Monday, December 31, 2007

Stay Positive

It is the eve of the New Year.
A look back...

Dec. 31 1862
The forces to keep the Union together and smash the chains of slavery look in complete disarray

Dec. 31 1914
The guns of August have given way to the glacial trench style warfare that threaten the lives of millions of Europe's best

Dec. 31 1941
A nation still in shock over the wanton destruction at Pearl Harbor wonders what the future will hold

Dec. 31 1963
A young president just laid to rest a month earlier; where will inspiration come from?

Dec. 31 1999
Is is the end of the world? A computer meltdown will scramble the financial information of millions

Dec. 31 2007
A war with no end continues in Iraq and a world feebly takes small stabs at a growing environmental catastrophe

Pick a year. Any year. It does not matter. Mankind has always been faced with major problems as one year melts into another. Pick a place. Any place. Pakistan - where a brave woman's assassination puts a fragile democracy at risk. Iowa - whose snowy fields and hardened folks will give birth to a season of change or reactionary policies. Oakland, California - where four young men were brutally killed in street crimes over the last weekend of 2007.

No matter the problem. No matter the crisis. No matter how dark. Time goes on and we adapt to the situation. We are here today looking into tomorrow. With God's help we will take small and large steps towards solving our problems and making sure that many more new years will be ushered in for those who follow after us.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

The Celebrity Conception


"A savior was born in the town of Bethlehem. And his name will be Jesus." It is Christmas time. A season when many, Christian and non-Christian, reflect upon that famous birth in a far away manger that took place some two thousand years ago. A young couple, Joseph and Mary, had endured much criticism over the pregnant bride. In an era when stones were used to kill an unmarried woman with child, the two stoically followed their destiny to allow the "Immaculate Conception" that promised that God himself would live among us and show mankind the way to peace, humility, and eternal life.

But now, two millennia later, comes another conception that is overshadowing much of this season of warmth and hope. It is the story of a sixteen year old from the royal family of Spears who has found herself with child. The older princess in the family, Britney, has always had much of the spotlight upon herself. But she will have to dig deep within to forgive baby sister, Jamie Lynn, for becoming the brightest star in the modern constellation.

In a world lost in war, environmental damage, and distrust among the peoples, all have turned towards this unseemly story. The virginal Jamie Lynn, adored by young ladies who watch her popular "Zoey 101" show on Nickelodeon, are in danger of learning that teenagers actually do have sex and can get pregnant. Never mind that high schools throughout the nation have classes with young mothers enrolled; the pregnancy of the younger Spears is a dagger through the heart of American decency. Columnists and TV reporters are weighing in on the horrors of what Jamie Lynn has done and are taking pains to talk to ten year olds about the dangers of sex.

But the reason Britney is so jealous is that this story will turn quickly. Good old Jamie Lynn is from Lousiana and her nineteen year old partner, Casey Aldridge, is from a small town in Mississippi. Gee, he even likes to ride dirt bikes and go deer hunting. The two of them are just too picture perfect to hate for long. Why, Jamie is really a good soul as she bravely has rejected abortion and will bring the child to term.

Those in the media who are scorning the couple will follow every move in this swift moving story. They will comment on Jamie Lynn's stomach size and maternity clothing. And how many will be camped out at the hospital when the "Celebrity Conception" is fulfilled and the adorable little Spears child is shown to the world. What happens then? Will the child be stoned and exiled off in embarrassment. Or will a forgiving, celebrity starved nation, swoon over the precious bundle of joy. Then what message is the media and the country's parents sending to those who used to (and probably still secretly do) worship the young princess, Jamie Lynn Spears.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Oprah Winfrey Presents Barack Obama


Oprah.
She can run a TV show. She can run a magazine. She can run a bookclub. She can sometimes run her weight way up the scale. But lets look at who she really supports: Rachel Ray, Dr. Phil and now Barack Obama.

Do you really like Rachel Ray and her 30 minute meals? Would you really place your emotional center with Dr. Phil? Can Obama really be the best candidate for president?

Rachel Ray can barely cook but she runs a TV show to a specific audience. Dr. Phil also runs an Oprah endorsed talk show. And Obama events are kind of like talk shows. His proposals are like a vapid thirty minute meal and his continual chant for change is as empty as a Dr. Phil life recommendation.

Oprah had a great idea for a girls' school in Africa. However,Oprah has no real background in educational administration. Lets just say she has no experience in the everyday teaching and other unique aspects of a boarding school. So when she started her academy in South Africa, it was not that startling to see the headlines of abuse just a few months later. Her idea was great, but obviously she put her name ahead of a well thought out program.

Mr. Obama is a close clone of Ms. Winfrey. If he is nominated, he will need to win overwhelmingly in the presidential race to achieve any of the things he is talking about. He also puts his name ahead of intellligent policy. Will our country under an Obama administration be just like the Oprah academy in South Africa: hailed as a great movement, only later to be found with controversies that could have been avoided by gaining more experience?

If Mr. Obama wins the nomination, how will most Democrats feel when Hillary Clinton comes to the podium on the second night of the Denver convention to give her speech? Ms. Clinton's plans are not that different than Obama's. But she knows about political realities and how to deal with friends and enemies. Once it is too late, will the party insiders realize that Clinton is truly the right person to handle the problems and guide the future of our country? Or when blunders are made affecting millions of people and dollars, will they concede that they should not have voted for for the guy Oprah picked?

Monday, December 17, 2007

Christmas in Connecticut


Or should the title read Christmas in New Hampshire? You have to give it to John McCain - he knows how to continually attract the Geritol vote. In a surprise twist (well not that much of a surprise), turncoat Independent Democrat Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has publicly endorsed the Republican McCain for President. And this has happened before any voting has taken place!

This posting is not about the Arizona Senator. The focus here is on the man from Connecticut. What more can Lieberman do to his former political party? He has paid back Al Gore and the millions who supported the Gore/Lieberman ticket in 2000 with a continual rush to the Far Right. It would be better for all concerned if he just dresses up in a Santa outfit to declare his affinity for the "Red Side".

The venerable men and women who make up the U.S. Senate are living examples of political loyalty. While countless citizens forsake the official parties for the non-threatening Independent tag, the old boys' club stands for a world far removed from the internet flash that most now live in. Whether an illusion or not, one would think that the most veteran Senators (the Rockefellers, Kennedys, Warners, Lotts, and Liebermans) live in a more nuanced slower sphere. One could imagine them pouring through the pages of the Washington Post and New York Times each morning as they sip their non-latte coffees. They probably meet in the Senate gym for workouts and some light basketball. They eat at the most expensive steak houses and dutifully deal with the K Street lobbyists.

The point is that none of the senators are pure and most of them are motivated to one degree or another by greed and power. But it is the essence of the eternal orgy of back door maneuvering that has kept our nation afloat all these years. The loyalty to one's party is the cement that keeps it all together. Two political power groups trading leadership positions every four, eight, or twelve years. An unwritten code to look the other way and to stay anchored in the home of the party that has always helped to bring them to the pinnacle of power.

But once in awhile there is a breach in this protocol. And now Mr. Liberman is the one that is breaking with this system. His defeat in the Democratic Connecticut primary has allowed the Senator leeway to move towards the opposition in ways that just are not tolerated. His undying defense of Bush's War and his votes to give billions of tax monies to the defense industries who profit from the killing fields, has shown how right the Connecticut primary voters were in rejecting the Senator.

No one is praising the lies and hypocrisy that all senators must live with as they navigate their Washington careers. But the beauty of the American system is that the anchor of the political party keeps each senatorial member from straying too far from his or her moorings and keeping the nation closely split so that one side can counteract the other. Senator Lieberman has broken the rules one time too many by going out of his way to vote for McCain. Connecticut recall the traitor and put him out to pasture. Independent or Democrat or a combination of the two, Mr. Liberman you are no Republican!! Or are you?

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Obama & Drugs


Reporter: Mr. Clinton, did you inhale?
Clinton: No!!

Flash forward to October 2008

Reporter: Mr. Obama, did you inhale?
Obama: Yes, I did. I wrote about this in my book.
Reporter: At what age did you stop taking drugs?
Obama: Well, it is in my book that I took some drugs
while at Occidental College. You know, almost all
students were taking stuff in those days.
Reporter: Did you ever share some pot with others?
Obama: (Getting a bit red and peeved) What do you think.
Obviously, when you have a joint people pass it
around.
Reporter: Did you ever sell or procure drugs for others?
Obama: Well...
Campaign Spokesperson: Okay, that is enough questions for
today.

Sooner or later, the issue was going to come up. Who knew it would come from a fellow Democrat and before any votes had been cast in the long primary season. New Hampshire political boss, Bill Shaheen, a prominent Clinton co-chair, brought the issue up before anyone else. Peering into the dark future, Shaheen claimed that Obama's admitted use of drugs would become the hammer the GOP would use to drive Obama's candidacy into a coffin.

A politico like Shaheen (the husband of former New Hampshire governor, Jeanne Shaheen), does not make such sweeping and drastic statements without some encouragement from top Clinton national advisers. The issue is cutting two ways. First, the Clinton campaign sensing a loss of momentum, has gone quickly into panic mode by attacking statements Obama made way back in kindergarten and scaring people with the specter of a black man taking drugs. This low ball approach is way off the mark for a prominent person such as Hillary. Indeed, Shaheen has been thrown out of the campaign and Clinton had to make a personal apology to Obama.

But secondly, and at a much deeper level, it does bring up an attack line that the GOP will most definitely use if Obama is the Democratic candidate. Obama has not held executive positions, so the "Willie Horton" scare tactic will not work on him. However, the Republicans will look back to the recent Tennessee senatorial race where African-American Harold Ford Jr. lost all momentum when the opposition threw on the screen an ad of a white woman calling out to Ford. Just the scant reminder of cross race sexual hi-jinks was enough to stop Ford from victory. The GOP will scan all of Obama's admitted offenses in his two well received books and play up the black man angle.

The horror of this story is that fellow Democrats (Clinton's campaign team) have planted this possible seed of destruction upon one of their very own.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Shootings In Colorado

It is Christmas season. It is especially sad to report the murders that have taken place in Middle America. As we wrote about in our last post, nine lives were lost in the Omaha shopping mall. Now, just yesterday, five more (including the gunman) have been killed in two church related shootings in Colorado.

I will briefly state once again that it is impossible to stop people from becoming cold blooded murderers. The young man in Nebraska seemed to have a troubled family life. How many people come from similar dysfunctional family situations? The killer in Colorado had been home schooled and briefly involved with both the missionary group, Youth With A Mission, and a Christian college. How many people have flirted with a dedication to Christianity?

On a micro level, we would hope that police and community and religious counselors can keep track of those with potential to go over the edge. But on a more realistic macro level, there will always be those who slip through the proverbial cracks and end up doing such horrific damage.

My last posting called for a curb on rapid fire weapons. Even with that reasonable request having little chance of becoming law in the current socio/political climate we live in, more needs to be done. The purchasing of weapons has to be coupled with a much stronger vetting system and a cooling down period so that people who are emotional do not get their hands on a weapon while in an agonized state. Bullets needed to be coded...

On and on I can go. Opponents of any gun control will call this bleeding heart liberalism. Lives of innocent good American citizens are being blown away. We must start somewhere to end this madness.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Who Was Robert Hawkins?


Who Was Robert Hawkins?
12/7/2007 8:49:34 PM
Does it really matter who he was? Do we need to know the "profile" of the Stockton, California rifleman? Or the Virginia Tech murderer? The answer is a resounding NO!!

No matter how much so called counseling and intervention is done, there will always be psychopaths in our midst. Whether young or old, there will always be those who want their "fifteen minutes of fame." A wrong turn here, a put down there, and there will be those who seek revenge on the world. The fact is that there will always be potential mass murderers awaiting their turn to make a warm day within a popular holiday destination, a day that will live in infamy.

It is a simple plea that I and many others are making during this so called December season of warmth and peace: Remove the automatic weapons from our streets, homes, and cities. Pro or con on guns, people will always stock rifles and pistols. They are too numerous and in many parts of the United States, too culturally embedded to get rid of. But we must face the reality, that in a society peopled by over three hundred million souls, weapons of mass destruction must be totally eliminated.

Trying to analyze the reasons for Omaha or Columbine is a fruitless exercise. Legislate all we want but there will always be victims of bullying, alienation, and disenchantment. The question is not how to stop these people from killing (of course, on a case by case basis, many hurting people need to be helped), but how many innocent lives can we keep from dying. If the lonely souls that decide to go out in a blaze of gunfire are prevented from carrying rapidly firing weapons, the total number of dead will dramatically decrease.

Automatic weapons need to go!!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Mitt Romney & The Mormon Question

Danny Ainge, Billy Barty, Laraine Day, Jon Heder, Dean Jagger, Orrin Hatch, Wally Joyner, Harmon Killebrew, Marie Osmond, Gladys Knight ... Wait a minute!! Gladys Knight!!! Yes Gladys and all those named above and five million more in the USA are all members of the Latter Day Saints (aka Mormons).

I am not a Mormon. I am not a fan of Mitt Romney. But damn it if I'm not going to come to his and anyone else's defense when it comes to the current insidious religious test that is bedeviling Mr. Romney's campaign to become the GOP nominee for President.

In my last posting I reacted to the Bible question posed on the CNN/YouTube debate. With the recent announcement that Mitt Romney is going to make a "Kennedy" style speech this Thursday, I wanted to keep the heat on this issue. None of the men (and one woman) running for the presidency should have to be put to any test whatsoever that calls into question their religious integrity. It is none of our business. Period!!

But in an open society with media hanging out everywhere, it seems that people have come to expect to know every minute detail of these politicians' lives. What is their wife like? Have their children stayed out of trouble? What diseases are they susceptible to? And on and on until religion is now being brought into the public square.

Did you recognize any of the names above. Perhaps you know the acting small person, Billy Barty? How about Napoleon Dynamite, Jon Heder? If you follow baseball, you should recognize former Twins slugger, Harmon Killebrew. And yes, Ms. Knight has been a Mormon for some ten or so years. You know about these people but you probably did not know much about their religious convictions. Did it matter? Did you root for the Killer when he was knocking out homers in the sixties? Did you enjoy the small town ambiance that Heder brought to the screen? Most assuredly, you have swayed to the tunes belted out by Gladys.

The point is, that these Mormons are no different than you or me. The names listed above are some of the more famous ones. There are others. There are even millions of others who are you neighbors, your children's teachers, your postal carriers, etc. And yes, there are some who have resorted to crime and drugs and have failed as good citizens.

Let us stop prying around to find the perfect candidate. We should base our votes on policies espoused by the contenders. We should look at their public records to see their potential as leaders. There needs to be an outcry to stop this sectarian persecution.