Occupy Wall Street - Not a Big Deal

As a Champion of the First Amendment, U Elite Members know full well that I will never support silencing any voices raised up in the public square. On free speech rights, I'm squarely with former US Supreme Court Justice Black - an Absolutetist. That said, however, I do not believe every demand to be heard demands an answer from those opposed to the shouted message. Clearly, some trees falling in the forrest are not worthy of vibrating an inner ear drum, or eliciting lips moving in a sharp retort to such sounds of silence.

As the Bible tells us - "Jesus loves us all", ... every boy and girl, even. "And the Poor will always be with us, too". As will the disaffected, the disgruntled and those just plain clueless.

For several decades now, these anarchists have turned out by the thousands to seek to disrupt meeting of the G-18, World Bank or some such international, high finance concave, while shouting about the evils of capitalism. Recently, I recall that an inadequate police presence allowed these hoodlums to take control of the central business district of Seattle, Washington, and thereby burn cars, smash business front windows and generally trash all of downtown.

So what. After the meeting ended, their message of rebellion was forgotten before the many dignitaries airplanes returned them to their homes. This new tactic of hanging out for weeks, saying nothing of import, other than - the rich are evil, so give me their money - will have even less lasting influence on the American citizenry once the first frost hits lower Manhattan, and these non-local yokems will then be gone with the wind and cold. Correct - FreezePruf plant frost protectant can not be sprayed on protesters. Well, on reflection, it can, but to no good insulating effect of which I currently know.

Accordingly, the only lasting impact of these Occupy protests will be the further loss of credibility of the non-sensical Pols who clamor to the microphone to endorse them as some new grassroots uprising of hard working middle class Americans outraged by the unprosecuted crimes of the high rollers on Wall Street. Sorry Nancy, but most of these disaffected "voters" were bused in from your SF District where they have been sucking on the public teet ever since you first gained elective office and started giving away real working folks earnings.

Why Answar al-Awlaki still Matters, finally

Yes, he's now dead, and the world is a better place for his unnatural passing. Nonetheless, Mr. al-Awlaki was an American citizen, who the Executive Branch had declared to be an "Enemy Combatant" - an enemy of the state, if U will. Accordingly, Mr. al-Awlaki was targeted for termination with extreme prejudice. He was then killed in the wilds of ungoverned Yemen by the CIA operated drone hit team, working with the super secret Navy Seals to locate him and put the radar cross-hairs on his head, literally. This execution (thru war making powers) of a person making war on America is legally, ethically or morally justified in my judgment.

In a war, the Executive uses appropriately all the assets available to "kill the enemy and seize enemy held territory" as my drill instructor yelled at me at Ft. Bragg in 1970. It's the process of targeting Awlaki that gives me pause. The Justice Department has reportedly given the President a legal opinion that concludes that this homicide is legal under the law of war. Fine, but on what basis in our Constitutional Republic is such critical "life and death" document stamped "top secret" and hidden from the public. Secret law is anathema to a free society, so I want to know what are the limiting principles of a President's legal authority to kill without charges, trial or any due process protections those persons that the executive branch deems to be enemies of the state. We definitely got it right on this first American citizen's homicide by Presidential Fiat. I want to make sure that the next dozen or tens of dozen of such kills are legal, ethical and morally justified as well.

Remember, every federal government activity starts with all good intentions, decades later, however, many of these programs have no boundaries or limits on their reach or scope of application. When it comes to summary executions, that exercise of absolute power has got to be perfect every time - something government has never done well.

The First Sunday after Easter

Growing up Presbyterian, your Humble Blogger knew that God did not view missing Sunday services as a Sin, mortal or otherwise. We did attend, religiously you might conclude, because our Pastor, Dr. Lawrence, gave one Hell of a Sermon weekly. Additionally, the Youth Group had more pretty girls attending than good looking guys, so I liked those odds. I still remember returning home the last weekend of November 1963, and hearing late in the day that Lee Harvey Oswald's fatal shooting had been seen live on TV that very morning. My reaction then was that indeed God did protect the faithful, as I imagined that seeing someone murdered on TV would be an emotionally disturbing trauma.

Little did I anticipate the trauma of watching thousands of Americans murdered on live TV September 11, 2001, a psychological scar for which last weekend's observances did little to sooth, and in some senses, made fresh yet again. Now, don't mistake me, experiencing again those searing emotions of loss, anger and jeopardy for family and nation, while deeply painful, was necessary in my judgment. We as a nation in 2011 again have become too self centered, possibly too complacent, as well. George Bush can look back with some satisfaction that America proper did not get hit again during his tenure, but he was totally wrong in calling upon us to "start shopping again", as the most patriotic contribution to the war effort everyday Americans could take after 911.

My clarion call, then as now, is for all Americans to become actively involved in supporting the troops, their families and in opposing the efforts of the radical jihadists to subvert our western civilization's freedoms. On the forefront of this war this week will be the Palestinian's demand for statehood recognition by the United Nations. This assault on Israel's existence is just another murderous turn in the "Arab Spring" triumph of fundamentalism over co-existence with the west. As Dr. Lawrence showed me in the early 1960's, always leave your congregation wanting more, so I'll have to return to the existential threat posed by a Palestinian State to a future blog. Cheers.

Why Richard Rescorla Still Matters

Richard, "Rick", Rescorla; born 5/27/39; died 9/11/01 on the 77th floor WTC Tower One.

In the last week of August, 2001, I met my son, Neil, at his Wall Street office (he was then a Middlebury College undergrad, working for the summer in lower NYC). We walked the three blocks from his building to the World Trade Center pedestrian plaza for an outdoor lunch, admiring the stark beauty of the twin towers. That summer, Neil commuted to his NYC job from his home in Summit, New Jersey by train to the Path Station at WTC.

Richard Rescorla also commuted to his NYC job from his home in Summit, N.J. by train to that same Path Station at the WTC. It is possible, even probable, that on occasion, Neil and Rick rode together, possibly having nodded a fellow traveller sleepy morning greeting. I know that they didn't do any of that on the morning of September 11th, however, as Neil had returned already to safe, bucolic Vermont; a circumstance for which I thank God every time I remember that awful Tuesday morning.

Rick Rescorla also was due to be absent from his employment on September 11th, yet he was there, having volunteered to cover for a subordinate, thereby made free to vacation. Mr. Rescorla had an important job - Director of Security for Investment Brokerage, Morgan Stanley, charged with ensuring the safety of two thousand, seven hundred Company employees, then working at WTC Towers One and Five. Rick did his job very well that day - he got 2698 Morgan Stanley employees to safety right after the first plane hit Tower Two.

Then, Richard Rescorla volunteered one final time - he ran back into Tower One just before it collapsed, seeking to find the last two employees placed in his charge. Rick never made it back on September 11th to his family in Summit, New Jersey. Gratefully, Rick's 911 heroism will forever live on, in our collective memory. And, of course Rick's entire life was characterized by him volunteering for life threatening service to others - he was a highly decorated army veteran of the Vietnam war, volunteering to fight after having already served a number of years as a British Army paratrooper. This prior military service reflects Mr. Rescorla's then foreign citizenship, having been born in Hayle, Cornwall in 1939.

Despite his entire adult life having been spent in following the "chain of command", Colonel Rescorla knew when to follow his own conscience - after the first plane hit WTC Tower Two, he ignored the PA orders to all occupants of Tower One to stay put for their own safety. Defying that very bad judgment call saved 2697 lives. Indeed, Mr Richard Rescorla embodied American Exceptionalism - A Life well lived; So, Britian, the United States, New Jersey and Summit are all poorer for Rick's volunteering its premature end. He, Neil, Addison, Audrey, Lyn, elite members, Michele, Mark, Kate, Kim and Donelle are why I try daily to live up to his memory. God Bless America.

The Summer of Our Discontent - Dealing w/. High Anxiety

Confidence is an essential ingredient to successful endeavors, both for an individual and the body politic. Obviously, the converse is equally true - fear and doubt are lethal contagions, a virus sapping the strength of the Nation, poisoning our collective will to overcome small and big challenges. Accordingly, my responsibility, as your Humble Blogger, is to damp down the fever of national insecurity in order to restore informed optimism and the unshakable conviction that tomorrow will be better than today.

To myself, after all, it is Morning in America, even though I do know that the Gipper is still dead. Let me explain why I still very much believe in American Exceptionalism - Look closely at the rest of the world: Europe is financially, morally and politically bankrupt (more than five months of futile war against one insane despot in Libya, and the french are talking armistice, if not surrender); Russia is an organized crime syndicate, not a country. As the world's economic woes multiply, the silver lining is that the life blood of the mobsters in Moscow - oil exports -do not garner the levels of hard currency needed to adequately feed the Russian Bear. China needs, at a minimum, 7.5% annual growth in its economy to ward off potentially devastating civil unrest - it is reliably estimated that the migration of rural unemployed workers from the farms to the cities totals millions of downtrodden annually, most looking for construction jobs in the coastal urban centers. Should China stop building buildings no one will occupy for decades, its society will crumble like the house of cards it is.

Now look at America - our nation is a stable Republic, our institutions of government are stronger than ever, elections do have real consequences and the voice of the people demanding a return to fiscal sanity has been heard in the halls of power in Washington. Sure, we face grave challenges, particularly in growing the private sector economy in the face of massive over regulation imposed by Obamacare and Frank/Dodd financial controls. Nonetheless, we have always risen to such challenges. A Nation that survived millions killed in the Civil War, many more killed in two world wars and the great depression of the 1930s, can roll back excessive intrusions into business decision making by unelected federal bureaucrats. Thus, I say, let's roll up our sleeves my fellow Americans, kick some Euro/Asian butt, knowing full well that we are without doubt the last best hope of all mankind. "We can do anything" - more later on this boast.

Why Humam Khalil al-Balawi still Matters

Or, subtitle - "Is Leon Panetta the greatest Mass 'Murderer' in U.S. History?" Obviously, my question is hyperbole (hence the quotation marks w/n. a quotation). It is intended to spark thoughtful reflection on the lawfulness of America's tactics in winning the war against radical Islamic jihadists, and not intended to spark interest in this humble blogger by the Nation's eavesdroppers, watchers and Spy Agencies.

In researching this Blog topic, I confirmed that the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has the sole and exclusive authority within the federal government to authorize "a hit", termination w/. extreme prejudice, a targeted assassination even, of an identified enemy combatant by Agency drone missile attack. My research has not, of course, uncovered the total number of individuals put to death by the verbal order of Mr. Panetta, and even were it to be revealed to me, such classified national security information would never be published here. Let's just say that Director Panetta left Ted Bundy in his rear view mirror early on in his tenure as CIA Boss of Bosses. No wonder Mr. Panetta was given his wish to be transferred by President Obama to the more serene post of Secretary of Defense; some irony there.

By now, U may be asking - "So, why does Mr. al-Balawi still matter, and how does his mattering fit in with the nation's running of death squads from the sky?" (As an aside, any perceived to be pejorative language here should not be deemed opposition to targeted killings in wartime. Instead, it is intended as a Clarion Call for public debate on the lawful application of this absolute power to unilaterally impose and carry out a death sentence w/o. charges filed, w/o. a trial or other due process safeguards against the killing of innocent persons. ) (See previous Posts re Government's Power to Execute "Enemies of the State").

Now, its Dr. al-Balawi, he's not a mister. On December 30, 2009, this young, healthy Jordanian doctor of medicine, father of two bright daughters, and husband to a beautiful Turkish wife stepped out of the Agency car which had transported him to the very door steps of the CIA's Hq. for the Afghan/Pakistan border region and detonated the secreted bomb strapped to his chest, killing eight Agency operatives. In response (or not, depending on your sources), that same CIA Director who had just lost the most subordinates in a single day in Agency history, ramped up significantly the number of targeted drone attacks in Pakistan.

Objectivity clouded by a need to immediately avenge this wanton terrorist murder of Americans? I sincerely doubt it. Nonetheless, I would much prefer to have the war fighting authority placed exclusively in the DoD, and not in our Nation's intelligence gathering agencies. The Army, Navy and Marines have hundreds of years experience in killing the enemy, after the enemy has been identified by civilian authority. This is another example of the wisdom of separation of powers. Such a safeguard would preclude a single government employee in the CIA from being judge, jury and executioner by him or her self alone.

Now, that would be some real irony - were Congress to enact legislation empowering only the Secretary of Defense to authorize drone attacks, based upon targeting recommendations originating in other branches of the government. While Leon Panetta would definitely feel put upon, I would sleep better with a more bifurcated killing apparatus. Just saying ...

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.

Graveyard of Empires, Part Throis

Well, there u have it. We're in it for now, then, to leave as specified in a series of troop withdrawals, announced to the Taliban by President Obama in his White House speech.

As a youth, my civil studies teacher patiently explained that in war, a person publishing (as the means to send to the enemy) the scheduled sailing dates for our troop transport ships had committed treason. Making public such war fighting plans empowered the enemy to alter its own war making plans in order to counter our now known military intentions.

Now, slow down U-all, in no way, explicit or implicit, am I accusing the President of any kind of war crime. Nonetheless, I am seeking greater insight into what national security interest is advanced by telling the Taliban how long they need to hide out in Pakistan before its safe to return to again terrorize Afghanistan.

Also, be assured that were I to be the President, we would have left Afghanistan in 2002, after having accomplished the only vital national security objective permissible in the use of lethal military power - terminating with extreme prejudice the al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the 911 attacks and their territorial protectors. Now, a decade later, a half a trillion dollars of national treasure spent and the loss of thousands of young American military service personnel, all in the name of the nation building chimera, we are left with but two questions: (1) - what is the name of the last Afghan villager who will cooperate with the remaining (short term visiting only) American troops before being the first murdered by the Taliban as our guys wave from their departing helicopter, and (2) - what is the name of the American military person, now in high school or in basic training, who will be the last combat casualty in this debacle, now scheduled publicly to grind on until 2014/15. Both the Afghanistan populace and our American military heroes deserve better than this bitter pill of the false promise of nation building where only warring tribes have existed for ten thousand years.

When A Good Man Dies Needlessly, Who Cares?

I don't know anything much about the short life of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Nor do I suspect, do you. Regrettably, none of us will ever have the opportunity to meet Brian to thank him for his service to the nation. Brian is now dead, murdered near Nogalis, Arizona by a Mexican Drug Cartel gang member using an automatic weapon sold to the Cartel's "strawman" purchaser weeks earlier by the ATF's cooperating gun dealer helping to trace illegal firearm shipments to Mexico. What we do know is Brian Terry was a hero, respected by his peers in law enforcement, and a good friend to everyone he knew in his personal life. Thirdly, we know that the murder of Brian Terry was facilitated by the criminal negligence of high level officials in the federal government.

We can not identify the specific ATF/Main Justice/U.S. Attorney's Office individuals guilty in the death of Brian Terry, because the Obama Administration is more than patiently awaiting the results of an internal Department of Justice I.G. investigation, which could drag on for months, or until just a few days after the November 2012 elections. My anger, my outrage, my demand for accountability and justice will not wait for this cover up to inevitably unravel.

Were President Obama a true leader, a decisive executive in charge of the executive branch of government, he would be even more exercised than me, as this utterly reckless fiasco happened on his inattentive watch. Probably the most damning criticism of Mr. Obama is for his utter detachment; he appears to all the world not to be affected by any of the nation's troubles and indifferent to the immense difficulties of our citizenry, millions of millions struggling to keep hold of their jobs and homes from foreclosure. Unlike Bubba Clinton, 'Barry' never seems to feel our pain, either collectively or individually. I mean, would any President with the common sense God gave a rock, laugh out loud about having been fooled about "shovel ready jobs" that didn't actually exist. Please!

Let me say this - I do not condemn President Obama, due to any political partisanship. I want MY PRESIDENT, OUR ONLY PRESIDENT to succeed; after all he holds our nation's very future safety in his hands. To succeed, any President must demand accountability in his Administration, such that all federal branch executives know that real mistakes will have real consequences. I guarantee U every other Democratic President in my lifetime - Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Clinton (ok, not Jimmy Carter) would have had on his Oval Office Desk before nightfall on the day of Brian Terry's funeral, the resignations of the entire top brass of the ATF for failing to prevent this completely avoidable tragedy. So, to President Obama, I say unequivocally - take charge of your own destiny, as the destiny of a great nation demands it.

Literally, Sir, lives hang in the balance, should you show all Americans that You do care that a good man died needlessly.

Defining Deviance Down, like to Rock Bottom

What to make of this guy Weiner, or for that matter, this guy's weiner? I'm sorry, sort of, but really. Congressman (for now) Weiner is the butt of every successful comedians' sorry ass jokes, so despite my elevated rhetorical platform - rarely if ever devoted to humor - who among U can blame me? Don't respond Georgette!

Much more to this Blog's point, its reason for existence even, is the impact this perverted weasel's misconduct has on the public weal. In short, not good! Many of my prior Posts have observed that the current Administration seems devoid of a single adult in the room, a serious minded person in charge who puts the nation's interests only into his/her calculations as to the proper course to set for the country. Weiner's imbecile sextings demonstrate the focus of a child obsessed with his physical, mental and social inadequacies. The nation is beset with multiple challenges, verging on economic crises, and one of the Congressional leaders for the President's party spends untold hours engaged in computer sex! As a result of this debasement of his office, Anthony Weiner has been neutered, castrated even (oh did I mention the blatant lying to everyone he purportedly cares about - family, wife, friends, party, public and press.)

So, with Weiner's credibility, and thus public service effectiveness, destroyed, what possible motivation exists for liberals to defend him. Got me; thus, I will let a leading spokesperson state his own case for keeping A.W. in the House (not his, of course): "Excuse me for asking, but why exactly should Anthony Weiner resign? He FLIRTED with women in a crude, dorky and easily traceable way." (Emphasis added); Peter Beinart, The Daily Beast, 6/13/11.

I may be a senior citizen; nonetheless, I know flirting when I see it, and AW blew by that nomenclature by the second keystroke to his ever expanding gaggle of beauties. Flirting is the least conceivable description a commentator concerned about his own credibility would use regarding Weiner's despicably salacious and purient pornographic images. For anyone to assert that any responsible adult could do what Weiner did and keep his job as a national leader must either hate America or have absolutely no sense of decency whatsoever. We, as a body politic, must repudiate Weiner and Beinart unequivocably or risk having our once great nation run be sexual predators. Not acceptable, so long as I have a humble voice.

Why the Falklands Still Matter

The World is convulsed in violent turmoil, with political conflict spilling innocent blood by the bucket full in so many countries that the world's only Super Power can not stem the onslaught. To fill this vacuum, the President turned Libya over to N.A.T.O. only to discover that the welfare states of western Europe long ago turned their swords into plows. Madman Kaddafi surfaces every week or so to taunt his impotent adversaries, lead by Great Britain and France, and trailed oh so timidly by Germany. Tyrants and dictators around the globe watch these events with wide-eyed interest and plan accordingly. Should there be a single loyal listener among our Elite membership who believes that any potential aggressor states see any reason for caution or feel deterred due to the exercise of "smart power" by the Administration, I will stop blogging tomorrow.

That said, last week's explicit support by the United States for a Resolution, which was adopted by the Organization of American States, demanding that Great Britain start negotiations with Argentina "over the future governance of the Malvina Islands" is still a stunner of historic proportions. In 1982, with no pretense of just cause or legal right, Argentina invaded the sparsely populated Falklands to build domestic support for its floundering military junta. The certainty of the absence of any legal or moral justification for this naked aggression is found in the historical fact that at no time in history had Argentina ruled these two islands, except for a two year period in the Nineteenth Century, and fewer than three dozen Argentinians ever lived there on a permanent basis - none since 1900. The current residents unanimously reject any proposals for union with or formal association of any kind with Argentina.

Now, with Britain's military shrunk to a level that is absolutely incapable of defeating one insane Colonel in Tripoli, let alone mount a serious defense of the Falklands, the President weighs in in support of the murderers of hundreds of Brit soldiers, sailors and farmers. So much for preserving the "Special Relationship" with our nation's oldest and most reliable Ally. What must the governments in London, Buenos Aires, Tehran and Jerusalem be thinking this morning? Without doubt, the conclusion that every dangerous country, as well as America's few remaining allies, has been compelled to come to by this atrocious betrayal is that the United States is perfidious, untrustworthy and in lock step with Third World tyrants, and not the bulwark of the defense of western values, which has sustained liberty and freedom world-wide since the outbreak of WWI. Were I to be living on East Falkland Island today, this afternoon my sheep are learning how to fire automatic weapons, since the Marines will not be coming to our rescue any time soon.

Memorial Day, 2011

As an Elite Member, U are cognizant of this Blog's overriding mission - to fulfill one small duty of citizenship in the greatest nation ever conceived, the last best hope of all mankind. It is because I believe in American Exceptionalism that I seek to contribute, however on the margins, to America as a shinning beacon of freedom to the rest of the world. Sure, I know - what kind of egomaniacal person thinks this way? Well, this Blog is never about me, so that irrelevant question must remain for others to ponder.

Here, today, and tomorrow and every day thereafter, we celebrate the best and brightest of the nation's citizens - our citizen soldiers. Most succinctly stated, we are free because many others are dead, willingly. The magnitude of such sacrifice is beyond my limited powers as a rhetorician to honor adequately. Instead, whenever I share a public space with a service person, I overcome my natural shyness and say to him or her - "thank you for your service." Not enuff, but its my starting point on giving back. Enjoy this weekend with your friends and family, and the whole American family.

O Jerusalem, Part Trois

I am loathe to be seen as being a pedantic bore; nonetheless because the survival of Israel is fundamentally about the future contours of all western civilization, free or slave, I am compelled to orate on this matter thrice more. And lest we forget, brave palestinian freedom fighters get streets named after them on the west bank - but only when the number of Jewish school children murdered on a bus ride home exceeds thirty-five. Just three weeks ago, wild celebrations erupted in Hebron after palestinian terrorists (oops brave freedom fighters) crept into a west bank settler's home and slaughtered this family, including two children under the age of three.

This asymmetric war results in the death of innocents daily, and do not for a second conclude that palestinian innocents, particularly children and other non-combatants caught in the proverbial cross-fire, are not mourned here, as well. No one ensnared in this cauldron of endless violence should be deemed a life not worth saving.

It is for this reason that I am so concerned by Presidential rhetoric that seems only to enflame and embolden those committed to Israel's demise. The Mid-east is too explosive today for careless or poorly conceived speeches that play well to the international community, but put lives on both sides of the conflict in greater jeopardy.

Here is the cognitive dissonance that I find inexplicable from a serious-minded national leader:

Israel is today, and always will be, the national homeland for the Jewish people. No Palestinian demand to dismantle the Nation of Israel will be permitted or seen as consistent with the obligation of the Palestinians to live in peace with their Jewish neighbors.

(Paraphrasing Mr. Obama's many statements to Jewish audiences, most recently AIPAC);

"I need to articulate the legitimate scope of a fair settlement, so that the Palestinians will be assured that they can attain their own homeland through direct talks with the Israelis, and not by seeking unilateral recognition by the United Nations and with the greater international community." (Almost direct quote from Mr. Obama's AIPAC speech);

The "Right of Return" for palestinians (descendants of those who fled their homes in 1948, estimated to be in multiple millions) is a matter entirely appropriate for the parities to negotiate and resolve themselves through compromise and fair accommodation of each others interests in this regard.

(Paraphrasing Mr. Obama's Press Conference this week with Prime Minister Cameron in London)

Why would the President find the Right of Return to be necessary for the establishment of a Palestinian homeland, as this means they want no part of it, as they insist on moving to Israel.

Indeed, we have a President who says that peace is too urgent to be delayed even another single year or month. Accordingly, simultaneously, he tells us that the Palestinians must know that the Jewish Homeland's right to exist is non-negotiable, but the Right of Return (which will extinguish this same Jewish state, overwhelming it with non-jews) constitutes a negotiable issue for "ending" this conflict.

Where is the adult in the room who tells the current tenant of the WH that he can not hold two wholly inconsistent concepts to both be valid simultaneously? Just asking . . .

O, Jerusalem, Part Deux

To my tardy listeners only - do not read Part Deux until u have read Part Une (See below).

In response to the several negative responses (see part une) to the Man Made Disaster delivered on Thursday, the President went into the Lion's Den yesterday, AIPAC, seeking to give it to his many critics - that is, the Answer to the only real question - why now?

Here is his straight forward and true, I believe, answer:

"The march to isolate Israel ... will continue to gain momentum in the absence of a credible peace process. For us to have leverage w/. the palestinians, w/. the arabs and w/. the international community, the basis for negotiations has to hold out the prospect of success. So, in advance of a five day trip to Europe, in which the Mid-east will be a topic of acute interest, I chose to speak about what peace will require."

There u have it, without a doubt, Mr. Obama did it so the French and Italians will not speak harshly to him about Israel over the next five days. We should all be reassured - now that the "international community" has Israel's back, peace in our time is just around the corner.

Clearer still from his remarks to AIPAC is the President's cognitive dissonance commitment to the two state solution - Israel and Palestine - two sovereign nation's side by side, together in harmony:

"As for security, every state has the right to self defense, and Israel must be able to defend itself - by itself - against threats ... The full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coordinated w/. the assumption of Palestinian security responsibility in a SOVEREIGN AND NON-MILITARIZED state. "

Sorry, Mr. President, you can give the palestinians a sovereign nation or a non-militarized state, but not both together. As U told us - "every state has the right to self defense" - so when Palestine joins the community of nations in the United Nations, it will be fully entitled to have an army, a navy and an air force to defend its international borders against foreign threats.

So, again we are left with but one question - does this President not know the meaning of the word "sovereign", or does he not care that we do know, so long as the mean Euroes are nice to him this week? ... Just asking.

O, Jerusalem

In the several weeks of hiatus for this Blog, I have considered a number of disparate topics. One candidate gave rise to a bone to pick with a number of elite males, but writing about Big Men behaving Badly left a bad taste in my mouth. Accordingly, Men behaving Well instead swelled me with pride for my gender. Thursday, in an almost unprecedented act of principle, President Obama called for the destruction of America's only dependable ally in the Mid-East, just when the entire Region is convulsed in violent upheaval. Amazing; never before have I seen an American President demand the Jews proceed to negotiate the dismantling of Israel, when no rational person can believe that they will willingly march back into the proverbial ovens of national suicide.

As Prime Minister Netanyahu stated: "It's not going to happen and everybody already knows it". Then, this presidential act of utter futility demands a one word question: whydoit? Spectacularly untimely, and more so because it came from a President facing a tough reelection bid, one in which the Jewish vote may prove decisive, I applaud the sheer courage of Mr. Obama's principled stand; well sort of, were I to have some insight into the why now question. With the recent "Unity Government Accord" entered into by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (thereby making it the official policy of the palestinians that the Jews should be exterminated, but only after they have been driven into the sea), there is no possibility of peace negotiations resuming anytime soon, let alone a settlement being reached.

So whydoit? Well, many in the main street media say that this President is a real leader who is willing to take risks for real peace. Yet, that refrain merely reminds me of Mr. Netanyahu's retort when a U.S. diplomat tried to foist that same canard on him in a private meeting:"I will not be schooled, by you Sir, on the need for Israel to take risks for peace promises, when you reside comfortably in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Talk to me about what you deem reasonable risk after you move your own wife and children to the very shadows of the Golan Heights, which you now want to be riddled with arab rocket launchers having all Israel population centers within range."

The only plausible outcome for this stunning reversal of fifty years of bi-partisan US policy toward Israel is that at the 2012 election, Mr. Obama will be hearing form all Americans - next year in Jerusalem, undivided and unsurrounded.

No Guts; No Glory

Let me be very clear here; I sincerely congratulate President Obama on his recent summary execution of Osama Bid Laden. Due to his seemingly terrible karma, I am both pleased and surprised that the Navy Seals accomplished their almost impossible mission without any collateral damage or casualties suffered by the assault team. No miranda warnings needed, as Osama was pre-emptorily granted his right to remain silent, permanently. So neat and tidy.

Clearly, the President is now on a roll in "Being the Man"; indeed, in the same weekend that he off'd the planet's most wanted terrorist, he also clobbered "the Donald" at the Washington Correspondents' Dinner. When his oral assault on Trump had ended, not even the Donald's hair was unbent or unbruised. Truly, this amount of vitriolic ridicule was unbecoming of a Chief Executive, particularly when directed at a "carnival barker", who's status as a periodic irritant was unworthy of such elevated attention.

Now, Osama was clearly worthy of Commander-in-Chief's attention, and the personal time spent on this effort was commeasorate to the task at hand. Capture and interrogation was the actual stated goal of this special forces operation, so when analyzed in that context, it was not as perfectly accomplished as we are being told. Nor was it the "amazingly gutsy call" that only a President willing to take great risks could have made. Osama was discovered, not in an isolated mountain village or cave, but rather in an urban center in which thousands of top Pakistani military leaders live and work. Pakistan's military controls dozens, if not hundreds, of nuclear bombs. Had the President authorized the bombing of Osama's three story building and the resultant explosions caused the death of even one General's child playing in the yard next to this compound, the consequences could have been dire indeed. Imagine what the reaction from Pakistan would have been had an errant cruise missile wiped out next year's graduating class at their West Point Academy, located less than one-half mile from the target.

Hey, the Seals were expendable after all. Why, just last year, this Administration court- martialled three Seals for allegedly slapping a captured terrorist, so putting Seal Team Six in harm's way, with the unequivocal understanding that no prisoners would be slapped around, was just another day's work for these super soldiers. Just want to emphasize that these American heroes should all get medals and not be subjected to "Holderesk" justice.

Can a Hate Crime be committed w/o. being a Crime?

Yesterday, New Jersey's Attorney General, Paula Dow, hailed the indictment of a nineteen year old Rutgers University freshman student who allegedly secretly video taped his gay roommate's romantic encounter with another young man and put the film on the internet. Shortly after this horrific outrage, the gay student killed himself by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. The A.G.'s statement reads: "This indictment is an important step in this heartbreaking case. N.J.'s bias law recognizes the terrible harm caused by acts of bigotry and hatred and imposes harsher punishment on those who commit such crimes." Ok, let me parse this public policy pronouncement, after emphasizing that the death of Tyler Clementi is the most terrible harm his family, friends and community will ever have be suffer, and they all will suffer every single day of their lives.

My objections is to the prosecutor's demand for increased punishment premised on the purported anti-gay motivation of the defendant. Would it be less heinous had the defendant's harassment been based upon his roommate's height, weight, poor complexion or any of a myriad of other personal traits for which petty and mean spirited individuals choose to exploit in an effort to ridicule others.

In my freshman year, attending a very rural southern college, I myself was subjected to "hazing", "harassment"and "ridicule" for what I perceive to this very day, 44 years later, to have been prompted by various fellow student biases - yankee in the south, an obnoxious N.J. yankee in the south, being the two most significant causes which still resonate in my mind. As I am still here (probably as obnoxious as then, but that's another topic), my parents were spared the unbearable grief of the Clementi family. Nonetheless, had I succumbed to the terror, would Equal Justice under Law have been achieved were the culpable defendant(s) given a sentence one half, or one third, or any significantly lesser penalty than anyone who may be convicted for the death of Tyler Clementi. Are the lives of obnoxious New Jerseyians less entitled to the protection and deterrence afforded by our nation's criminal law? I think not.

Now, when the law specially favors group victims, society creates a goodly number of pragmatic obstacles to achieving any justice, let alone equal justice. Just one example of this pernicious consequence - in picking the jury for the Tyler Clementi trial, should gay persons be excluded from the jury pool, or will heterosexuals be perceived to be disqualified to so serve fairly. Just asking ...

Why Jackie Robinson Still Matters

As we celebrate Palm Sunday, some of U by wearing frilly flower laced bonnets, others by communing with Mother Nature, I felt it timely to deliver another sermonette, a eulogy even to the Great Jackie Robinson. Almost as an inspiring figure as Martin Luther King, Mr. Robinson also died too young, but unlike Dr. King, for awhile his life and achievements seemed to be largely overlooked. Major League baseball has done itself and America proud by having an annual "Day of Rememorance" on April 15th, the day Jackie Robinson first entered a big league ball game in 1947. This yearly honoring of Jackie Robinson makes Tax Day sting just a little less.

Some years ago, I read a short story of Mr. Robinson's challenges in becoming the first "negro" to play in the majors. Branch Rickey, as I recall, was then the Manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who selected Him to be the person to break the color barrier in professional sports. Knowing the vile, hateful receptions Mr. Robinson would have to endure, Mr. Rickey sought to "steel" him by sharing with him a number of passages from the book "The Life of Christ", written by the noted English Theologian, Frederic William Farrar. The Farrar quote that I found most compelling reads something like: "Even the brute and the coward secretly admire a man of integrity, who lives daily his principles of justice and honor, and does not answer their evil in kind. That rare courage, that ability to truly turn the other cheek, separates the strong from their weaker inferiors". Wow, that certainly is an empowering message - right out of the classic Hollywood Masterpiece "A Man for All Seasons", as is Mr. Jackie Robinson.

One other strong man of character also deserves mention here, Pee Wee Reese, Dodger teammate to Jackie Robinson. A son of the old South, Mr. Reese proclaimed to the fans, opposing players, the press and most importantly to all his other teammates, that in Jackie Robinson, he saw neither a black or white man, but instead he saw a gifted baseball player whose only color of importance was Dodger Blue.

I was fortunate myself, 20 years later in 1967, to participate in an analogous civil rights moment in the new South, where Davidson College's All-American basketball player, Mike Maloy, integrated my school's athletic programs, as one of the very first blacks to play in the Southern Conference. Recently, the College honored Mike, who died in 2009, with a permanent exhibit in the Baker Sports Complex. Having seen first hand some of the racial challenges Mike Maloy confronted - two decades after Jackie Robinson so courageously set the paths for others to follow - I am empowered even today by both of their lives of integrity and honor.

If its a Sunday morning in America...

... then it is time for a short homily, a sermon even. Ok here goes; its time to get real about the nation's current malaise, a dearth of leadership in every top federal office from executive, legislative all the way to the judiciary. While the President may be correct that Libya is nothing more than a "turd sandwich", (his appellation, not mine) this assessment does not make it any easier to swallow BY U and ME, without any public involvement or consent of the governed to be force fed joining a foreign civil war in which inevitably civilians will die for years no matter who "wins". Congress has an absolute Constitutional duty to end this misadventure or approve it explicitly, any refusal to address this war (started by our first sitting President to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize since Teddy Roosevelt, should my memory serve well) will reveal these legislators caring more about their own re-elections than they do about the Nation's security.

Now, turning to the Judiciary ... Oh well, as I do not live in a Constitutional Republic, but a Amazonian Dictatorship and the One who Must be Obeyed just issued her first order of the day, I am so out of here now. The failings of the Judiciary shall have to wait ...

Why the FBI can not protect us from Terrorism ...

... or, the Best Defense is a Good Offense. The FBI is the most renowned investigative agency in the world, the Canadian Mounties, New Scotland Yard and the NYC PD notwithstanding. So, why do the fibbies suck so bad? Let me count the ways. NAH, instead I'll address just the most egregious example of its ineptitude. And no, its not the Bureau's failure to act professionally on the ample evidence of the intentions of the Fort Hood mass murderer, Major Nidal Malik Hasan. In that instance, the FBI was not incompetent; instead, it was unwilling to intervene solely because of political correctness, the lives of our military service men and women being a secondary concern.

The anthrax mail attacks in the weeks after 911, left five dead, dozens made sick, the nation traumatized and its mail system crippled, but no one brought to justice and held accountable in a Court of Law. Regrettably, the fibbies first publicly named anthrax culprit, Steven Hatfill, was paid $5,800,000.00 in taxpayer dollars in settlement of his federal suit, claiming gross FBI intentional harassment. Caveat: this payment was made w/o. any admission of liability.

Seeking to avoid a second such "hit" on our deficit ridden federal Treasury, the fibbies came down so hard on named culprit number two, Bruce Ivins, that he committed suicide.

Accordingly, two mysteries remain unsolved - (1) Who terrorized America with anthrax in 2001?; (2) After spending untold millions of dollars on a decade long investigation - IN WHICH NO MORE THAN FIFTEEN INDIVIDUALS WORLDWIDE HAVE THE NECESSARY EXPERTISE TO HAVE MANUFACTURED THE WEAPONIZED ANTHRAX SPORES - why does Mystery No. One remain unsolved?

So, let me put this debacle into its wider context -why is this law enforcement failure relevant to winning the War on Terror? Arrests, and even more obviously, non-arrests are inadequate outcomes to protect us from mass carnage. We will be safe only when the Nation's anti-terrorism forces are freed to seek out the terrorists in their hidden redoubts to stop them from making their weapons of mass destruction in advance of mailing these deadly agents to our homes and offices.

SIDE NOTE: Friday's Blog Post demanded that the President make an Oval Office speech to the Nation, explaining the kinetic military action in Libya. Twenty-four hours later, the White House announced that that very TV event has been scheduled for Monday nite. Now Loyal Listeners, that bowing to Your humble Blogger's clarion call for Presidential leadership embodies the exercise of raw, but responsible, power; Just admitting ...

The Kinetic Energy of Being Barry

Well Elite Members, you just can't make this stuff up, even my most hyperbolical self can not do it. President Obama returns from South America, where he promised to spend whatever federal funds Brazil needs to develop that nation's new oil fields, including in the Gulf of Mexico, and then gets filmed trying, but failing, to find an unlocked door on the Rose Garden Veranda that would admit him back into the White House. Either the Executive Mansion Staff acted stupidly, again, or this poor fellow has the worst Karma imaginable. Thank goodness this misbegotten President has not tried to tackle really big problems, say like starting another war in some far-off land in which America has seen no national security threats for more than twenty years.

Now, Libya is certainly not a full fledged war, YET; but our military intervention in this civil war, therefore, needs to be accurately identified as something compelling by the President in an Oval Office speech. The Commander-in-Chief has ordered large numbers of our men and women in the military to devote their combat efforts, including if necessary, their very lives to accomplish his mission in Libya. Now, let me assure you, the American public is not going to rally behind the Administration's undertaking "Kinetic Military Action" in Libya. While our superb military will fight and die in North Africa, it remains a national scandal that the current occupant of the White House refuses to inspire, empower and protect them (and our national conscience) by laying out why it is in our nation's vital interests to expend more treasure and spill more youthful blood on the shores of Tripoli. We all deserve better than an AWOL CinC.

The Arrogance of being Alex

I know, I know; parts of the world are blowing up, literally. Libya, Japan, my March Madness bracket, the number of catastrophic events confounding the senses is truly mind numbing, indeed. So, in an attempt to bring some semblance of order to this chaos, we turn to spring training baseball games. Sports remains our oasis, our redoubt, our sanctuary where the rules are enforced and we know what the rules require of every particpant during the playing of sporting events. In this Knowable Order, we find sanity in a world gone mad with violence, human tragedy and the obliteration of whole cities by a single ocean wave.

To regain my own perspective and creative muse, I traveled to Tampa, Florida this week to attend a number of Phillies games, most noteably yesterday's contest with the NY Yankees. U can imagine my surprise, horror even, when Yank designated hitter, Alex, "Feed me Popcorn on national TV", Rodriguez left the line-up after the sixth inning and proceeded to walk out to the right field warning track with his personal trainer to run sprints from the foul line to the center field wall - all during live play of the seventh inning with his team batting. Just try to visualize my incredulessness when Alex's disregard for the integrity of baseball, his disdain for the efforts of his teammates and callous indifference to the safety of the Phillies outfielders went unstopped by the Phillies' manager and the umpires working the game. When this "I'm Bigger than the Game" display ended with A-Rod walking back to the visiting clubhouse, personal trainer in tow, all I could think of was the defeated british army surrendering to General Washington at Yorktown while the Brits' band played the catty tune "The World Turned Upside Down".

All I can say at this moment is now I know that even Sports can not save humanity from itself. Indisputably, therefore, we need leaders who put all their energy, focus and attention on stopping the mass slaughter of innocents in Libya, Yemen, Barrain, and yes, in Isreal, where thousands of Palestinians celebrated openly upon hearing of their "brave freedom fighters" murdering a sleeping family (including two babies under two years old) of Jewish residents in the West Bank. We need our President to step up to the plate and stop running practice laps in the outfield while the game unfolds just beyond his grasp. Sure, we have finally imposed a no fly zone, following the leadership of the Arab League and France, but most probably too little, too late. Please Mr. President spend less time on your jump shot, your pitching wedge and foreign travels. Stay home and work on perfecting your Commander in Chief skills. Thanks, just asking ...

Obama's 2011 Budget -3,710,000,000,000,000,000.99

Ah the sweet smell of a sexy, successful Blog. As Henry Kissinger noted, so astutely: "Power is the Ultimate Aphrodisiac." So, when Your Humble Blogger stated, just days before the State of the Union Address, that the President's commitment to solve the nation's debt crisis would be demonstrated by his calling for the defunding of the income redistributive Pell Education Grants, I was prescient indeed, as the Administration's 2011 budget proposal delivered to the Congress today proposes to cut Pell funding by 100 billion dollars over the next ten years. I was unsure whether or not "Random Thoughts' was read in the White House, so confirmation is sweet.

Regrettably, other parts (the remaining 3.71 trillion dollars) do not reflect the President's loudly proclaimed commitment to deficit reduction. In his numerous public statements, Mr. Obama has acknowledged that the current levels of federal deficit spending are unsustainable, and will lead, in the very near term, to massive economic dislocations, as the value of the dollar plummets in international exchange markets and ever greater percentages of the nation's wealth are transferred to foreign powers in interest and principal payments on their loans to the U.S. Treasury.

So, how does the President's proposed 2011 budget begin to save America from losing our sovereignty to hostile foreign regimes - by demanding that the Congress approve another 1.7 trillions dollars in new borrowing in 2011. Now, absent the 10 billion dollars in Pell Grant cuts for next year, I would have to say the President is not serious about solving our nation's Debt Crisis. Just saying ...

Nancy Pelosi's New "Death Tax"

Expressing deep dissatisfaction with the wholly unfair burden imposed on funeral homes, casket manufacturers and municipal health departments by those individuals too callous to put aside any portion of their personal assets to pay for a proper burial, former Speaker Pelosi decried this as an outrage of selfishness to the detriment of all other Americans.

Pointing out the higher costs imposed upon responsible citizens, Pelosi said: "due to the lower demand (as scofflaws get only cremation paid by public health agencies), the cost of the average casket has increased 47% since 1914. This spiral upward of funeral expenses imposes a real cost on our national economy. This tyranny of "deadbeat" corpses compels us to utilize the powers granted to the federal government by the Commerce Clause to ensure all Americans equal access to appropriate post-life care. The federal government must mandate universal purchase of pre-paid funeral services to keep the lid on run away casket inflation."

Speaking in opposition to Pelosi, Congressman Ryan of Wisconsin asked: "What is her penalty for not buying mandatory after-death services - life imprisonment followed by government funded cremation?" Just asking ...

These are, indeed, Momentous Times

With little of importance happening today (and I mean that sincerely, in that the outcome of the Super Bowl will have little, if any, impact on the lives of the eighty-two million Egyptians), it seems appropriate to publish now, with a realistic expectation of a larger than usual audience searching the world-wide web for entertainment, if not enlightenment.

Also, we find the TV news shows saturated with bromides to the accomplishments of Ronald Reagan, as the nation observes the 100 anniversary of his humble birth. But before turning to events and persons having made more significant contributions to our nation's Constitutional heritage, I will note that President Reagan was a towering figure, whose confidence and powerful oratory saved the Nation from its Jimmy Carter malaise. Oh, and the little matter of winning the cold war, leading to the fall of communism.

What RR did not accomplish, however, was to restore the balance of power between the states and the federal government. During his eight years in office, this President exploded federal deficits, while undermining the Rule of Law - illegally selling arms to the terrorist Nation of Iran and using the millions of illicitly secreted dollars obtained thereby to fund the contra war in Central America. All these presidential abuses occurred only after the United States Congress had adopted a federal statute barring all federal aid to the Contra rebels.

Your humble blogger offers this cautionary tale on misguided hero worship, because I don't want to be someday facing the current situation in Egypt, in which the nation has no way to restrain the abuse of presidential power except by open rebellion. As there is no Rule of Law, no Constitution prevents the Dictator-in-Residence from serving for life before placing his elder son in power permanently. While some may scoff at the drawing of comparisons to the current uprising in the streets of Cairo, a torrent of flood waters often starts with a small meandering stream. Two apposite examples of recent White House abuses of power should suffice - (1) In June of 2010, a federal court enjoined the Administration's six month moratorium on deep water oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The Government's first response was to appeal, seeking a stay of the trial court decision. When the Court of Appeal's denied the stay petition, the Department of Interior acted with blatant disregard for the Rule of Law. As stated by the District Court Judge in holding the Secretary of Interior in Contempt of the Court's Order:

"... [E]ach step the government took following the Court's imposition of a preliminary injunction showcases its defiance. ... it continually reaffirmed its intention and resolve to restore the moratorium; it even notified operators that ... they could expect a new moratorium. Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the reimposition of a second blanket and substantially identical moratorium ... provide this Court with clear and convincing evidence of the government's contempt."

(2) Just days earlier, a federal trial court in Florida ruled that the Affordable Health Care Act is unconstitutional. In his Opinion, the trial judge explicitly stated that an injunction against the Government was not necessary because, as his decision was premised on the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, by his Oath of Office, the President was mandated to uphold the Constitution and not continue to enforce an unconstitutional Act, irrespective of its prior enactment by Congress.

Now, setting aside the arcane (and entirely irrelevant) nuances of federal civil procedure, it is indisputable that the Administration has but one lawful recourse - it must petition the trial judge for a stay, and if refused, take an immediate appeal and seek a stay before the Court of Appeals. When that lawful strategy failed to achieve its policy goals after the Court invalidated the Gulf oil drilling moratorium, by Executive fiat, the Administration contumaciously reissued the same illegal directive, with nothing more than a new "effective date." Simple reissuance of a 2800 page ObamaCare statute might take too long for the Government Printing Office, so the Administration spokespersons have simply told us that, since ultimately the constitutionality of this law will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Administration has chosen to issue itself a non-judicial stay pending that ruling by the high court, possibly in one or two or three years.

Granted the awful winter weather being experienced thruout most of the nation and the massive protests in the streets of Cairo have been worthy of broad public attention and wide media coverage. Nonetheless, it is troubling that a President says - "I disagree with the lawful and binding decision of a federal court, and inasmuch as I expect to prevail ultimately before the Supreme Court in my appeal of this misguided ruling, my Administration will ignore it, just as if a Court of Appeals had granted us a lawful Stay. Hey, I'm the President, so if Malia wants to be our Nation's next Ruler, that's fine with me too." - and the media coverage is non-existent.

I don't know what Ronald Reagan would say about a President ignoring a Court Oder; he did, after all, ignore Congressional legislation, but I do know what Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan would and did say: "My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total. I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the destruction of the Constitution." (1974 Impeachment Hearings for President Nixon).

When the cold weather breaks, I do expect my Loyal Listeners to take over permanently Lafayette Square across from the White House, or at least until Malia renounces her Father's spiral downwards toward egyptian-style lawless government. In spirit, I'm sure that Barbara Jordan will be there as well, defending American Exceptionalism.

Incorrect, Bi-partisanship is Not the Answer

... and the question is - "Can the Republic be saved?" Some questions demand a "Yes" or "No" answer, so compromising to agree on "maybe" is just wrong. In America, the mantra of bi-partisan government has ruled the day since Ike's first term - Democrats favored ever bigger government, with ever growing federal budgets, while Republicans favored smaller government, with balanced budgets. Accordingly, to govern "effectively", so that the voters could see that their elected officials were getting thing done for them, Congress and presidents compromised, agreeing to "moderate" expansions of federal programs each session - less than progressive democrats sought, but more than conservative republicans favored.

So, from 1970 until 2006, this wonderfully moderate bipartisanship took the annual United States budget from 200 billion dollars per year to more than a trillion dollars, borrowed and spent. Then, in 2009, President Obama was inaugurated with substantial majorities in both Houses of Congress, so the dems had no need for their mantra of last nite - "we all must work together to give Americans a productive government". Instead, without consultations with or support from repubs, the democrats in Congress increased the Bush Administration's annual appropriations by another two and one-half trillion dollars of borrowed money. Of course, this highly productive, one-party rule, got us to the precipice of fiscal disaster, where a hostile foreign power (owning hundreds of billions of our debt) sends its chief thug into the White House to be serenaded about the glories of killing American soldiers.

The calamitous consequences of Obama's ruinous spending spree will not be corrected by a bi-partisan compromise to now stop spending more than what we are currently spending. A federal budgetary freeze for the next five years will only ensure many more Lang Lang invitations to spit on the graves of our Korean War veterans. No, the repubs need to save the Union and our national sovereignty by adopting fully balanced federal budgets. Should that course of action cause the dems to try to defeat this return to fiscal sanity, the public will fully understand, indeed will support, such partisan conflict as they are two very different views of how the nation will prosper. After all, when the stakes are this high - Saving the Union - Americans were willing to endure four years of bloody civil war. I'm confident that Americans will not shudder in fear when our elected representatives in Congress use the fighting words needed to save my soon to be bilingual granddaughter from the need to learn mandarin, as well. I'll gladly join this essential partisan fight over fundamental principals in the 112th Congress, because the alternative is to work together on rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

Did Lang Lang just Sucker Punch the President?

Loyal listeners, you just can't make this stuff up! At last week's State Dinner for China's President Hu Jintan, part of the entertainment was provided by Chinese-born pianist, Lang Lang. (I don't know Mr. Lang Lang; apparently he's about half as well known as Cher).

Nonetheless, I do know a good bit about great affairs of State; they are choreographed down to the split second, where each dignitary stands, and most absolutely, the content of the program down to the last syllable and musical note.

Accordingly, irrespective of whatever Mr. Lang Lang did or did not know regarding the lyrics of his piano selection, "My Motherland", it stretches credulity beyond the breaking point to believe that the Chinese delegation did not know that this theme song, from a virulently anti-American 1956 Chinese movie about the mass killing of American soldiers during the Korean War, was an irredeemable affront to the Nation - "but if the Jackal (Americans) comes/what greets it is the hunting rifle". Guess the ChiComs didn't get the memo. about cessation of the martial references.

What is even more alarming is that this Administration is: either the most incompetent in history because it did not ascertain in advance the source of Lang Lang's egregiously offensive choice, or knowing its provenance, allowed it to be played anyway. Too stupid to govern or too gutless to defend America, I'm not sure which is the actual explanation; neither one is particularly reassuring as to our future. My response? I'm getting my granddaughter chinese language lessons. Just saying ... in english, for now only.

State of the Union Speech, Part Deux

Having received substantially positive feedback on what to look for in viewing the President's speech to the Congress tomorrow evening, here is a fuller articulation of the keys to watch for, in deciding whether Mr. Obama has pulled a Clinton-like triangleization and moved to the center of the political spectrum, so that the nation can move forward with bi-partisan governance.

I will begin to believe that the President wants to reach consensus with Republicans, should he offer to truly engage in dialogue with Congress on a substantial rewrite of the Health Care legislation, not conceding on repeal for sure, but a willingness to find common ground on tort reform, inter-state health insurance competition and personal health care savings accounts. I would be absolutely convinced that the President has moved to the moderate center of American politics, should he offer to find an alternative to the freedom crushing mandate that every adult living today purchase a health insurance policy.

On yesterday's Meet the Press interview of Congressman Cantor, Moderator Gregory sought to make illegitimate the prevailing view held by conservatives that President Obama is outside the nation's 230 year history and tradition of limited government, in favor of greater individual liberty:

Gregory: "Because I think a lot of people, Leader [Cantor], would say that a leader's job is to shut some of this [crazy talk] down. You know as well as I do there are elements on the right who believe two things about this President: 'he is actively trying to undermine the American Way and wants to deny individuals their freedom.' Do you reject these beliefs."

Cantor: "[Of course not, David, indeed, I fully embrace them because, they are true. First, President Obama has repeatedly said that he wants to "fundamentally change" and achieve a "transformation of America" into a 'more caring' European style welfare state, where wealth is more equitably shared by the more affluent with the nation's less fortunate. Secondly, the President has been absolutely steadfast in his support for the unconstitutional health care insurance purchase mandate. Surely, you agree, David, that fining Americans thousands of dollars, and if not paid, threatening them with long prison sentences denies individual freedom, and is contrary to the American Way.]"

Ok, Congressman Cantor choose not to answer quite so candidly, but the mere fact that the main stream media can ask such non-sensical questions typifies why its viewership continues to decline so precipitously. Just saying ...

Can the Republic be Saved?

On the eve of the annual State of the Union address to Congress by President Obama, we preview this important event in the Life of the Nation, so that Elite Members will be alert for signs in the speech that the Republic will be preserved, and strengthened even.

First, take note whether a majority of Supreme Court members attend, and whether the President takes another gratuitous shoot at a Court ruling that he disliked. Both civility and comity dictate that the leader of the Executive Branch refrain from such an injudicious provocation.

Second, take note whether the President calls for an end to all funding for Pell Grants. With the federal government more than 13 trillion dollars in debt to the ChiComs and other hostile foreign powers, it is now urgent that our government balance the federal budget. The survival of our national sovereignty definitely hangs in the balance, so the President and Congress must finally choose between "good to do" federal programs - take money from future generations and give it to today's low income college students - and "must do" programs - national defense and winning the war against radical Islamic terrorists.

Actually, truth be told (as it always is here) I object to Pell grants for two discrete reasons. First, as a matter of sound public policy, I oppose all governmental wealth redistributive acts. My family, like millions of other Americans, borrowed substantial amounts of money to afford college. Both my Bro and I worked every day of the school year and summers just to make ends meet. That is the American Way. I see no reason to take taxpayers' money and give it to even the most deserving college students,so long as there is no obligation to repay a nickel of our money. In normal times, its the best job in the world - to spend other people's money. Let's hope not so much starting with Tuesday night.

Additionally, Pell Grants constitute an unconstitutional exercise of federal power. One can examine the Constitution forever, and not find any national government authority to fund the college education of individual students. The House of Representatives has adopted a new Rule mandating that every piece of legislation include a preamble citing the provision of the Constitution that authorizes adoption. For Pell Grants, it would have to be "make affluent people less so, so less affluent persons become more so." Not an Article One designated federal government power. Take note, should the President endorse this sensible House requirement.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As an Elite Member, U already know that your humble blogger has great disdain for certain holidays. Well, today is not one of them. Dr. King lived and died, too young, in the most generous service of his country, living his faith in the goodness of all people, when called to listen to their better angels, and the power of the peaceable pursuit of justice through the spoken word.

Dr. King's message is my message - every individual to be judged by the content of his character, and not the color of his skin. Thats it, in its essence - personal success in life should be determined exclusively based upon an individual's merit. No group set asides based upon being black, female, Asian or some other perceived disadvantaged minority status.

Yes, the King and I share a common Dream - speaking Truth eloquently can change the entire World for the better And then, your birthday becomes a day of celebration, worthy of banging on kitchen pots. Ah, to sleep, per chance to dream.

Is Dick Durbin "The Worst Person in the World"?

Frequently, we hear that NFL quarterbacks and cornerbacks must have very short memories. Throw a bad interception, say for pick six, or allow a key reception for quick six, and going back on the field thinking about that last play will prevent the athlete from doing his job again. Only immediately by forgetting a past mistake can the true professional be up to the challenges of such a competitive endeavor.

With this truism in mind, I have to ask if Senator Richard Durbin (D - Ill.) believes that there are 310 million defensive backs living in America today. Either he thinks we are all memory challenged or he himself has played too many years against Gerald Ford without wearing a helmet, leather or otherwise.

The following recitation of a person with absolutely no shame does almost bespeak a form of insanity or arrogance beyond sane comprehension - Senator Durbin on 1/9/11:

"Public officials have a particular responsibility not to incite violence by using incendiary language. Toxic rhetoric can lead unstable individuals to believe violence is an acceptable response." CNN State of the Union, Interview on Tucson murders;

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"What American guards have done to GITMO prisoners would lead [you to] believe that this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their Gulags or some mad regime - Pol Pot or others - that had no concern for human beings." Durbin, Senate floor speech on 6/14/05;

Disturbed by reports of United States military service personnel allegedly mistreating muslims, Major Nidal Hasan on 11/5/09 shot and killed twelve of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas. Nonetheless, Americans continue to await Senator Dick's statement condemning himself for creating the climate of HATE which incited Major Hasan's violent rampage.

Inasmuch as no one watches Keith Oberman's MSNBC 's TV show, it will be difficult to ascertain whether he declares Senator Richard Durbin to be the Worst Person of the Week.

A Prayer for Peace and an End to Senseless Violence

What a horrible weekend with the news of the carnage in Tucson, Arizona. Again and again, the talking heads filled the TV screen with reports of the murders of innocents, from a nine year old child to three or four seniors in their mid-seventies. I say three or four, as the mind recoils from truly learning all the ghoulish details of lives ended in the flash of a madman's gun. A few aspects of the tragedy give us slivers of comfort - heroes abound, most surely the brave souls who disarmed and restrained the shooter, the first responders and medical personnel who stabilized the victims, saving many more lives, and most significantly, the Doctors at the hospital that have so far kept everyone who made it to the emergency room alive.

I do not know anywhere nearly enuff facts about the murderer to draw any conclusions about the wider societal implications of this event, if any, despite characterizing him as a "madman". I did so w/o. any regards to the prosecution of this individual as to the possible validity of his asserting an insanity defense. In common parlance, his murderous rampage can have no possible rational justification, whether or not he knows right from wrong in the context of a criminal trial.

Nonetheless, I will offer one national policy insight on this matter, irrespective of the prior disclaimer. Absent a proven insanity defense, I would consider this Stone Cold Killer a good candidate for the death penalty, definitely not to exact revenge or equivalent justice, however. I now believe that the execution of this murderer must be seriously considered to protect all other innocents who would be put into jeopardy, including prison employees, by keeping him alive. Somebody so evil that he executes six total strangers, who have never even said a cross word to him, will certainly be a grave risk to society to kill again. Not on my watch.

To Be or Not to Be - the only question suitable for Death Panels

They're back; Hey, for an administration that condemned the Bushies for purported violations of the Rule of Law and running roughshod over Congressional prerogatives, it would seem that promulgating a regulation, on Christmas Eve no less, that pays Medicare physicians a bonus payment for every patient consultation that convinces an elder to choose the hospice express to eternity would be deemed overreaching. When Congress explicitly rejected that very Medicare service in enacting Obamacare, one would think that such an unequivocal expression of the will of the people would be respected for at least one election cycle. Such arrogance bespeaks volumes.

Nonetheless, this Medicare service is objectionable as a huge waste of money, money the government does not have, but will gladly steal from my granddaughter and her generation. No doctor should accept a bonus payment for talking to his/her patients about end of life issues, as that matter is intrinsically part of the baseline annual physical examine for every elder patient.

No, the Death Panels are found in a different section of Obamacare. A panel of government experts will soon develop cost benefit calculations determining whether Medicare will pay for a specific medical procedure for each age category patient. These calculations are essential so that the budgeted funds are spent to achieve the greatest societal benefits. No individual care considerations in discussion between Doctor and Patient will open the Medicare checkbook when the "Advisory Board" has already ruled that a heart valve replacement for a retired 74 year old is too expensive, when that same money can be spent on gall stone removal for a 37 year old employed taxpayer.

Government funded Medicare has to and will cut off the old and infirm at some point, because to not do so would lead some to obtain life sustaining care which could keep them "alive" in a hospital setting for decades with feeding tubes, and other mechanical means, costing let's say "a Lot".

Ok, on reflection, I guess those Bonus payments for guaranteed embarkation on the hospice express are vital money savers after all. Just saying...