Hey Uncle Sam - Stop the Madness

Ok, ok, Loyal listeners, in response to the ground swell, a chorus of clamoring even from numerous Elite Members, here is my take on the Debt Ceiling Debacle. Nothing very good comes out of crisis negotiations when confronted with a deadline of potentially economy shattering proportions. Attempting to define four trillion dollars in specific federal spending cuts over ten years with but six or eight pols in the room is either a level of arrogance or smoke and mirrors that gives it almost no real chance of being understood and accepted, first by the public and then by their elected representatives in Congress.

So, how did we get to this crisis point? Let's review the bidding to see. In early Spring, President Obama told Congress that, in 18 months having taken the Country from less than 10 trillion in debt to more than 14 trillion dollars in debt, he wanted a "Clean" increase of 2.7 trillion in the Debt Limit, intended to facilitate his spending plans thru the 2012 election cycle. By "clean", the Administration meant, this additional borrowing authority would not be tainted or otherwise coupled with any constraints of this fiscal insanity. Think about the magnitude of federal expenditures in excess of governmental revenues he contemplated, as federal income currently runs about 1.7 trillion dollars per year. No one in human history had ever embarked on largess of this size, or anywhere close to the magnitude of spending exceeding income. Its like Obama thinks he can just print money in the basement. Oh wait, that's the Federal Reserve, and that's a different story for a different Blog.

Only after the Republican House said no to the Administration's demand for a clean increase, did Secretary Geithner come on the Sunday News Shows, as he did today, and say that ANY debt ceiling increase that did not include trillions of dollars in debt reduction would lead to economic ruin for the nation, because world markets know that America's fiscal irresponsibility - never ending larger annual federal deficits - will lead to the collapse of the dollar and spiraling higher interest charges for our borrowing. Truly amazing - Treasury Secretary demand no spending cuts in February and in July says that increase without major cuts is insanity. Wow, his cure from mental illness was almost as fast as Rep Weiner's recovery from his sexting addiction. Time for Change at the top, I sincerely Hope.

Why Mir Aimal Kansi Still Matters

Yes, like Humberto Leal, Mir Kansi is still dead, executed by the State of Virginia in 2002, after his conviction of the premeditated murder of two CIA employees, their stopped vehicles awaited a traffic light change to turn into the Agency Hq. on the morning of January 25, 1993.

Unlike Humberto, however, Mir lives on in the hearts and minds of the radical Islamic jihadists. An honored martyr of the jihadist terror war against western civilization, Kansi now rests peaceably, buried with full governmental honors in his home town, Bolachistan, Pakistan, where a newly built Mosque bears his name and a plaque tells of his heroic and courageous act of shouting unarmed, defenseless commuters sitting in their cars.

Mir Kansi went to his death, proud of his killings of two males, while grievously wounding three other male CIA employees. He also congratulated himself for passing up the opportunity to shoot numerous female vehicle occupants because to have done so would not have been consistent with his religion's teachings.

Now, I am an avowed supporter of the death penalty, believing it to be a just and necessary exercise of the government's police powers. It deters potential killers contemplating a violent crime generally, while deterring absolutely the convicted murderer, who is thereby no longer a danger to kill other prison employees or his/her fellow prison inmates. In wartime, however, the punishment does not fit the "non-crime." Mr.Mir Kansi ended his short, brutish and nasty tenure on earth with a serene smile on his face, secure in the belief that his sexist carnage in Langley, Virginia guaranteed him a large bevy of beauties, untainted by prior carnal knowledge, for eternity. Indisputably, giving Mir his deeply desired martyr status is not a deterrent to others of his deranged ilk - 70 virgins forever in heaven is just too damn appealing to many men of the devastating unpleasant lands of the Middle East. In war, the primary responsibility of the government is definitely not to punish enemy combatants, legal or illegal, having committed war crimes or not. Our government's pre-eminent obligation is to defeat the enemy, thereby winning the war - to save the nation from death and destruction.

The means of winning this war against Islamist jihadists is two-fold. First, we need to stop terrorists attacks before more innocents, men and women, are murdered, while seeking innovative ways to destroy the will of potential new Islamic recruits from joining the fray. In implementing such a war winning strategy, the U.S. government should have put Kansi, as a lawful prisoner of war, being lawfully detained for the duration of the armed conflict, in a women's prison where his daily duty entailed bathroom cleaning, clothes washing and other submissive functions that would make him absolutely subservient to the whims and caprice of the other inmates for the next fifty or sixty years. As we all know, war is hell. So, Mir should have had to clean female unmentionables for his miserable life, instead of getting a Mosque and hero funeral. After 911, Americans were told to think "outside the box" in defending the country from Islamic terrorists. Yet, in 2002,we dealt with Kansi as if he were a street criminal. Not a winning strategy for preventing future Mir's, so that why he still matters.

Federalism is not Dead ... yet

Why U ask is the Republic safe for another day? Well, for starters, because Mexican national Humberto Leal is dead. Say what? Ok, Humberto, on his own merit, is not a figure of historic significance. Let's just say, he was no John Birch, who as a Christian missionary in Red China in 1948, willing gave his life in the battle against the godless communist hordes of Mao. John Birch got a Xenophobic Society named after him. Mr. Leal got only a Presidential "Pardon", which less than 48 hours later, was declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court, holding that State Rights trumped federal foreign policy prerogatives.

Now, who among U is not intrigued by this axis of fate that caused a murdering rapist (who was convicted in a Texas State Court after a fair trial with competent counsel followed by more than a decade of state and federal appeals) having a President saying that international law requires that his conviction and sentence must be overturned. Oh, and by the way, prior to getting his temporary free pass from the President, Mr. Leal openly acknowledged his guilt in torturing, raping and crushing the skull of a 16 year old child, thereby ending her ordeal of excruciating pain and suffering. Citing a violation of a valid US treaty obligation to allow every foreign national arrested for the commission of a felony access to his/her consular representatives, the President filed an appeal Thursday before the Supreme Court to enjoin Texas from carrying out this duly authorized execution. The Court took so little time in dismissing the DOJ petition that Leal met his just fate without even a thirty minute delay in Texas administering its lethal injection. In its Opinion, the Court ruled that the federal government's preference for currying foreign approval and seeking to ensure full consular access for Americans arrested abroad was irrelevant to the petitioner's legal obligation to demonstrate that the defendant was being treated unlawfully in either his conviction or the imposition of a just sentence of execution.

Humberto Leal, while born in Mexico, had lived in the United States since age two, some 39 consecutive years. Heck, from the "progressive" elitetist point of view, Leal had long ago become an American citizen by the mere long duration of his domestic life of crime. Only those federal bureaucrats, so privileged to reside on such a high moral plain (blessed with a "broad vision" of world government), would champion the cause of a monster, a confessed child torturer, when the rule of American law and justice had been upheld by a sovereign state acting in furtherance of a governmental realm expressly reserved to it by the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution - exercise of its police powers to enforce state criminal law. Long live the Republic, at least 'till tomorrow.

America - Happy 235th

Well, inasmuch as my 62nd was celebrated far and wide, I would be remiss were I not to be vocal about America's birthday, as well. So, here goes: with regards to holidays, I previously vented on the unpleasantness of too much noise (e.g. New Year's Eve); that said, combine the big bangs with sky rockets, bright exploding colors and a symphony orchestra belting out patriotic songs, and viola, the Fourth of July tops the Charts.

Taking a short detour from my Paul Revere Calling, I turn to Sports for insight into the human condition in having attended the ATT National PGA Golf Tourney yesterday, with my bud, Kevin of Sowter. Kevin of Sowter even consumed a bud or three there.

Regrettably, PGA tour has become like federal government - bloated beyond all reasonable needs for mission accomplishment. Saw at least 24 PGA Staff Mercedes SUVs and Mini-Vans parked in disparate Course locations, yet most of the actual work at this tourney was performed by unpaid volunteers, so happy to be inside the ropes, up close to the rich, spoiled celebs. Can't knock the marketing genius who sold these folks on this "pro bono public service" to gazillionaires. Oh well, at least the PGA hordes there - paid to look and act important - did their jobs well. Two examples: Some dozen or so Marshals gathered around the landing spot of Anthony Romero's (Tucuman, Argentina) errant seventh fairway tee shot, sitting in the deep rough adjacent to a picnic area filled with families. One particular table of five caught my eye, as it was populated with two adults and three very small children, just 35 feet in front of Tony's line of play to the green. As fate would have it, the kids were seated on the bench side facing Mr Romero's difficult upcoming shot. While I awaited the Marshals moving the family out of danger, Tony, being a Pro after all, lined up his nine iron and crushed the ball right over the table, as the kids shielded their eyes with their little hands. Fault lies with the "adult" parental units, PGA officials, or me for not intervening? U decide.

Immediately then, I vowed not to stay silent in the face of needless child abuse any longer. Shortly thereafter, I observed dozens of boys (and one girl) appearing to be no older than nine or ten carrying heavy wood signs that displayed the current score of the two Pros that these youngsters walked with in the blazing summer heat for 18 holes - more than two very hilly miles. So, I mentioned to a bored Marshal that I practiced labor law, particularly focused on helping exploited below minimum age workers. He proudly informed me that my concerns were unwarranted because - "Hey, the placard carriers are not being paid."

Of course, I was aware of that "exculpatory" stance, but still, his sincerity in defending this mindless exploitation left me only slightly amused (about his seeing only goodness in this repugnant PGA practice), while I continued to look for a real adult to put in charge of both the useless Marshals and these very useful young Serfs.