My Heart goes out to J.J.

I'm talking about current National Security Advisor and Retired Marine General James Jones. The good general deserves a big hug from every one of us who has ever given a nationally televised speech in front of a particularly intimidating audience.

Bad enuff General Jones has to service the Big Guy whose foreign policy is " I like you, so why don't you like me?", but he also has to manage the White House village idiot, John Brennan, who believes that only uniformed police officers can interrogate captured terrorists. So, you must cringe for this very serious man surrounded by veritable naifs and ignorant fools. But wait, your cringe response may have been premature.

In preparing his speech to the very Israeli friendly Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the good general was informed by the jokemeister himself, John Brennan, that all good public speakers garner an immediate rapport with their audience by starting off with a humorous story or anecdote. Thus the good general consulted the Web Site: "Best Jew Jokes by Muslims", in order to obtain material which would demonstrate the Administration's even handed status as an honest broker in the near east.

As you start to cringe, possibly even heading toward gag, you imagine how well that the good general connected with the room: he related a recent supposedly actual chance encounter in southern Afghanistan, in which a jewish merchant attempts to extort money from a dying taliban gentleman, as he had been wandering lost in the desert for several days before coming upon the Jew's textile store and asking for a drink of water.

This attempt to push the "Reset Buttin" with the good palestinians bespeaks a larger truth about the current gang that can't shoot straight in DC: there are no adults in charge who read this stuff and say to their peers: You've got to be joking, you're not really going to say that are you?" Just saying...

No Outrage, therefore: No Privacy in Oceania

As we know, "power corrupts and Absolute Power..." would destroy absolutely the only three inalienable rights our federal Republic guarantees: Life, liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In his prescient Novel, 1984, George Orwell placed his protagonist, Winston Smith, in a future society in which the Government watched all its citizens through TV screens placed everywhere, including all rooms in Mr. Smith's home. Big Brother is all watching, all knowing, so all controlling. Everyone outside of the Stalinist Soviet Union recoiled in horror at the concept of this mad apparition of Absolute Power in the hands of a brutal central government.

Well, loyal listeners from a small tree - in this case a suburban Philadelphia school district, Lower Merion - comes this very poisonous fruit. By loaning lap top computers to its high school students, Merion school administrators watched unsuspecting users of the computers, taking some 56,000 still photos (including in home bedrooms and bathrooms) during periods of hidden live streaming surveillance. Every rational citizen's reaction is: what were these government watchers thinking?

Well, their own e-mails apparently characterized these spying activities as a mere diversion from boredom, entertaining fun, legal because the students had no reasonable expectation of privacy in their own homes when using a computer owned by the government. Unbelievable, almost comical, except that from merely egregious voyeurism, these spy photos were then used to punish at least one student for alleged misconduct in his bedroom medicating himself.

Well, this story has been unfolding for several weeks time, yet I see no statement from the President, or from others in the nation's political class. One shouting outburst by a Harvard professor toward his arresting police officer lead to a rebuke of the purported abuse of power by government personnel in Cambridge. Indeed, that non-event ultimately lead to a full blown beer Summit Meeting, hosted by the President at the White House.

Now, the nation is confronted with a precedent that leads inevitably to tyranny. Nonetheless, the Washington pols remain AWOL. Accordingly, we must make Lower Merion a critical matter of national concern through the public outrage of all of us - any and every citizen who wants to keep the Government's venal watchers out of our homes/bedrooms. Act now or "1984" will be our collective future and not a fictional story of hopeless subservience to Absolute Power. Just saying...

Immediate correction to Redskins Blog Entry

Loyal Elite members/listeners: a comment received just minutes ago from a competing blog, Gary's Sandbox, (obviously seeking to discredit your humble blogger) has stated emphatically that the Seminole Indian Tribe gets no money over the table from Florida State University. He made no representation regarding other less transparent transactions between the tribe and FSU, however.

I stand corrected, but also need to remind you all that the Seminole indians never rode any horses, never used war spears, burning or otherwise, and never gave autographs coupled w/. the words "scalp 'em".

So, it remains obvious that the tribe's purported overwhelming support of the University's mascot flows from its positive and accurate depiction of Seminole values, traditions and history.

Does Rooting for the Washington "Redskins" make you a Racist?

No. It merely connotes misplayed loyalty to a terrible football team. When the team name is mentioned, almost all informed fans think of huge, mostly white guys - "the hogs", the team's famous group of NFL Hall of Fame "offensive" linemen, during the Coach Gibbs' glory years.

I return to this possibly controversial topic of what words reflect presumed racist thoughts of the speaker because the PC Police are again on the warpath. So, its now time to circle the wagons. The state legislature of North Dakota, in conjunction w/. the NCAA, recently forced the University of North Dakota to drop a near century old sports nickname - Fighting Sioux. (Fighting Sioux expressly adopted to connote courageous warriors who often feasted on hordes of slain "Bison", nickname of the rival ND State University) replaced the prior nomenclature - "The Flickertails". No word on whether the University will go all retro, with their tails flickering between their legs, to inspire their sports teams and loyal fans.

A similar ambush was recently unleashed by the NCAA on the University of Illinois "Fighting Illini", as that sports nickname was deemed offensive to the Illini Indian Tribe. Regrettably, the NCAA failed to acknowledge that dead people feel no offense. The Illini tribe has left the arena with Elvis. There are no surviving members of the Illini Indian Tribe.

Also regrettably, the Florida State Seminoles have been formally exempted from this NCAA "across the board" ban on "hostile and abusive" sports nicknames. Millions of dollars in license fees are paid to the Seminole tribe by the University to make "benign and positive" the violent thrusting of a flaming battle spear toward the enemy side line by a war painted, horse riding student mascot at every home FSU football game.

So, when the NCAA finds no offense to tens of thousands of peaceful, living Seminoles and simultaneously finds egregious offense to the non-existent Illini tribe members, some college lessons of high minded morality and economics are more offensive than others. Just saying ...

Why Phil "the Mics" Masters Win Matters; Assault on Liberty

A loyal Elite listener has challenged me to write a seamlessly connected blog entry about two completely discrete topics. So, here is my effort to create a two-for-one entry having a credible nexus.

Upon sinking his tournament winning putt at the 18th hole on Sunday, Mr. and Mrs Mickelson shared an emotional embrace of true affection that, in duration, rivaled the phony hug/kiss the Gores subjected us to at the 2000 Democratic Presidential Nominating Convention. Then, we cringed in embarrassment at their exploiting their sound marriage, attempting to distance themselves from the phony Bill/Hilliary business deal. Americans crave genuine caring, integrity and basic honesty. Phil fits that bill, and we thank him for his integrity, while respecting the game of golf and all of its fans worldwide.

Upon sinking the Japanese Fishing School boat, the Eriham Maru, in February of 2001, U.S. Naval Submarine Commander Scott Waddle embraced his egregious dereliction of duty, apologized in person to the victims families in a solemn Tokyo meeting, and then accepted his immediate retirement from active military service in disgrace for having not prevented this fatal accident involving a staunch U.S. ally. This immediate banishment of Commander Waddle adheres to the inflexible rule of military discipline - screw-ups of the multiple fatal kind, however accidental, are also fatal to the responsible officer's career. The universal code of military conduct has a zero tolerance for "screwing-the-pooch" in peace time and in war time.

Upon (almost) sinking the unarmed spy ship, USS Liberty, in June 1967, the Israeli Defense Forces immediately apologized for this "accident", which included three separate waves of fighter plane and torpedo boat attacks over six hours of repeated attacks, seeking to sink both the ship and all the life rafts floated by the vessel's wounded and dying crew. The Israeli explanation stated that due to the calm weather and absence of any winds in the vicinity of the Liberty, the US flag hoisted on the Ship's stern was limp and not identifiable by the eight discrete surveillance flights that the Israeli Air Force flew over the boat, steaming at 20 knots, for four hours prior to the attack's authorization by IDF Hq. I challenge anyone who has sailed at 10 knots, let alone 20, to believe this "limp flag" contention. But, I digress by expressing my incredulity, prematurely.

Instead, let us examine the IDF's application of the universal code of military discipline to this spectacular screwing of the pooch, which resulted in the accidental killing of dozens of USS Liberty shipmates, serving honorably the staunchest ally of the nation of Israel. The Israeli raid leader, Captain Yiftah Spector, retained his commission in the Air Force, capping his heralded career 14 years later as the Wing Commander in the IDF, which he lead on Israel's 1981 attack on the Iraqi Nuclear Power Plant, Osirak, located near Bagdad. As a full bird Colonel and Group Commander, Yiftah Spector was not assigned to fly on this secret mission, until he arranged his participation in a fashion that still remains unknown.

Why is this sordid history relative today? Because recent news stories have reported that President Obama is preparing to impose a US designed peace settlement on Israel and the Palestinians, as this parochial, merely local irritant is impeding much broader US national security interests in the region - obtaining full Arab cooperation in deterring Iran's nuclear weapons development. Such arrogance and naivety would be comical were it not to being displayed by the leader of the free world, facing critical threats of our national security. Israel is a sovereign nation, which, when its national survival was threatened during the 1967 Six Day War, killed Americans.

To believe that the current US Administration has the capacity to impose any final Palestinian-Israeli settlement on Jerusalem is to believe that Tigre's dead father agreed to confront his wayward son from the grave with several thoughtful questions. The wounded Tigre still has not learned to respect the game of golf or its fans by being honest. President Obama apparently still does not respect the limits of his own authority to act as a honest broker of peace in the middle east. Two topics, one theme: personal integrity matters.

A Beautiful Mind, Mine

Already, a number of Elite Listeners have contacted me regarding the purported hyperbolic quality of the assertion (today's Blog Entry - The most beautiful course ever) that Duke (61 points) was not able to score nearly as many points against Butler as Davidson did (62 points).

Sorry, but that statement is not in anyway exaggerated, as DC scored all 62 of its points at Hinckle Field House, Butler's famous home court, there Duke scored 00. Having played Butler at Lucas Arena, Duke's total came exclusively at a neutral venue. Now, this example of the use of precisely accurate language is the reason why attorney at law is the most respected and beloved profession in our great nation.

Upcoming Visit to the Most Beautiful Course Ever

As I always keep my commitments, sometimes; so my blog entry today is not about an upcoming trip by me to Augusta, Ga. Been there, done that - in 1971, when I refused to speak to Mr. Arnold Palmer despite his asking me a direct question.

No, today we acknowledge the return of the "wounded tigre", seeking redemption and rebirth on the weekend following Holy Week. It is the considered view of this commentator that it will be a good Masters Tournament, should the gallery be limited to but one spectator incident during the first two days, after which the Big Guy will be gone. (Become a Super Elite Member to see details on how this vision plays out).

Now, one quicky, as time is short. Butler did absolutely everything, but make its last attempt at a basket. Great team , great game for the "White Bread" Championship. ( I was going to describe it as the white boy game, but in lite of my prior skin color literary device, I am way too chastised to do so.) More significantly, Duke was not able to score nearly as many points against Butler as Davidson did on their famous home court (see, movie "Hoosiers") on November 14th - Dawgs 73, Cats 62.