of the Colorado legislature, much to the disadvantage of Colorado insureds. As it stands right now, the only group to benefit from the demise of no-fault laws is the insurance companies. Ambulance companies, hospitals, and other emergency care providers must write off untold expenses, auto insurance policy holders now drive with approximately $130K less in coverage than in 2003, and has anyone’s auto premiums really dropped by any sizable extent?

The upshot is, should Sen. Tochtrop’s bill become law, law-abiding drivers (those who have insurance coverage) will see their premiums increase by as much as $150 to $700 a year, for what amounts to somewhere between $1500-$5000 in coverage. Who stands to gain, once again? The insurance companies primarily, of course, and those who drive without insurance at all. And just maybe, those state officials and legislators who seem to have such a vested interest in the fiscal well-being of Colorado auto insurance companies.

Happy Diversity Day

2006-01-16T09:20:00.000-07:00

Picking up the momentum that the anti-Christians and anti-patriots have been riding that have robbed the popular vernacular of “Christmas” and George Washington’s birthday and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, leaving in their wake the far less inspiring “happy Holidays” and “Presidents’ Day,” I suggest that we rename today’s observance to “Ethnic Diversity Day” or “Equal Rights Day.”

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a tremendous speaker and charismatic leader whose efforts were the single force which catalyzed nearly all advances in minority rights during the Civil Rights heyday in the 1960’s, until his untimely death at the hands of a wicked assassin. His legacy, however, is not untainted. His ideals were largely socialist, his personal conduct not exactly what should be expected of a minister, and his efforts begat Jesse Jackson’s and Harry Belafonte’s misguided and sadly, wrongminded protests today. That said, Dr. King was certainly a great American, and much can be learned from reviewing his words and works. However, in today’s observance we honor the individual over the ideals which he espoused; and in so doing, in many parts of the country, trigger the same sort of division that King campaigned so diligently to end.

I say, we honor the man by honoring his ideas and ideals. There are some even today who take issue with the man on the basis of his shortcomings; but no man who holds the Word of God, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States as guiding principles can take issue with the concepts of this country being a melting pot of ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity; and certainly no one who holds those values can question the premise that all men and women are created equal in the eyes of God, and are therefore equal before the law.

Is It Just Me...

2006-01-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

Or is what used to be a great pleasure, browsing through a big bookstore, tremendously diminished by the omnipresent, over-powering smell of burnt coffee from the ubiquitous trendy coffee bar, and made worse still by the over-loud chatter of the gaggles of idle young adults that congregate there?

Or do police officers seem less focused on “protect and serve” and more on “generate revenue?”

Or does showing up for work unshaven take “casual Friday” to the next level of “unwashed Friday?”

Or does it seem like each year at tax time, you are personally bearing an increasingly greater portion of the Gross National Debt?

Or do you want to want to bitch-slap the onionhead in the next lane who continually drifts over into your lane due to driving one-handed while jabbering into a cellphone?

Or are telephone solicitations for charitable donations quickly approaching the annoyance level that telemarketers reached two years ago?

Or do most television shows start in the gutter and dig their way down from there?

Or do most people in public places seem oblivious of those around them, let alone of common courtesy?

Or do you have a hard time feeling sorry for the person in the welfare line carrying a cup of Starbucks?

Or are you confused, too, when a person gets out of a late model luxury car wearing pants with holes in them?

Or do you think that people caught driving without insurance should have their car impounded?

Maybe, its just me.

Don't Muss up your comb-over, Joe

2006-01-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

Finally giving proof to the old adage that 100 monkeys typing on 100 typewriters for 100 years would eventually recreate the works of Shakespeare, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden stated that Senate confirmation hearings serve little purpose and should probably be abandoned, said Thursday.

"The system's kind of broken," said Biden, a member of the Judiciary Committee considering the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito.

"Nominees now, Democrat and Republican nominees, come before the United States Congress and resolve not to let the people know what they think about the important issues," said Biden. The Senator told NBC's "Today" show that a better solution might be to skip hearings and send nominations straight to the Senate floor for a vote. This, in fact was the standard practice up to 1925, according to the Senate Historical Office.

Given the dedicated face-time and wide media coverage the confirmation hearings afford, as well as the opportunity for 30+ minutes of prepared speechifying, it is unlikely that the “august body” will revert back to previous practice.

After all, what other forum offers the opportunity for Sen. Edward “Chappaquiddick” Kennedy to malign the character, judgment, and integrity of a highly regarded Federal Judge? Kennedy asked that the private documents of William Rusher, a former leader of Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP), be made public. "In view of CAP's troubling opposition to equal educational opportunity for women, minorities and the disabled, it is important for the committee to learn more about Judge Alito's involvement in this organization," Kennedy wrote, adding that he wanted the Judge to answer questions about his involvement with the group, which Judge Alito has expressly distanced himself from. "I disavow them. I deplore them. They represent things that I have always stood against and I can't express too strongly," Alito said in response to senators' questions during the third day of his confirmation hearings Wednesday.

Public Advocate President Eugene Delgaudio gets the quote of the day in his response to Kennedy’s attacks: "Those that serve with Judge Alito have stated that his character is beyond reproach and even the liberal leaning American Bar Association admits that Judge Alito is 'an individual of excellent integrity.' When was the last time anyone said the same thing of the Senator from Chappaquiddick?"

A Day That Will Live in Infamy...

2005-12-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

Yup, it was one year ago today that I started posting this drivel on a fairly regular basis. During that time, I have put up 106 posts, had 4,794 visitors drop in for a spell (surely, almost all of them lost, stopping to ask directions for their actual destination, and obviously in a hurry to get out of this dark, unseemly corner of the 'sphere).

I have had a couple of minor moments in the sun, where my visits peaked at 126 visits in a single day, August 2, 2005, attributable to having a post highlighted on the Mudville Gazette. I have gone from being an insignificant microbe, reaching an apogee of "adorable rodent" status, and recently have fallen back to "flappy (but still insignificant) bird" level of the TTLB ecosystem.

I have made a few friends along the way, and have reconnected with a couple of others I hadn't seen or heard from since about 1976 or so. Sometimes these posts serve to get my blood up, and other times they provide a harmless manner for me to vent my frustrations. A few of these posts have made it into the local paper as "Letters to the Editor," and while I ain't in the running for any Poo-litzer prizes here, a few have been nicely done, if I do say so myself.

Anyhow, here's to the next year. Hope some of y'all will continue to drop in when you're in the neighborhood. And if my scribblings here rub you the wrong way, blame Jeff over at ThinkSink--this here was his idea...

B.O.H.I.C.A.

2005-12-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

BOHICA—those who have served will recognize this acronym as short for “bend over, here it comes again. Retirees of the United States Armed Forces are facing yet another broken promise from the Defense Department chuckleheads who plan “to shift additional health care costs to military beneficiaries.”

What they are really saying is, “We want to charge you more—let’s say, oh, about a 95% rate increase in that FREE healthcare we promised you when you enlisted way back when.” Reckon the stubby pencil guys figgered out that us retirees were too much of a burden on the DOD budget.

Here’s what this is about: In the “olden days,” back when I had first enlisted, Armed Forces retirees went to the hospitals on nearby military installations and got their healthcare provided free of charge. If you didn’t live near a base, you could use CHAMP/VA to get treatment covered. Somewhere in the passage of time between when I was assigned as a recruiter for the Army in Shively, Kentucky back in 1988, and when I retired from the Army in 2001, some ledger-totin’ civilian whacker in the budget office decided that the cost of health care for soldiers, their families and retirees was just too costly for taxpayers to cover, never mind that each and every swingin’ Richard who enlisted during the last bazillion years was told that was part of the deal. Tricare was born (“Tri-,” as in three, as in “we’re gonna screw you three ways from Sunday, “care” as in “we just don’t”). It added deductibles and costs previously not assessed on servicemembers, and reflected the reduced number of uniformed doctors and other healthcare providers on active duty.

I found out during my retirement services briefing that it also meant that I had to pay for my, and my family’s promised FREE healthcare, to the tune of $460 per year. Now I realize for those of you out there who have health insurance through your employer or are paying on your own, that this is a hell of a bargain. I don’t dispute that for a minute; it just ain’t the bargain I signed on for. When I was in recruiting school in 1988, it was still one of the benefits we were instructed to discuss as a selling point to prospects.

Here’s what the white-collar guys in DC have been up to: The Department of Defense in November implemented an 8.5 % increase for Tricare Reserve Select enrollees. It came without discussion or opportunity for congressional oversight and goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2006. DOD bureaucrats also are establishing a retiree enrollment fee for their TRICARE Standard health care option, and are doubling the annual deductibles for retired officers. If DOD budget whackers get their way, Tricare Prime enrollment fees for retired officers, now a flat $230 for individuals and $460 for both enlisted and commissioned retirees, would zoom to $400 and $800 in October next year. The following year will bring further increases to $600 and $1,200. By October 2008, fees are projected to be $750 and $1,500. Enlisted retirees under 65 would see Prime enrollment jump to $300 and $600 in 2006; $375 and $750 in 2007; and by October 2008, enlisted retirees will be out-of-pocket $450 and $900. For the average enlisted retiree, that is just about one month’s retirement pay.

At a time when soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are overseas, in harm’s way, and our Armed Forces recruiting efforts are the most difficult, the DOD really has its head up its forth point of contact on this one—demonstrating how little they really care about those who have faithfully done their duty. As veterans, that should make us question if military service is really something we can recommend to our children and other military-age American patriots.

What can you do? Call or write your congressmen and tell them you won’t stand for this latest breach of faith, and contract, with the joes that stepped up when their country called. After all, when was the last time Congress lost any pay and benefits?

In Oro Veritas

2005-12-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

On December 12, 2005, Harvard University accepted a $20 million donation from Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz, who hoped his donation would help "bridge the understanding between East and West, between Christianity and Islam, and between Saudi Arabia and the Unites States." To the Harvard University Gazette, he said that this process is "important for peace and tolerance."

Interesting. Certainly furthering peace and tolerance is a lofty and worthy goal, but I question both the Prince’s genuineness in the gift, as well as the integrity of Harvard University in accepting such a donation.

Recall that it wasn’t that long ago that Harvard Law School sought to bar military recruiters from its campus on the basis that the Armed Forces discriminates against gays, and therefore its access to the campus is revoked, as it would be for any other employer that discriminates. Except that Harvard is less than indiscriminate in applying its own policy. The non-discrimination policy simply states:

"Harvard Law School does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, disability, source of income, military status or status as a Vietnam era or disabled veteran in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs and activities. All employers using the facilities and services of the Office of Career Services must comply with this policy."

Yet in direct violation of this policy, the Law School's Office of Career Services forwards job opportunities that affirmatively discriminate on the basis of race, color, or ethnic origin. For example, one “diversity” fellowship requires that " [t]he individual [selected] must be a member of a racial or ethnic minority group," while another fellowship restricts eligibility to "persons who are... African American, Latino, Native American, Alaskan native, Asian or Pacific Islander."

In denying access to military recruiters, Harvard potentially placed itself in conflict with the Solomon Act, and jeopardizes its federal financial assistance. Ironically, in accepting this donation, allegedly high-minded Crimsons in effect endorse the Saudi practice of beheading gays. In January 2002, the Arab News, an English-language daily in Riyadh, reported the names of three men who had been beheaded January 1, 2002, for "engaging in the extreme obscenity and ugly acts of homosexuality, marrying among themselves and molesting the young." Additionally, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), in July 2000, received reports that six gay men were executed in Saudi Arabia.

Equally as two-faced, while Harvard feminists attack President Bush for any perceived domestic sexist slights, the royal benefactor’s homeland, Saudi Arabia’s courts condemn women to death for the crime of having been raped.

I guess nothing casts an obscuring shadow over one’s misdeeds like a bushel full of greenbacks, especially when delivered under the umbrella of diversity and tolerance.

Worth a Thousand Words

2005-12-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Pretty ordinary picture, right? Some bald-headed old guy refereeing a church-league basketball game--happens all over, every week, right? Well, in this case, that's my 73-year-old dad out there, in his 50th year of refereeing basketball at all levels from preschool to college, as well as refereeing soccer for 30-some years.

What makes this picture special is it was taken last weekend, and in October of this year, we found out Dad has Alzheimers. Guess this is just another testament to the positive impact sport can have.

Happy Trails

2005-12-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

I grew up on the tail end of the time period when little boys still played cowboys and indians. The P-C crowd would definitely frown on that six ways from Sunday, what with the rampant gunplay, less-than-favorable portrayal of the noble “Native American,” and the omnipresent victory of the white American oppressors. Nevertheless, I learned more of life’s important lessons from Luke McCain, Matt Dillon, and Pa Cartwright than I ever did from Bert and Ernie.

It should come as no surprise then, that at this point in my life I have a fond spot in my heart for cowboy music—not that “Urban Cowboy” Mickey Gilley stuff, but real leather and gun-oil music originated by Gene Autry, the Sons of the Pioneers, and more recently, Riders in the Sky. Providence was certainly in my favor when I landed in Colorado Springs, where I now make my home, which is also home to the Flying W Ranch. This is one of those “Dude Ranch” style chuckwagon supper places, where you enjoy an ersatz-cowboy meal of beef, beans and biscuits, and then sit around the campfire and enjoy a western music sing-along. Difference here is, the campfire seats a thousand, and the singers are the Flying W Wranglers, the second oldest continuously performing cowboy band in the States (second only to the Sons of the Pioneers). These fellows are exceptionally talented singers and musicians, and I have enjoyed them immensely ever since the missus took me on my birthday six years ago. We have gone many times ourselves, for family celebrations and to show family visitors some western-style entertainment, and have several of their CD’s.

One of the attractions has been the simple, wholesome nature of the show and of the Wranglers themselves. Trust me, we ain’t been going for the chow… Every show, the Wranglers honor servicemen and veterans, every show, the Wranglers say grace before the meal, and every show, the Wranglers sing at least one gospel song.

As is all too often the case, when the ACLU-gang gets wind of like-minded Christians enjoying a good time in a G-rated environment, they've got to plod in and muck things around. Seems some Flying W visitors were offended by the band’s increasing evangelism and, according to band members, complained to the management. This summer, according to Wrangler Scott Vaughn, the management suggested that the band back off a bit.

In recent years, Vaughn, in particular, has talked more about his own conversion, and the band has played more gospel. Although a before-meal prayer has always been a part of the Flying W Ranch experience, Vaughn began praying to “Jesus Christ,” rather than a more generic “God.” “We’ve been kind of pushing the envelope a little bit,” Wrangler Vern Thomson said. “We tell more stories because we’re maturing as Christians.”

This, coupled with long-time band veterans’ desire to back off of the Ranch’s demanding schedule, has led the three longest standing members of the group to decide to leave and form their own new group, to be known as the Colorado Wranglers. Group leader Vern Thompson, singer, songwriter, and cowboy humorist Scott Vaughn, and master musician Joe Stephenson, with 73 years of combined service, will have their farewell performance at the ranch on December 18. Their boots won’t be gathering dust, though—they plan on cutting three new CD’s in Thompson’s studio, each focusing on one prong of the band’s three-pronged focus: gospel music, Western music and comedy.

Happy trails, and vaya con Dios, Vern, Scott, and Joe*—I hope to see you on down the trail.

*That's Scotty on the left, and Vern and Joe on the right, in the picture above.

Flipper

2005-12-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

Paid advertisement in December 13, 2005 Colorado Springs Gazette, paid for by Focus on the Family.

Sometimes, no further words are needed!

Words Matter

2005-12-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

The Colorado Springs Gazoot Tuesday ran the following letter in the Letters to the Editor section:

I read with amusement the banter back and forth between Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Actually, the word, “holiday” is an abbreviation of the term “holy day.” A holy day is day set apart from all other days to honor and respect God in your life. Thus, the term Happy Holidays is a term meaning may your days set apart to honor God be happy. How is that different than Merry Christmas?

Rev. Bill Carmody
Colorado Springs

This letter caught my eye for a couple of reasons—first, Fr. Carmody is the Pastor of my parish, and second, this is a topic that is annually pounded into my consciousness by my spiritual guide, Fr. Walter Smigiel. Fr. Walter has a few “pet projects” during each Christmas season: pushing the display of crèches (Nativity scenes) in front yards of homes and churches; using the Madonna and Child postage stamps on mail year round, and most fervently, any attempts to remove the word “Christmas” from the public sector, usually being replaced by “Happy Holidays” and “Seasons Greetings.”

I’ve got to go along with Fr. Walter on this one. The reason merchants and politicos are so quick is to take the word “Christ” out of everything possible. Seems like the only time that a lot of (hyper-sensitive, faithless) people aren’t offended by the words “Christ,” “Jesus,” or “God” is when they are used as swear words. I wonder if Fr. Bill would celebrate the Holy Mass without the Eucharist?* If so, then it wouldn’t truly be a Mass.

I’ll take a different spin on this: suppose for a moment the most revered of U.S. observances, that of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior day, was officially renamed “Diversity day,” or “Racial Desegregation day.” Reckon that would go over without protest? Hardly—Jesse “Rhymin’ Simon” Jackson would go into public apoplexy, and left-wing wackos and media pundits would be looking to run a spear through any “segregationalist” conservative they could imagine as responsible for the outrage. Already, my-way-or-the-highway atheists are seeking to remove the nominal presence of God from our currency and our National Pledge. Any ground we give in this fight is ground we won’t be getting back, and ground we may be held to account for on the day of judgment.

Come on, Father Bill—remember what side you’re on in this Holy (Cold) War. These seemingly benign concessions to non-believers are a big part of how they got such a foothold in the courts and legislature in the first place.

*Eucharist: the actual Body and/or Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, transubstantiated into the form of bread and wine, to be received by the faithful in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

Off the Radar

2005-12-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

Odds are, amidst all of the MSM tripping over each other reporting the latest belches from Rep. John Murtha, you didn't see this. Vietnam vet and former Prisoner of War U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (3rd Dist.-Texas) delivered the following closing statement on the floor of the House of Representatives November 18 in response to Congressman Murtha’s suggestion to pull out U.S. troops from Iraq. A 29-year veteran of the Air Force, Johnson was held captive nearly seven years as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam.

“Mr. Speaker – I rise today on behalf of the American men and women in uniform – and their families.

“I spent 29 years in the Air Force – served in Korea and Vietnam… and spent seven years as a POW in Vietnam – more than half of that time in solitary confinement.

“I know what it’s like to be far from home – serving your country – risking your life – and hearing that America doesn’t care about you… Your Congress doesn’t care about you. Your Congress just cut all funding for your war. They’re packing up and going home – and leaving you here.

“When I was a POW, I was scared to death when our Congress talked about pulling the plug that I would be left there forever.

“I know what it does to morale – I know what it does to the mission – and so help me God, I will never, ever let our nation make those mistakes again. Never.

“Our men and women in uniform need our full support. They need to know that when they’re in Iraq driving from Camp Blue Diamond to Camp Victory that the Congress is behind them –
to give them the best armored trucks they can drive, the best weapons they can fire, and the best ammunition they can use.

“They need to have full faith that a few nay-sayers in Washington won’t cut and run – and leave them high and dry. They need to know these things because that’s mandatory for mission success and troop morale.

“America – and the Congress – must stand behind our men and women in uniform because they stand up for us every minute of every day!

“Any talk – even so much as a murmur – of leaving now– just emboldens the enemy and weakens the resolve of our of troops in the field. That’s dangerous! If you don’t believe me – check out Al Jazeera. This story is on the front page. We can’t do that to our fellow Americans over there.

“Mr. Speaker – we’re making great progress in Iraq.

“Remember in January how we saw pictures from Iraq of that first election. For weeks the media predicted gloom and doom. Remember that? What did we see? We watched people as they waited in lines for hours – defying death threats – just to cast their vote for democracy.

“Remember the picture of the woman in a black head cover flashing her purple finger in the V after voting in the first Iraqi elections. It was a breakthrough for democracy – and it was just the beginning.

“Remember the recent vote on the referendum -- when people came out in droves to make their voice heard. You wouldn’t have known about it because there was so little mention of it here in the American press – but people got out there and they voted – they showed their support for a democracy –a new government, hope and a future.

“These people are thirsting for something more – they’re risking their lives in the name of a new government – and we must stay the course if we want to foster a stable Iraq and create hope for millions in the Middle East.

“And our work is paying off -- not just at the ballot box. Remember when we were waking up that Sunday morning in shock as we caught Saddam Hussein cowering in a rat-hole. He’s gone.
And you know what, at least 46 of Hussein’s 55 most wanted regime members are either dead or incarcerated.

“Nationwide, thousands and thousands of police officers have been hired and nearly 200,000 Iraqi soldiers are trained and serving their country.

“It’s going to take time – but our guys on the ground are working with other nations to make inroads to create leadership and inspire democracy in a country that has only known hate, fear, and death from a ruler.

“However, sadly – some here want to embolden the enemy by saying we just cut and run. That’s just irresponsible and unconscionable.

“I have to ask – What would Iraq be like if the United States pulled out -- allowing dangerous people like the head of al-Qaida, Zarqawi, to run the country? What would that mean for the region? The world?

“Al Qaida rules with death, fear, terror and blood. Al Qaida takes innocent people hostage – then beheads them – and then brags about it on the internet.

“Al Qaida has no respect for human life. They prey on innocent people to do their dirty work – because they know we don’t target schools and hospitals and mosques – yet those are the exact places that they’re using for safe cover.

“Al Qaida will kidnap loved ones – especially very young children - of people trying to build democracy – like local leaders – to scare them out of helping out the new country. They’re taking kids hostage – because parents want a new life and a better future for their children. Why is that such a crime?

“What part of Al Qaida do you want operating here in America?

“Al Qaida is a world-wide organization and world-wide threat. I don’t want any part of this. Americans don’t want, need or deserve al Qaida. Our troops are over in Iraq fighting not just for our freedom and protection – but freedom for the world.

“We must fight the bad guys over there – not over here. WE must support our troops to the hilt so they don’t go to bed at night – covered in talcum-powder thin white sand wondering – “Does America really support me.”

“In case people have forgotten, this is the same thing that happened in Vietnam. Peaceniks and people in Congress – and America - started saying bad things about what was going on over there. Let me tell you what it did for troop morale. It’s a real downer. I just pray our troops and their families can block this noise out and know that I will fight like mad to make sure our troops have everything they need - for as long as they need - to win the global war on terrorism.

“Withdrawal is not an option!

“I hope and pray every Member of Congress stands up and says to our troops ‘THANK YOU’ and ‘AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU.’ To them I say, God bless you and I salute you.”

Congress' Salary Freeze Thaws Out

2005-12-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

During recent shows of magnanimity in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, members of congress eagerly showcased their willingness to freeze their own salaries to help foot the bill for Gulf Coast reconstruction efforts. Behind closed doors, however, they approved a $3,100 pay raise.

Under a federal law enacted in 1989, the pay raise is automatic for all 535 members of Congress unless it is blocked by a vote of both chambers. The last time the lawmakers turned down a raise was in 1998, and salaries were raised this past January to the current $162,100 level.

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said it was hard to justify a pay raise for Congress "when we can't get a handle on federal spending. In fact, if this was the private sector, rather than getting a raise, we'd get fired," Flake said. "If there was ever a time for shared sacrifice, this is it," said like-minded Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.

In a year that has brought tragedy and devastation, unprecedented in cost both of human life and financially, coupled with the cost of the ongoing Global War on Terrorism, such self-serving and hypocritical false nobility should not go unnoticed. I can’t recall a year when the House and Senate were so wrought with scandal, across the parties; yet here they are patting themselves on the back and rewarding themselves with a 1.9% raise to their already bloated salaries. If their performance was merit-based, I believe a significant majority of these “public servants” would be stepping up to the pay table and walking away with a negative balance—having to pay back their constituents for their poor performance. I know that to be the case with Colorado’s rookie senator, Ken “Slimeball” Salazar.

As ye sow...

2005-12-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

So Shall Ye Reap...
Photos from Cindy Sheehan's recent booksigning in Crawford, TX.

Rock Chalk

2005-12-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

Generally, I have held the University of Kansas in the highest regard, and that is not hollow praise—both my children attended and graduated from KU, and my wife and I have financially supported their endowment association and the University proper. We have always been very pleased with the way the University was run and the way our daughter and son were treated there. A pleasant surprise was the St. Lawrence Center, the Catholic Student organization magnificently led by Msgr. Vince Krische, that was the single greatest influence of the University on our childrens’ continued faith development.

All this just makes even more distressing the recent revelations regarding KU’s Chairman of the Religious Studies department, Paul Mirecki’s class he has titled, "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies." Mirecki, also a member of KU's Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics (SOMA) [why is the head of a religious studies department an admittedly “open-minded” atheist or agnostic—isn’t that like sort of like Mahatma Gandhi teaching squad infantry tactics?] had sent out an e-mail regarding the course to one of his like-minded students, who then distributed it to others in SOMA. The e-mail read as follows:

The fundies want [intelligent design] all taught in a science class, but this will be a nice slap in their big fat face by teaching it as a religious studies class under the category "mythology."

He signed the message "Evil Dr. P." – Mirecki's nom de guerre in the KU SOMA circles. Mirecki states he designed the course as a direct response to the Kansas School Board's recent decision to allow for critiques of Darwinism in public-school classrooms. This is not the first of Mirecki’s anti-faith diatribes, either. He has been noted by students to have openly mocked, in vulgar fashion, Catholics, Fundamentalist Protestants, and Jews.

Of course, the MSM has been generally quiet on this issue, as the only persons offended by this over-educated yard ape are people of faith, the lowest of the low on the media’s social respect ladder. If a professor on the same campus had offered a course called “Eliminating Queers from your Community,” or “Global War on Terrorism-Fighting the Good Fight,” the journo-fascists would have popped a vessel in their righteous indignation over the “state of our public education system, and found a way to blame President Bush in the bargain. Here, however, Prof. Moron-ecki simply makes a half-hearted, scripted apology, and removes the word “mythology” from the title of the course, and life goes on, a la Ward “Injun Joe” Churchill. What should happen, and what I ask of KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway, is to give the Prof a boot in the ass to help him out the door of the University—telling him if he wants to teach that self-righteous drivel, there are plenty of private, God-hating colleges and universities where he can peddle his pablum.

UPDATE: Looks like my respect for KU was well placed all along. Read in this morning's paper that Chancellor Hemenway called Mirecki's antics "vile and repugnant," Evil Dr. P apologized again, and has withdrawn the course. Two out of three ain't bad, I reckon.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

2005-11-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, Duke Cunningham was a hero. Randy H. “Duke” Cunningham was the first American air ace of the Vietnam War. On 19 January 1972, Cunningham and radar intercept officer, Bill Driscoll, downed a MiG-21 in a treetop-level dogfight. On 8 May 1972, Cunningham engaged three MiG-17 and shot one tailing his wingman. Two days later, at the onset of Operation LINEBACKER, over 20 MiGs attacked his formation while flying east of Hanoi. In an intense battle, he quickly destroyed a MiG-17. Turning to assist others, he downed a second MiG-17, saving his executive officer. He then flew head-on into another MiG-17. However, this adversary was no ordinary pilot – that pilot was the legendary Col. Tomb, the top scoring enemy ace with up to 13 kills. Unable to out-climb the MiG, Cunningham chopped the throttles on his McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II and slowed to 150 knots. When the MiG overshot him, Cunningham closed quickly and destroyed it. His actions earned him a Medal of Honor nomination. He was also the inspiration for the hit movie Top Gun. After retirement from the Navy, Cunningham took off on a career in politics, winning election as a US Representative for the State of California, and gaining appointments to both the House Appropriations Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as other key posts.

It was here that the Duke forever and irreparably tarnished his honor. This week, Rep. Cunningham admitted that he received at least $2.4 million in bribes, and pled guilty to conspiring to commit bribery, honest services fraud, and tax evasion involving more than $1 million of unreported income.

Cunningham accepted bribes from hopeful Defense contractors by a variety of methods, including checks totaling over $1 million, cash, rugs, antiques, furniture, yacht club fees, boat repairs, moving costs, and vacation expenses, as well as the purchase of Cunningham's home in Del Mar, Calif., at an artificially inflated price by a defense contractor; the subsequent payoff of the mortgage on Cunningham's new, multi-million dollar home in Rancho Santa Fe by another defense contractor; a $200,000 down payment by a third coconspirator to enable Cunningham to purchase a condominium in Arlington, Va.; the payment of the capital gains tax by the purchaser of Cunningham's Del Mar home; the purchase and maintenance by a defense contractor of a yacht (the "Duke-Stir") and a Rolls Royce for Cunningham; as well as payments by a defense contractor for a graduation party for Cunningham's daughter, jewelry, home furnishings, and travel and hotel expenses. Needless to say, Cunningham did not report these gains on either his congressional disclosures or his Federal tax returns.

Rep. Cunningham admitted that in return for these bribes he used his public office and took other official action to influence the appropriations of funds and the execution of government contracts in ways that would benefit two of the majority owners of defense contracting companies.

Congressman Cunningham resigned his House seat on Monday of this week, and faces up to five years in prison for these charges. Much has been made of his tearful admission and resignation; but what has essentially gone unreported is that his influence on appropriations may have resulted in questionable equipment being procured at top dollar to equip our warfighters in the Global War on Terrorism. The MSM made major hay when Defense Secretary Rumsfeld stated, “you go to war with the Army you have.” Though he spoke the truth, Dems and media hacks were ready to barbecue the Secretary on a spit. Here we have something far worse—a duly elected representative, and decorated veteran, compromising his personal honor, the integrity of his office, and the safety and effectiveness of our soldiers, for personal payoffs and luxuries.

Hope you enjoy prison, Duke. Get to know your cellmate really well.

Boot In The Ass Awards--The Turncoat Edition

2005-11-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

After a long dry spell, I've pulled my trusty ol' combat boots of my duffel bag, given them a good coat of Kiwi and buffed them to a high shine; ready to take on a trio of Benedict Arnolds in a contest of who-can-sink-the-lowest:

Deep Goat:

Washington Post assistant editor Bob “Plumbergate” Woodward recent revelations of when and where he learned the identity of a CIA operative flies in the face of Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s charges that Lewis “Scooter” Libby was the first high-level government official to reveal Valerie Plame's identity to reporters in summer 2003.

Apparently Woodward, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, thought it better to allow Libby to take the fall for what turns out not to be the initial disclosure, for the sake of finishing a book he was writing. Woodward said he had not told his bosses until last month that he had learned about Valerie Plame's identity and her work at the CIA more than two years ago from a high-level Bush administration official. Woodward told The Associated Press Wednesday that when he learned Plame's name, he was in the middle of finishing a book about the administration's decision to go to war in Iraq, and didn't want to be subpoenaed to testify.

"The grand jury was going and reporters were being jailed, and I hunkered down more than I usually do," Woodward said, explaining why he waited so long to tell Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. what he knew about the Plame matter. Because his source in the leak case has refused to be identified publicly, Woodward said his hands are tied. "We can't tell the whole story. I would like to. It's one that will be told some day," he said.

Someday, when he’s writing a book on the matter, I suppose…

Yellow(cake) Journalism

After making a mob scene about the so-called “leaking” of ersatz-covert agent Valerie Plame’s identity recently, Lib-Dems and MSM hacks were apparently too tuckered out to raise a hand in protest when Washington Post reporter Dana “No Jail for Me” Priest recently broke a story regarding covert detention centers around the globe where high-value detainees are held for questioning as part of the Global War on Terrorism. Most telling is the second sentence of the story: "The secret facility is part of a covert prison system set up by the CIA nearly four years ago that at various times has included sites in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and several democracies in Eastern Europe, as well as a small center at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, according to current and former intelligence officials and diplomats from three continents."

So while Joe Wilson and the Capitol Hill gang get their tighty-whities in a bunch over the supposed revelation of a not-so-covert agent, the actual compromise of the safety of national security operatives in foreign theaters, as well as the impact on ongoing intelligence gathering operations goes without notice from the MSM or the left. Bill Bennett, in National Review Online sums it up succinctly:

This is an outrage. It took less than a day for al Jazeera to run with the story. And by Dana Priest's own admission in an online discussion forum on the Washington Post's website she states, "The article [I wrote] is bommeranging [sic] around Europe, especially Eastern Europe."

It sure is, and now the European Union, the Hague, and other organizations are investigating our allies who are working with us in holding high-value targets like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi bin Al-Shib. It's not enough that our allies in Europe have suffered terrorism (cf. Spain, the U.K.) because of their siding with us — we now have to expose others, and give more justification to terrorists to attack our allies? And we have to suffer the war-time distraction of rebuilding sites and moving these prisoners?

This is irresponsibility at its highest; it's also hypocrisy. As for Plame? Well, here again is Dana Priest in her online forum: "I don't actually think the Plame leak compromised national security, from what I've been able to learn about her position."

Head's-Up (His Ass)

U.S. Senator Jay “Deep Pockets” Rockefeller, vice chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and someone who definitely should know better, took a break from berating the Bush Administration for having prewar intelligence wrong, to tell two traditionally conflicted Middle East allies (Saudi Arabia and Jordan) and an enemy with strong Hussein sympathies (Syria) that a US war with Iraq was a done deal, months before the combat began. "I took a trip by myself in January of 2002 to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and I told each of the heads of state that it was my view that George Bush had already made up his mind to go to war against Iraq, that that was a predetermined set course which had taken shape shortly after 9-11," Rockefeller told Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday” last weekend.

Gee, wonder if that ill-advised heads up might have led Syria to offer to warehouse Saddam’s WMD’s; the same WMD’s that President Clinton, Sandy Berger, Madeline Albright, and William Cohen believed existed in Iraq in the late 1990s when they cooperated in drafting and President Clinton approving the Iraq Liberation Act; and the same WMD’s that the Left is so quick to point out the scarcity of at every opportunity?

It is very likely that Senator Rockefeller may have premptively impeded our efforts in the Global War on Terrorism, as well as adding to the risk our soldiers face overseas. As any investigation to Rockefeller’s breach of security develops, Rockefeller should take the high road pointed out by Lewis Libby and step down from his Intelligence post immediately. I hear Wal-Mart is hiring.

And the Buster Brown to the Backside goes to…

Sen. Rockefeller. Everybody knows reporters are accountable to no man, but a ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, with a presumed understanding of the import of such sensitive information, has no business going off on a self-important boondoggle, to give aid and comfort to the enemy. Bend over, Jay…here it comes…

Good and Faithful Servant

2005-11-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

Growing up when and how I did, Rev. Billy Graham was as much a fixture in my life as was Mr. Rogers, John Wayne, and Walter Cronkite. So when I stumbled across this story, I felt compelled to share it here:

In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor. Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggles with Parkinson's disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, "We don't expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you." So he agreed.

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, "I'm reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it.

The conductor said, "Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it." Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.

The conductor rushed back and said, "Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are. No problem. You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one."

Einstein looked at him and said, "Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going.'"

Having said that Billy Graham continued, "See the suit I'm wearing?It's a brand new suit. My wife, my children, and my grandchildren are telling me I've gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion.

You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I'll be buried. But when you hear I'm dead, I don't want you to immediately remember the suit I'm wearing. I want you to remember this:

I not only know who I am ... I also know where I'm going."

Steel on Target!

2005-11-15T18:47:00.000-07:00

You scored as Combat Infantry. You're a combat infantry soldier, a grunt, a dogface, a footslogger. While some say your common, you're a really a disciplined person who realizes the importance of working in a team, and in reality you and your comrades get most of the work done. This country needs more people like you. You're a brave selfless person. And I salute you.

TEN-HUT!!!

Combat Infantry

94%

Support Gunner

88%

Engineer

88%

Special Ops

69%

Medic

56%

Officer

56%

Artillery

44%

Civilian

Which soldier type are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

Old dog, same old tricks

2005-11-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

Guess who's charitable foundation shows up as the least efficient (read "fat paychecks for board of directors") on a Forbes magazine report? Nothing new here. For the "rest of the story," check out the tax returns.

Fight Back

2005-11-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

I say let’s piss off a whole bunch of people.

Seems everywhere you go lately, the PC crowd is going to great lengths to remove all references to Christian celebrations from the public square. Kohls, K-Mart, Sears, and Walmart have all to some extent been shown in the news recently as directing their employees not to say “Merry Christmas,” to shoppers, but rather the non-committal, PC “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holidays.” The US Post Office has announced it will not be introducing new Madonna and Child stamps this year, although they did compensate by announcing yet another upcoming postage rates increase.

And now, Michael Newdow, the California advocate of special rights for atheists, seeks to file a federal lawsuit this week asking for the removal of the national motto, "In God We Trust," from U.S. coins and dollar bills. Newdow claims it's an unconstitutional endorsement of religion and "excludes people who don't believe in God." Reckon there isn’t enough work to keep a doctor/lawyer combo busy out in the Golden State.

Newdow, and those like him, frequently bound together under the moniker of “Free-Thinkers,” (translation—religion-haters) seek to exclude any overt religious statement, writings, or speech from public venues, and concurrently assert that even the most oblique statement of faith is exclusive of atheists. Why is it that the speech of Christians is any less free or worthy of constitutional protections than that of atheists? How is it that “In God We Trust” struck along the circumference of coinage exclusive of anyone?

After reading of Newdow’s latest antics, I re-read the Constitution. Are you aware that the words “church” and “religion” are not used once in the entire text of the document? Thus I expand my search out to include the Bill of Rights, and then the subsequent constitutional amendments. I find one citation of the word religion, in the first amendment, in a provision that at the same time precludes “law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” What I did not see was any reference, overt or implied, to the “separation of church and state.”

Again, I say, let’s piss a bunch of people off.

Fr. Walter Smigiel, an eighty-three year old retired Catholic priest who more or less has become my spiritual guide, celebrates Mass at our parish on Monday mornings and First Saturdays, so I get to hear him speak at least once a month. His message varies only slightly from month to month, week to week—Be not afraid to proclaim the Word; protect the weak, innocent, and the unborn; use the power of your vote to elect men and women of character and faith, and to vote out those who fail to recognize the sanctity of life from birth to natural death; and to be ever vigilant of the insidious works of the devil. “Keep Christ in Christmas,” is his strong-voiced mandate each year, beginning about October, about the same time the merchants who work so tirelessly to separate us from our Christmas dollar, but refuse to acknowledge the blessings of the season, begin putting up the secular trappings of the season.

So I now take up Father Walter’s banner, and issue a challenge of my own. Instead of shopping at the stores where “Christmas” is not to be uttered, go to stores where Christmas is prominent in their decorations and advertising. Offer up a “Blessed Christmas” to salespersons and cashiers, as well as fellow shoppers. Prominently display a crèche in your front yard. Buy the leftover Madonna and Child stamps from the post office—they still have them—and use them year-round. Wear a visible sign of your faith—my favorite is a US flag staffed by a cross. If someone tells you “happy holidays,” give them a big smile and respond with “Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to you as well.”

Ain’t free speech a wonderful thing?

Never Forget

2005-11-11T13:28:00.000-07:00

In Flanders Fields

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now

we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

"In 20 campaigns, on a hundred battlefields, around a thousand camp fires, I have witnessed that enduring fortitude, that patriotic self-abnegation, and that invincible determination which have carved his statue in the hearts of his people.

From one end of the world to the other, he has drained deep the chalice of courage. As I listened to those songs, in memory's eye I could see those staggering columns of the first World War, bending under soggy packs on many a weary march, from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle deep through the mire of shell-pocked roads to form grimly for the attack, bule-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many to the judgment seat of God.

I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died, unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory.

Always for them: Duty, honor, country. Always their blood, and sweat, and tears, as we sought the way and the light and the truth. And 20 years after, on the other side of the globe, again the filth of murky foxholes, the stench of ghostly trenches, the slime of dripping dugouts, those boiling suns of relentless heat, those torrential rains of devastating storms, the loneliness and utter desolation of jungle trails, the bitterness of long separation from those they loved and cherished, the deadly pestilence of tropical disease, the horror of stricken areas of war...

The address by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to the cadets of the U.S. Military Academy in accepting the Sylvanus Thayer Award on 12 May 1962 is a memorable tribute to the ideals that inspired that great American soldier. For as long as other Americans serve their country as courageously and honorably as he did, General MacArthur's words will live on.

General MacArthur's service to his country spanned the years from 1903, when he was graduated from the Military Academy, to 5 April 1964 , when he died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 84. He was recognized early in his career as a brilliant officer and was advanced to brigadier general in 1918. Twelve years later he was named Chief of Staff of the Army, and in 1937 he retired. Recalled to active duty during World War II, he was commander of the Southwest Pacific Area during the greater part of the war. His wartime triumphs were followed by service as supreme commander of the Allied occupation forces in Japan. When the Korean conflict erupted, he also commanded the United Nations forces in Korea. He completed his active military service in 1951.

Poll-cats

2005-11-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

Colorado has a provision in the State Constitution called TABOR, or the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Generally, it requires that any tax increase proposed by the Gubbinah or the state legislature come before the citizenry in the form of a referendum. Clearly, this is a two-edged sword, as it permits tight-fisted communities to allow their own schools to become pitifully overcrowded before they relent to a mil-levy increase to pay for expansion or new schools. More importantly, however, it holds public servants of the state fiscally accountable for staying within their budgets.

Last week, Referendum C came before the voters. Boiled down to its essence, Referendum C permits Colorado government to retain tax surpluses (formerly refunded to taxpayers) to spend “as needed,” notionally for schools and roads, but no such controls actually exist within the language of the referendum. What it amounts to is an unspecified grab at additional tax revenues, without the bright light of day to show the quid taxpayers get for their quo.

Of course, this was an easy sell to those Coloradans with children; especially Liberocrats—all they have to hear is the word “education” and they’re ready to vote yes without reservation. There is no problem that can’t be cured by throwing somebody else’s money at it, right? I tried to explain that what the state was pulling off was pretty much the same as if Joe Taxpayer told the Revenooers “hey, I got a little over budget here putting that satellite dish up on top of my trailer-house, so I reckon you can jes’ fergit about collectin’ any income tax from me this year.”

Time and experience has shown that no government agency ever reduces its budget; and therefore expenditures, voluntarily. TABOR puts a degree of control over runaway spending in the hands of those who fill the state coffers; Referendum C gives a broad grant of carte blanche to the State to ignore that accountability, and opens the door, possibly, for pet projects—the proposed wildlife bridge, to name one.

I got a pretty good snapshot of what kind of bang we can expect to get for our buck out of Ref. C. on Election Day last Tuesday. I was the eighth voter through the door, it took me 30 minutes to vote; and I was one of the lucky ones. Our County Clerk and his staff underestimated the voter turnout, and as a result, hundreds of voters had to wait as long as two hours for ballots to be brought to the precinct, while uncounted others left without voting, having waited as long as they could. Difficult to understand, as there is nowhere in the county that is more than an hour’s drive from the furthest opposite point. I was thinking, as I watched the cluster-**** unfold, “this is the outfit that is asking us to trust them with more of our money?” There is a bible verse, Luke 16:10, I believe, that says, more or less, “the person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones…”

I believe they’ve proved their mettle on that account.

Oh, by the way, Ref. C passed.

Lessons Learned: Part II

2005-11-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

Last week, I posted my only partially tongue-in-cheek missive about the lessons I have learned in my first four years in the civil workforce following my retirement from the Army after twenty years’ service. Some understood the humorous aspect of the piece; others probably detected the “venting” function writing such an essay permits, still others took it entirely at face value as to what a depressing picture it paints. In order to provide the “yin” to the previous posting’s “yang,” I now seek to pass on a few tools and techniques I have adopted to make bearable, even fulfilling, the challenges faced in the “alternate universe” of civilian employment. Here goes:

· Mentor your peers and subordinates, if you have any. Even better, do it in a way that they don’t realize it is happening. One of the best ways to engender a spirit of comraderie and teamwork is, as Zig Ziglar says, by helping others get what they want. Likewise, a great deal of personal satisfaction is felt in seeing the “light go on” as a co-worker or assistant finally gets his or her head around that complicated and daunting task that has previously been beyond their grasp. Recently, an untrained clerical assistant was promoted to legal assistant here, to work for one of the most demanding attorneys in the firm, AFTER a trained and experienced paralegal washed out after three weeks. She was gracious enough that, after learning of her good fortune, took the time to thank me for helping develop her skills and understanding of what we do here. This promotion allowed her, a single mom with two teenage children, to quit her second job and enjoy a better quality of life. Knowing I played some small role in that accomplishment is priceless.

· Recognize and capitalize on each and every small victory. More than two years ago, while sifting through thousands of pages of insurance documents involving hundreds of claimants, I found a “smoking gun” that ended up in a badly injured man getting more than $22,000 in unpaid wage loss benefits from his insurance company. No one else found it, and even if they had, it is unlikely that they would have recognized the significance of the document. Turns out this man was a Vietnam vet who had spent time in VC prison camps and received multiple combat wounds, yet came out of the experience a whole and vibrant man, only to be physically struck down in a car accident when his plumbing van lost control on icy Colorado roads and overturned. Finding that document didn’t undo his injuries and didn’t make him a whole person again, but it did allow him to stave off foreclosure long enough to sell his home and move to a more hospitable climate. He remains someone I speak to nearly every month, even though the case closed over a year ago.

· Take pride in your own accomplishments on their own merit. While the acknowledgment of a job well done is always appreciated, often it is the feat itself that should be the source of satisfaction. Much of what we do here deals with class action lawsuits against insurance companies who breach their contracts with their insureds—in other words, failing to pay all benefits due when claims are made, or withholding critical information regarding coverage requirements at the time of sale. We had a lawsuit against Farmers Insurance Company for failing to disclose critical information regarding UM/UIM coverage at the time of sale, resulting in essentially overcharging each customer who insured more than one vehicle at the same time. Farmers is the number three insurer in the state, and therefore insures hundreds of thousands of drivers. Farmers produced as their list of class members and class damages several CD’s consisting of raw database output. I was able to import that data into Excel, and manipulate the raw data to determine that the total class damages for the four years at issue was right about $30 million. The firm hired a nationally recognized statistical accounting firm to work up the numbers and provide expert testimony for which the firm paid more than $10,000. Their end result differed from my own by only hundreds of dollars—well within the standard deviation.

· Seek fulfillment from sources other than your occupation. During my time in the Army, I had my share of good leaders and those that couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel. Reckon it’s the same in civil life, just that the bar is set higher in the Army. When everything shakes out, a job is still just a job – a means to provide for your livelihood. Fortunately, my work provides that comfortably, and fortunately, where I work there are a few people who are something other than a mile wide and an inch deep. Their opinions I respect and seek out. The others, I take with a grain of salt and a skin thickened by years of dealing with onionheads. Tasks successfully completed for an unappreciative or shortsighted supervisor are no less well done; only less acknowledged. At the end of the day, as they say, it is that I have held true to my values and faith, not the praise or acceptance of my boss that truly matters. Keeping that in mind makes giving the boss a good day’s work every day a worthy and manageable goal.

Lessons Learned

2005-11-02T12:56:00.000-07:00

I have been retired from the Army for four years now; long enough for the separation to be distinct, short enough to remember much of how it was, or at least how I wish it was. I have learned a great deal since beginning work in the civil sector, and most of what I have learned I regret. I have always strove to pass on to others the lessons I have learned so that their paths might be smoother, so here goes:

· The most important consideration in success in the job market is not skills, knowledge, and abilities; not quality or quantity of work; not teamwork, helpful demeanor, or personal merit; the only criteria that really matters is how much your superiors like you.

· No matter what your past accomplishments, you’re only as good as your latest mistake.

· If your employer has any rules or standards, don’t bother trying to follow them; it will only increase your frustration when your co-workers do whatever the hell they want.

· Be careful about offering to help others when they have a big project on; often as not, it will turn out to be your project in the end.

· Avoid learning new skills—if you can’t do it, they’ll find someone who can, and it will be their problem.

· Don’t be born white, male, or before 1975.

· Use all your vacation and sick days early in the year—before you’ve accrued them if possible. That way, if something happens, you’re ahead.

· Loyalty, like respect, is all too often a one-way street.

· Expecting leadership from your boss in the civilian world is about the same as expecting honesty from a politician.

· Whatever you do, never EVER pick up a fax from the printer and give it to the intended recipient.

What We're Up Against

2005-10-13T04:12:00.000-07:00

1LT Brian Anderson, one of the the Public Affairs Officers over at United States Central Command (CENTCOM), asked that I post the recent communique from senior al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to the group's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. CENTCOM, in case you didn't already know, is the largest Terrorist Elimination Organization in the world, and they're the honchos of the current Global War on Terrorism. Here is an excerpt from Zawahiri's writing--a keen insight to the mind of a Muslim fanatic:

“…the Jihad in Iraq requires several incremental goals: The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq . The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority or amirate, then develop it and support it until it achieves the level of a caliphate over as much territory as you can spread its power in Iraq, i.e., in Sunni areas. . . . The third stage: Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries neighboring Iraq . The fourth stage: …[This is ] the clash with Israel , because Israel was established only to challenge any new Islamic entity. . . . [T]heir ongoing mission is to establish an Islamic state, and defend it, and for every generation to hand over the banner to the one after it until the Hour of Resurrection.”

Check out the communique in its entirety at: http://www.centcom.mil/extremistssay.asp

While you're at it, you may want to sign up for CENTCOM's electronic newsletter, to keep up with the cutting edge of news from where the rubber meets the road, written by the Joes and Janes involved first-hand in eliminating the terrorist scourge from the planet. You can do so at http://www.centcom.mil/newsletter/newsletter-signup.asp

Tell'em Beast7 sent ya.

Beast7 23:5

2005-10-13T04:06:00.000-07:00

Stacy, from over at Not a Desperate Housewife , tagged me with this, as such:

>>Gordon, although I think he's busy these days.<<

You got that right, Stacy; but I'd sooner put a dead rat in my mouth, tail and all, than to let you down. Check back later for a poste about what I've been up to lately...

1. Search your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (this is meant to say something about you).
4. Post that sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.

Here it is: Long considered a front-runner to suceed John Paul II, the College of Cardinals elected him pope on April 19, 2005.

Not sure what that says about me. While I do consider myself a man of principle and only-somewhat-compromised virture, it'll be a cold day in a very hot place before I am on even a very long list of Papal candidicates. I do greatly admire the late Holy Father, though.
As for passing on this tag to five others, I'll adopt my blog-mentor, Jeff's approach--any volunteers?

Wish I Had Written This... The Sequel

2005-10-05T06:51:00.000-07:00

I've written before about my respect for the Canadian Army, and I reckon I have to sign on in support of their journalists, as well. The following by David Warren, appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on September 11, 2005:

Blame Throwing

There's plenty wrong with America, since you asked. (Everybody's asking.) I'm tempted to say, the only difference from Canada, is that they have a few things right. That would be unfair, of course -- I am often pleased to discover things we still get right.

But one of them would not be disaster preparation. If something happened up here, on the scale of Katrina, we wouldn't even have the resources to arrive late. We would be waiting for the Americans to come save us, the same way the government in Louisiana just waved and pointed at Washington, D.C. The theory being, that when you're in real trouble, that's where the adults live.

And that isn't an exaggeration. Almost everything that has worked in the recovery operation along the U.S. Gulf Coast has been military and National Guard. Within a few days, under several commands, finally consolidated under the remarkable Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, it was once again the U.S. military, efficiently cobbling together a recovery operation on a scale beyond the capacity of any other earthly institution.

We hardly have a military up here. We have elected one feckless government after another, who have cut corners until there is nothing substantial left. We don't have the ability even to transport and equip our few soldiers. Should disaster strike at home, on a big scale, we become a Third World country. At which point, our national smugness is of no avail.

From Democrats and the American Left -- the U.S. equivalent to the people who run Canada -- we are still hearing that the disaster in New Orleans showed a heartless, white Republican America had abandoned its underclass.

This is garbage. The great majority of those not evacuated lived in assisted housing, receive food stamps and prescription medicine and government support through many other programmes. Many have, all their lives, expected someone to lift them to safety, sans input from themselves. And the demagogic mayor they elected left, quite literally, hundreds of transit and school buses parked in rows to be lost in the flood, that could have driven them out of town.
Yes, that was insensitive. But it is also the truth; and sooner or later we must acknowledge that welfare dependency creates exactly the sort of haplessness and social degeneration we saw on display, as the floodwaters rose. Many suffered terribly, and many died, and one's heart goes out. But already the survivors are being put up in new accommodations, and their various entitlements have been directed to new locations.

The scale of private charity has also been unprecedented. There are yet no statistics, but I'll wager the most generous state in the union will prove to have been arch-Republican Texas, and that nationally, contributions in cash and kind are coming disproportionately from people who vote Republican. For the world divides into "the mouths" and "the wallets".

The Bush-bashing, both down there and up here, has so far lost touch with reality, as to raise questions about the bashers' state of mind.

Consult any authoritative source on how government works in the United States, and you will learn that the U.S. federal government's legal, constitutional, and institutional responsibility for first response to Katrina, as to any natural disaster, was zero.

Notwithstanding, President Bush took the prescient step of declaring a disaster, in order to begin deploying FEMA and other federal assets, two full days in advance of the stormfall. In the little time since, he has managed to coordinate an immense recovery operation -- the largest in human history -- without invoking martial powers. He has been sufficiently Presidential to respond, not even once, to the extraordinarily mendacious and childish blame-throwing.

One thinks of Kipling's "If --" poem, which I learned to recite as a lad, and mention now in the full knowledge that it drives postmodern leftoids and gliberals to apoplexy -- as anything that is good, beautiful, or true:

If you can keep your head when all about youAre losing theirs and blaming it on you;If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way to hating,And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise...

Unlike his critics, Bush is a man, in the full sense presented by these verses. A fallible man, like all the rest, but a man.

Why Is This Guy Saying What I've Been Thinking?

2005-10-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

First heard this on Mike Gallagher's radio show last Friday evening, then saw it on Snopes.com this morning. Too good to pass up...

Moral poverty in New Orleans
By Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson

Say a hurricane is about to destroy the city you live in. Two questions:

1. What would you do?
2. What would you do if you were black?

Sadly, the two questions don't have the same answer.

To the first: Most of us would take our families out of that city quickly to protect them from danger. Then, able-bodied men would return to help others in need, as wives and others cared for children, elderly, infirm and the like.

For better or worse, Hurricane Katrina has told us the answer to the second question. If you're black and a hurricane is about to destroy your city, then you'll probably wait for the government to save you.

This was not always the case. Prior to 40 years ago, such a pathetic performance by the black community in a time of crisis would have been inconceivable. The first response would have come from black men. They would take care of their families, bring them to safety, and then help the rest of the community. Then local government would come in.

No longer. When 75 percent of New Orleans residents had left the city, it was primarily immoral, welfare-pampered blacks that stayed behind and waited for the government to bail them out. This, as we know, did not turn out good results.

Enter Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan. Jackson and Farrakhan laid blame on "racist" President Bush. Farrakhan actually proposed the idea that the government blew up a levee so as to kill blacks and save whites. The two demanded massive governmental spending to rebuild New Orleans, above and beyond the federal government's proposed $60 billion. Not only that, these two were positioning themselves as the gatekeepers to supervise the dispersion of funds. Perfect: Two of the most dishonest elite blacks in America, "overseeing" billions of dollars. I wonder where that money will end up.

Of course, if these two were really serious about laying blame on government, they should blame the local one. Responsibility to perform - legally and practically - fell first on the mayor of New Orleans. We are now all familiar with Mayor Ray Nagin - the black Democrat who likes to yell at President Bush for failing to do Nagin's job. The facts, unfortunately, do not support Nagin's wailing. As the Washington Times puts it, "recent reports show [Nagin] failed to follow through on his own city's emergency-response plan, which acknowledged that thousands of the city's poorest residents would have no way to evacuate the city."

One wonders how there was "no way" for these people to evacuate the city. We have photographic evidence telling us otherwise. You've probably seen it by now - the photo showing 200 parked school buses, unused and underwater. How much planning does it require to put people on a bus and leave town, Mayor Nagin?

Instead of doing the obvious, Mayor Nagin (with no positive contribution from Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco, the other major leader vested with responsibility to address the hurricane disaster) loaded remaining New Orleans residents into the Superdome and the city's convention center. We know how that plan turned out.

About five years ago, in a debate before the National Association of Black Journalists, I stated that if whites were to just leave the United States and let blacks run the country, they would turn America into a ghetto within 10 years. The audience, shall we say, disagreed with me
strongly. Now I have to disagree with me. I gave blacks too much credit. It took a mere three days for blacks to turn the Superdome and the convention center into ghettos, rampant with theft, rape and murder.

President Bush is not to blame for the rampant immorality of blacks. Had New Orleans' black community taken action, most would have been out of harm's way. But most were too lazy, immoral and trifling to do anything productive for themselves.

All Americans must tell blacks this truth. It was blacks' moral poverty - not their material poverty - that cost them dearly in New Orleans. Farrakhan, Jackson, and other race hustlers are to be repudiated - they will only perpetuate this problem by stirring up hatred and applauding moral corruption. New Orleans, to the extent it is to be rebuilt, should be remade into a dependency-free, morally strong city where corruption is opposed and success is applauded. Blacks are obligated to help themselves and not depend on the government to care for them. We are all obligated to tell them so.

Free Speech, So Long as You Agree With Us (Revisited)

2005-10-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

Bill Bennett, former U.S. education secretary and national drug czar, has become the latest target of righteous indignation of liberal and Democrat mouthpieces. Last week, Bennett took a call on his syndicated radio talk show from a caller who suggested that Social Security would be in better financial shape if abortion were illegal, leaving more people to pay into the system. Bennett said economic arguments should never be employed in discussions of moral issues. He sought to expose the ridiculous nature of the theory by offering what he called "a noxious hypothetical analogy. “If it were your sole purpose to reduce crime,” Bennett said, "You could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down," he added;” further explaining that the reasons to oppose abortion are not any second or third generational social impacts, but rather simply that abortion is simply and clearly morally wrong.

I heard the program while walking the dog, and understood immediately the point Bennett was making. He was demonstrating, by the principle of reductio ad absurdum[1], the fallibility of the logic of the caller’s argument by taking the principle to the next higher level, exposing the shortcomings of such a proposal.

It didn’t take long for the liberal Democrat and so-called civil rights wags to race to a waiting microphone to express their righteous anger at Bennett’s “racist remarks.” Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, in a statement typical of the torrent of similar comments from Democrats, denounced the remarks and called on Bennett to apologize. "Bill Bennett's hateful, inflammatory remarks regarding African Americans are simply inexcusable," he said. ". . . Are these the values of the Republican Party and its conservative allies?" Remember, this is the same Howard Dean that, in February this year, addressing an assemblage of Black Democrats, remarked “You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff in here.”

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, demanded that Bennett "issue an immediate apology not only to African Americans but to the nation.” Remember that this is the same Senator Reid who said last year that the Supreme Court's lone black Justice was "an embarrassment to the court."

Friday morning on NPR, host Ed Gordon interviewing Rev. Jesse Jackson concerning Bennett’s comments, asked Jackson if what Bennett said represented "a pattern that we are seeing in terms of growth with the ability to say this kind of thing (emphasis in original) in public?" Jackson dutifully recited from the Rainbow Coalition party playbook that a "certain ideology in our country that is unfortunately sick and racist and dangerous and violent." Remember, this is the same “Reverend” Jackson who in 1984, during his first run for the presidency, when he made what he assumed was an off-the-record comment to a black reporter in which he called Jews "Hymies" and New York "Hymietown."Recall that many of these same liberal gasbags that now seek to squelch Bennett were the same crusaders who spoke up for Ward Churchill’s free speech rights, when he referred to the victims of 9/11 WTC attacks as “little Eichmanns.”

The irony here is that some seventy years ago, liberal icon Margaret Sanger proposed just such a plan. She felt that poor blacks contributed nothing to society and abortion may just be a good way of curbing poverty. Thus she created “The Negro Project.” Eventually, her efforts would result in thousands of abortion mills across the United States under the Planned Parenthood banner, bringing about the deaths of about 4000 unborn babies daily.

Bennett’s comments weren’t about race, they were instead about the terribly moral destructive force that is legalized abortion in America. Because of a bunch a frantic liberal reactionaries, his true message will likely go unheard.

[1] Look up this term on Wikipedia, and review the example cited there.

Wish I Had Written This...

2005-09-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

What I have seen since Katrina:

The poor and the wealthy hurt by the storm.

Black, white, Hispanic, Oriental and Indian all hurt by the storm.

People giving, giving, giving.

Churches going all out.

Neighbors going door to door helping one another.

Thugs and hoodlums going door to door looking for someone vulnerable.

Ice and water being fought over as police tried to keep the peace.

People coming up from New Orleans taking over empty houses because shelters are full.

Out of town volunteers coming with food and staying for now a week still serving it.

The Churches all over this part of the country doing what Christians do in a crisis.

The Red Cross doing a great job in the shelters.

The Salvation Army doing a great job in the community.

Four Hundred crewman from everywhere bring back the power to our homes, churches and businesses.

Lines at service stations a block to a mile long.

National Guardsman patrolling the streets of McComb along with Kentucky policemen protecting us from the hoodlums and thugs of McComb, Pike County and New Orleans (the most dangerous city in the world before Katrina.)

Drug dealers working outside shelters.

Doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel working tirelessly, even
sleeping in the hospital to do their job.

WHAT I HAVE NOT SEEN:

The ACLU setting up a feeding line.

People for the American Way helping in the shelters.

The NAACP doing any work whatsoever.

The American Atheist organization serving meals in the shelters.

Jesse Jackson directing traffic at the gas stations or anything else useful.

Louis Farrakhan doing anything but complaining.

I could go on but you get my message. It?s the Christian people with love and compassion who do the work.

The gripers in Congress should come on down and get in line to pass the water and the ice. Are you listening Hillary, Chuck, Teddy and all the sorry loafers we call Senators and Congressmen. They don't have a clue as to what this life is all about here on the Gulf Coast.

Boy I feel better now.

Who'da Thunkit?

2005-09-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

What gives me relief is that on the "Famous People" chart, the "YOU" balloon is midpoint between President G.W. Bush and Pope John Paul II. Not a bad neighborhood at all.

You are a
Social Moderate
(41% permissive)

and an...
Economic Conservative
(61% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Centrist

Centrist

You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness.

Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating

"Boot in the Ass" Awards--September 22, 2005

2005-09-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

I promised last week to do a better job in selecting and presenting the case for the nominees for this week's session of cobbler counseling, and tragically, the evil-doers of the earth have made this simple. This week's third nominee, and winners, although geographically far removed, have made a distinctly personal impact on me, as you will read below....

Hizz(dis)Honor

Some folks where I work have a habit of showing up late, but giving credit where credit is due, they make up for it by leaving early. Seems like New Orleans Mayor Ray “Buses…what buses?” Nagin is adopting the opposite approach in advocating the premature return of Big Easy residents. Nagin, who took a lot of shots (from pundits who were not entirely focused on running down the President) over his failure to use the scores of school buses on hand to evacuate N.O. residents before the levees broke, in the last week spent much of his time urging his constituents to repopulate the less severely damaged areas of the city. This in spite of the fact that there is no reliable supply of fresh running water, no 911 emergency services, and in the face of potentially equally as devastating Hurricane Rita.

Whenever the feds’ elected or appointed point man falls short of the task at hand, smart administrations call upon the proven effective leadership from the uniformed services—just recall the impact Lt. Gen. Russel Honore made when he arrived on the scene in Louisiana. Strange then that when USCG Vice Admiral Thad Allen, head of the federal government’s hurricane response team pointed these concerns out, Nagin got his panties in a bunch, referring to Vice Adm. Allen as the "new crown federal mayor of New Orleans.'' The mayor called Allen a "good man'' but made it clear that he doesn't like Allen speaking to the citizens of New Orleans. "There's only one mayor of New Orleans,'' Nagin said. Ironically, Nagin asked Matt Lauer if he “wanted his job” on this morning’s Today show.

Between picking morsels of crow from between his teeth, Nagin has suspended the reopening of dry portions of Orleans Parish on Monday just as residents started to return three weeks to the day after Hurricane Katrina struck.

Wind-Bagpipe

Previous Nominee UK MP George “Haggis Head” Galloway earns membership in the slow-learners club for his remarks regarding the impact of Katrina, and the US government’s response:

"The scenes from the stricken city almost defy belief. Many, many thousands of people left to die in what is the richest, most powerful country on Earth. This obscenity is as far from a natural disaster as George Bush and the U.S. elite are from the suffering masses of New Orleans. The images of Bush luxuriating at his ranch and of his secretary of state shopping for $7,000 shoes while disaster swamped the U.S. Gulf Coast will haunt this administration.

"In the most terrible way imaginable they show to the whole world that it is not only the lives of people in Baghdad, Fallujah and Palestine that Bush holds cheap. It is also his own citizens - the black and poor people left behind with no food, water or shelter. This is not simply manslaughter through incompetence, though the White House's incompetence abounds. It is murder - for Bush was warned four years ago of the threat to New Orleans, as surely as he was warned of the disaster that would come of his war on Iraq. ... His is the America of Halliburton, the M-16 rifle, the cluster bomb, the gated communities of the rich and of the billionaires he grew up with in Texas. There is another America. It is the land of the poor of Louisiana, it is the land of the young men and women economically conscripted into the military. It is the land of the glorious multiethnic mix that was New Orleans, it is the land of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and of great struggles for justice."

Recall that this is the same George Galloway who in 1994 flew to Baghdad and addressed Saddam Hussein in the following terms, commiserating with him on his failure to annex the Arab and Muslim state of Kuwait:

Your Excellency, Mr. President, I greet you in the name of the many thousands of people in Britain who stood against the tide and opposed the war and aggression against Iraq. … I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability.

Reckon Great Britain’s Parliament has its own version of Howard “Hee-Haw” Dean…

Cardinal Sin

If you couldn’t tell from my previous posts here, I am a Catholic. I converted from Southern Baptist ten years ago this past Easter, after having married a Catholic girl twenty-five years ago. Therefore, the following issue sickens me to an immeasurable extent. I believe I understand the basic tenets of my faith, I have read much about the recidivism rates of sex offenders, and I certainly understand leadership fundamentals. The two men I write about below failed in understanding any of these, and sacrificed their integrity, the Holy Catholic Church’s reputation, and the welfare of their faithful followers for the cheap price of protecting perverted priests under their charge, and, I suppose it can be presumed, the assets of the Archdiocese.

After a three-year investigation, a grand jury in Philadelphia reported this week that two chief leaders in the U.S. Roman Catholic magisterium, Cardinals John Krol and Anthony Bevilacqua, deliberately concealed the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by no less than 63 priests in that diocese from 1967 to 2002, The grand jury further found that the Philadelphia Archdiocese retained 10 accused child molesters in active ministry even after June 2002, when all the U.S. bishops promised in Dallas to remove any priest who had ever faced a credible allegation of abuse, to include two accused priests still in active ministry.

The Cardinals’ efforts in concealing the sexual abuses were so effective that the grand jury was unable to indict anybody. It found clear evidence in church files that Krol, who died in 1996, and Bevilacqua, who retired two years ago, "enabled and excused" abuse by transferring accused priests from parish to parish without warning parishioners or informing police.
Among the priests they protected, the grand jury said, was one who raped an 11-year-old girl and then took her in for an abortion, and another who groped a teenage girl while she lay immobilized in traction in a hospital bed after a car accident.

The acts of each priest in question, individually, is sickeningly criminal enough. Each act would have been enough to justify defrocking and excommunication, and tendering to civil authorities for immediate prosecution. Worse, however, are the acts of the Cardinals, charged with supervising these shepherds. In not acting immediately, forcefully and publicly to make plainly clear that these perverse acts could not and would not be tolerated by any priest, they instead validated such acts—sending the message that it was okay, and that the harm to the victims of these sick bastards was less important than the reputation of the parish or the diocese. In so doing, these Cardinals became agents of the devil. Had they acted in an appropriate matter, the diocese could purged itself cleaned of the deviant element; others with such inclinations might have left of their own accord, or sought help to control inappropriate behaviors. The Archdiocese may have had to face some losses in litigation, and may have had to face up to a scandal-eager press. Instead, I have grave concerns over how the Archdiocese can weather this storm. Surely, legal costs and settlements will be in the hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. The press, always bloodthirsty for scandal among Catholic clergy, will have a heyday. Many faithful will feel betrayed by their church leaders, and leave the faith. Far worst of all, however, is the fact that these Cardinals have acted as conspirators in the commission of these criminal and depraved acts, and concurrently did, in fact fail in every aspect of their duty and ministry toward their flock.

I am mostly at a loss to speak as to what might be appropriate earthly justice for Cardinal Bevilacqua, and the depraved priests whose acts he enabled, but at a minimum this: public stripping of all outward representations of any association with the church, excommunication, prosecution to the fullest extent of the law, forfeiture of all their belongings to make restitution, if such a word is even appropriate, to their victims.

May Almighty God have mercy on us all.

And the winners are....(as if there was any doubt)

I have previously gone off on long-winded rants about the failures of men and women in leadership positions who have let down those who count on them to make sound decisions and act in a right and just manner, so we are all likely on the same page there. I've upped that ante in the past, asserting that elected officials on the gubbamint payroll have a higher duty to those they serve. This instance, however, turns over new ground--no one should be held to higher standards of performance, behavior, and responsibility than members of the clergy. Mortals place the trust of their immortal soul in the hands of these men, provide their wages and support by way of their tithe, and look to them for direction and guidance amidst the temptations and distractions of this life, to pave the way to everlasting life.

Gonna need a new pair of boots after this one. Let's hope next week brings a tougher choice, a choice between those whose impact is far less tragic and far-reaching...

Any Questions...?

2005-09-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

This is your brain...

This is your brain on drugs.

Any questions?

Pots Calling the Kettle Black

2005-09-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

The 535 men and women who make up the House and Senate of the United States include an unexpectedly large percentage who have demonstrated a, let's say, spotty record of personal compliance with federal, state, and local laws*...

29 members of Congress have been accused of spousal abuse;
7 have been arrested for fraud;
19 have been accused of writing bad checks;
117 have bankrupted at least two businesses;
3 have been arrested for assault;
71 have credit reports so bad they can't qualify for a credit card;
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges;
8 have been arrested for shoplifting;
21 are current defendants in lawsuits;
84 were stopped for drunk driving, but released after they claimed Congressional immunity;

Not to mention that D.C. police issue 2,912 parking tickets to cars owned by members of Congress last year. And don't forget about that one Massachusetts Senator, the one with the reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident thing that occurred so many years ago.

The point is, this is the pool from which the august Senators who make up the committee to confirm the nomination of proposed Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts are drawn.

*This post is intended as editorial in nature only, and no assertions are made as to accuracy of this information, widely distributed across the WWW.

"Boot in the Ass" Awards--September 15, 2005

2005-09-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

This week's offering is relatively watered down, not from a lack of suitable nominees, but rather from a lack of time to bird-dog them down. Regardless, this slate of candidates is certainly worthy of some boot-based course correction...

...None so Blind as Those Who Trod on the Rights of Others...

Michael “I Won’t Go Away” Newdow, the California atheist who last year lost a Supreme Court fight to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance; immediately filed a new federal case in which he represents two families against the Elk Grove Unified School District, the same Sacramento-area district he had previously sued.

Federal Court Judge Lawrence “Mail-Order Law Degree” Karlton, on September 14, 2005 rejected a motion to dismiss his newest case, citing as the basis precedent of an earlier ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In the Wednesday decision, the judge ruled: "The court concludes that it is bound by the Ninth Circuit's previous determination that the school district's policy with regard to the pledge is an unconstitutional violation of the children's right to be free from a coercive requirement to affirm God."

Ostensibly, this decision opens the door for Newdow and others of his ilk to revisit the issue before higher courts. The Supreme Court did not previously decide his case on the merits, but rather ruled Newdow did not have standing to bring the case.

Green, Black and Tan Movin' Van

Louisiana Democrat Rep. William “Movin’ On Up” Jefferson, used National Guard troops to recover his personal belongings — even while New Orleans residents were trying to get rescued from rooftops, according to an ABC report.

Five days after Katrina hit, and during the height of rescue operations, Jefferson, asked the National Guard that night to take him on a tour of the flooded portions of his congressional district. A five-ton military truck and a half dozen military police were dispatched. During the tour, Congressman Jefferson asked that the truck take him to his home in the affluent uptown neighborhood.

Jefferson went into the house alone, the source says, while the soldiers waited on the porch for about an hour. Then, Jefferson emerged with a laptop computer, three suitcases, and a box about the size of a small refrigerator, which the enlisted men loaded up into the truck.

The truck became stuck as it waited for Jefferson to retrieve his belongings. Two weeks later, the vehicle's tire tracks were still visible on the lawn. The soldiers signaled to helicopters in the air for aid. Military sources say a Coast Guard helicopter pilot saw the signal and flew to Jefferson's home. The chopper was already carrying four rescued New Orleans residents at the time.

A rescue diver descended from the helicopter, but the congressman decided against going up in the helicopter, sources say. The pilot sent the diver down again, but Jefferson again declined to go up the helicopter. After spending approximately 45 minutes with Jefferson, the helicopter went on to rescue three additional New Orleans residents before it ran low on fuel and was forced to end its mission.

In what has been called an unrelated matter, authorities recently searched Jefferson's property as part of a federal investigation into the finances of a high-tech firm, and last month FBI officials raided Jefferson's house as well as his home in Washington, D.C., his car and his accountant's house.

Bow-Tied Blather

Louis “I Never Met a Rabble I Couldn’t Rouse” Farrakhan has said he's not happy with the job the American Red Cross is doing, and he has had harsh words for FEMA too. "I'm sure some good is being done, but not enough to answer the cry." Farrakhan said. Showing just what a renaissance man he is, Farrakhan put on his engineer hat (civil, not choo-choo) and shared his thoughts on how the levee breached in the first place.

"I heard from a very reliable source who saw a 25 foot deep crater under the levee breach. It may have been blown up to destroy the black part of town and keep the white part dry," Farrakhan said.

Another part of the vast right-wing conspiracy, I suppose.

And the winner is:

As much as I'd really like to plant one on the backside of Farrakhan, Newdow, and this weak-minded bench splinter, this week's kick to the keister goes to the self-serving public servant, Rep. Jefferson, demonstrating the slightly-crooked mindset which appears to be a prerequisite for election to public office in Louisiana. Putting a few pieces of personal property before the lives of your constituents raises a foul smell in your wake, Congressman, with or without the additional taint of your questionable financial doings. Kingfish lives on.

I'll try to do better next week.

Personal Responsibility

2005-09-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

The rain it falleth quietly down
Upon the just and unjust fella;
But more upon the just because
The unjust hath the just’s umbrella.

Between television news, print media, and radio talk shows, you’re never too far away from someone second guessing the local, state, and national efforts to deal with the effects of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent failure of levees with the resultant devastation of large parts of the Gulf Coast; most notably—but not solely--New Orleans.

What is largely absent from all of the finger-pointing, name-calling, and blame-gaming is what I consider to be the most important, and most notably absent aspect of this tragedy—personal responsibility.

To borrow a phrase from Gordon Liddy, when I was a kid, this was a free country. With freedom comes the implicit need to ACT RESPONSIBLY. True advocates of freedom realize that if one depends exclusively on some sovereign for protection from all the evil and destructive forces of man and nature, one is not truly free. A genuinely free and independent person depends first and foremost upon him or herself; family and friends second, and government a distant third.

If I was out hiking, and got myself lost, I certainly would not expect Search and Rescue to come pluck me out, at taxpayers’ expense, from the mess I had got myself into. First, I would do what I could to find recognizable terrain, and get myself reoriented. I would expect that I would pack in a jacket or coat as appropriate, water, and a little chow. I’d probably have a compass or GPS with me as well. What stood out to me while watching news reports of the rescue and evacuation operations in Louisiana, is that not a single one of these people, nearly all of whom took the opportunity to run down the President personally and the federal government generally, had not so much as a water bottle in their hands. My wife won’t go for a twenty minute stroll without taking along a water bottle.

I heard this morning on the radio that Congress has appropriated $50 billion dollars for the Katrina recovery efforts, without any up-front constraints on how these funds are to be spent. That is in addition to the $10 billion initially appropriated for first wave efforts. I wonder what role these displaced souls will play in their own recovery? I have heard that the evacuees wouldn’t even clean up after themselves while sheltered at the Superdome and Astrodome.

I don’t know a single person who doesn’t understand the depth of this tragedy, and doesn’t feel moved to contribute generously from their own good fortune. The American people have once again shown the extent of their generosity. Recall, however, that God helps those who help themselves.

"Fighting Against Tyranny, Terrorism, and for Democracy"

2005-09-14T03:47:00.000-07:00

Counter all those nattering nabobs of negativity who have assigned a thousand ulterior motives to our President's decision to take the Global War on Terrorism to the doorstep of our generations most evil despot, a voice of dissent:

It is an honor for me to stand here today as the representative of free Iraq. It is an honor to represent the world's youngest democracy.

In the name of the Iraqi people, I say to you, Mr. President, and to the glorious American people, thank you, thank you.

Thank you because you have liberated us from the worst kind of dictatorship. Our people suffered too much from this worst kind of dictatorship. The signal is mass graves with hundred thousand of Iraqi innocent children and women, young and old men. Thank you.
And thanks to the United States, there are now 50 million Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq liberated by your courageous leadership and decision to liberate us, Mr. President.

We agree with Mr. President Bush that democracy is the solution to the problems of the Middle East.

Mr. President, you are a visionary, great statesman. We salute you. We are grateful to you. We will never forget what you have done for our people.

We have had a good discussion with Mr. President. We are partners. We are proud to say openly and to repeat it, that we are partners of the United States of America in fighting against tyranny, terrorism and for democracy. That's something we are not shy to say, and we'll repeat it everywhere, here and in Iraq and the United Nations and everywhere.
Iraqis and Americans alike in the war against terrorism. Our soldiers now fighting side by side with your brave soldiers, now and every day.

Jalal Talibani, President of Iraq, September 13, 2005.

Remedial Leadership Principles 101

2005-09-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

I’ve got a case of the ass.

Over the last week or so, every liberal gasbag that can get access to a camera, microphone, or reporter has used the opportunity to run down the President personally, and the Federal government generally. Likewise, several Republican jaw-jackers have belittled their bully pulpit by tossing back charges of failure at local leadership levels. At this stage of the game, none of this does anything but set back reparations. People like Oprah, Jesse Jackson, Kanye West—they can do or say any arseheaded thing they chose, it’s a free country. But any elected official—Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton to name just three--who expends a single breath towards anything other than teambuilding and coordinating recovery efforts is a damned traitor and derelict in the performance of their official duties.

This is an unprecedented natural disaster. Dealing with the aftermath is tremendously complicated. Thus, this is one of those situations where if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. We taxpayers pay the salaries for these righteous windbags—left AND right—to represent us at various levels of government and to exercise LEADERSHIP. Faced with the overwhelming challenge of rescuing victims, providing interim life support, and recovery operations, every single person on a government payroll—local, state, or federal--should be expending every ounce of their energy and every shred of their resources towards building a consensus, removing roadblocks to efficiency, and offering their assistance to make this come together....before they speak a single word to the press that is other than “how can I help?”

I know a thing or two about leadership, having spent a few years in the service of this country, 18 of which were in various levels of leadership positions. When you encounter a problem that is just getting bigger by the moment, you don’t react; you respond with corrective action to “stop the bleeding.” Once the situation is under control--the troops are in safe positions, and the wounded are evacuated and being treated—then, and only then do you analyze what went wrong. Assigning blame and name calling at this stage only detracts from the recovery efforts.

The people of this country knew right away what to do. Millions, if not yet billions of dollars have been donated by citizens and corporations. Charitable organizations and churches have taken up collections of critical goods and trucked them to where they were needed. Ordinary folks have opened their homes to other ordinary folks—total strangers in need of a helping hand.

In summary, if you serve at the pleasure of an electorate at any level, or are appointed by any elected official, get your head out of your ass and get your ass in the game.

Beast7, out.

I Think, Therefore, I'm Right...

2005-09-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Gazette printed letters in the Wednesday, September 07, 2005, edition, from Springs residents I readily recognize as members of the “Free Thinkers,” a group which, ironically, in light of their name, seeks to squelch the voices of those who choose to live their lives on a basis of conservative, Christian values.

Marsha Abelman wrote in response to a letter from Fr. Bill Carmody, in which he expressed his disagreement with new proposed Air Force guidelines regarding religion. In his letter, Fr. Carmody urged AFA football coach Fisher DeBerry to continue his 21-year practice of leading a pre-game prayer, as a stand against what he believes to be an un-Constitutional restriction of DeBerry’s free exercise of religion. Abelman likens Fr. Carmody’s remarks to “swinging fists, willy-nilly, regardless of whose nose they hit,” and refers to an “appropriate time and place” for the exercise of religion. She goes on to ask, though it might be legal for the coach to pray in public, is it polite?

Makes you wonder if these “freethinkers” ever hear their own arguments. My wife has been joining Fr. Carmody and a faithful few who gather each Saturday morning across the street from Planned Parenthood, the local abortion mill, to pray the rosary and celebrate the Holy Mass on behalf of and for those unborn babies slaughtered there, as well as praying for Divine guidance for the women who seek abortions there. Abelman personally, and others of her ilk, spare no measure to interfere and interrupt these lawful religious observances. I have seen these so-called “pro-choice” advocates weave in and out between those praying the rosary, walking so closely that if one stopped, he or she would be run into; spouting vile invective over the soft-voiced prayers and playing rock or rap music on a boombox, further seeking to interfere with the observances of faith. Is this behavior Abelman considers polite? As far as an appropriate time and place for such an exercise of free speech, I am sure Abelman and other freethinkers believe military hospitals were war-wounded soldiers are being treated and military funerals are an “appropriate time and place” for anti-war protests…?

Richard Baker offers that, should Coach DeBerry continue to lead pre-game prayer, he would be violating a “direct order from Air Force Command.” Baker misses the mark on two points: First, these guidelines are not direct orders from Air Force Command authority, but instead, guidelines that fall short of regulatory authority; and second, these guidelines only discourage, rather than prohibit public prayer at official Air Force events. Now as it happens, DeBerry has elected to not let this issue become a bigger issue than the team of budding leaders he coaches, and opted instead for a moment of silence in the locker room for each player, coach, and manager to seek the guidance and blessing of his higher power in their own way. That is because DeBerry is a class act. Fact is, as a civilian employee of the DOD, DeBerry is not strictly subject to the orders of Air Force officers or the UCMJ.

I am a member of Fr. Carmody’s parish, so I know him reasonably well, and think I understand where he stands on a variety of issues. He and I see eye-to-eye on few issues outside of Catholic tenets and sanctity of life issues. Here, however, he has it dead on.

Once again, the “freethinkers” of Colorado Springs have got their dander up over the exercise of, and support for, public practice of a man’s faith. What they so vehemently seek, yet is not provided for in the Constitution or by any precedent of case law, is the freedom from proximity to religion.

Shut the door on your way out, freethinkers.

Hasta la Vista, Gay Marriage

2005-09-07T09:43:00.000-07:00

The inconsistency of the liberal left never ceases to amaze me, although I should certainly have become jaded to their “do as I say, not as I do” approach to politics and public life by now. Most recently, in the wake of all the finger-pointing regarding the efficacy of various levels of governmental response to the devastation wrought by Katrina, Dems are using their bully pulpit to petition the Congress to dump the estate tax bill from the upcoming agenda so that they might instead direct their attentions to the Katrina Relief effort. What managed to sneak in under the radar, in left-coast California--the most populous state in the union--while the people of our nation focused their attention on helping Katrina’s victims, the State Assembly narrowly passed a landmark bill allowing same-sex marriage in the State Tuesday night. Only three months after the legislature defeated an identical bill, forty-one Democrats cast their votes to approve the measure. Three Democrats who had previously abstained changed their position and voted in favor of the bill.

Non-hypocrites on the left might have asked the California legislature to stay their deliberations on the matter, and direct the efforts of the country’s largest--and among the richest--states, to bring their generosity and resources to bear in assisting the displaced Gulf Coast residents. Instead, the left validated the California assembly’s election to work into the night to ensure the passage of this legislation, which will benefit, by generous estimation, somewhere between 1-3% of the population of California, and which was supported by far less than half of Californians (44% in a 2004 poll). Their motivation? One can only guess, but the pattern of the Democratic Left’s behavior indicates that anytime there is an opportunity to validate by legislation or judicial activism any sort of aberrant behavior that flies in the face of conservative Christian beliefs, it is an opportunity that must be exploited to the maximum extent, regardless of the cost or effect.

Now, a single man stands between passage of this bill into law, and the protection of the sacrament of marriage as being between a man and a woman. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been hard to pin down on delicate issues and has expressed an acceptance of gay marriages but said it's an issue that should be decided by voters or the courts. A state appellate court is considering appeals of a lower court ruling that overturned California laws banning recognition of gay marriages. California already gives same-sex couples many of the rights and duties of marriage if they register with the state as domestic partners, so what is on the line here is not strictly an equal rights issue, but rather an attempt to tear down what many hold as sacred, another of the ever-diminishing hallmarks of basic normal human (call it Christian if it makes you happy) values left in our national community.

Stand for something, Governor. Veto the bill—the people who voted you into office have made their voice heard on the issue five years ago in approving Proposition 22. Take up their mandate.

MIA: Human Decency

2005-09-01T13:03:00.000-07:00

I have pontificated on no less than three previous occasions about the dissipation of personal honor as a valued component of one’s character. Looks like I’m well behind the curve, as it seems the most appalling shortcoming is not the loss of honor but rather the simple loss of human decency, shown so visibly on the face of recent events.

Events like the lowlifes and thugs pillaging in the wake of Katrina’s disastrous impact on the Deep South. Events such as soulless ne’er-do-wells taking potshots at relief helicopters trying to bring in food and clean water to the victims of this natural disaster. Events such as those perennial picketers electing to make their political protests at military hospitals and service member’s funerals.

Most prominent among these ill-planned protests of Code Pink at The Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Balboa Naval Hospital. These oxygen thieves and freeloaders of freedom make their protests immediately outside these medical facilities where wounded and recuperating veterans of the Global War on Terrorism are being treated. They wave signs proclaiming “No Blood for Oil,” “Bush Ordered 9/11 Attacks,” and "Maimed for Lies." Worse yet, they confront and taunt patients and their families as they enter and exit the buildings. (Don’t these people have homes, families,…jobs?)

It has become a tired cliché for Lib-Dems to compare our efforts in Iraq to what our country experienced during the Vietnam War. If nothing else, one of the hard-learned lessons of that era should be that the way those soldiers were treated on their return home was nothing short of criminal. If these protesters take issue with this Nation’s policy in dealing with terrorism, Homeland Security, and such, then protest the authors of that policy—the President, his cabinet, Congress. This is one aspect in which Cindy Sheehan of Camp Casey fame has it nailed—she brought her protest to the President’s front gate. Code Pink’s actions greatly exceed anything that can legitimately be called an exercise of free speech, instead rising to a level of indecency as to constitute harassment.

Worse, Kansas Kook Rev. Fred “Buggermaster” Phelps, he of “God Hates Fags” fame, has upped the ante to take his protest of the Army’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to a soldier’s funeral in Martinsville, Indiana. Phelps and members of his Topeka, KS Westboro Baptist Church congregation, picketed outside Neal and Summers Mortuary during memorial services for Staff Sgt. Jeremy Doyle this past Sunday. They chanted that the deaths of members of the military are God’s punishment for not opposing homosexuality.

Fred, the God I know would not visit his wrath on innocent soldiers fighting to further the cause of liberty for others. Liberty for even arse-headed nutjobs like you to speak their peace, regardless of how vile, or misinformed, or even downright asinine it may be. But, here again, it is not the acts or decisions of the fallen soldier you take issue with, but the lawmakers who implemented those policies. Go to the Capitol, Fred.

If such disregard for our fellow man can be so prevalent in this country where people profess to value life, what can we expect from the rest of the world?

CENTCOM Link

2005-09-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

Somehow, one of the Public Affairs Officers (PAO's) over at US Central Command stumbled across the Beast7 Command Post here, (if he wasn't a First Lieutenant, I would have accused him of being compass-challenged) and asked that I post a link to CENTCOM's home on the web. I was only too happy to comply. In case you didn't know, CENTCOM is the outfit providing command and control over all US forces operating in Areas of Operation from the Horn of Africa to Central Asia--in other words, the pointy end of the spear in the global war against terrorism.

If you want to check out balanced reporting about what is going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, or other hotspots, from where the boots hit the ground, absent any media seasoning, then click the CENTCOM logo over on the left sidebar. There you'll hear about the good things our Joes and Janes are doing in those far-flung AOs, live saving MEDCAPs, rebuilding infrastructure, de-mining ops, and other stuff you'll never see on CBS or read about in USA Today.

Hooah, CENTCOM.

"Boot in the Ass" Awards--August 30, 2005

2005-08-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I had a hard time coming up with worthy candidates for this week's impactive inspiration--either most folks have been behaving themselves, or Katrina has been stealing the spotlight. But fear not, for out of a silk purse, I have made a sow's ear:

Face-Based Initiatives

Rev. Al “Valvoline Pompadour” Sharpton took another step in his ongoing efforts to keep his mug in public view by joining war protesters camping near President Bush's ranch. The Rev said he felt compelled to meet Cindy Sheehan. "I feel that it is our moral obligation to stand and to be courageous with these families, and particularly Cindy, that have become the conscience of this nation," said Sharpton, failed former Democratic presidential candidate and on-again, off-again civil rights activist. Sharpton and Sheehan laid roses at crosses near "Camp Casey," named for Sheehan's 24-year-old son who was killed in Iraq last year. Makes you wonder how many roses Big Al has laid on the graves of other soldiers, where there was not a photo-op involved.

Rushing him to the airport after his visit with Sheehan, Sharpton’s driver, Jarrett Maupin, led Ellis County, Texas deputies on a nine-mile chase at speeds up to 110 mph. Maupin ignored deputies' attempts to stop it and continued speeding and weaving in and out of traffic for nine miles before troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety were able to get in front of the car and stop it. The Rev called the "ludicrous on its face" and accused the lawmen of "embellishing the story." Now when it comes to embellished stories, Sharpton is on familiar ground—you may recall the Tawana Brawley fiasco.

Reckon all we need at this point is for Jesse “Rhymin’ Simon” Jackson to show up to complete the media-whore trifecta. But wait—there’s more…

Rainbow Collision

Self-appointed ambassador and attention-whore Rev. Jesse Jackson called for President Bush to condemn Pat Robertson’s recent asinine remarks about Venezuela's troublesome president, Hugo Chavez. Jackson met Hugo Chavez in private at the presidential palace.
Robertson called for Chavez's assassination on "The 700 Club" a week ago, saying the US should "take him out" because Chavez poses a danger to the region. Robertson, in the face of crushing criticism from both sides of the political aisle, later apologized, but Jackson said that isn't enough.
Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro who frequently criticizes what he calls U.S. domination of Latin America, said Sunday night that his government could ask the Washington to extradite Robertson to Venezuela for his exceptionally ill-advised, but legal, remarks. Rev. Jesse emphasized that the "Robertson statement was the threat that was heard around the world," adding "It reinforces ancient fears because the U.S. has had a policy of eliminating leaders in this region, in Guatemala, in Chile."

What is it with these preachers who have such a hard time cleaning their own house are always so ready to go smell up somebody else’s? Remember, the Rhymin’ Reverend is acting strictly on his own volition, without any official sanction or backing of the U.S. Also remember that the Rainbow Rev. has his own dirty past of adultery and physical assault on his detractors…

In a JAM-A

Journal of the American Medical Association Editor-in-Chief Catherine DeAngelis abandoned her faith and beliefs in her decision to publish University of California-San Francisco study regarding fetal pain. The report, which contained no new or compelling data, but rather was based on a (selective) review of existing research, opined that a fetus doesn’t develop "conscious perception of pain" until after 28 weeks' gestation, and concluded that women seeking abortions should not be subjected to information that the baby they seek to kill may experience pain during the procedure. The report failed to mention that study co-author Eleanor Drey, is the medical director of the abortion clinic at San Francisco General Hospital, or that lead author Susan Lee worked in the legal department of NARAL Pro-Choice America for eight months in 1999 and 2000. In addition to running an abortion facility that she runs performs about 600 abortions a year between the 20th and 23rd weeks of pregnancy, Drey is a vocal critic of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban and is also on the staff of the Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy (CRHRP) at the University of California, San Francisco -- a pro-abortion propaganda and training center.

DeAngelis, a Catholic who opposes abortion, elected to run the story, in spite of the clearly conflicted nature of the “science” on which it was based, and in the face of contradictory findings of more thorough research. A similar review published in September 1999 in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology concluded: "Given the anatomical evidence, it is possible that the fetus can feel pain from 20 weeks and is caused distress by interventions from as early as 15 or 16 weeks."

Another One on the Scrap Heap

Being a Coloradoan by choice, I earnestly try to get behind the Broncos each NFL season, and each NFL season, they make it increasingly difficult. Since Elway’s retirement, there has been a move afoot to establish a running back as heir to the Bronco throne, from the promising start of Terrell Davis, who turned out to be made of paper and matchsticks, and not sinew and steel, to Clinton Portis, who turned a nearly outstanding season to a springboard to greener pastures. Coach Mike Shanahan fancies himself a pretty good judge of potential, but his pick once again fell well short of the mark in his recent draft of one-season wonder and former Ohio State Buckeye Maurice Clarett. Now the Broncos had no need for a forth back, as anyone who saw the magnificent 93-yard TD run by Mike Anderson in Saturday’s game can attest, and certainly not another player who doubles as a trouble-magnet. Clarett’s self-imposed sabbatical from football helped make him what he is today: oversized, overpaid, underplayed, and effective today—cut.

And the winner is:

This week’s northbound-boot-to-a-southbound-backside goes to JAMA editor Catherine DeAngelis. Leftist media pundits seldom if ever hesitate to make the message fit their agenda, yet here DeAngelis set aside her personal beliefs as well as her editorial responsibility to publish a tired, factually conflicted, and politically-targeted study, giving aid and comfort to the infanticidists. Sad thing is, she should have known better, both ethically and editorially. As to the righteous Revs, they were simply remaining true to form, thus no harm no foul. As for the Shanahan/Clarett fumble, I don’t mean to say I told you so, but…

Premature Extrapolation

2005-08-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

The Colorado Springs Gazette today published an article detailing the “findings” of a University of California, San Francisco (now doesn't that figure) group of researchers seeking to challenge the need for pending legislation which would require physicians to provide fetal pain information to women seeking abortions at 20+ weeks of pregnancy. The report, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, concluded that unborn babies likely are incapable of feeling pain until around the seventh month of pregnancy.

I find this conclusion pre-conceived and implausible, based on both personal experience and well-grounded medical science. During my time as First Sergeant of two companies here at Fort Carson, one of my soldiers and one of my soldier’s wife each had a severely premature baby, both born at just short of six months of pregnancy. Thankfully, both eventually flourished and today are perfectly healthy, happy children. My own observations and those of their parents eliminate any question that those tiny babies felt pain or knew comfort.

Likewise, it is a common medical practice to anesthetize unborn babies against pain during procedures that do not lead to termination of their lives. Dr. K. S. Anand, a pediatrician and fetal pain researcher at the University of Arkansas, insists there is circumstantial evidence to suggest unborn babies feel pain. He notes that tiny premature babies, as young as 23 or 24 weeks, cry when their heels are pricked for blood tests, and asserts that “in the absence of absolute proof we should give the fetus the benefit of the doubt if we are going to call ourselves compassionate and humane physicians."

What is most telling about the group’s findings is that one of the researchers is herself an abortionist, clearly conflicted in her ability to be objective in this matter. It would be bad for business if her clientele--women seeking abortions--were required to be told that the baby inside them might be capable of feeling pain as their life was sucked away. For the 18,000 abortions performed in the U.S. each year after the fifth month of pregnancy, it might cause them to realize, if just for a moment, that this unborn baby is indeed a human person, not just some tissue to be excised from their body in the same manner as a tumor.

UPDATE: 08/24/05 @ 4:55 PM MDT: Additional information has come forward that the lead author, Susan Lee, JD, once worked for NARAL Pro-Choice America--another important fact absent from the JAMA report.

"Boot in the Ass" Awards--August 23, 2005

2005-08-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

Looks like the hits just keep on comin'. Check out these latest candidates in the pageant of pigheadedness:

Just Not His Week

Former NFL running back and current thug Lawrence Phillips is the latest NFL player to don the dirty didies. Sought by police on charges domestic violence, Phillips decided to “kick it up a notch,” running down three teenagers with his car after they argued with him during a pickup football game this past Sunday. Police had been seeking Phillips since earlier this month for allegedly attacking his girlfriend twice, once choking her into unconsciousness.

Phillips joined a group of 16- and 17-year-olds in a pickup football game this past weekend and got into an argument with some of the teens. Lacking either confidence in his abilities or testicular fortitude, he left, but returned and drove a car onto the field, hitting three of the boys. Turns out, the car was reported stolen in San Diego last week. Phillips has a history of slugging women, having pled no contest to domestic violence charges filed by his girlfriend in 1996, and again pled no contest to hitting a woman in a nightclub in 1998. He faced charges of sexual assault, assault and uttering threats against another girlfriend in Quebec in late 2003. Looks like he draws the line in hitting teenage boys, though; instead resorting to running them over in stolen vehicles.

Disconnected Call

Televangelist, failed presidential candidate, and self-described Christian conservative Pat Robertson has suggested that U.S. operatives assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to prevent Venezuela from becoming "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism." "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said on "The 700 Club." "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with…You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Here we have a man who has made a very comfortable living following in the footsteps of high-minded men like Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart and the like; seizing the bully pulpit of a widely-viewed Christian television broadcast to spew his most un-Christian vitriol. Pat needs to take a few steps back, and realize that he may have outlived, or turned his back on his calling. The sanctity of all human life, as well as the canon to “forgive those who trespass against us…” have clearly fallen out of Robertson’s bag of key principles of his faith. Christian, he clearly is not. Who does Robertson seek to attack, in so plainly separating himself from his Christian support base, and placing himself at odds with the current administration?

Camera-Shy Media Ho'?

I had thought that actress Scarlett Johansson was a class act. She has a classicly beautiful appearance, and doesn't dress like a gutter tramp, as so many Hollywood types do. But as they say, you can't judge a book by its cover. Actress and apparent bubblehead Scarlett Johansson and two friends were driving into the Disneyland parking lot last Friday, and were followed by four cars apparently occupied by paparazzi. Veering sharply in an attempt to lose the vehicles, Johansson clipped a Daihatsu occupied by woman and her two young daughters. "The two parties exchanged insurance information on their own, and no police report was filed to my knowledge," an Anaheim Police Department spokesman stated. By the time officers arrived on the scene about an hour later, Johansson had already left in a brand new Mercedes to replace her damaged one.

Since when did a pretty face and a SAG card amount to license to drive recklessly, and not have to stay on the scene of an accident? I reckon she will pretty soon be getting turned down for the sexy roles which have been her bread and butter as of late; as it appears she is getting a little too big for her britches…

Chicken(hawk) Little

Turns out that Ward Reilly, an outspoken member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War isn’t a Vietnam veteran after all, but that hasn’t stopped him from turning up at “Camp Casey” wearing his OD fatigue jacket and covering his shaggy hair with a Vietnam era “boonie hat,” which clearly would have been out of place in his actual war-time posting, Augsburg, Germany. Seems Reilly isn’t above employing a few ‘Ward-Churchill-esque’ turns of phrase aimed at leading all but the most focused listener to conclude that he’d served in Vietnam, and not Schnitzelburg:

"My name is Ward Reilly. I am a member of 'Veterans for Peace,' 'Vietnam Veterans Against the War,' and 'Coalition for Alternatives to War in Iraq.' I served for 3 years as a volunteer Infantryman, as an 81mm mortar gunner, in the Weapons Platoon, of Co. “C”, 1st Bn., 16th Infantry (Rangers), of the First Infantry Division, from 1971 until 1974. I spent 1095 days of my life living with, training with, and sharing the lives, of hundreds of combat veterans who served in Vietnam, a war that ripped our country apart and caused countless atrocities and deaths on both sides."

Looks like “augmented credentials” is yet another common thread that binds the looney left together…

And thewinner is:

This week’s cowhide attitude-adjuster lands squarely on the beefy backside of former NFL half-ass......halfback Lawrence ‘Lawbreaker” Phillips, managing to concurrently demonstrate his disregard for law and order, as well as common decency; and affirming his outright cowardice—big and bad enough to whup up on women, but breaks out the 4WD to take on teenage boys. What this guy really needs is a long-term reservation at the Grey-Bar Hotel, with a lovesick lifer named Bubba for a roommate…bootbrush, here I come…

Silent Fiddle

2005-08-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

One of the pioneers of bluegrass music has played his laid down his bow for the last time. Vassar Clements, one of the world's finest, and probably the world's most versatile fiddle players, stepped off the stage into eternity on August 16, 2005.

Vassar's career spanned over fifty years. He first played with Bill Monroe in the early 40s while just 14 years old, and joined Monroe as a regular Bluegrass Boy in 1949 when Monroe hired him to replace Chubby Wise, and played on Monroe's legendary first recording sessions for Decca in 1950. In 1955 he rejoined the band, playing twin fiddle alongside Bobby Hicks. He returned to play bass in 1959, and again on fiddle in the early 60s. Monroe was fond of his style, saying "Vassar is the blues fiddler, you know." Vassar played with Jim and Jesse for several years in the late 50s, and retired from full-time music for several years in the 60s.

One of the most important milestones in his career was his participation on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 1972 Landmark album 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken." This historical event was produced by William McEuen and featured an extravaganza of bluegrass, country and folk's greatest artists. It was the turning point that re-kindled Vassar's career and at the same time introduced him to a much younger non-country audience. Within a few short months, Vassar was recording and/or performing with Dicky Betts, Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, David Grisman, Paul McCartney and others.

Reckon the Angel Band sounds just a little sweeter these last few days...

Dems Have Short Memories...

2005-08-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
....To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required—not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

President John Kennedy, hallowed patron of the Democratic Party, spoke these very words some forty-four years ago on a wintry January 20, 1961, during his inauguration in Washington, D.C. Yet it seems those who have picked up the reins of leadership in the Party since those not-so-long-ago days, have clearly lost the message.

I suppose the part about “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe…” doesn’t cut it among today’s liberals. The high ideals the surprisingly-conservative Kennedy set as the mark for his (and, by extension, my) generation, no longer inspire the same flames of patriotic fervor. It should go without argument that the cause of liberty for Iraqi citizens has been immeasurably advanced by the efforts of our Country’s global war on terrorism, as well as that the terrorists themselves have been flushed from their hiding places, and put on the run. Those same liberals who hold their politically correct ideals so high, would seek to dissolve our commitment to a free and viable Iraq, on the grounds that the cost is too high. Yet we have yet to surpass, in number of war-related casualties, the number of victims of the 9/11 attacks, nor the number of Kurds slain at the hands of the tyrannical Hussein regime.

While the communists of JFK’s day have been replaced by the radical muslim jihadists of our time; the principle remains unchanged. Liberty will find as welcome a home in the villages of Fallujah as in the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta. Perhaps it is just that the Democrats of yesterday, blue collar, salt-of-the-earth types like my dad, have been replaced by marginalized, double-income P.C. yuppies, opposed to anything that might impinge upon their cash-thirsty social welfare vendettas.

Honor: Some got it, some don't...

2005-08-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

Once again, for the members of the slow learners' club, a brief discourse on the most elemental, yet apparently most evasive of human attributes--honor. Here are some who have earned it at great cost, and others who have bargained theirs away forever for a pittance.

Don't Got It:

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft pled no contest today to charges that he violated state ethics codes by failing to report 52 gifts worth nearly $6,000 over four years. Ohio law requires officeholders to report all gifts with a value greater than $75. Taft told Franklin County Municipal Judge he chose not to plead guilty but was “taking responsibility” for ethics lapses. He was fined the maximum $4,000 for the four misdemeanor charges (why isn’t it 52 charges, and $52,000?), but avoided any jail time, on charges that carry a maximum sentence of six months confinement each.

The gubbinah, who has fired other state employees over ethics violations, stated he expected all state workers to follow state ethics laws, deducing, "In this instance I have failed to live up to those high expectations." "There are no words to express the deep remorse that I feel over the embarrassment that I have caused for my administration and the people of the state of Ohio," he said. After the Court’s ruling, Gov. Taft said he would not resign, saying he still can be an effective governor and has much he wants to accomplish. Yeah, and that polecat looks like good eatin', too.

Got it:

U.S. Marine Corps First Sergeant Brad Kasal displayed the proudest tradition of the Marine Corps on Nov. 13, 2004 during Operation Phantom Fury. “We were moving down the street, clearing buildings,” Kasal recounted. “A Marine came out wounded from a building and said there were three more wounded Marines trapped in there with a bunch of bad guys (insurgents). As we entered, we noticed several dead Iraqis on the floor and one of our wounded.” Kasal did not hesitate. “If I was a general I would still think my job was to get the wounded Marines out of there, so we went in to get them.” “An Iraqi pointed an AK-47 at me and I moved back. He fired and missed. I shot and killed him. I put my barrel up against his chest and pulled the trigger over and over until he went down. Then I looked around the wall and put two into his forehead to make sure he was dead.” Suddenly, an insurgent with an automatic rifle began firing at the Marines. “That’s when I went down, along with one of my Marines. Then I noticed the hand grenade.” Kasal covered the wounded Marine next to him with his body taking the full effect when the grenade exploded. Shrapnel penetrated the exposed portions of his shoulders, back, and legs, causing him to bleed profusely. “I took my pressure bandage and put it on his leg,” Kasal recalls. Stunned from the concussion of the grenade, Kasal floated in and out of consciousness. “They weren’t going to let us live if they knew we were alive. It was kill or be killed,” he said. Kasal drew his 9mm Beretta and waited for help. “That’s when I got shot in the butt,” Kasal recalled. “It was the shootout at the OK Corral – point-blank range. I was lying there shooting and somebody shot me through both cheeks. It smarted a bit.” Kasal ultimately lost 60 percent of his blood before he was rescued. “I took seven rounds; five in my right leg, one in my foot and one to the buttocks area. When the grenade went off I got 30 to 40 pieces of shrapnel in my back,” Kasal said he later discovered.

Despite his debilitating wounds, Kasal still believes in America’s mission in Iraq. “The insurgents are oppressing normal people,” Kasal said. “There are plenty of Iraqis, thousands of them, who want to live normal lives. If we can help them it will be all right. The people just want peace and freedom.”

Don't Got It:

Army Gen. Kevin Byrnes was relieved of his command after disobeying a direct order to break off a romantic relationship with another woman while still married, violating the military's adultery regulation. The Uniform Code of Military Justice, which governs all members of the armed forces, officer and enlisted (hence, “uniform”) prohibits a married or separated service-member from having a sexual relationship with anyone other than the spouse until a divorce is final.

Ironically, Gen. Byrnes was serving as commanding general of the Training and Doctrine Command, responsible for teaching soldiers combat skills and Army values, including personal ethics. Inexplicably, Byrnes' attorney, LTC David Robertson, has said that he thinks the punishment was too harsh. Army officials doubt that Byrnes will face any further disciplinary actions, such as being reduced in rank, which would reduce his retirement pay.

Got It:

Col. George E. "Bud" Day is America's most highly decorated living veteran officer. An ex-POW and fighter pilot who began his illustrious career as a WWII Marine Infantryman, Day served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, receiving more than 50 combat awards including the Medal of Honor. In between wars, Col. Day has practiced law as a member of the South Dakota and Florida Bars for going on 56 years. Many would chose to rest on their laurels at that point, but not Col. Day. Instead, he has led a grass roots effort to restore earned medical care for military retirees and their dependents through active pressure on Congress, the White House, and by electing pro-military legislators. His efforts have resulted most recently in the bills before congress this session titled HR 602/S 407: “Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act.”

Don't Got It:

Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ), front-runner for the Noo-Joisy Gubbinah’s race in 2005, gave nearly $500,000 to Carla Katz, the woman he was having an affair with. Turns out, she is also the president of Communications Workers of America Local 1034, a union that represents 9,000 state workers. While he had his wallet out, he gave $1,000,000 to another political boss to distribute to other politicians, and handed $837,000 to a South Jersey political boss.

All right now, Grasshopper...can you choose...wisely...?

"Boot in the Ass" Awards--August 16, 2005

2005-08-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

Sort of slim picken's this week. There is a really big story going on down in Crawford, Texas; where there are more than one person in serious need of a boot to the backside, but I am leaving that one alone. I truly believe the one person at the center of all that ruckus is really being exploited by left-wing media shills. That said, here are some folks who could use some Top Sergeant attitude-adjustment:

Spite for Life

Not content to simply advocate the murder of unplanned babies nationwide at a rate of 4000 per day, Planned Parenthood appears to have taken its “Spite for Life” campaign to even higher levels, including the expectant mothers.

The Centers for Disease Control and state officials are looking into the deaths of four California women who died after using the abortion drug RU 486; investigating whether the misuse of the drugs is to blame. All four deaths appear to have involved infections brought on by the mifepristone abortion drug and misuse of the abortion pills by Planned Parenthood.

Oriane Shevin, a 34 year-old attorney and mother of two children from Sherman Oaks, California, died June 14, 2005, after taking the mifeprex/misoprostol combination. Shevin died from sepsis, a blood infection that was also responsible for the September 2003 death of Holly Patterson. FDA protocols call for using the misoprostol drug orally, like the mifeprex pill. However, Planned Parenthood officials appear to instruct women to take the misoprostol pill vaginally, as they did with Patterson and Shevin. However, misoprostol is not a drug intended to be used in abortions and Searle, the company that produces the ulcer medication, has warned doctors repeatedly not to use the drug in abortions. Dr. Philip Darney, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at University of California at San Francisco, told the Los Angeles Times, “We think that an explanation ... may be the vaginal self-administration of misoprostol under unusual circumstances."

Just what would usual circumstances for that be?

Crummy Reception

Terrrell Owens could have been the prince of the city after his gritty performance last post-season for the Philadelphia Eagles. He could have been a role model of hard work, dedication and motivation for young people nationwide. Instead, Owens has opted to be the latest poster child for the me-first, everybody-else-last crop of attention-whoring athletes. This week the Eagles leadership sent wide receiver Terrell Owens a letter detailing his recent disciplinary issues.

This follows Eagles Coach Andy Reid banishing Owens from the club last week after an argument between the two at the team's training camp in Bethlehem, Pa. Owens has raised Eagles management’s ire for skipping autograph sessions with fans and issuing a “speak to me only when spoken to” mandate to the offensive coordinator. Seems Owens has got his didies in a bunch because the Eagles refused to renegotiate his seven-year, $48.97 million contract after a single season, much of which he failed to live up to his self-aggrandized hype, and much of the remainder which was spent on the DL.

Eagles officials have said they don't intend to rework Owens's contract or trade or release him. They haven’t ruled out, however, suspending him again if he continues to disrupt the team.

Seems like he’s trying to out-Moss Randy Moss.

I say he and Allen Iverson can take turns washing jocks in the locker room.

Gilding the Lily-liver

Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu has managed to fritter away just short of a million dollars of taxpayers’ money sprucing up his office in the Capitol Annex and building his apartment and office at the Pentagon Barracks in the state capital. Public records show the Pentagon Barracks work added up to $419,000, and the improvements at his main office to $536,000. His staff said the spending is a critical part of efforts to improve the state's image. Others point out that the state already had a $263 million backlog on its list of critical repairs to other buildings and property.

Keep in mind that Louisiana ranks 46th in the nation in education; 48th lowest in median household income, and dead last in health and healthcare.

Landrieu declined to be interviewed about the construction projects but issued a written statement that they are consistent with his efforts to create a more polished image for the state.

And the winner is:

This week's spit-shined mood-modifier goes to the Looseyana Lootenant Gubbinah. You see, Planned Parenthood has for years shown total disregard for all life as their truest colors, and T.O. is just playing true to form. Landrieu, on the other hand, has a sworn duty to the citizens of Louisiana to be a proper steward, and instead has engaged in Saddam-like excesses in palace-building. Wonder how many teachers could've been hired for that $955K? Wonder how many public health nurses could have improved healthcare in those outlying parishes on that sort of budget? On the other hand, I do suppose some of his buddies in the construction trades did experience an increase in their household income...

Sure Is Dark In Here...

2005-08-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Howard “Hee-Haw” Dean, Democratic National Committee chairman and failed candidate for Democratic Party Presidential nominee, must have been tasting shoe-leather when he stated, "It looks like today, and this could change, as of today it looks like women will be worse off in Iraq than they were when Saddam Hussein was president of Iraq," on CBS' "Face the Nation" yesterday.

Guess he didn’t hear that women occupy 31% of the seats on the Transitional National Assembly (TNA), charged with the responsibility of drafting Iraq’s new constitution.

Reckon he hasn’t read that women also lead Iraq’s Ministries of Displacement and Migration, Telecommunications, Municipalities and Public Works, Environment, Science and Technology, as well as Women's Affairs.

I suppose he overlooked that U.S. grants and technical assistance helped improve agricultural methods, and improved employment, resulting in over 465 previously-unemployed women now have jobs and 440 women have increased their family income.

Must have been out when the news ran about USAID working with Women's Mobile Teams to increase rural women's access to information to improve their health and security; combat domestic violence, and administered the tetanus toxoid vaccine to more than 700,000 pregnant women; vaccinated more than three million children against measles, mumps, and rubella; and distributed high-protein biscuits to more than 450,000 children and 200,000 pregnant and nursing mothers.

Reckon he was getting some good ol’ Al Gore party-mentoring when USAID's Accelerated Learning Program began helping 10,000 Iraqi students, including many rural young women, return to school during the 2005-2006 academic year, and when more than 17,000 Iraqi women began teacher training in USAID sponsored programs.

I guess he didn’t see the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi women proudly raising their ink-stained fingers after voting in the January 30, 2005 elections.

Or maybe, he just doesn’t understand the significance of that process...

Nine Angry Men, and the Three Lowlifes That Made Them That Way

2005-08-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

Twelve people recently had a very public forum and opportunity to send a message, maybe not to the Courts, but perhaps just as important, to the sick perverts to molest children. Because of a number of factors, many of which may never come to light, these twelve people instead decided unanimously to let a person many Americans believe to be a serial child molester go free.

Clearly, I refer to the recent criminal trial of Michael Jackson over charges of child sexual abuse at his Neverland Ranch in California. Granted, any court proceeding in California is a wild card to begin with, and it must be said that the credibility of his accusers in this most recent trial is suspect at best.

For the sake of argument, assume the State did the best it could in making its case before the Court and jury. Surely, defense counsel presented a compelling case, unimpeded by the facts, supporting Jackson’s innocence of the charges. Apparently, even the Judge did a journeyman’s job of maintaining a level of decorum in what was certainly just a few acts shy of a three ring circus.

In this case, what has so clearly failed the judicial system and thus all of us, in this instance, is the trier of fact—the jury. Just how strikingly clear it is that the jury failed in this instance, is the fact that as of today, just a couple of months after the close of deliberations, three jurors come forward to publicly announce they regret their decision to vote to acquit.

Eleanor Cook and Ray Hultman, who both have pending book deals, said in a televised interview Monday night that they believed Jackson accuser was sexually assaulted. "No doubt in my mind whatsoever, that boy was molested,” Cook said on Rita Cosby: Live and Direct. Jackson attorney Tom Mesereau responded, "Twelve people deliberated and out of that process justice is supposed to result. Now two months later these jurors are changing their tunes. … I'm very suspicious." Is it a coincidence that these two jurors have book deals for their story on what went on in the Courtroom and jury room?

Last night, on Rita Cosby: Live and Direct, a third juror, Katarina Carls said she initially agreed with Cook and Hultman, believing Jackson was guilty, but felt she could not convict because of jury instructions regarding reasonable doubt. She said she believed it was possible that Jackson's accuser was lying. No word on whether Carls has a book deal in the works…

Before trial begins, jurors in California Courts take an oath to respond to questions during the jury selection process honestly. Further instruction from the Court includes “In your efforts to reach a verdict, keep in mind that you should consider only the evidence that was presented in the courtroom. You should not guess or speculate about things not discussed in court, but you can draw reasonable conclusions from the evidence presented.” How could these people be swayed by the evidence enough to form an opinion that Jackson was guilty, yet not enough to tender such a vote? Maybe they were, as we used to say in the Army, “smelling the barn,” seeking the path of least resistance in terminating deliberations, in order to get out and get on the media and book-selling gravy train.

Seems like almost every week lately, we read headlines of another child who has disappeared, to later read about the discovery of the child’s body, yet another victim of sexual assault and eventual cruel murder at the hands of a child sex offender, inexplicably released back into public to lay low, awaiting his next opportunity to strike. These onion-heads had the opportunity to take a stand against someone notorious for repeated allegations of his molesting little boys time and again, but instead showed their true colors in selling their jury vote, and their integrity, so cheaply; and now seek to bargain it back in fortune and fame…

"Boot in the Ass" Awards--August 9, 2005

2005-08-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

Bountiful pickin's for this week's crop, and its going to be a close call...

The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From Kofi’s Tree

Alexander Yakovlev, a former UN procurement officer pled guilty to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from U.N. contractors. Yakovlev also admitted to soliciting a bribe under the “Oil-for-Food” program with Iraq. "We decided that it's in the best interest of the client to enter such a plea," Yakovlev's lawyer Arkady Bukh said. "In term of sentencing we expect much better deal if we enter a guilty plea.

Yakovlev, who is Russian, resigned in June under fire from unrelated allegations that he helped his son get a job with a company which contracts with the United Nations.

ChickenHeart

William “Braveheart” Wallace’s dismembered body is turning in his grave. Member of Parliament George “Haggis-head” Galloway jumped on the “blame the victim” bandwagon, urging that insurgents fighting British and US troops in Iraq were making a "heroic decision".

"I think the decision the Iraqis have made to resist foreign occupation is a heroic decision," he told Scotland's Sunday Herald newspaper. "The individual acts carried out by people in the name of resistance may or may not be heroic. Some are undoubtedly heroic. The storming of a military barracks of a more powerful adversary in a classic guerrilla warfare operation is undoubtedly heroic.”

Galloway was expelled in 2003 from Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party, which he had represented in parliament since 1987. He promptly created his own party, Respect, and was elected to lead their ticket in May ballots.

Galloway defended prior inciting remarks he made in Parliament on July 7--the day terrorist bombings killed 56 people and left 700 injured. Before the assembled Parliament, Galloway said Londoners had paid the price for Britain sending soldiers into Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sounds like the UK has their own version of Dick "Gulag" Durbin.

Come Mistah Tallyman, Tally Me Stupid Remarks

Entertainer and self-righteous activist Harry “Banana Boat” Belafonte referred to prominent African-American officials in the Bush administration as "black tyrants" at a weekend civil rights march, and compared the presence of black conservatives on the President’s cabinet to the Nazi hierarchy under Hitler.

When asked what impact prominent blacks such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell and current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had on the Bush administration's minority policies and relations, Belafonte responded, "Hitler had a lot of Jews high up in the hierarchy of the Third Reich. Color does not necessarily denote quality, content or value.”

"Some entertainers simply don't know much about history," said Dr. Rafael Medoff, director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies. "The fact is that there were no Jews in Hitler's hierarchy; the policies of America and Israel are not similar to those of Hitler; and African-American conservatives are not comparable to Nazis." "Hitler was a maniacal dictator whose regime systematically annihilated six million Jews, and launched a world war that caused the deaths of more than forty million people. How can any reasonable person put Hitler and the Nazis in the same sentence as American or Israeli leaders, or black conservatives?"

Just goes to show you, once again, that these Hollywood elites do their best work when reciting, or singing, the words that others write for them.

National Association for Really Absurd Logic

NARAL Pro-Choice America has purchased a $500,000 ad campaign scheduled to run beginning Wednesday, August 10 in Maine and Rhode Island and nationally on Fox and CNN proclaiming, Supreme Court-nominee Judge John Roberts “filed court briefs supporting violent fringe groups and a convicted clinic bomber," as well as alleging that Judge Roberts’ ideology “leads him to excuse violence against other Americans.” The organization’s basis for this outrageous claim is his brief, filed in Bray v. Alexandria Women’s Health Clinic (1993) during his tenure as deputy solicitor general, in which Roberts argued that the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 can’t properly be applied to abortion protesters because opposition to abortion doesn’t constitute discrimination against a “class of people” as defined within the Act.

Instead, Roberts rightfully argued that state penalties would be sufficient to punish and deter such violence. Congress has since mooted the issue with the passage in 1994 of a law that made it a crime to use force or intimidation against abortion clinic workers or women seeking abortions.

Just goes to show that NARAL, and their ilk, will not fail to stoop to any level in their advocacy of the “right” to slaughter 4,000 unborn babies each day in this country. Hopefully these "right-to death" activists will soon "un-breed" themselves right out of America.

“Get Out of Jail Free” Cards Accepted in Florida

Assistant Florida State Attorney Elizabeth Parker instructed prosecutors to drop charges in 170 DUI cases, citing improper procedures used by Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office’s breathalyzer facility. Parker said she has the affected cases and dropped those she couldn't prove without the breath-test reading. "It's very difficult to allow these people to go free, but my job is to seek justice, not to just get a conviction," Parker said. "Justice is dropping the charge."

Defense attorney Fred Susaneck, stated that he complained of the "ring-around-the-rosy" maintenance for months at administrative driver-license hearings, to no avail. "The whole thing was avoidable," Susaneck said.

Reckon someone needs to school Ms. Parker on what “justice” really means. I guarantee it doesn’t mean tossing out the charges on criminals brought in on probable cause, just because the task of prosecuting them is complicated by lax standards at the testing facility. I guarantee justice doesn’t mean the legal system turning its back on those people whose lives were ended, or ruined by the careless acts of those drunk drivers benefiting from this “olly, olly outs in free.” I can tell you, however, that justice would include some serious housecleaning of the personnel at the Palm Beach breath-testing facility, as well as whoever has overwatch on that facility.

And the 100% top-grain cowhide suppository goes to:

Assistant Florida State Attorney Elizabeth Parker for the gubbamint employee trifecta:

1) showing that when the going gets tough, public officials get going...as far away and as fast as they can from the task at hand; 2) finding a legal or administrative justification to reduce your own workload; and 3) holding no one accountable at any level!

Time to break out the saddle soap...

Who'dathunkit?

2005-08-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would see the day that the country best known for cheese-eating surrender monkeys would point the way to reducing risk of terrorist attacks within their borders, but maybe this time France has got it right.

Last week, Reda Ameuroud, radical Muslim cleric, was shown the other side of the door by the French government. It seems this ‘imam’ (translation: terrorist rabble-rouser) was accused of efforts to enroll young Muslims as prospective jihadists, near a mosque in northern Paris, as well as having ties with Farid Benyettou, another Muslim religious leader also suspected of trying to coax youths to join militant Islamic groups, possibly including those responsible for the recent attacks in London. Even better, French Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy said another 10 people perpetrating "a radical Islamist discourse" would also be shipped back to their home country by the end of August. Sarkozy previously announced France would begin systematically extraditing Muslim activists "who do not respect our values."

Striking a similar note, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said draft legislation would be introduced this fall aimed at improving video surveillance of suspected radicals, along with improving other ways to track suspected Muslim terrorists and those who would aid terrorist acts.

Meanwhile, within our own borders, the New York Civil Liberties Union announced that it is suing the city to have NYPD searches of boarding passengers’ bags in the city's subways halted. The NYCLU filed suit in Federal Court claiming that the search policy, a security measure implemented in response to the London bombings, violates the rights of riders against unlawful searches. The facts are: (1) no one has the inalienable right to ride on a subway train, and (2) the U.S. Supreme Court has found that random searches are acceptable if it fulfills “special needs” like public safety. In cases weighing the state's interest in preventing accidents caused by drunk drivers and in detecting illegal aliens, the effectiveness of checkpoints in achieving those goals, the Supreme Court found that the level of intrusion on an individual's privacy was reasonable, and not unconstitutional, and most tellingly, a 1999 Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion (U.S. v. Brown) held that a roadblock set up to thwart an “imminent terrorist attack” would almost certainly be constitutional.

If there is any real flaw in the NYC subway searches, it is that they don’t go far enough. Search every boarding passenger, to some degree, and any argument regarding the discretion of the searching officer’s “randomness” goes out the window. If the search to board the subway train offends the potential passenger’s perceived “right to privacy,” he or she can always elect to walk, ride the bus, or hail a cab.

Cowboy up, America.

"Boot in the Ass" Awards--August 2, 2005

2005-08-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here we go for another round...

Suicide Reporter

Helen Thomas, the "dean of the White House press corps," stated in a newspaper interview that she would not be able to live if Vice President Cheney were to run for the Presidency. "The day Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself," she said. "All we need is one more liar."

Ironic choice of words, considering Ms. Thomas’ previous support of Dan “What is the frequency, Kevin” Rather last September instead of criticizing Rather over his use of highly questionable, and as it turns out, falsified documents about President Bush's military record, Ms. Thomas targeted Bush himself.

Idle promises, I’d say. Aren’t we still waiting for Alex Baldwin and Kim Basinger to leave the country, as they pledged they would do, should President Bush be re-elected in 2004. Looks like just another instance of the reporter seeking to make themselves the story.

Quiet in the Peanut Gallery...

Former President Jimmy “Hammer Time” Carter chimed in on the detention of terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base, calling it an embarrassment and has given extremists an excuse to attack the United States. Carter also criticized the U.S.-led war in Iraq as "unnecessary and unjust." "I think what's going on in Guantanamo Bay and other places is a disgrace to the U.S.A.," he told a news conference at the Baptist World Alliance's centenary conference in Birmingham, England. "I wouldn't say it's the cause of terrorism, but it has given impetus and excuses to potential terrorists to lash out at our country and justify their despicable acts."

It pains me to toss President Carter in with this bag of nattering nabobs of negativity. While his presidency was far from our country’s brightest moments, his post-presidency efforts have been largely magnanimous, and, politics aside, he has become a great peacemaker and humanitarian when many others would have cooled their heels. In this instance though, President Carter has chosen a prickly path. Once again, we are faced with the left’s “blame the victim” party line. Who doesn’t recall the absolute failure of his own administration’s anti-terrorism efforts?

Stick to building houses, and enjoying your life with Rosalynn, Mr. Carter.

Sonofabench

Seattle Federal Judge John Coughenour seized the bully pulpit of the Federal bench to spew forth his own personal, political invective during the sentencing of Ahmed Ressam, would-be Millenium bomber to 22 years confinement. Making plain his distaste for the administration’s terrorism-fighting tactics, the black-robed wonder remarked:

…I would like to convey the message that our system works. We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, or detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant, or deny him the right to counsel, or invoke any proceedings beyond those guaranteed by or contrary to the United States Constitution.
….
Despite the fact that Mr. Ressam is not an American citizen and despite the fact he entered this country intent upon killing American citizens, he received an effective, vigorous defense, and the opportunity to have his guilt or innocence determined by a jury of 12 ordinary citizens.

Most importantly, all of this occurred in the sunlight of a public trial. There were no secret proceedings, no indefinite detention, no denial of counsel. The tragedy of September 11th shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism. Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete. This is a Constitution for which men and women have died and continue to die and which has made us a model among nations. If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won.

Nice words, judge. Obviously, you paid attention in civics class back in junior high. I am guessing, though, that you skipped out on ROTC, and very likely any math classes dealing with logic, as well.

Get this, Judge. This raghead, and others like him, are not car thieves, muggers, or burglars. They enter the country with the express determination to maim and kill as many infidels (American citizens) as possible, in the name of their misguided “religion” and at the urging of Al Queda and like extremist terrorist organizations. Keep in mind that you sentenced this sadistic bastard to less than 17% of the 130-year maximum sentence he faced. Keep in mind that his sentence is only slightly longer than those poorly supervised U.S. National Guardsmen whose greatest crime was to humiliate detainees at Abu Ghirab, by putting panties on their heads and making them wear dog leashes.

Keep in mind that not one of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay has inflicted harm on a single American or other citizen of the Earth since their detention began. Keep in mind that these jihadist terrorists don’t wear uniforms, often enter the country through dishonest means, and by the most generous of definitions, are saboteurs and spies. Thus, military tribunals are not only an appropriate alternative, they are the proper jurisdiction for such matters. Supreme Court nominee Judge Roberts could school you on the subject, I’m sure.

Finally, you were appointed, not elected to your lofty perch. You don’t have any mandate, and based on these remarks, your qualifications are suspect. Interpret the law, Judge. Leave your opinions in your chambers. Or, become a reporter for the MSM.

And the winner is:

This week, the size 9-1/2 Corcoran goes DEEP up the backside of the pontificating jurist, Judge Coughenour, both for letting a convicted terrorist off light, and capitalizing on the moment to take a politically-motivated swipe at the Commander in Chief.

Okay, time to break out the boot polish. Back next week.