Tony's Rants

Gutless

2010-02-19T16:36:00.000-08:00

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised on many occasions that people who earn under $250,000 dollars would not have their taxes increased on his watch. He said "I can make a firm pledge - under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes. You will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime." A lot of people believed that promise [and the “hope and change” thing] and elected him President. Call me naïve, but when a politician makes a promise like that I expect him to keep it. When George H.W. Bush raised taxes after he said “read my lips – no new taxes!” he lost my vote in 1992.

This week The Chosen One [a Democrat] appointed the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. That’s a mouthful of words, so it’ll probably be referred to by the press and others as the Deficit Reduction Commission. As one who actually took a Civics course in school, it made me wonder why Mr Obama did such a thing. He already has such a bipartisan commission – it’s called Congress! And not to put too fine a point on it, both houses of Congress are controlled by overwhelming Democratic majorities. They claimed to have won a mandate from the people to enact their agenda. So why haven't they, given their overwhelming majorities in Congress? When it comes to budgetary matters, filibusters are off the table. If the majority party wants to increase or decrease taxes, under Senate rules the filibuster cannot be used by the minority party to stop it. All that it takes to pass such an item requires 51 votes. The Democrats currently have 59 votes in the Senate. So why has The Chosen One created this commission by executive fiat? There can be only two reasons- A) Members of Congress are unable to do the jobs for which they were elected; or B) Members of Congress are unwilling to do their jobs for which they were elected. My guess is “B.” Rich Galen, who writes the internet column Mullings, suggested that for every job Congress refuses to do, they need to have a 15 percent pay cut. I like that idea, but I digress…

Ok, so where is Tony going with this? When I heard the President make a comment last week that he is “agnostic” towards tax hikes for people making under $250,000 a year, I couldn’t help but think “wait a minute – that’s not what you promised!” I was having flashbacks to Bill Clinton’s middle-class tax cut [for those with short memories, that’s the one that never happened]. The Chosen One submitted a new budget to Congress a couple of weeks ago. This budget contains lots of deficit spending, the kind he laments every chance he gets when he stands in front of a TV camera. How’s he going to pay for all of his new spending? Well, he did make a promise to the American people a couple of years ago that he wouldn’t raise taxes, but when he appointed this commission he said all options for bringing down the deficit are on the table – including tax hikes for the middle class. So my paranoia tells me The Chosen One appointed this commission so that he can claim plausible deniability if there is a recommendation to raise taxes.

This is a pretty gutless thing to do. We were told by The Chosen One that he would show strong leadership, make the tough choices, that the buck stops with him. In this case, the buck won’t even get to his desk. Somebody is going to make the “tough choice” for him. He’ll say that “I didn’t want to raise your taxes, but these guys said it was a good idea.” He won’t have any fingerprints on what comes out of this commission, members of which are accountable to no one. Those who are accountable, the President and Members of Congress, will use this commission as a fig leaf to hide behind. Until the commission gives The Chosen One the excuse he needs to raise taxes, he will continue to bitch, moan and complain about what he inherited. He always talks about the two tax cuts for the rich that weren’t paid for, and the Medicare drug benefits that weren’t paid for, and the two wars that weren’t paid for. He has the votes – instead of pissing and moaning, be a man and repeal the tax cuts for the rich now if you dislike them so much. If he doesn’t like the Medicare drug benefits, he can kill them. If he doesn’t like the wars he inherited, he can stop funding them. Just quit all the whining. He’s had over a year of total government control. Here’s a hint, Mr President - if you continue with the very policies you say you deplore, you have no excuses when things go wrong. FDR didn’t whine about the Great Depression or World War II, Lincoln didn’t whine about the Civil War, Truman didn’t whine about being ill-prepared to succeed FDR, so why not take these “teachable moments” and quit the “woe is me” horseshit, “man up” and take some responsibility for a change? But again, I digress…

Raising taxes is easy – cutting entitlements is hard, but our elected officials are abdicating their responsibility for political expediency. One day I sincerely hope that elected officials will “man up,” take appropriate actions, take responsibility for their actions and let the chips fall where they may. Being the eternal pessimist, I don’t see that happening. I am afraid the day that elected officials pay more attention to the needs of the American people more than their own job security won’t happen in my lifetime.

Inexcuseable!

2010-01-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

When I heard about the Nigerian guy who tried to blow up a passenger jet on Christmas, I admit my first thought was “how’s Obama going to blame this on Bush?” Then I put politics aside and had a more disturbing thought. I remember watching “Good Morning Vietnam” more than 20 years ago. Part of Adrian Cronauer’s schtick was to make fun of military intelligence in such a way as to make them look like hapless idiots. Flash forward 20 years and you hear about some unidentified intelligence official stating to the Washington Post that there was no “magical piece of evidence” that would point to somebody blowing up an airplane on Christmas. He reminded me of the guy Adrian Cronauer was making fun of – you know, the guy who walks around the jungle asking anybody and everybody if they happened to be named “Charlie.” Does this unnamed intelligence guy expect someone to walk into his office and tell him the exact date, time and place of an attack? It sure sounds that way to me. Have our civilian intelligence professionals gotten that lazy? Did it not occur to them to pick up a secure phone and call around and ask questions? Or is that asking too much to do the job for which they are paid since the Obama Administration declared the Global War on Terrorism to be over? I’m sorry, but as a former intelligence professional, this explanation doesn’t pass the giggle test.

The other day I caught wind of a report that the CIA had some info about the possibility of a Nigerian national trying to pull a stunt like what Mr. Abdulmutallab did on Christmas. Prior to 9/11, the various agencies that gather intelligence [both foreign and domestic] for this country were unable to share information with each other. The wall of information sharing between law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies has since been torn down. What is the excuse for not “connecting the dots” this time?

What do we know about Mr. Abdulmutallab? We know he paid cash for his ticket – Red Flag #1. We know he paid for a one-way ticket with said cash – Red Flag #2. We know he didn’t check any luggage for his overseas flight – Red Flag #3. Some would suggest that I am merely being a Monday-morning quarterback, but consider the following. Up until a year ago, I found it a pain in the butt to fly on American Airlines. Why was this so? Because every time I checked in with that airline, my name popped up on a watch list. Apparently someone who shares my name has been doing some very naughty things, the result of which got me on a “no-fly” list. So, once my name popped up on this list, I’d have to provide identification so they could check my social security number. In each case the mistaken identity problem was fixed by someone conscientious enough to do the right thing. The point I’m trying to make here is that someone took notice of a “red flag” and did something about it. These people did their jobs! In the case of Mr. Abdulmutallab, there were three, maybe more red flags but no one seemed to do anything about them.

Do I blame President Obama on the latest security lapse? No. I truly hope that he can light a fire under someone’s ass, make them wake up, and actually have the intelligence and law enforcement agencies talk to one another. One would think that in the aftermath of 9/11, the days of “I’ve got a secret” would have ended a long time ago. Unfortunately, it’s becoming clear that some old habits die very hard. Mr. President, it’s your system now. Fix it!

"Protest For Me, But Not For Thee"

2009-08-12T00:53:00.000-07:00

I’ve always maintained that whenever people argue about something, the quickest way to find out who won the argument was to see who called who a Nazi. Those who are unable to argue points based on fact resort to the ad hominem attack. They cannot come up with good counterarguments, so in desperation they demonize their opponents. Given the current public debate over health care reform, I’d say the Democrats are losing the argument.

Madame Speaker has labeled those who disagree with her as “un-American”. Really? I served my country on active duty for 12 years, and in the inactive reserve for another 6, but I disagree with her on damn near everything. Does that make me, in her own words, “un-American”?

For eight years the American people were lectured by the likes of her about the meaning of dissent and patriotism. Folks like her and her ilk said it was “patriotic” to voice dissent against your government. That’s pretty easy to say when you’re not the one in charge. But today, things are different. How different? She’s in charge now, and now that she’s in charge, she doesn’t want to hear the voices of those who disagree with her. It is a case of “protest for me, but not for thee.” There is a right to freedom of speech guaranteed to us by the Constitution. In case she has forgotten, here’s what the First Amendment says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As a public servant of our Republic, she swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. The commissioning oath I took is identical to the oath she took. Her oath took her to Washington DC, where she has made it her mission in life to handcuff those who are trying to protect this country from those who would take away her right of “patriotic” dissent.

Senior citizens who are concerned about the fate of Medicare attend town hall meetings armed only with their words. They are assembling peacefully. They are petitioning their government for redress of their grievances. They feel they are not being listened to by their elected representatives. Why is it “un-American” for these people to exercise their constitutional rights? Does the Bill of Rights apply only to Democratic politicians?

Let me make real easy for you, Madame Speaker, and I'll use small words so you won't misunderstand the meaning behind them. The right of free speech [and by extension the freedom to dissent] is the right of ALL Americans regardless of race, color, creed, or political party. You cannot pick and choose which rights guaranteed by our Constitution you choose to honor, respect, and protect. If you can't take the heat from people who disagree with you, it's time you found another line of work.

Public Option is a Proven Failure

2009-08-03T22:22:00.000-07:00

One of the things being talked about in the debate over reforming health care in this country is the “public option.” This option is a government-run insurance option that would compete with private insurers. To a lot of people this sounds like a good thing, but I am not one of them. In the research I’ve done, the public option has shown itself to be great if you want to bankrupt the country, but not so great at “reforming” health care.

There are three examples of why I don’t like the public option. This option has been tried in three states – Hawaii, Tennessee, and Massachusetts. In Hawaii, lawmakers there approved the Keiki Care program. Its aim – to cover every child from birth to 18 years of age who didn’t already have health insurance. Surely this is a lofty goal. However, the program didn’t quite work out as planned. Here the “law of unintended consequences” reared its ugly head. What happened was that parents who already had private health insurance for their children started dropping their children’s health insurance in order to qualify for “free” health care. They abused the system. Why pay their hard-earned dollars for something the state will provide for “free”? When the number of Hawaiian children that “qualified” for the Keiki program grew by leaps and bounds, this resulted in what would be a state budgetary shortfall of some $900 million. Unlike the federal government, states aren’t allowed to print money, so when faced with budget deficits they either have to cut services in other areas or raise taxes. Despite its good intentions, the Keiki Care program had to be shut down after only seven months. In short, it didn’t work.

In Tennessee, lawmakers implemented a universal single-payer system known as TennCare. To quote Reps Marsha Blackburn and Phil Roe [both Republicans from Tennessee], “the objective was to use the anticipated savings from Medicaid to fund and expand coverage for children and the uninsured. The result was a program that nearly bankrupted the state, reduced the quality of care, and collapsed under its own weight.” TennCare was designed to replace Medicaid with a managed care system and promised savings to expand health coverage to all. That sounds almost word for word what President Obama wants today. In this case it wasn’t parents that dropped children from private insurance as was the case in Hawaii, but private business. Private businesses all over Tennessee stopped offering health coverage for their employees, which forced many people into the public option system. Again, the number of people who qualified for “free” health care ballooned. To cover the costs, Tennessee had to raise taxes and tried to establish a state income tax. When that effort failed, the Democratic governor had to restructure the program, cutting 200,000 people and cutting benefits. Hmmm….cutting benefits…that sounds like rationing to me. And they’re talking of cutting off another 150,000 people as well. Another part of restructuring the program included reductions in reimbursement rates for hospitals and doctors. Since they weren’t getting paid, fewer doctors could afford to accept TennCare patients. This flies in the face of President Obama’s pledge that you would be able to keep your own coverage and keep your own doctor. If you were on TennCare, and you liked your doctor, but your doctor had to drop you as a patient because TennCare wouldn’t pay you, you’d be up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Tennessee lawmakers ignored the “law of unintended consequences.” Think about it – if you own a business and you pay money to insure the health of your workers, wouldn’t you try to improve your balance sheets if you heard that the state will provide for “free” what you are paying company dollars for? If you were an unrepentant capitalist you would jump at that chance in a heartbeat. Given this set of circumstances, the TennCare program isn’t working out too well either.

Then there is Massachusetts, the state affectionately known to many as “Taxachusetts.” In Massachusetts nearly 97 percent of the state’s population has some kind of medical insurance coverage, that’s because of a "play or pay" mandate on businesses requiring firms to provide health insurance to employees or pay a tax so the government can provide coverage; and generally expanding public insurance [the "public option"]. In March 2009 the New York Times reported spending on the state's health insurance programs is expected to be 42 percent higher this year compared to 2006. Program budget gaps have been addressed by raising taxes on businesses, insurers and hospitals; jacking up tobacco taxes; and increasing premiums and co-payments. As costs explode, the Times reported that some experts argue that government will have to place caps on spending, "which could lead to rationing of care." Writing in the Washington Examiner on July 6, Sally Pipes of the Pacific Research Institute reported:

"The centerpiece of Massachusetts' 2006 health reform bill is Commonwealth Care, a government program that provides free and subsidized insurance plans to low- and moderate-income patients. It's spending has doubled in the last two years, jumping from $630 million in 2007 to an estimated $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2009. Last year, rising costs lead Commonwealth Care officials to approve a 12 percent rate increase, meaning that basic insurance costs will cut even deeper into the incomes of most participating patients... And employers, now required to contribute to employee coverage or pay a tax penalty, are drowning under ballooning healthcare costs. Indeed, businesses that sponsor high-quality insurance plans have seen annual rate increases of 10 to 15 percent since MassCare's inception. This has made it harder and harder for businesses to stay in the state. And it's made the state less attractive for entrepreneurs and investors."

In 2006, Massachusetts brought about the following reforms: individual mandates, employer mandates, an exchange, and subsidies. Individual mandates require all state citizens to purchase a government-approved policy. Employer mandates require businesses to contribute to their employees’ coverage, fining those that do not meet minimum standards. The exchange creates an artificial, heavily regulated market place. Finally, the government subsidizes the policy for people making up to 300% above the poverty line. What has happened? According to, Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute listed these among Massachusetts’ failures:

Rising insurance premiums:

* In Massachusetts, health insurance premiums rose by 7.4% in 2007 and 8-12% in 2008.
* These cost increases outpaced national averages – 6.1% in 2007 and 4.7% in 2008.

Out of control spending:

* Massachusetts’ health care reforms were projected to cost $1.56 billion.
* Costs for 2009 may now be as high as $1.9 billion - $300 million above original projections.
* These costs lead to new taxes. Already, Deval Patrick has responded to deficits by increasing the state’s cigarette tax by $1 per pack.

Waiting lists:

* The number of people foregoing care because of difficulty finding a provider has increased from 3.5% to 4.8%.
* Among low-income individuals, the same figure increased even more, from 4.2% to 6.9%.
* Average waiting times for an appointment with an internist have increased from 33 to 52 days.

Now I appreciate the need for some kind of reform in health care. Costs are just too damn high. It’s a racket, and a legalized one at that. But this public option has been proven a failure in the three places where it has been tried.

Some define insanity as the repeated attempts at failure with the hope of a different outcome. The public option has been tried in three states with the same outcome – failure. Do we as a country want to try it a fourth time and hope for a different outcome? If we do, then we are truly insane.

Intemperate Thoughts

2009-07-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

I don’t have one specific thing on which to offer comment, just a lot of little things.

Today is Monday. That means in the Air Force its “Blues Monday.” Since I’m no longer in the Air Force, I like “Blues Monday” for one simple reason – it means all the junior birdmen flyboy wannabees in my squadron have to take their green bags [flight suits] off at least once a week. None of the bag wearers in our squadron is a pilot, nor do any of them occupy a flying slot. Just because they went to Test Pilot School as engineers they get to wear the bag. I’m sorry – if you’re not flying today, you should be wearing a different uniform.

Will Barack Obama be as tough on Iranians and North Koreans as he is on Republicans?

During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama made the following promise - "I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes." To pay for all the stuff he wants to do [cap-and-trade, health care, etc] how is he going to keep this promise?

Barack Obama finds himself in complete agreement on the Honduras matter with Raul Castro, Hugo Chavez, and Daniel Ortega. He didn’t want to seem “meddlesome” in Iran, but he’s making up for that in Honduras. Manuel Zelaya wanted to hold a referendum to extend his term as president. He imported ballots from Venezuela. He accepted election monitors from Venezuela and Nicaragua. The Honduran Supreme Court said “no.” The legislature said “no.” The army said “no.” Zelaya’s own attorney general said “no.” The Honduran Constitution stipulates that actions such as those of Manuel Zelaya are illegal. It also stipulates those who try such things automatically forfeit their office. The Supreme Court authorized Zelaya’s removal. The army did the deed and replaced him with the Congressional leader of Zelaya’s own political party, not an army general. This sounds like an internal matter to me. Yet Mr Obama wants Manuel Zelaya returned to power, as does that pit of dictators known to all as the United Nations. He respects "the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran" but not that of Honduras. Interesting…

Robert McNamara died today. He’s rotting in a very warm place. I don’t wish this on many people, but for this man I make an exception. He was one of Kennedy’s “Best and the Brightest” who thought they knew better than anyone else about everything [just ask them]. I think Don Rumsfeld took lessons from this guy. He had an unquenchable desire to quantify the unquantifiable. If you think I’m a bit harsh, read David Halberstam’s “The Best and the Brightest”. It makes me wonder though – if this guy was so damn smart, how come Ford made the Edsel and the Falcon during his watch? Hmmm….

Harry Truman once said “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” Sarah Palin has left the kitchen…

I’m disgusted with Republican politicians who can’t keep it in their pants. I think my party is leaving me… Maybe if Republicans weren’t so sanctimonious about moral values they wouldn’t be done in by their own hypocrisy.

I pay premiums for my own health insurance. In order to pay for health care for others, I might be asked to pay taxes on those very benefits I’m already paying for. Does anyone but me see something wrong with this picture?

Every time I hear a politician advocate a specific policy for “the common good” I want to reach for a copy of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto.

I still haven’t figured out why this country pledges such undying support for Israel. Is it to make up for inaction during the Holocaust? I understand the Cold War was a zero sum game – we had the Israelis, the Soviet Union had support of the Arab states. The Cold War is over now – how does unquestioned support of Israel benefit our national interests? If Israel gets into a shooting war with Iran, will we get dragged into it? While I was avoiding listening to that mosquito known to most people as Sean Hannity, I heard someone call into Fred Thompson’s radio show today who said that he would “do anything” to protect Israel from Iran. Anything? He said he’d “send troops.” Just where are these troops going to come from? We’ve still got a lot of troops keeping an eye on The Gargoyle in North Korea. Many others are kinda busy in Iraq and Afghanistan at the moment. Does that mean this guy would go himself to defend Israel, or that he’d gladly send someone else’s sons and daughters to do the dirty work? Ah, the safety of being out of range…. It makes me wonder how many like-minded people are out there. I don’t want any part of that.

I’ve been listening to The Band a lot lately. There’s four Canadians (Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko [RIP], Richard Manuel [RIP], Garth Hudson) and one guy from the States (Levon Helm), all of whom played several instruments. There’s lots of really good songs [The Weight, Up On Cripple Creek, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down just to name a few], few guitar solos, great singing. They broke up in 1977, reformed without Robbie Robertson in 1983, then broke up for good after Rick Danko died in 1999. Levon Helm was diagnosed with throat cancer in the late 1990s and almost lost the ability to sing. He’s back now and has a pretty good solo career. In the last three years he’s put out two CDs [his first solo recordings since 1982], Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt. Dirt Farmer has lots of traditional tunes played with acoustic instruments [acoustic guitars, mandolins, fiddles, acoustic piano]. Electric Dirt has more of the same, but also some electrified music. The tunes include some from Muddy Waters, the Grateful Dead, Randy Newman. Levon Helm doesn’t sound like the powerful, gritty singer he was during The Band’s heyday. He sounds more like bluegrass god Ralph Stanley these days, but that’s not a bad thing. If you don’t know who Ralph Stanley is, watch the movie O Brother Where Art Thou? When you hear the Klan Wizard [who is running for governor of Mississippi] sing during the Klan rally, that’s Ralph Stanley’s voice you hear. Both Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt capture Americana without sounding corny – it’s all good.

Silence = Consent, Obama-style

2009-06-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

Last month I argued that Nancy Pelosi consented to torture of terrorists because she didn’t complain about those actions that she now claims to oppose when she was told about them. The phrase I used then was “silence = consent.” Today I use that term again, only this time the object of my argument is none other than Barack Obama.

Last week Iran held a presidential election. Was it rigged or wasn’t it? I don’t know. It’s not important what I think about the validity of the Iranian election. What IS important is what the Iranian people think. What I do know is that many thousands, perhaps millions of Iranians went to the polls thinking that their vote would count for something and affect real change in their country. The change these people wanted didn’t come to pass [yet], and they are outraged. Another phrase I learned when I was in the Air Force is “perception is reality.” Their perception is the election was rigged. These folks are expressing their outrage by demonstrating against their government. When these protests began I thought things could go one of two ways. The outcome could be the Filipino way of the peaceful People Power Revolution that toppled Ferdinand Marcos after THAT rigged election, or we could see a replay of the violent crushing of the Tienanmen Square protests by the Chinese Communists in June 1989. Today it looks as if the mullahs who rule Iran are taking a page out of the Chinese playbook.

Our country has a long tradition of support for democracy around the world, for freedom of expression, and against tyranny of any form. Mr Obama often talks of restoring the US to the “moral high ground” in foreign affairs, to return to the traditional American ideals that created our country. But given the opportunity to actually practice what he preaches, Mr Obama’s silence on the treatment of Iranian protesters has been deafening. He has been as quiet as the Sphinx. Columnist Ralph Peters argues [and I agree] that Mr Obama’s refusal to take a moral stand on the side of the Iranian protesters gives the mullahs in charge a “blank check” to brutally crack down on them. Remember, silence = consent. If you don’t complain about the things that you say you oppose, others can and will take that silence as tacit approval of their actions.

The only things our president said about this sordid mess was that the Iranians must be the ones to elect their own leaders [I have no problem with that], and that Mir Hossein Mousavi was no different than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [I DO have a problem with THAT]. Mr Mousavi stated “we can have better relations with the world which is surely very significant to help our country’s development.” Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust ever happened and wants to wipe Israel off the map. This guy is a few fries short of a Happy Meal.

House GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) introduced a strongly-worded resolution condemning the crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Iran. This resolution states:

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) expresses its support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law;

(2) condemns the ongoing violence against demonstrators by the Government of Iran and pro-government militias, as well as the ongoing government suppression of independent electronic communication through interference with the Internet and cellphones; and

(3) affirms the universality of individual rights and the importance of democratic and fair elections.

In this era of hyperpartisanship, members of Congress are putting their own partisanship aside to express solidarity with the Iranian protesters. When will President Obama get with the program?

Careful What You Ask For, Madame Speaker

2009-05-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

Nancy Pelosi wants to have a “truth commission” regarding the torture of terrorist suspects. She’s not satisfied that her party controls both houses of Congress and the White House. She wants vengeance against those who disagreed with her [those evil Bush Republicans]. Careful what you wish for Madame Speaker – you just might get it.

On Sept. 4, 2002, less than a year after 9/11, the CIA briefed Rep. Porter Goss, then House Intelligence Committee chairman, and Madame Speaker, then the committee's ranking Democrat, on “enhanced interrogation techniques” [EITs] including waterboarding. They were the first members of Congress so briefed. Mr Goss said he and Madame Speaker were briefed about the interrogation techniques and that both he and Madame Speaker asked if the CIA needed any more support from Congress to carry out its mission. There was no indication of disapproval from Madame Speaker at this point. However, when things in Iraq went to hell, Madame Speaker suddenly found her voice.

At first, Madame Speaker stated "We were not -- I repeat -- were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used. Any contention to the contrary is simply not true." On May 5th, CIA Director Leon Panetta "Briefing on EITs including use of EITs on Abu Zubaydah, background on [legal] authorities, and a description of the particular EITs that had been employed." The operative word here is “had”, indicating that the techniques Madame Speaker claims to decry were already being used at the time she was first briefed by the CIA. When the CIA briefs politicians, they keep track of who gets briefed, what gets briefed, and when the briefing happened.

Madame Speaker then admitted that one of her aides was part of a February 2003 briefing during which he learned the CIA was using “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Why didn’t Madame Speaker speak out in opposition to these techniques? As we used to say in the Air Force, “silence means consent.” Earlier this week she had a press conference where she had to rely heavily on notes and prepared statements to deny her knowledge or possible approval of EITs. I don’t know about you, but if I’m wrongly accused of something I didn’t do, I don’t need notes to get my point across. Then she claimed she didn’t act because she wasn’t personally briefed, only that she was told about EITs by an aide. Madame Speaker then claimed the CIA lied to her. I’m claiming that Madame Speaker is either lying about what she knew, didn’t comprehend what was briefed to her [which means she’s just plain stupid], or both. Taking on the CIA in a public forum is not a smart thing to do. They’ve had more than their share of failures in the past, but the folks at the CIA have experience in overthrowing governments, assassinating opponents, and damaging politicians they don’t agree with by leaking information about their activities.

That Madame Speaker knew about CIA torture doesn’t excuse those who actually DID the torturing, but if she agreed with what they were doing and didn’t do anything to stop it, doesn’t that make her an accomplice? Jane Harman, who replaced Madame Speaker as the ranking Democratic member on the House Intelligence Committee, wrote a letter to the CIA’s general counsel to express her concerns about the agency’s interrogation techniques. What did Madame Speaker do? Nothing. She claims she couldn’t object then. She claimed Rep. Harman was the “appropriate channel” for voicing her displeasure. She also claimed she was bound by secrecy laws which prevented her from speaking out. That’s an answer an entrenched bureaucrat would give you when you call him/her out for not performing one’s sworn duties. This is complete total bullshit. I’m sorry, but Madame Speaker was in a high position if authority, and SHE was the “appropriate channel.” Madame Speaker, have you ever heard of a “closed session”? From time to time, when Congress needs to debate sensitive matters, they turn off the cameras, lock the doors and throw out all the visitors so they can talk about classified information. This is the “closed session.” She was the House Minority Leader at the time. She had a pretty big soapbox on which she could speak out against what she thought was wrong. She has never been shy about getting in front of a camera. She could have proposed to cut-off funding for the CIA if they didn’t stop using the techniques she now claims to oppose. She could have asked for a closed session of the House to debate the manner. She could have tied up the House in legislative knots if she so desired. Yet she did none of these things. Is this inaction by Madame Speaker the behavior of someone who violently opposes something, or the sign of someone wanting somebody else to do the dirty work for for her for the sake of partisan advantage? Remember…silence = consent.

For someone to suggest that Madame Speaker couldn’t do much because she was in the minority forgets recent history. In the late 1980s, Newt Gingrich became the House Minority Whip and used his position to bring attention to the House Banking Scandal and the Congressional Post Office Scandal. He brought ethics charges against House Speaker Jim Wright about a book deal that circumvented campaign-finance laws and House ethics rules. The ensuing inquiry resulted in Wright resigning his speakership. And by the way, his tireless efforts in all of these endeavors resulted in Republicans taking control of the House for the first time in 40 years in 1994. I am not convinced Madame Speaker did all she could to stop the torturing of terror suspects. Gingrich did a helluva lot more with less.

Is this a Republican effort to shield themselves from any responsibility and deflect attention from their own culpability regarding torture as some Democrats claim? Maybe, but if it is, it seems to be working pretty well. Given all that has come out this past week about Madame Speaker’s lack of urgency concerning enhanced interrogation techniques, do you think she still wants a “truth commission”? President Obama doesn’t, Sen Reid doesn’t. Steny Hoyer thinks it might be a good idea to learn what SHE knew and when SHE knew it. It’s not a good sign when your #2 doubts you. If she keeps embarrassing herself and shredding what little [if any] credibility she has left, and keeps the attention on herself instead of President Obama’s agenda, her speakership may not last much longer. Mr. Hoyer would gladly take over the speakership if the need arises.

Straight from the Liberal Playbook

2009-04-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

And now for a much shorter rant this evening. I’ve always said that when you are engaged in debate or argument with someone else, you know you have won the argument when your opponent resorts to calling you names. This is exactly what Janeane Garafalo did on Keith Olbermann’s show last night. Their topic of discussion was the April 15^th “TEA Parties.”

People who had these “TEA parties” on April 15^th protested about out-of-control government spending, government getting too large, government intrusion into people’s lives. Does Ms Garafalo have an argument against the accusation that government getting too big? No. Does she have an argument against people who think they’re being taxed too much? No. Does she have an argument against people who think government intrudes too much into their lives? No. Instead, she has this to offer: “Racism straightup. Nothing but a bunch of teabagging racists. These guys hate that a black guy is in the White House. The Republican hyphen conservative movement has crystalized into the white power movement.” This is some rational, deep thinking on her part, or as Sean Penn would put it “elegant” – NOT!!! Just more of the usual name-calling from a liberal who has run out of talking points and can’t think for herself.

For the last eight years, I’ve heard the constant drone from Leftists that it is “patriotic” to protest the actions of one’s government. Now that one of theirs occupies the highest office in the land as well as both Houses of Congress, their thinking has changed. To protest the actions of our government, in their eyes, is nothing short of an act of treason [yes, I know I heard the same thing from Republicans when they were in charge, so don’t get your panties in a bunch – it’s MY blog, dammit!]. It’s un-American, and well it’s just downright racist. I must be an un-American, treasonous racist veteran who would like nothing better than to violently overthrow our current government. I guess it is racist if I don’t want to pay someone else’s mortgage in addition to my own. I suppose it is racist to think that I don’t want any of my hard-earned dollars going to those thieving bastards at Citicorp [and all the other thieving bastards as well].

For the record, I don’t hate the fact that “a black guy is in the White House.” I do object to his policies though. I don’t want the second coming of Jimmy Carter. I’ve seen that movie before, and I didn’t like it then. Been there, done that, don't want to go back.

Today's Thoughts on Tax Day

2009-04-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today is April 15^th – Tax Day! I wonder if Tim Geithner, Kathleen Sibelius, Tom Daschle and Ron Kirk payed their taxes this year. I paid mine, got some money back, and bought a guitar today, so I’m doing my bit for “economic stimulus.” There are quite a few people who picked today to hold “TEA [Taxed Enough Already] parties”. These folks, who are pretty much fed up with everything the federal government does, think they are protesting just like the guys who threw English tea into Boston Harbor. There’s one flaw in their thinking – the original Boston Tea Party protested “taxation without representation.” Sorry gang, but we have representatives and our representatives let us down. I never thought I would say this, but on this Paul Begala and I agree. We just had an election, the other guys won. These protests will last all of one day, and then the protesters will get on with their lives. The political ruling class will ignore them. While I agree with their sentiments, if an annoying mosquito like Sean Hannity thinks having TEA parties is a brilliant idea, there MUST be something wrong with it. If one really wants to change the status quo, vote to throw the bums out in November 2010. It worked in 1980, 1994, and in 2008 – it can work again.

This week the Department of Homeland Security published their "intelligence assessment" [and I use that term very loosely - more on that later] about right-wing extremism. According to these clowns, anyone who thinks states ought to have more say in how they run their own affairs are extremists [Texas and 21 other states?]. Apparently in the eyes of DHS, those who think illegal immigrants [there's that word illegal again] should NOT get the same products and government services as those who are here legally [that would be my big sister and me] are right-wing extremists. Disgruntled military veterans [hmmm...people like me?] are right-wing extremists. I have to take all this with a huge grain of salt. DHS has done similar assessments on left-wing extremism [Friends of the Earth, Earth Liberation Front. etc] where they actually name organizations and actual targets of domestic terrorism. The piece on right-wing extremists goes into no such detail. Every stereotype about right-wingers one can think of is this document. Was this document written by intelligence professionals or left-wing bloggers with axes to grind? I guess I should be appalled and outraged by this document, but I when I consider its source I can only shake my head in amusement.

At this point, I don’t have very much faith in the folks at the Department of Homeland Security. Let me start with Customs. I just recently got back from a business trip to Germany. On the flight back I had to fill out this little two-page form to declare anything I brought home from overseas. The front of the form asks if you brought any food. I checked the “yes” box. The back of the form asks you to itemize said items. What food did I bring home? I brought home some Belgian chocolate candy for my wife. Now, any reasonable person would be able to connect the “food” that I checked “yes” on the front of the form to the “chocolate candy” that I listed on the back of the form. Not so Customs agents. When it was my turn to get a “welcome home” and a passport stamp from the Customs agent, the following conversation took place:

Customs agent [after looking at both sides of my declaration form]: Do you have anything to declare?

Me: Yes – chocolate candy and T-shirts.

Customs agent: This form says you brought food into the country. What kind of food did you bring?

Me: CHOCOLATE……CANDY!!!!

I have to mention that this Customs agent was male. If the agent was female, I wouldn’t have gotten such a stupid question. Every female on this planet thinks of chocolate as a major food group [and for any women reading this, you KNOW this to be true…].

Where do they find these people?

The next object of my irritation is the favorite agency of anybody who flies, the Transportation Security Agency [TSA]. In my job, I fly a lot. Suffice to say, I’m usually gone two weeks out of every month. I was in the Air Force for a long time. I still have a military ID. I work as a contractor supporting the Air Force. I have a security clearance. Let’s just say my clearance is higher than those who check old ladies for weapons in airports. And yet, whenever I fly an airline other than Delta, my name pops up on TSA’s terror watch list. It must be because of that Homeland Security study that said to be on the lookout for disgruntled veterans. The airline people are very nice, and they tell me to go to TSA’s web site so I can get my name off the watch list. So when I got home after one particular trip, I went to TSA’s site. I followed their instructions, made copies of my passport and driver’s license, and emailed the copies to the email address the web site provides. Did I get any feedback from TSA? No. Did I get an acknowledgement of them having received my paperwork? No. Am I still on the terror watch list? You betcha, dontcha know!

Where do they find these people?

Now, about this state sovereignty business. A long time ago a bunch of white slave-owning aristocrats got together in the late summer of 1787 to write a new Constitution for the young fledgling nation known as the United States of America. While the Untied States operated under the Articles of Confederation, the individual states had sovereign rights. There was a very weak central authority. It was not the kind of government that could deal with outside threats very well, because all decisions made by the states in a collective had to be unanimous. It was an unworkable framework. So in 1787, these white slave-owners got together to come up with something new. These guys had just broken away from England and they didn't want power concentrated in the hands of a single individual, like an English king.

They came up with a federal system. There would be a central government with a strong executive to run the day-to-day affairs of the country, but power was also divided among three separate branches. In addition to this new central government, the Founding Fathers saw the need for the individual states to have some authority. Power is shared between the national government and the states. This arrangement was codified in the 10th Amendment to the new Constitution. This amendment is very simple - it reads "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Twenty-two states are currently drafting resolutions in their respective legislatures that would re-assert their authority under the 10th Amendment. These states see the federal government as becoming too big and usurping state authority. This is not a new phenomenon. This movement began during the Bush years. They are protesting what they call "unfunded mandates" [among other things]. One example of such a mandate is in the stimulus bill recently enacted into law. This item concerns unemployment benefits. The federal government is giving money to the states, but with some strings attached. Some of this money has to be spent on unemployment benefits. The dirty little secret is these funds run out after 2010, and after that the states have to pick up the tab. The states are none too thrilled at that prospect, especially since THEY and not the Feds who will have to come up with sources of revenue [which usually means higher taxes and "user fees"] which is why you are hearing about some states rejecting stimulus money.

When I read and think about these state sovereignty resolutions, I have one question - what would be the practical effect if these resolutions are enacted into law? Will we have a Nullification Crisis like what this country went through in the 1830s? Will there be any effect at all? Will states begin to stop sending their tax dollars to Washington? I don't know the answers to these questions, but it is something that makes someone go "hmmm..."

Be Careful What You Ask For, Mr. Holder

2009-02-20T00:31:00.001-08:00

Our new Attorney General, Eric Holder, gave a speech the other day about race in this country. Apparently we don’t talk enough about it. We are “essentially a nation of cowards” because we don’t talk enough about race. We have to be “tolerant enough of each other” in order to have meaningful dialog about race. I agree with you there Mr. Holder. Let’s start with your own party. If your own party wants to be truly “tolerant”, members of your own party in Congress would not be talking about reviving the Fairness Doctrine. Tolerance cuts both ways Mr. Holder – if you want meaningful dialog, don’t censor the other guy because he has an opinion that doesn’t conform to your world-view.

Do you know why people don’t talk as much about race as you would like? It’s very simple. It’s called name-calling, like in being referred to as a “coward” because people don’t talk about race enough. By virtue of being pigment-challenged, I and people who look like me are blamed for everything bad [real and imagined] that has happened to people of color. When people who look like me point out that illegitimacy rates among black people is extremely high, or that black students are discouraged by their peers from doing well in school because they’re “acting white,” or that we really want you to pull up your pants so we don’t have to look at your underwear, we’re automatically labeled “racists.” If we point out that violent crimes committed by black people are way out of proportion to their percentage of the population, we’re labeled “insensitive.” If we note that the black high school drop-out rate is approaching 50 percent, we’re labeled “bigoted.” If we shine a light on that predominantly-black form of entertainment known as “rap music” and it’s constant referral to women [especially black women] as “bitches” and “hos”, we’re told “we just don’t get it.” Yeah, I guess I don’t get it. I didn’t get the memo that says in order to have a great relationship with someone of the opposite sex you have to call her a bitch.

Discussions about anything, especially race, are pretty short when all one hears from the other side is a list of grievances and ad hominem attacks. After his speech, Mr. Holder told reporters "If we're going to ever make progress, we're going to have to have the guts, we have to have the determination, to be honest with each other. It also means we have to be able to accept criticism where that is justified."

You first Mr. Holder.

Et tu, Sarah?

2009-02-18T22:13:00.000-08:00

There is was, thousands of miles from home on yet another mind-numbing business trip. I was engaging in usual activity - net-surfing. Then I saw this article about Sarah Palin and her owing back taxes. I thought "oh no, her too?" There was an article in the Washington Post last September that said she had charged the state almost $17,000 for meals and incidentals while staying in her own home in Wasilla. Now the State of Alaska has come out and said the Pitbull with Lipstick has to pay taxes on said charges. I'm sorry, but I have a problem with politicians of any party charging the state per diem for living in your their home. If you are a state legislator and have to have a place to live in the capital while the Legislature is in session, I don't have a problem with per diem for them. That's business that requires you to be AWAY from home. But a sitting governor who is provided a house in the state capital to charge per diem for living in her own home? I'm sorry - that just doesn't pass the giggle test.

Has our entire political ruling class gone totally insane? Is there something in the water that only politicians drink that makes them think they're entitled to goodies by virtue of holding elective office?

I have entertained thoughts of relocating to another country, but where can I go? If I go to Canada and get sick while I'm there, I'll get put on some waiting list and probably die before I'm seen by a specialist. Mexico? Let's see...blonde-haired, blue-eyed guy who knows enough Spanish to get his face slapped in a bar in a country full of dark-haired, dark-eyed people. Oh yeah, and there's that small matter of drug lords taking over the country and beheading people. Nah...that's out. As bad as my head looks to me every morning I look in the mirror, I'd still like to keep it, thank you very much. How about Switzerland? They're neutral, they have a clean country, nobody is mad at them, they pretty much do their own thing. I think I can learn German, French or Italian, and I look like a lot of people who live there. Switzerland - YEAH - THAT's the ticket... Maybe Germany. I was just there recently. Pretty cool country if you ask me. Great soccer, schnitzel, beer, mountains. I have mostly German heritage, I could pass myself off as one of them. And since I would be a naturalized citizen, I wouldn't have to always apologize for the Holocaust. Hmmm...

Of course, it'll never happen. But I can always dream...

The Politics of Fear

2009-02-12T20:11:00.000-08:00

March 1,2008 – “America’s at its best not when it’s fearful.” – Sen. Barack Obama

March 30, 2008 - "We need to break the politics of fear that uses 9/11 to scare up votes" – Sen. Barack Obama

February 5, 2009 – “Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse. “ – President Barack Obama

Isn’t it funny? When a guy runs for president, he and his party decry the “politics of fear.” Yet, when the proverbial shoe is on the other foot and that candidate who decried the use of the “politics of fear ” is now president, he engages in the very behavior he claimed to abhor as a candidate. Somebody needs to explain to me how it is bad for one party to engage in the “politics of fear” while it is good for the other party to do the exact same thing.

Whatever happened to being a “post-partisan” president? Whatever happened to “change we can believe in”? How is engaging in the “politics of fear” now different from when it was practiced by another party before the last election? This is the same party that uses the same election tactic year after year. They tell senior citizens that the Republicans are going to take away their Social Security, and in the process of doing so scare the hell out of said seniors. That sounds like the “politics of fear” to me.

Where is the change in that?

What Is It With These Guys?

2009-02-03T14:28:00.000-08:00

I will be the first to admit to Republicans have their fare share of ethical lapses [Ted Stevens, Larry Craig, Duke Cunningham, just to name but a few]. There – I said it. My party has bad guys in it. Now it’s time for me to throw a brick at some glass houses of my own. Why is it that Democrats who are elected to or appointed to policy-making decisions suddenly have trouble paying their taxes? Do they think that only “the little people” pay taxes? Normally I wouldn’t make a big deal about it, but in the past two election cycles Democrats have beaten the Republicans over the head with the “corruption club” [and rightly so], so it only stands to reason that they should uphold higher standards of behavior, right?

Timothy Geithner – our new Treasury Secretary. He’s supposedly the only person on the planet who understands how the bailout of financial institutions works, yet he blames the complexities of TurboTax for his failure to pay over $40,000 in payroll taxes. If he’s so damn smart, how come he couldn’t figure out TurboTax? And if this guy is so damn smart, how come he tried for FOUR YEARS to claim his kids' summer camps as a business expense despite his accountant telling him "don't do that"? This isn't intelligence - it's arrogance, and probably a peek into what this guy really thinks of you. This is the guy who now oversees the department that collects YOUR taxes. Do you think you’ll catch a break if you have the same excuses he has? During his confirmation hearings he admitted to Senator Kyl that he had not intended to fix his tax problem until he was appointed by President Obama. President Obama would probably have been better served with Larry Summers than this oozing sack of puss. I'm sorry - I have major heartburn with tax cheats collecting my hard-earned dollars.

Tom Daschle – our former future Secretary for Health and Human Services. He knew as far back as June 2008 that he owed over $140,000 in back taxes, yet he didn’t do anything about it until he cut the IRS a check on Jan 2nd. For those of you keeping track, that was after President Obama made Daschle his choice to be HHS Secretary. This guy who was going to be charged with overhauling 1/7th of this nation’s economy [health care] failed to disclose more than $300,000 of income. Today he did what was probably the first honorable thing he’s done in public life. He took one for the Obama team and withdrew his nomination for HHS Secretary. I hope he will never darken Washington DC again, but since his wife is a lobbyist for the airline industry, I don’t see that happening.

Nancy Killefer – you probably haven’t heard of her, but she was our new president’s pick to be his chief performance improvement “czar.” Her sin – a $946.69 lien on her property for failure to pay taxes in 2005. At least she took care of the problem right away.

Charles Rangel – he’s the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. This is the committee that writes all the federal tax laws. He paid almost $11,000 in back taxes last year for rental income on property he owns in the Dominican Republic. He also admitted he failed to declare $75,000 in rental income for a beachfront villa he owns in this country. He should know better, but I guess this kind of entitlement behavior comes with being an 40-year incumbent from a safe district.

Bill Richardson – he’s the former future Secretary of Commerce and current Governor of New Mexico. A grand jury is investigating how his political contributors received lucrative state contracts. At least he paid his taxes…

These transgressions aren't Obama’s fault. There – I said THAT too. But the guys who work for him need to do a better job at vetting people who are going to occupy positions of responsibility.

The Little Blue Book

2009-02-02T20:28:00.001-08:00

There I was, surfing the ‘Net as usual. I was looking at Neal Boortz’s site. He’s a libertarian radio commentator who isn’t afraid to tell politicians on either side of the political spectrum when they’re full of shit, or as he likes to refer to it, “horse squeeze.” He has a feature on his site called Nealz Nuze. On this particular day he had a link to a website called History Company. At this particular website there is the Pocket Obama. So I thought “okay, I’ll bite.” I went to the site and sure enough, there’s an item where you can buy ten copies of the Pocket Obama for $49.50. I saw a picture of this item – it’s a Little Blue Book. At first I thought “this has got to be a joke,” but alas there is a link to this item on Amazon.com. I explored further – you can get a single copy of the Little Blue Book for $5.95. Here’s the product description on Amazon:

This is the little blue book that right-wing partisans love to hate. Printed in a size that easily fits into pocket or purse, POCKET OBAMA is an anthology of quotations borrowed from Barack Obama's speeches and writings, intended to keep the momentum going for those inspired by his message of hope and change. The portable book serves as a reminder of the remarkable ability of this man to move people with his words, a primer for readers who want to examine the substance of his thought and reflect on the next great chapter in the American story. His captivating oratory has earned comparisons to John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and this collection presents words that catapulted his remarkable rise to the American Presidency and set a true course for the future. Includes themes of democracy, politics, war, terrorism, race, community, jurisprudence, faith, personal responsibility, national identity, and above all, his hoped-for vision of a new America. POCKET OBAMA is essential reading as we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work of remaking America.

When I first checked this out, the description had one more sentence, which has since been deleted: "It is an unofficial requirement for every citizen to own, to read, and to carry this book at all times." Immediately this blurb conjured up visions of government indoctrination. But I won't worry about the Little Blue Book unless the kids bring it home from school. When I first read that little blurb it brought to mind another book of indoctrination, a certain Little Red Book that I bought when I was just a teenager [I still have it]. Only this particular Little Red Book was an anthology of quotations borrowed from the speeches and writings of Chairman Mao. So here's the link if you want to check it out for yourself:

http://www.historycompany.com/productdetails.php?p=128

This is quite humorous. Just for grins I might get myself a copy. But I can’t help but think when I see items like this that sometimes I just might be the guy Bob Dylan sang about in his Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues [except the Hitler and the Jews bit]:

Well, I was feelin' sad and feelin' blue,
I didn't know what in the world I was gonna do,
Them Communists they wus comin' around,
They wus in the air,
They wus on the ground.
They wouldn't gimme no peace. . .

So I run down most hurriedly
And joined up with the John Birch Society,
I got me a secret membership card
And started off a-walkin' down the road.
Yee-hoo, I'm a real John Bircher now!
Look out you Commies!

Now we all agree with Hitlers' views,
Although he killed six million Jews.
It don't matter too much that he was a Fascist,
At least you can't say he was a Communist!
That's to say like if you got a cold you take a shot of malaria.

Well, I wus lookin' everywhere for them gol-darned Reds.
I got up in the mornin' 'n' looked under my bed,
Looked in the sink, behind the door,
Looked in the glove compartment of my car.
Couldn't find 'em . . .

I wus lookin' high an' low for them Reds everywhere,
I wus lookin' in the sink an' underneath the chair.
I looked way up my chimney hole,
I even looked deep inside my toilet bowl.
They got away . . .

Well, I wus sittin' home alone an' started to sweat,
Figured they wus in my T.V. set.
Peeked behind the picture frame,
Got a shock from my feet, hittin' right up in the brain.
Them Reds caused it!
I know they did . . . them hard-core ones.

Well, I quit my job so I could work alone,
Then I changed my name to Sherlock Holmes.
Followed some clues from my detective bag
And discovered they wus red stripes on the American flag!
That ol' Betty Ross . . .

Well, I investigated all the books in the library,
Ninety percent of 'em gotta be burned away.
I investigated all the people that I knowed,
Ninety-eight percent of them gotta go.
The other two percent are fellow Birchers . . . just like me.

Now Eisenhower, he's a Russian spy,
Lincoln, Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy.
To my knowledge there's just one man
That's really a true American: George Lincoln Rockwell.
I know for a fact he hates Commies cus he picketed the movie Exodus.

Well, I fin'ly started thinkin' straight
When I run outa things to investigate.
Couldn't imagine doin' anything else,
So now I'm sittin' home investigatin' myself!
Hope I don't find out anything . . . hmm, great God!

Ironically, my favorite color is red...

Play it pretty for Atlanta!

2009-02-01T22:45:00.000-08:00

These were the words uttered by Ronnie Van Zant before Billy Powell played his piano solo on Freebird. I’m listening to the live One More From the Road as I type this, and Billy definitely played it pretty. He never got songwriting credit for writing the piano intro to Freebird, but it did get him the gig in Lynyrd Skynyrd. Originally a roadie for Skynyrd, one day Ronnie Van Zant heard Billy Powell playing his own piano version of Freebird. As Billy remembered, "Ronnie Van Zant came up to me and said, 'You mean to tell me, you've been playing the piano like that and you've been workin' for us for a year....' And I said, 'Well, you know, I've been classically trained most of my life.' So, right then and there, he said, 'We need a keyboard player.'"

I picked up a copy of Skynyrd’s third album Nuthin’ Fancy today. This is the album with Saturday Night Special. I remembered from a long time ago that one of the band members had flipped the bird to the cameraman who took the photo for the back cover, and today my memory was totally refreshed when I saw the culprit was none other than Billy Powell. The booklet that accompanies this CD tells a funny story of what led to that event. Billy Powell relates:

We were walkin’ down the dirt road goin’ to the Hell House. This guy was shooting picture after picture after picture and it was hot as hell that day. I was just getting’ tired. I said to myself, ‘God ain’t you got enough pictures?’ And in one frame I just decided to flip the bird. It was a nice, mean lookin’ bird, too. My fingers were cocked perfectly. All the pictures finally came back and Ronnie, Gary and Allen all looked at that picture and Ronnie of course went ‘That’s the one!’ And I went ‘No, please, no, please! Man, what is my mother gonna think about this?’ The first thing my mother said to me when she finally saw it was ‘Now Billy! That’s a helluva way to thank your fans.

I’ve been a fan of the original Lynyrd Skynyd’s work for a long time. For a band that boasted three guitarists, it’s amazing that a lone keyboardist could get noticed. Billy Powell got noticed, not only on the aforementioned Freebird, but also such songs as Workin’ For MCA [from Second Helping], Honky Tonk Night Time Man [from Street Survivors], and Comin’ Home [from Skynyrd’s First…and Last], just to name few. When Skynyrd lost the services of guitarist Ed King during the “Torture Tour” to support Nuthin’ Fancy, Billy Powell stepped up to fill the hole in the Skynyrd sound with his clavinet. This is evident when one listen to Skynyrd’s fourth album Gimme Back My Bullets. On the recently-released deluxe version of Street Survivors there is an extended version of That Smell. On this take you can hear Billy’s Hammond organ. It gives the take a more spooky quality. I like it a lot.

Billy Powell died last week. He survived a horrific plane crash that killed half of his band, but a heart attack got him.

I was looking at the cover of Street Survivors earlier this week. Of the seven musicians on that CD cover, only two are alive today. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines all died in the infamous plane crash. Guitarist Allen Collins died in 1990 of pneumonia. Bassist Leon Wilkeson died of natural causes [lung and liver failure] in 2001. Only guitarist Gary Rossington [the only plane crash survivor still in the band] and drummer Artimus Pyle survive from that version of the band. Lynyrd Skynyrd has had two singers, several bass players, an army of guitarists and an equal number of drummers pass through its ranks, but there was only one keyboard player – Billy Powell. Lynyrd Skynyrd will find someone to succeed him and play his parts, but they can never “replace” Billy.

RIP Billy Powell.

Death of a Bigot

2009-01-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

There I was, surfing the net when I got to a story about this guy named William Zantzinger who died three weeks ago and then the name rang a bell. Bob Dylan immortalized him in song [and not in a good way] – “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.” The song appeared on Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ album. I hadn’t heard it in quite awhile, so I pulled it out of the CD collection and gave it a spin on the way to work. It chronicles the true story of how Zantzinger, then a 24-year old white tobacco farmer who was well-connected, caused the death of Hattie Carroll, a 51-year old black waitress/barmaid and mother of 11 at a charity ball at Baltimore’s Emerson Hotel in 1963. According to a UPI article appearing in the New York Times, Zantzinger drunkenly assaulted a bellboy, a waitress [saying “hey black girl, bring me a drink”], and then Hattie Carroll. After he demanded a drink from Hattie Carroll, she said “just a minute, sir,” to which he replied “when I order a drink I want it now. After Ms Carroll said “I’m hurrying as fast as I can,” Zantzinger replied “I don’t have to take that kind of stuff off a nigger” and struck her with a cane. Soon afterwards, Ms Carroll told co-workers “I feel deathly ill, that man has upset me so.” She collapsed, was taken to the hospital, and died eight hours later.

Zantzinger was originally charged with murder. But since he was a wealthy farmer in then-segregated Maryland, his family was able to afford the best legal representation that money could buy. Ms Carroll’s autopsy showed she had hardened arteries, an enlarged heart, and high blood pressure. The autopsy listed a brain hemorrhage as the cause of death. Zantzinger’s lawyers noted that since the cane didn’t leave a mark on her head, he didn’t murder her, so his charge was reduced to involuntary manslaughter. At trial, a three-judge panel found Zantzinger guilty of manslaughter. They sentenced him to six months in the county jail and a $625 fine. The judges even allowed him to delay serving his sentence two weeks late so that he could harvest his tobacco crop. The sentence provoked public outrage and inspired Bob Dylan to write a song.

Dylan begins his song with answers to all the journalistic questions [who/what/where/when/how] - William Zantzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll/With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger/At a Baltimore hotel society gath'rin'. He describes Zantzinger as one who Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres/With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him/And high office relations in the politics of Maryland. Of Hattie Carroll, she was a maid of the kitchen. She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children/Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage/And never sat once at the head of the table/And didn't even talk to the people at the table/Who just cleaned up all the food from the table/And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level/Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane who never done nothing to William Zanzinger. The judges didn’t escape Dylan’s disdain - In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel/To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level/And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded/And that even the nobles get properly handled/Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em/And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom,/Stared at the person who killed for no reason/Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'. And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished/And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance,/William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence./Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears/Bury the rag deep in your face/For now's the time for your tears.

Zantzinger served his sentence, and his notoriety followed him the rest of his life. In 1991 he was convicted of a scam where he charged poor black workers rent on run-down properties he didn’t own [they didn’t have running water or sewer connections]. He lost these properties because he owed back taxes on them, but that didn’t stop him from taking his “tenants” to court for back rent he said they “owed” him. Unlike his previous conviction, he had to serve his time when the judge told him to serve. Nice guy…NOT!

It must have galled William Zantzinger that a black man was elected President of the United States. What a pity this bigot didn’t stick around to see Barack Obama become president.

“The Worst Economic Crisis Since the Great Depression”

2009-01-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

“The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” That’s the mantra we keep hearing from the governing class and their accomplices in the mainstream media. But is it really? During the 1970s we had inflation, double-digit interest rates, double-digit unemployment, the lines for gas stations wrapped around the block. Loans were hard to get then because the rules were tighter. To get a home loan you had to have 20 percent down to show commitment to the purchase. During the late-1980s and early-1990s, there was the Savings and Loan crisis. Over 700 S&Ls failed during that time. Also during that time over 1,600 banks closed or received federal assistance.

Since the current fiscal crisis broke last September, a grand total of 39 banks have failed. Unemployment is still in the single digits, interest rates are at an all-time low, inflation is nearly non-existent, and the only time you can’t get gasoline is when a hurricane strikes your neighborhood [been there, done that twice thank you very much]. Does that sound like “the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression”? I won’t kid myself to think that these conditions couldn’t get worse – they can. But consider this – the business enterprises that asked for assistance from the American taxpayer were some pretty big names – General Motors, Chrysler, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup [may they rot in hell…], AIG, etc. To reiterate, this is Big Business. And since Big Business is going in the tank, either through greed, poor management, government over-regulation [pick your poison], then in the small minds of the mainstream media, the sky must be falling everywhere. And in the media culture of today, if it bleeds, it leads. And if it bleeds for some, it must bleed for all, including small business. Remember Tony’s definition of socialism – “everybody suffers equally.” It used to be said that “what is good for General Motors is also good for America.” Conversely, thanks to the “sky is falling, if it bleeds it leads” mentality in today’s mainstream media, what is bad for General Motors is also bad for America. And this reporting is scaring the crap out of Americans. When Americans are scared they hold onto every nickel they can.

Small business owners are paying for the sins of Big Business. The dirty little secret is that small business is really the backbone of the American economy. What exactly is small business? Think about the guy who fixes your car when it breaks, the people who make your home improvements, the guy who unplugs your toilet when it backs up. There’s the owner of Ray’s Restaurant in Edgerton, Wisconsin, the person who runs your favorite taqueria in Fort Collins, Colorado, or the orthodontist that makes the braces for your kid’s teeth. When the American body politic gets the crap scared out of it by the mainstream media, it’s guys like “Joe the Plumber” who take it in the shorts. When people don’t want to spend their money because they’re scared shitless by the mainstream media, it makes it harder for small businesses to survive. If small businesses start going under, then the mainstream media, with their “if it bleeds it leads” mentality, will have created a self-fulfilling prophecy. They’ll have more blood to report.

“I wanna just show ya what my politics are…”

2008-11-16T20:50:00.000-08:00

Pete Brown, Jack Bruce’s songwriting partner in Cream, wrote these words over forty years ago for his song “Politician”, recorded by Cream for their “Wheels of Fire” album.

One would get the idea that given my last rant, my open letter to our new president, that I’m extremely pissed off that “my guy” lost. For the record, I haven’t had a “guy” since the days of Ronaldus Maximus. True, I was not happy about the outcome of this past election, because I agree more with John McCain than I do with Barack Obama. But I am not pissed off. While checking out of my hotel in Frankfurt, Germany last week, the guy who checked me out asked “are you happy about the result of your election?” Honestly, I answered “no I’m not, but it is what it is and we’ll live with it.” But more than anything, I am more relieved that this seemingly interminable two-year ordeal is finally over, and we can move ahead. It is safe to watch the news once again without me wanting to throw things through the TV set.

I was talking with an old childhood friend today and we got to talking about politics. His sister is a liberal. Having lived in the San Francisco Bay area for years, how could she not? I am not a liberal – that is an understatement. However, he was very surprised to hear that I am not a conservative either. There are some areas where my views can be described as “conservative”, those being our nation’s defense and taxes. I believe in a strong defense for the country. That is why I get myself worked up when I saw what the fighter pilot mafia has done to what used to be “my Air Force.” I work as a tester for the Air Force, and I have seen my share of programs which many refer to as GOBIs. That’s short for “general officer bright ideas.” More often than not, good money after bad is thrown after these GOBIs in order for them to work. Things are allowed to be fielded regardless of whether or not they work. In our mindless pursuit of GOBIs, the Air Force has lost sight of why it is in business. To wit, the Air Force’s job is two-fold – when called upon by the Commander-in-Chief, they are charged with breaking things and killing people. Those are the two things the Air Force does best. Those are the Air Force’s two core competencies. Whenever it strays from those core competencies, they get in trouble. Note that I said “when called upon by the Commander-in-Chief.” That means the Air Force executes policy, it doesn’t create it.

During the Clinton years, “my Air Force” strayed from the path of its two core competencies and became a “meals on wheels” as part of this country’s role as the “international policeman.” People who followed the rules, who did what was expected of them and more, people who often had to clean up the messes left by others [those who often got the promotions when others who cleaned up the mess didn’t], in many cases were forced out of the Air Force because they didn’t have a high-ranking “mentor” looking out for them or didn’t kiss ass like they could have. I am a part of that group. I don’t want to see a return to those years.

Where our national security is concerned, we need to allow law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies to be able to share information in order to prevent another 9-11-type calamity from happening again. Unlike out liberal brethren, I care not for the “rights” of people caught trying to perpetrate such activities. Those kinds of people can rot in Hell for all I care. When terrorists wreak havoc on our own soil, we need to find them and kill them. That’s the only way those particular people will never be able to do their dirty deeds ever again.

What else do I believe that could be construed as “conservative”? I believe that the money that I earn is mine and does not belong to the government. I don’t like the idea that I am coerced by the government, with the threat of jail time if I don’t comply, to fork over portions of the income I make to support my family to support others who do not work for their money. I do not support the idea that my hard-earned dollars are helping to support those who are in this country illegally. I believe that people in this country who are here illegally should not benefit from the services provided by this country – services that are paid for by people who earn their money. Government does not earn money – it confiscates money from the people who earn it in the form of income taxes. Overall, I have a problem with illegal immigration that my liberal brethren do not have. I’m for immigration – Americans do not have a corner on the market of good ideas and hard work. America is still the “land of opportunity.” I do have a problem with illegal immigration. The word illegal is the key word here – illegal means it’s wrong, that someone is not playing by the rules. What part of illegal do liberals not understand? Why should I as a taxpayer reward wrong behavior? There are many who come to this country in search of their dreams and follow the rules. They have a sponsor to come here, they get a job, and they wait until it’s time for them to become US citizens if they so desire. Illegal immigrants jump to the head of the line. I’m sorry, but I have a problem with that. In this country, people who do not play by the rules always seem to be the ones who reap the benefits of those who do. There is something inherently wrong with that. But such is the problem with our country these days. There is a relative moralism. There is no sense of right or wrong anymore.

I believe that his country should be a meritocracy. You should be hired, fired, promoted, or demoted on your ability to do the job. You should not be given any preference because of your skin color, your sexual orientation, your ethnic background, the skin color, or your religion. You should not be advanced in your field simply because you have a high ranking “mentor” or because you know someone else who can get you ahead. You should make it because you earned it. I believe that "reverse discrimination" is still discrimination and should not be practiced. I'm sorry, I did not oppress anyone's ancestors because of their skin color, so why should I be oppressed because of mine? If you don’t think that’s the case, then we disagree. I believe in equal opportunity for everyone, not equal outcomes. What one does with that opportunity is strictly up to them.

The United Nations is another thing that worries me. By and large the membership of this august body is comprised of countries whose form of government is a dictatorship. These countries have leaders who do not govern with the consent of the governed, but rather by the point of the barrel of a gun. I don’t want a group of such people to determine the fate of the people in this country. Our liberal brethren see the United Nations as the cure to all the world’s ills, and it just isn’t so.

What disqualifies me as being a conservative these days? Here’s a couple of hot-button issues for you to consider: abortion and gay marriage. On abortion, I am pro-choice. I want abortions to be safe, legal and rare. But I am a realist. Whether or not the practice is illegal [just for argument-sake], I want it to be legal to insure that it is also regulated and safe. Whether or not the practice is illegal, the practice itself is going to continue. Murder is illegal, grand theft is illegal, yet they still keep happening. But abortion is legal, and it should be done by professionals who are trained in that procedure.

Here’s my take on gay marriage: why should I deny a right to someone that I have simply on the basis of sexual orientation? In my feeble mind, I can’t. Whether or not two gay people want to get married has no effect on me whatsoever. It doesn’t change anything about how I live my life, how I earn my living, how my kids live their lives. I don't care if gays serve openly in the military. I had this view when I was still in the Air Force. If you can do the job and do it well, I don't care who you sleep with. I’m one of those people who believe that being gay is not a choice, but it is something that one is born with. It is something that anybody who is gay can’t do anything about any more than they can do anything about their skin color. Our state [Florida] just voted overwhelmingly to define, in our state Constitution, what constitutes a marriage. As defined by the ballot proposal, marriage consists of a man and a woman. I voted against the measure, but the other side won. Now, not only do I live in a state where they can’t count the votes, they also discriminate against gay people. That’s NOT something to be proud of.

I care not for the doctrine of "pre-emptive" war. We shouldn't be in the business of attacking people militarily because we disagree with them. That line of thinking will bite us in the ass someday, if it hasn't already. But if we ARE attacked by someone, we need to kick the shit out of those doing the attacking with everything we have. To do nothing in response to any attack will only invite more attack from those who mean us harm.

In my part of the country, we have a lot of religious people who would care to censor the things that our children read. Whenever a new edition of the Harry Potter books would out, or more recently “The Golden Compass”, the “thumpers” in this area would be up in arms about it. They wanted such things banned from school libraries. I’ve read the books, my boys have read the books. They are make believe, they are fiction. They do not encourage witchcraft, they don’t denigrate religion in any way, yet these thumpers want these sorts of materials banned.

Just recently, one the local high schools want to introduce a book known as the “Kite Chaser” into the advance studies program. The book, and the movie derived from it, depicts the lives of two boys living in Afghanistan of the late 1970s. These two boys, one of whose dad is well off, the other the son of the servant of the other boy’s dad, were the best of friends. One day though, while the servant boy was looking for a kite that got away, he was accosted by some bullies and sodomized. The rich boy saw it happen and did nothing. The richer boy soon shunned the servant boy, to his everlasting shame. Fast forward twenty years and you have the Taliban. The servant boy stayed behind while the rich boy was able to escape the Soviets and relocate to the United States. While there he got an urgent message that his friend’s son was in trouble. The rich boy, now an adult, went back to Afghanistan to rescue his friend’s son. When he returned to Afghanistan, he learned that the servant boy was also his half-brother and that the boy who needed rescuing from the Taliban was his nephew. He found that his brother was killed by the Taliban while defending the family home from the Taliban. The rich boy [now a man] succeeded in getting his nephew back to the United States. It is a tale a friendship, betrayal, and ultimate redemption. What could be wrong with that? If this story was introduced in grade school or middle school, I can see the other parents’ point as the material being “inappropriate.” It is one of those rare tales that made me of all people think about the original story for days after I saw it. I was very moved by the story, unlike any other. I would highly recommend it to anyone. But this is high school we’re talking about. I think it’s very appropriate material, given the maturity level of those asked to read it.

As stated before, I am not a liberal, nor am I a "dyed in the wool" conservative. I am a libertarian who votes Republican because Democrats and liberals share almost none of what I consider my core values.

Any questions? I don't expect people to agree with me. This world would be a pretty boring place if that was the case. I crave feedback. What do you think?

My sister and her husband John celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary today. Congratulations, Judy & John!

An Open Letter to Our New President

2008-11-11T14:57:00.000-08:00

We elected a new president last week. The results weren't even close. Congratulations Mr Obama. You earned the resounding triumph. Rather than succumb to any "Obama Derangement Syndrome" I'm willing to give you a chance. That is more than I can say for Democrats who made it their mission in life to oppose anything and everything your predecessor did or wanted to do even before he was sworn in. You say you want to earn the trust of those who did not support you on November 4th. You say you want to be President of all the people. Ok Mr Obama, it's time to back up your words with deeds. Dazzle me, impress me, earn my trust. I'm not rich, so I expect that tax cut you promised to 95 percent of taxpayers. You said we can be energy independent. You say you will make changes we can believe in. Well, you've got the keys to the kingdom now, so MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!

The American people have spoken, and quite loudly. You will be our next Commander-in-Chief. Your party controls the White House and both houses of Congress by substantial majorities. If you can't get anything done in the next two years [when the next mid-term elections will be], you will have only yourselves to blame. So a message to Democrats - when you pass your first budget, you will own the economy. If you don't withdraw from Iraq, you own it. If you don't leave Afghanistan, it's all yours. If we suffer any terrorist attacks on our soil, the fault is yours. Gasoline is currently under $2 per gallon. If it goes up, it's YOUR fault. If more people get thrown out of work, it's YOUR fault. If you re-institute the Fairness Doctrine and stifle dissent, YOU will have imposed a tyrrany upon us much more heinous than any you accused George W. Bush of creating. Until you repeal the 1st Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees my right to free expression, I will exercise that right. Remember, dissent is patriotic. I know this because many Democrats claimed as much in opposing George W. Bush these last eight years. If dissent is patriotic for you, it is patriotic for me as well.

If things go badly, it WILL be your fault. If things go well [and for all of our sakes I hope they do], you will get the credit, and rightly so. I wish I could honesty say that your predecessor has left the country in a better shape than when he took over in 2001. Alas, I cannot. Mr Obama, I hope you leave the country in better shape than when you take over. If you leave my 401(k) alone, if you don't tax me into the poor house, if you can prevent terrorist attacks on our soil, if you don't stifle freedom of speech, if you continue to allow intelligence and law enforcement agencies share information, if you don't recycle the Clintonistas into your administration and thus build a bridge back to the 20th Century, then you will have earned my trust.

Ok Democrats, come January 20, 2009 you will run the whole show. You will find there is a great difference between governing and complaining. Are you up to the challenge? We'll soon find out.

Good luck President Obama - you're gonna need it.

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

2008-10-23T04:34:00.000-07:00

The Mainstream Media are obviously in the tank for Barack Obama. For those of us who oppose Barack Obama and everything he stands for, it is frustrating to see the daily fawning of the press over everything Obama says, while ignoring every stupid utterance that comes out of Joe Biden's mouth [and there are plenty]. Twenty years ago, a young Republican vice-president would misspell the word "potato" and it would be grist for the liberal mill for weeks, yet when Joe Biden says FDR went on television as President when the Great Depression started [neither was true], the mainstream media was nowhere to be found to call him on it. It is frustrating for those of us who remember when journalism used to be objective.

Orson Scott Card is a Democrat and a columnist. For weeks I've been trying to find the right words to express my disgust with the current state of journalism. Lo and behold, Mr Scott wrote this column that brilliantly summarizes everything I want to express. He does it much better than I ever could. Perhaps that's why he gets paid to write while I don't .

http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/081017light.

Mr. Card is right. The Democrats and their allies in the Mainstream Media have conditioned the American people to blame every calamity on Republicans. There’s not much we who used to believe in objective journalism can do about it.

Enough Already!

2008-10-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, enough of this crap. I’m not against Barack Obama because he’s black. I’m against Barack Obama because he’s a clueless idiot. I don’t like the emerging “Cult of Personality” of the “Dear Leader.” I could care less if the Europeans love him. In fact, I would prefer the Europeans to NOT like him because we end up cleaning up their messes time after time [WWI, WWII, Bosnia, Kosovo]. I don’t like his “We Are the World” approach to foreign policy. I oppose his willingness to negotiate with rogue states without preconditions. I think he’s living in a fantasy world when he says he’s going to give 95% of Americans [half of whom don’t pay income taxes anyway] a tax cut. His “windfall profits” tax was tried before during the Carter years, and it didn’t work then. I don’t like it that ACORN, for whom The One worked as a “community organizer”, is committing electoral fraud in Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, Connecticut and Nevada [and that’s just THIS week…]. I don’t like ACORN’s use of intimidation, false accusations of racism, and threats to use the Community Reinvestment Act to block business expansion against banks in order to secure risky sub-prime loans to people who couldn’t possibly pay them back. I don’t like that The One took campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I don’t like the implication that if one opposes Barack Obama it is because of racism. It isn’t about race – it’s about issues.

Here's some things I compiled from various on-line sources that sum up what, in the eyes of the mainstream media, make people who vote against Barack Obama a racist:

If you object to Obama raising your payroll, capital gains and estate taxes you…may be a racist.

If you're in favor of drilling for oil and building nuclear power plants you…may be a racist.

If you wonder why Obama was hanging around William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn you…may be a racist.

If you don't want the majority of justices on the Supreme Court to be like Stephen Breyer you…may be a racist.

If you think the surge is working and that's a good thing you…may be a racist.

If you oppose racial preferences in employment, school admissions and contracting you…may be a racist.

If you prefer that a president have a smidgen of executive experience you…may be a racist.

If you're appalled that Obama voted against treating infants born after an abortion attempt the same medically as other infants born alive you…may be a racist.

If you were proud of your country even before Obama's candidacy you…may be a racist.

If you don't care how Hollywood or the European elite think you should vote you…may be a racist.

The easiest way to determine if you're racist is to check your ethnicity.

If you are Caucasian, then you are a racist.

If you think Obama’s the most liberal member of the senate you…may be a racist

If you’d prefer a president have at least some foreign policy experience you…may be a racist

If you’re in favor of drilling for oil and building nuclear power plants you…may be a racist

If your pastor is nothing like Rev. Wright or Father Pfleger you… may be a racist

If you’re not impressed with Obama’s 100% NARAL rating you…may be a racist [not sure about that one - I'm pro-choice]

If you’re not sure whether Obama opposed or supported FISA reauthorization you…may be a racist

If you don’t think America is a “downright mean” country you…may be a racist

If you think Obama should’ve visited wounded troops at Ramstein and Landstuhl you…may be a racist

If you think “we are the change we’ve been waiting for” is a line from a Monty Python skit you…may be a racist

If you prefer that a president have a smidgen of executive experience you…may be a racist

If you were proud of your country even before Obama’s candidacy you…may be a racist

If you don’t think American troops are just “air raiding villages” you…may be a racist

If your grandmother isn’t a “typical white person” you…may be a racist

If you don’t think rural, working class people are bitter and “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them” you…may be a racist

If you’re not sure invading Pakistan is a particularly good idea—what with their nuclear weapons and all— you…may be a racist

If you don’t want the president to meet without precondition with the leaders of state sponsors of terror you…may be a racist

If you believe, as the Supreme Court has affirmed this year, that the Second Amendment actually gives individuals the right to bear arms you...may be a racist

If you think this country is headed down the road to socialism you...may be a racist

If you think Maxine Waters is a complete idiot you...may be a racist

If you think it's better to judge people on merit rather than on skin color you...may be a racist

If you think it's dumb to base your vote on a candidate only on the candidate's skin color you...may be a racist

If you think Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are nothing but shakedown artists you...may be a racist

If you don't think that bigger government is the solution to every problem you...may be a racist

It's Johnny's Birthday - Play It LOUD!!!

2008-10-09T04:44:00.001-07:00

Intemperate Thoughts

2008-10-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

This is the week that Barack Obama won the election. John McCain has always said he's the guy who could reach across the aisle to get things done. He made a big deal of "suspending" his campaign to go back to Washington to deal with the current financial situation. He supported the bailout plan, yet it didn't pass the House. He took a gamble and it didn't quite work out for him. Barack Obama played it right - while your enemy is committing political suicide, get out of the way and let him.

It's the Democrats' fault. It started with the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. Passed by a Democratic-controlled Congress and signed into law by a Democratic president. In 1995 the Clintons loosened the rules so people who couldn't afford loans could get them. In 2004 Barney Frank, he who had a live-in boyfriend running a prostitution ring out of his own basement, said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were doing just fine. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain [that would be Franklin Raines, a Clinton OMB director] who is cooking the books and getting himself fired for fraud while running Fannie Mae. Pay no attention to the two guys who are getting the most campaign contributions from Fannie Mae [that would be Christopher Dodd and Barack Obama, both Democrats]. Pay no attention that the person who chairs the committee that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is the same Christopher Dodd who took lots of money from Fannie Mae.

It's the Democrats' fault the bailout didn't pass the House. They have the majority, there is no filibuster in the House like there is in the Senate. The Democrats could ram through any legislation they wanted to in the House because all they need is 218 votes. They've got that many votes and plenty to spare. For Barney Fife to blame Republicans for their inept leadership insults my intelligence.

Since I make less than $250,000 a year, I'll be expecting that tax cut that Mr Obama is promising the country. Bill Clinton made the same promise in 1992 and never delivered.

When Mr Obama becomes president, he will be "The Man." Hopefully we won't have to hear from race pimping shakedown artists like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton ever again. But somehow I doubt it. Hope springs eternal.

I think Mr Obama's mouth is writing too many checks that he won't be able to cash with all the promises he's making. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

When Mr Obama becomes president, Oprah Winfrey will be even more intolerable.

When Mr Obama becomes president, Queen Hillary can kiss her presidential ambitions goodbye - forever.

The Dallas Cowboys STILL won't win a playoff game this season. :-(

Oklahoma will beat Texas again this year. :-(

The REAL baseball season [the playoffs] starts today. I'm thinking that when the dust settles it will be the Philadelphia Phillies and the LA Angels of Anaheim in the World Series.

I'm thinking Jimmie Johnson will win it all again this year in NASCAR.

I miss George Carlin.

Bob Dylan and Tom Waits are still the best songwriters alive today.

I still love "Heroes" and "House MD". "Heroes" is getting more crazy with each passing episode [this is a good thing]. Hiro isn't making it any easier for the good guys to win. Putting Sylar and Horn-Rimmed Glasses Guy together...I didn't see THAT one coming. Dr. House is getting even more conniving and manipulative [also a good thing]. But he'll get back together with Wilson...and he'll hook up with Cuddy.

Our new kitten Bizzell is still a crazed maniac.

Socialism in One Country

2008-09-29T07:23:00.000-07:00

Socialism - refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society.

Tony Howard's definition of Socialism - everybody suffers equally.

To those of us who studied Russian and Soviet history, there was a clash of wills and a clash of ideologies following the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. In one corner, there was Leon Trotsky. He was the intellectual who espoused "international Socialism." In the other corner was Joseph Stalin. He was not an intellectual. He was a bureaucrat. He was dismissed by those who thought they were intellectuals [Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev]. He espoused "Socialism in one country." In the end, Stalin got his way, the others died.

Fast forward about 70 years. We're seeing the same thing happen in this country. Socialism in one country - ours. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are "Government Sponsored Enterprises." These are quasi-government entities who haven't really done all that well, and now that they both have gone "Tango Uniform", you and I are bailing these guys out. As a result of mismanagement of these two entities, banks are failing. When banks fail, they are taken over by the government. So now we have mortgage institutions and banking institutions being taken over by government. Democrats desire more regulation. More regulation is not an answer for poor management. A case in point - the US Air Force has strict regulations on the handling of nuclear materials. Yet somehow nukes got temporarily misplaced and cost the AF Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Air Force to lose their jobs. The regulatory mechanisms were in place, but management, or the oversight of management, was lacking.

When oil prices started to go through the roof, Democrats wanted heads on pikes. I'll confess - so did I. But here's where I differ from the Democrats. Maxine Waters let the proverbial cat out of the bag when she said last summer that she wanted to "socialize" the oil industry. She meant "nationalize" but it all amounts to the same thing. For Democrats, government is always their stock in trade answer to all of society's ills. I'm sorry, but I can't go there. Government doesn't actually produce anything. When they buy and sell things like subprime mortgages [as Fannie and Freddie did], they screw that up. Where does government get its money from? YOU!!! Every paycheck you earn, Uncle Sam takes a bite. Every April 15th you have the privilege of filing income tax returns and, if you're lucky, you might get some of YOUR money back.

Where do Republicans stand? They don't want more regulations. They will be accused by their opponents of being in bed with Wall Street and "Big Business" for this stance.

Here's a novel idea - how about the "regulators" doing their damn jobs and actually enforcing the regulations that are already on the books? I don't see how more bureaucracy will make anything better, but I do see how stricter enforcement of the rules by those charged with doing so can help avoid further financial calamity.

In 2003 and 2005, Republicans warned us about the crisis that we're currently in. They produced legislation [Senate Bill S.190] that would put more restrictions on what Fannie and Freddie could do. This bill was killed by Congressional Democrats who were getting campaign contributions from Fannie and Freddie. That means YOU, Christopher Dodd. That means YOU, Barack Obama. But don't take my word for it. Do some research of your own, as I have. Here is an interesting video that interest you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o

If the link doesn't work, cut & paste it to your browser.

First the mortgages, then the banks. What will the government take over next? Who will they "bail out" with YOUR money? Will the government take over health care? Will we have Stalin's dream of "Socialism in one country"? I sure as hell hope not!

Should this "bail out" go through, I intend to write to my Congressman and ask for a "bail out" of my own. That seems to be the thing to do these days. When in doubt or you're in over your head, have the government take care of you. Our Founding Fathers would cringe at what is going on today.

Rick Wright – RIP

2008-09-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

In 1994, Carol and I had the great fortune to see Pink Floyd in concert [twice]. To this day, those two shows are the best concerts we’ve ever seen, and we’ve seen a lot of them. I bring this up because one of the founding members, keyboardist Rick Wright, died today . One of the first albums I bought that wasn’t a Beatles album was Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. I fell in love with its sounds immediately. One of my all-time favorite songs is one for which he wrote the music called Us and Them. He wrote the instrumental The Great Gig in the Sky, a powerful piece of music that, with incredible wordless vocals from Clare Torry, effortlessly captures the lamentations on the subject of death. Awhile ago DSOTM was part of the UK “Classic Album” series. It’s shown on VH1 Classic from time to time. All the members of Pink Floyd told of how the album was made. By far [in my mind at least] the most interesting bits were the parts of how Rick Wright came up with the music for the two songs I just mentioned. Roger Waters, who is notorious for being stingy with giving credit where it is due, gave Rick Wright high praise for the work he did on DSOTM.

His keyboard sounds had as much to do with the Pink Floyd sound as David Gilmour’s guitar and Roger Waters’ lyrics. Wright and Gilmour both gave Pink Floyd’s music its atmospheric quality. Many would call it spacey or otherworldly. I just call it great headphone music. One can only look to two albums to tell how much Rick Wright meant to the Pink Floyd sound. The one Floyd album without Rick, The Final Cut, sounds nothing like a Pink Floyd album, whereas The Division Bell, one of the two albums done without Roger Waters, sounds just fine and very Floydian without Roger. One cannot imagine how Meddle, Wish You Were Here, DSOTM, or even Animals would sound without the sounds of Rick Wright. His contributions to Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Time and Echoes are essential. While David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Syd Barrett get the credit for making Pink Floyd the legends that they are, one can subtract the sounds of Rick Wright and find the answer to Roger Waters’ question – “Oh by the way/Which one’s Pink?” The soundscapes that put Pink Floyd on the map in the first place belong to Rick Wright, and for that, Carol and I are eternally grateful.

Thank you for everything, Rick. Your journey to “the Great Gig in the Sky” came way too soon. Rest in Peace.

It's Mark's Birthday...

2008-09-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

My youngest son, Mark, turns 9 on Monday. Unfortunately I won't be here that day to celebrate. My job will be taking me away to New Mexico for that week. We'll celebrate before I leave. Every year I can't help but remember how hard it was for us to have Mark come into our lives. We had been trying to have Greg for over eight years, and had to go to the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk, VA for help. We are forever grateful to Dr Suheil Muashar, our doctor. We thought that since we had so much trouble having Greg [our oldest], he would be an only child. Imagine our surprise at the end of January 1999 when Carol discovered she was pregnant again.

About this time nine years ago, I was getting ready to get out of the Air Force after twelve years' service. I was scheduled to come here to Florida for a job interview. It was the third week of August 1999 and I got a phone call at work. It was Carol, who was eight months pregnant at the time. She called to tell me my mom, who lived in Southern California [Seal Beach] near my sister, had a really bad stroke and that she wasn't expected to survive. I got the call because my sister Judy couldn't be reached [more on that later]. My dad had many problems at the time, the worst of which was he couldn't be left at the house alone over the weekend. He just wasn't all there upstairs. After talking with my mom's caregiver, I drove from Beale AFB, CA down to Seal Beach to look after my dad [it's almost a 500-mile drive]. Against my better judgement, Carol and Greg came with me. She didn't want to be left alone while she was carrying Mark. It wasn't a difficult pregnancy, but it wasn't exactly a smooth one either.

So we made the drive down to Seal Beach. As I pulled into the parking lot, mom's caregiver met me at the car to tell me that it was too late - my mom died two hours before I got there. This was a Saturday. I take comfort in knowing that the last time I spoke with Mom was 4 days prior, and that our conversation was a happy one [mom had her stroke two days later]. I went to see my dad, who was somewhat lucid. He had moments of lucidity, and other, more frequent moments of not knowing who I was. He didn't get around very well [he needed a walker to get around], and sometimes he fell.

I drove the ten miles from my parents' place to my sister's house. There was nobody home, so I left a note on their door to call me immediately at Mom & Dad's. I went to see Judy's next-door neighbor to ask where I might find her. They told me Judy had to go down to San Diego because her husband's younger brother died and they were attending his funeral. When it rains it pours I guess. We ended up spending the night with Dad. That was no piece of cake because Dad had a habit of getting up in the middle of the night and wandering around aimlessly.

Fortunately, Judy came home the next day and called me. I told her what happened, and she immediately took over handling dad's affairs [including finding him a nursing home and sorting out their financial affairs]. Then I had to make all the phone calls to the rest of the family to give them the news. Amidst all this tension, Carol went into pre-term labor. I was thinking "what else could go wrong this week?" There was a very good chance Carol would have Mark while we were in Southern California. I had to put Carol in the hospital because she had already dilated to 5 centimeters. If she dilated anymore than that, they would induce labor and Carol would have the baby there. I spent that night with Carol in the hospital. She didn't dilate any further, so she was released with strict orders to take it easy. We had to stay in Southern California for a week. They wanted to give Mark another week to grow inside Carol's womb. When that week was over, she was told she could travel back home, but not by car. The doctor told her the baby was going to come fast when the time came, and for her to go back by car was extremely risky. I booked her a flight home. I took Greg back to Beale by car, and Carol would follow me the next day. Before we headed back north, Judy and I put Dad in a nursing home. When I said goodbye to Dad, I had a feeling that this was going to be the last time I would see him. I thought he would last only six months after Mom died. Sadly, that scenario came to pass. Almost exactly six months after Mom died, Dad joined her.

After Carol came home, we went to see her obstetrician. He did the exam and said "we'll induce you tomorrow." The drive from Beale to the hospital in Yuba City is about 15 miles, and since Mark would come quickly after labor started, the doctor chose to induce instead in order to have a more-controlled environment. He did the exam and told us Carol was still stuck on 5 centimeters. He gave her something to calm her anxiety. So we went home to find arrangements for Greg for the next day [he was 3 1/2 at the time].

The next morning we dropped Greg at the babysitter's place, and we went to the hospital to have Mark. When we got there, a nurse said "we were told to expect someone dilated to 7 centimeters." Seven centimeters? WTF? Then we saw the doctor and he said "I lied, but I didn't want to worry you." Apparently Mark was hanging on by his toenails [that was the mental picture, anyway].

Everything went fine in the delivery room. The doctor and I were cracking jokes to one another during the whole thing, much to Carol's annoyance, but it was a relaxed atmosphere nonetheless. But one thing though- the doctors were right - Mark came very quickly. Carol had to push for only ten minutes and plop! - there he was. He was very orange so we had to put him under the UV lights for awhile to get rid of the billirubin. But the hard part was over. Mark was born and we could finally exhale, given the events of the previous two weeks. This experience came in handy. When I finally got to interview for the job I currently have, the interviewer told me "given what you've been through the last two weeks, I don't need to ask you the 'How well do handle pressure' question." So I guess what doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

A month after Mark was born, we moved to Florida. He's made me very proud ever since. He had some anxiety problems when he was 5 that put me on anti-depressants [which I'm still on]. At first he was diagnosed as being bi-polar, which scared the crap out of both Carol and me. Luckily that diagnosis was incorrect. But ever since he started school [he's a third-grader now], he's done very well in school. But more importantly, he's a happy, bright and very clever little boy who, along with older brother Greg, make everything worth it. We love them both very much and don't know what our lives would be like without them.

So tomorrow, Mark gets to see what loot he got for surviving another year, he'll get to eat cheesecake, and he'll get dinner [probably LOTS of shrimp] at Red Lobster or Olive Garden. Happy Birthday Mark. I love you!

My Friend Cheryl

2008-08-23T22:07:00.000-07:00

About four years ago, my job brought me in contact with a lady who has become a very good friend. Her name is Cheryl. We've been friends since early 2004 while she was stationed in New Mexico. She's a career Air Force intelligence officer. She is one of the smartest people that I know. She's married to a good man named Ellis and has two children - Claire and Caleb. She and her family have since moved to the Tidewater area in Virginia, but we have stayed in touch.

Why do I bring her up? About a month ago out of the blue I received a phone call from her. She told me "I have breast cancer." Suddenly everything that I had been dealing with on a professional level became extremely trivial. When we spoke she sounded like she was dealing with her diagnosis very well. I'm not sure how I would deal with such a thing. One never knows until you hear the words "you have cancer." Those are words I hope to never hear. My brother has heard them, and my "little sister" Jean has heard them. I'm happy to say they are both cancer-free.

Cheryl has a blog where she shares with all who care to read her about trials and tribulations in fighting [and beating] breast cancer. If you read this page, please go over to Cheryl's page and see how she's doing. She can be found at http://cherylsbreastcancerblog.blogspot.com. You'll have to cut-and-paste the URL into your browser since I seem to be autistic when it comes to making links to other websites.

I can sum up Cheryl's attitude thusly - she is going to kick cancer's ass! She says that when she turns 40 she is going to have on helluva party. I have no doubt in both cases.

The Russians – They’re Back!

2008-08-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

As an old “SAC-trained killer” I’ve often expressed that I “missed” the Russians since the end of the Cold War. During the Cold War, we knew who the bad guys were. We had a reason for being, we had an enemy in Soviet Communism. These guys were big, bad, and they had thousands of nukes pointed right at us. Then the Berlin Wall came down the day before my birthday in November 1989. Suddenly peace broke out everywhere, the Cold War was over, the Republicans became victims of their own success, and we got stuck with Bill Clinton as our Commander-in-Chief for eight long years [yes, Bush-haters, I know EXACTLY how you feel having had to live through the Clintonian Reign of Error]. When 9/11 happened I thought to myself, while stranded in Yuba City, California until the planes could fly again, that we had a new Cold War on our hands. Only this time it wasn’t the Russians but Al Qaeda. We had a real enemy, and this time they were “at the gates.” However, as of August 8th I think we’ve seen the rebirth of the “Real McCoy.”

A couple of days ago The Messiah [The One] lamented off-camera [but not out of microphone range] that the Russians followed our example when they went into Georgia two weeks ago. He was alluding to what we’ve done in Iraq. To give The Messiah [The One] his due, he’s half-right. The Russians have emulated our behavior, but not in Iraq - Kosovo. The parallels between what we and NATO did in Kosovo and what the Russians did in Georgia are astounding. In every article that has been written about Russia’s incursion into Georgia, replace the word “Russia” with the word “NATO,” “South Ossetia” with “Kosovo,” and “Georgia” with “Serbia” and you get to get the picture.

During Operation Allied Force [“OAF” – we certainly did act like a bunch of OAFs], we attacked [without a declaration of war] a Russian ally [Serbia] in order to defend a group of people [Kosovars] who did not want to be part of Serbia. Fast forward nine years and the scenario is almost the same. Russia attacked [without a declaration of war] an ally of NATO and the United States [Georgia] in order to defend groups of people [Abkhazians and South Ossetians] who did not want to be part of Georgia. Neither we nor the Russians went to the United Nations for any official sanction. “What’s good for the goose” as people would say.

It need not have turned out this way. We have a Secretary of State who has been described as a “Russian expert." One would think that a “Russian expert” in charge of the State Department would provide a guiding hand in dealing with the Russians, but that hasn’t happened. First we junked the ABM Treaty [more on that later]. NATO then admitted former Warsaw Pact nations into NATO. These countries include the following: Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. NATO has also talked of inviting Ukraine and Georgia into the alliance. NATO is an alliance that was originally created during the Cold War as a containment mechanism against the spread of Soviet Communism. After admitting all these former Soviet client states to NATO, we said we wanted to deploy anti-ballistic missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic. Our stated reason was to defend Europe against rogue states such as Iran from attack by nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. Vladimir Putin suggested a joint US-Russian ABM operation in Azerbaijan. We said “thanks but no thanks.”

If I was in charge of Russia, these are developments would make me go “hmmm…” Historically the Russians have been weary of encirclement by enemies real and imagined. It has been that way for centuries, with attacks coming from the Mongols, the Swedes, the French, the Germans [twice], and our intervention in the 1918-21 Russian Civil War. The Russians are a paranoid lot, and with good reason. I’ve accused The Messiah [The One] of being ignorant of history, but the same can be said of the Bushies. At the risk of sounding like a Democrat, we need not have gone out of our way to piss off the Russians as we have since the end of the Cold War. With the events that transpired in Kosovo, the literal expansion of NATO to Russia’s doorstep and the talk of putting anti-ballistic missiles in Russia’s backyard, is it any wonder why the Russians reacted the way they did when Georgia’s president attacked South Ossetia?

I’ve seen this movie before. I didn’t like it the first time, and I don’t like it now.

Hey Republicans - Wanna Win the Election?

2008-07-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

The conventional wisdom this election year is that the Democrats will win the White House and also add to their majorities in both houses of Congress. Here's one way the Republicans can mitigate that prospect. People are really pissed off at having to pay $4/gallon for gasoline. If the Republicans had any guts, here's what they would do - President Bush could call a special session of Congress immediately after Congress recesses in August. He has the authority granted to him by the Constitution. He could be very public and call them back to work to do one thing - approve off-shore oil drilling. He is not on the ballot this year. He's got nothing to lose - he's bulletproof.

The Republican leader of the House claims he has the votes to get such legislation passed. Nancy Pelosi won't schedule a vote. Instead of whining about that fact as he has been, John Boehner should get a discharge petition together [it takes only 218 votes to make it happen] and force Madame Speaker to have a vote. If he has the votes he says he has, that shouldn't be a problem. If they have the vote and lose, then the Republicans can put the onus on the Democrats to defend their inaction. The Republicans should hammer the Democrats daily that they don't feel your pain at the pump. The Democrats haven't done squat since they regained control of Congress two years ago. Put the Democrats on the defensive. Make THEM explain why they won't take any action to ease your pain.

These actions would require the Republicans to grow a spine to actually make this happen. I for one will not hold my breath, but I can always dream.

Why I’m a Republican

2008-07-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

I first became a Republican for two primary reasons – my mom and Jimmy Carter. When I was growing up, Richard Nixon was president. In my mom’s eyes, Richard Nixon was the very embodiment of evil. Everything bad that happened was his fault [sound familiar?]– just ask my mom, she would tell you. Every time his face appeared on TV she would start screaming at it. If she was alive today she would be doing the same thing about George W. Bush. My dad would sometimes join in the scream fest, which was interesting considering my dad didn’t say much about anything to anybody. Yes – Richard Nixon was a crook, but my parents didn’t have to make a nightly production out of it. Then came Jimmy Carter, an honest man from the South. My parents thought he had hung the Moon. They thought of him the same way many people think of Barack Obama today. In my house, Jimmy Carter was the Second Coming.

I was just a kid at the time, but I do know that while Jimmy Carter was president, things went to hell in a hurry. Prices for everything went through the roof; interest rates were at levels that until then only loan sharks charged, the Communists were on the march all over Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The Ayatollah’s minions took 52 hostages at our embassy in Iran and there wasn’t a damn thing we could do about it. The Russians invaded Afghanistan and all Jimmy Carter could do was to boycott the Olympics. Our military fell apart, resulting in the “hollow force”. All of these things happened and instead of coming up with solutions, Carter attributed all the bad things happening to a “crisis in confidence” in the American people. The American people had confidence, just not in Jimmy Carter. Maybe that’s why he lost his re-election bid by over 400 electoral votes. Toward the end of Jimmy Carter’s term I was getting old enough to understand what was going on in world events, and I didn’t like what I was seeing. What I saw was Jimmy Carter planting a big wet one on Leonid Brezhnev’s cheek. Democrats in general and Jimmy Carter in particular were quick to take the Russians’ word on everything. To them, words spoke louder than actions. It was at this time that the “blame America first” crowd took over the Democratic Party. This same attitude stills control the Democratic Party today. It was only the invasion of Afghanistan that made the scales fall from their eyes. But that wake-up call was not to last for very long. There are many more reasons why I am a Republican.

The next time a Democrat was in charge it was Bill Clinton. In 1992, I had made up my mind that I wasn’t going to vote for George Bush because he blamed the LA riots on the Great Society. Instead of trying to fix the problem, Bush blamed a president [LBJ] who had been dead for almost 20 years. So I gave Clinton a look. He promised a middle-class tax cut, and he promised he would “end welfare as we know it.” Then came the issue of his avoiding service in Vietnam. I didn’t care so much that he avoided service [others of his generation did – Dick Cheney comes to mind], but in doing so he claimed his “loathing of the military.” As a member of the Air Force at that time, I wasn’t particularly keen on being loathed by anybody, especially someone who was going to be my next Commander-in-Chief. For that, Clinton lost my vote. I didn’t get my middle-class tax cut until George W. Bush became president. Clinton did fulfill his promise on welfare, but only during his re-election campaign in 1996 after he had twice vetoed the same welfare bill the Republican-controlled Congress sent him.

While the Soviet threat receded into history and the Cold War ended, another threat loomed on the horizon: Islamo-fascist terrorism. Bill Clinton and the Democrats did next to nothing about terrorism. I will credit the Clinton Administration in foiling the Millennium Plot in 2000. Other than that, however, Clinton’s anti-terrorism record is lacking. Muslim terrorists tried to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993. There was no response from Clinton. He never even visited the World Trade Center after the incident. Terrorists blew up the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 of my fellow brothers-in-arms. Clinton’s response? Nothing. The FBI Director, Louis Freeh, had to call Clinton’s predecessor, George Bush, to talk to the Saudis to get them to cooperate with the investigation. I guess Bill was too busy with Monica then. Al Qaeda blew up our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and 1998. Clinton’s response was to lob a few cruise missiles at abandoned Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory. Al Qaeda attacked and nearly sank the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000. Seventeen sailors died in the attack. Clinton’s response? Nothing. The Clinton Administration actively prohibited US law enforcement and intelligence agencies from sharing information. This was the now-infamous “Gorelick Wall” that was exposed during the 9/11 Commission hearings. Are these the efforts of a man who claimed after he left office that he worked as hard as he could to stop terrorism? If this was his best effort, I shudder to think what his worst effort would have been like.

Democrats are still in denial about the “war on terrorism.” They have forgotten that Muslim terrorists killed 3,000 of our people on 9/11. They think the best way to deal with terrorists is to arrest them and put them on trial. I disagree – the best way to deal with them is to kill them and eliminate them. They have no problem with Islamo-fascists who would like nothing better than to kill us and build a bridge back to the seventh century. They and their fellow travelers at the ACLU care more about the rights of terrorists than they do about keeping us safe. Like the Clintonian holiday from history in the 1990s, today’s Democrats would rather close their eyes and wish the whole terrorism thing would just “go away.” They would bring a knife to a gunfight.

Democrats want to raise your taxes on gasoline. Gas prices are hovering around $4/gallon, but the Democrats think you aren’t paying enough. The Messiah isn’t sad about today’s gas prices. The only thing that saddens him is that the price hike wasn’t “gradual enough.” The Democrats don’t want to drill for more oil. They, who claim to be champions of democracy, won't even allow a vote in Congress on the issue. They say that it would take at least ten years for any oil to get to market. They said that ten years ago, too. Just think about how much oil would be on the market today if we were allowed to drill offshore ten years ago. It could be a lot, it could be a little, but at least there would be more oil available. They don’t want nuclear power. They say they want wind power, but just ask the Kennedys about the proposed windmill farm off Hyannis Port [here’s a clue – they don’t like the idea because it would intrude upon their sailing and spoil their view]. They don’t want coal, something that we have in abundance. Harry Reid says “it makes us sick.” Hey Harry, ever hear of clean-burning coal? I thought not.

I’m all for finding cleaner alternative sources of energy, but you have to have something in hand already before you get there. I would dearly love to put Hugo Chavez and the rest of OPEC out of business. It sickens me that this country is so dependent on the kindness of despots in order for our economy to thrive. The Democrats would rather have everyone suffer the pain and agony of $8/gallon gas first. They think if it’s good for the Europeans, it should be good for us. The fallacy of that argument is that Europe has a very good public transportation system, while we do not. That needs to be fixed. They like biofuels. Too bad it makes the price of food go up. They don’t want shale oil. Colorado Senator Ken Salazar thinks it’s a big land grab by oil companies, justifying his remarks by saying the technology isn’t ready to extract oil from shale. To give Jimmy Carter his due in SOMETHING, that was an idea he had in the 1970s. We need to get at as many sources of energy that we can right now AND invest in future technologies to be able to ween ourselves off of oil. It's not an either/or situation - we have to do both.

The Democrats think we should unilaterally cripple our economy in order to adhere to the Kyoto Protocol while China and India can do anything they want. They tell us to give up our cars and use mass transit or bicycles while they stick to their gas-guzzling SUVs. They think carbon dioxide is a pollutant, even though we exhale it every time we breathe. Plants, like those in the rainforests they claim they want to save, can’t live without it. They prefer to live in big mansions that soak up electricity like a sponge. They fly around in their private jets while the rest of us fly in coach or [gasp!] drive. They don’t prefer to lead by example. Their mantra is “do as I say, not as I do.” Ever hear the term “limousine liberal”?

Then there is "the nanny state." One of our Founding Fathers [I believe it was Thomas Jefferson] once said the government that governs the best governs the least. Today's Democratic Party does not subscribe to this notion. They believe government is the solution to all of society's ills. They don't believe in personal responsibility. They do not believe that people can take care of themselves. They believe that government can spend YOUR money more wisely than you. Queen Hillary was quoted a few years ago saying “we’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.” I'm sorry, but did we win the Cold War against Communism [the root word of which is "common"] only to have it take root in our own society?

Democrats favor illegal immigration. What part of the word "illegal" do they not understand? They believe that illegal immigrants should get amnesty instead of being sent back to where they came from. They believe in spending YOUR money to provide government services to people who are in this country illegally.

I do not think the war in Iraq was a mistake, but I do think it was poorly planned and even more poorly executed. Democrats who oppose the Iraq War say that Saddam Hussein was contained, kept in a box, was not a threat to us. Serbia was not a threat to us either, yet we attacked them without UN approval like we did in Iraq. Do I think George Bush lied about getting us into Iraq? No, but I do think the Intelligence Community screwed the pooch big time in getting the WMD almost completely wrong. I say "almost" because over 500 metric tons of yellow-cake uranium were taken out of Iraq this month. What was Saddam Hussein going to do with that uranium? He could not power his country with it, that's for sure.

These are many of the reasons why I am a Republican.

For the record, I am not a religious zealot. I am not a racist, sexist bigot. I am pro-choice. I don’t care if gays are in the military. I don’t care if gays marry either. I do not want to get the government out of your pocketbook only for it to get into your bedroom. I also believe marijuana shouldn't be criminalized [in case you're wondering, I don't smoke it - never will]. A libertarian slant? Perhaps, but you definitely won't find any libertarians in the Democratic Party.

Hey Barack - Grow a Pair!

2008-07-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

What a week it has been for the presumptive Democratic nominee. First, race pimp Jesse Jackson makes himself even more irrelevant. He hands Barack Obama a “Sister Souljah” moment when he gets caught saying he wants to castrate Mr Obama for “talking down to black people.” Then The New Yorker puts out this cover of Barack and Michelle Obama which makes fun of how some of the right wing supposedly views them. Keep in mind The New Yorker is a left-of-center magazine, the writers and readers thereof who have no use for those of us in “flyover country.” Barack is depicted as a Muslim, wearing a turban and sandals. Michelle is depicted as the second coming of Angela Davis, complete with big afro, camouflage pants, AK-47 and a bandolero. They’re doing the “fist bump” in the Oval Office, with an American flag burning in the fireplace, above which hangs a portrait of Osama bin Laden. The Obama campaign is displeased. They’re offended. Their feelings are hurt. They think it’s “tasteless and offensive.” Apparently we hayseeds don’t get the joke and really do think Barack Obama is an unpatriotic Muslim jihadist bent on the destruction of the Republic. After all, pictures do speak louder than words. C’mon guys, grow a pair so Jesse can “cut them out.” I thought the only people who reacted angrily to cartoons were Muslim extremists. If you guys can’t take a joke from your own side of the political fence, how will you react when Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad refer to you as the “Great Satan”?

Two months ago George W. Bush made a speech to the Israeli Knesset. When he said “some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals,” the Obama camp immediately thought Bush was talking about their Messiah. They called it an "extraordinary politicization of foreign policy." They decried Bush’s questioning of their Messiah’s patriotism. The Messiah himself labeled this line as a “personal attack.” Funny thing is Bush never mentioned anybody by name. Me thinks they doth protest too much. What was that Phil Gramm said about us being a “nation of whiners?” The Messiah and his minions are whining a lot these days. Maybe Queen Hillary was right when she labeled the Messiah an "elitist". He seems to think that the "great unwashed" aren't sophisticated enough to get the joke. The joke is on you, Barack. Your fellow travelers at The New Yorker aimed their blast at conservatives and hit you instead. Try blaming THAT on the vast right-wing conspiracy. Dennis Miller put it this way: "I don't ever notice the color of his skin. I do notice the thinness of it, though."

The Other Boleyn Girl

2008-06-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

We saw this movie over the weekend. This movie was based on the novel of the same name, which is loosely based on the life of Mary Boleyn. Her sister was Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife. While the book is the tale of Mary Boleyn, this movie is really the tale of two sisters. At the beginning, we see three very young children at play. The three children were George, Anne, and Mary Boleyn. While the children were playing, their parents, Thomas Boleyn and Lady Elizabeth Howard, are seen discussing the marriage prospects of both their daughters. Even at this early date, Thomas Boleyn was already thinking about how he could marry his daughters off to young men above their own social status so he could climb the social ladder himself. Lady Elizabeth’s brother, the Duke of Norfolk, was even more despicable when it comes to using his nieces for his own personal gain. This was a reflection of the times when women were treated no better (and sometimes worse) than livestock. Both Thomas Boleyn and the Duke of Norfolk pimped the Boleyn sisters in order to gain social status for themselves. Lady Elizabeth did nothing to stop them. Perhaps in Tudor England she couldn’t do anything, but in the movie she uttered nary a peep in objection. In fact, she told Anne that the key to getting ahead in Tudor society is to guide men to do what women want and make them think it was the man’s idea. Only when her son George is executed and her daughter Anne is about to be executed did she express any kind of outrage to her husband and her brother about what happened to her children.

Most of the rest of the characters were vile in their own way. They had little if any redeeming value. Mary started out to be a good girl, and when it was suggested by her father and her uncle that she sleep with Henry VIII, she resisted the idea. But when she finally did the deed, she fell for Henry and forgot about her then-husband, William Carey. Carey was pretty spineless during this whole deal. Henry VIII bribed William Carey with a job at the king’s court, so he didn’t object to his wife becoming the king’s mistress. Anne threw a hissy fit because she thought she should have been the king’s mistress instead of her sister. Henry VIII was the most vile character of them all. His desire to produce a male heir in order to leave a strong ruler for England had the effect of having his libido be the driving force during his reign. He used and abused indiscriminately. He fathered a son with Mary Boleyn and concluded that his lack of a male heir was Queen Catherine’s fault. But after Mary became pregnant, Henry dumped her and focused his affections on her sister Anne, who more than willingly encouraged Henry. She didn’t want to sleep with Henry until he got rid of Catherine. She didn’t want any of her children with Henry to carry the “bastard” tag like Mary’s son. She didn’t care that Henry had to break with the Catholic Church in order for Henry to marry her.
Of all the characters in this tale of duplicity, lust, greed and power, there was only one redeeming character – Catherine of Aragon. Her only sin [in Henry VIII’s eyes] was not producing a male heir. What a shame that people didn’t know then as we know now that it is the father, not the mother that determines the sex of unborn children. The best scene in the movie happened when Henry put Catherine on trial, and she told him that no matter what Henry decided, she would only trust the one word that matters: the word of God. I couldn’t help but think thing to myself “what just happened here is that Catherine told Henry to go f*** himself.”

When Anne had Elizabeth, Henry had visions of Anne being just like Catherine – unable to produce a male heir. Anne’s paranoia so blinded her that she connived to have her own brother sleep with her to produce a son. George’s wife Jane, whom he despised and never slept with, witnessed George going into Anne’s bedroom and concluded they were going to sleep together. George couldn’t bring himself to do the deed, but the damage had already been done. Jane told Henry about what she saw, and Anne’s fate was sealed. Anne Boleyn was caught in the trap of her own making. She and her brother were tried, convicted and executed for treason, adultery and incest. Her uncle the Duke of Norfolk was one of the judges who found her guilty. Nice guy…not.

Mary somewhat redeemed herself when she promised Anne she would take care of Elizabeth. After Anne’s execution, Mary took Elizabeth from the king’s court and went to live in the country. This was the life she wanted all along before her father and uncle used her. Shortly thereafter her relocation to the country, Mary is joined by William Stafford. They married and lived happily ever after. The movie ended the same way it began, with three very young children at play. The setting was the same, but the children were different. They were Mary Boleyn’s bastard son by Henry VIII, her son with her husband William Stafford, and Anne Boleyn’s daughter by Henry VIII, Elizabeth.

Just before the end credits began rolling, there were notes about what happens to each of the surviving characters. Of interest, one note said that Henry need not have worried about producing a strong heir to succeed him, as he unknowingly had already done so – his daughter Elizabeth. This movie depicted Tudor-era English males as spineless, mealy-mouthed social climbers, so it’s no wonder that a woman like Elizabeth would emerge as such a strong leader in her time.

In typical Hollywood fashion, the film’s creators never let the facts get in the way of telling a good story. The historical record showed that Mary’s first husband William Carey died eight years into their marriage. In the movie he just disappears unexplained. The movie depicts Mary as a sweet innocent, corrupted only after she arrived at King Henry’s court. Historically, she had a reputation for being easy with her virtue while she lived in France. The fact she lived in France at all is never depicted in the film. The movie showed Mary and William Stafford married after Anne Boleyn’s execution, but in fact they married in secret while Anne was still alive. According to the movie, Mary saw Anne frequently while Anne was awaiting trial and execution. In fact, Mary never came to see her siblings while they were imprisoned. This was a good movie, but not great. It’s full of inaccuracies, but I liked it anyway.

Desert Island Discs

2008-06-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

Over the years I’ve listened to the BBC and read its web pages. One thing that usually catches my eye (or ears) is a feature called Desert Island Discs. The BBC asks the question of famous musicians: if you were stranded on a deserted island and you had only 10 compact discs for entertainment, what would they be? I’m not a famous musician, but here are my Desert Island Discs [in no particular order]:

1. Abbey Road, The Beatles [1969] – Released in September 1969, this is the last album The Beatles recorded as a group. They could barely stand to be in the same room together. After Brian Epstein died in 1967, the group began to have problems. John was an acid casualty and unknowingly abdicated his leadership of the group to Paul. In the opinions of the other three, Paul became overly bossy, was an egotistical perfectionist, and took a disproportionate amount of time to get his songs the way he wanted them. Their company, Apple, was losing money faster than they could earn it. Ringo quit the group for two weeks during the making of the White Album in 1968. After Paul told him one time too many how to play something on one of his songs, George quit the group briefly during the making of Let It Be in the winter of 1969, a period George once decribed as the “winter of our discontent.” John lost interest in The Beatles after he met Yoko Ono. Yet despite all this, The Beatles managed to pull off one final, almost perfect album. This album boasts the songs Come Together, Something, and Here Comes the Sun. The songwriting is top-notch [even Ringo threw in Octopus’s Garden], the music is well-recorded, the harmonies are spot-on, and the guys are playing their best. All the guys got to show off their chops on The End, including a rare drum solo from Ringo. If this album has one weakness, it is Paul’s song Maxwell’s Silver Hammer. I don’t care much for it, and apparently John, George and Ringo didn’t think much of it either. If these guys were at each others’ throats, it didn’t show in the music. John left the band days after the album’s release, so this was their swan song. I never tire of listening to it.

2. Who’s Next, The Who [1971] – By far the best album of The Who’s career. It started off as a science-fiction concept double album in the mind of Pete Townshend. This concept was called Lifehouse. It was the story of a world ruined by pollution and where rock music was outlawed. Pete couldn’t get the rest of the group to understand the concept, and after much effort the concept fell apart. But it was not a total loss. From the ashes of Lifehouse came the single album Who’s Next. The songs are iconic and, rightly or wrongly, staples of classic rock radio: Baba O’Riley [Carol’s favorite Who song], Bargain, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won’t Get Fooled Again [my favorite Who song]. All of these songs were central to the Lifehouse story, and since they came from Pete Townshend, they’re pretty serious. Amidst all this seriousness though is John Entwistle’s My Wife. In its own way, macabre and devilshy funny, My Wife is the tale of a paranoid man who fears his wife is going to kill him or otherwise do him serious bodily harm because he’s been out drinking with his friends for days. In order to survive, our hero seeks to hire police protection, a personal bodyguard who’s a black belt judo expert and carries a machine gun, and get a tank and an airplane for good measure. My Wife isn’t part of the Lifehouse story, but it is hilarious comic relief and an excellent absurdist counterpoint to Pete Townshend’s more serious concerns. In a striking departure from the standard guitar-bass-drums formula, The Who incorporated synthesizers into their sound. One cannot imagine what Baba O’Riley would sound like without the synthesizer introduction. Since Who’s Next came out as a single album, other songs recorded for the stillborn Lifehouse project didn’t see the light of day until a year later when they appeared as singles or rarities on Odds and Sods [Join Together, The Relay, Pure and Easy, Let’s See Action (Nothing Is Everything)]. As a testament to the quality of the songs, The Who [or rather what’s left of them] still play them live today. They’re all on my iPod too.

3. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac [1977] – More iconic songs that became ingrained in the conciousness of those who grew up in the 1970s. This album is the result of the turmoil that engulfed the band during its recording. It’s the old true oft-told story - John and Christie McVie separated [soon to be divorced], Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks broke up, and Mick Fleetwood separated from his wife. There was strife in abundance, and this strife is reflected in the songs: Go Your Own Way, Dreams, You Make Loving Fun, Second Hand News, etc. The songwriters in the band poured their wounded feelings into the music. This album is the sound of hearts breaking, but it makes for good music.

4. The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd [1973] – The Floyd hit the proverbial motherlode with this one. This album struck the perfect balance between the lyrics of Roger Waters and the music of David Gilmour and Richard Wright. The themes – money, death, madness, time. The songs – Money, Time, Us and Them, The Great Gig in the Sky, Breathe. As a bonus, sound effects and spoken word snippets. The ultimate headphone album. Need I say more?

5. Electric Ladyland, The Jimi Hendrix Experience [1968] – Jimi Hendrix’s masterpiece. Right behind The Dark Side of the Moon in the utlimate headphone album sweepstakes. This one took six months to record. By today’s standards that is no time at all to record an album, but in the 1960s six months was an eternity. When one listens to Electric Ladyland, one gets the feeling the six months needed to record it was time well spent. There’s the fifteen-minute live-in-the-studio blues of Voodoo Chile [with Steve Winwood and Jack Casady]. There’s the classic three-minute single of Crosstown Traffic, the psychedelia of Burning the Midnight Lamp, the thirteen-minute soundscape 1983, and the FM radio staples All Along the Watchtower and Voodoo Child [Slight Return]. A must-have for any CD collection.

6. The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East, The Allman Brothers Band [1971] - This is the one with Statesboro Blues. Recorded live over several nights at New York’s Fillmore East in March 1971, this is the album that provided the Allman Brothers their first big break. It captures the original six-piece band firing on all cylinders in their natural environment, the concert stage. The Brothers could record three to five-minute studio songs fairly well, but this album catches the Brothers at their improvisational best. The original release contained only seven songs, but two of those songs stretched out over nineteen minutes [You Don’t Love Me, Whipping Post], a third song goes thirteen minutes [the scintillating instrumental In Memory of Elizabeth Reed], and there’s one eight-minute slow blues tune from T-Bone Walker [Stormy Monday]. There was so much material recorded during these shows, some of the songs had to be held over for the next ABB album, Eat a Peach. Those songs included the Muddy Waters tune Trouble No More, the epic thirty-three minute Mountain Jam, and the Sonny Boy Williamson song that got me hooked on the Allman Brothers in the first place, One Way Out. The live songs from Eat a Peach have since been included on the deluxe version of Fillmore East. This gives the listener the full audio experience of what an Allman Brothers concert was like in the early 1970s. You don’t get to see the light show or the “twirlers” in the audience, but you don’t get the “contact high” from all the secondhand marijuana smoke either. This album is simply the Allman Brothers Band at its very best.

7. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, Derek and the Dominos [1970] – Eric Clapton meets Duane Allman in Miami and magic happens. By far this is EC's best post-Cream album. Never mind the title track, which everyone on the planet knows. You won't find a better version of Key to the Highway anywhere. EC's version of Have You Ever Loved a Woman rates with the version done by Freddie King. These two tunes are as good as Cream's cover of Sitting on Top of the World from Wheels of Fire. The other blues covers (It's Too Late and Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out) are stellar. The cover of Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing is so unlike the original you wouldn't know it was a Hendrix song. Anyone who has the guts to cover Hendrix and do it well deserves high praise. Sure, there's quite a few covers here, but there are some top-drawer originals as well. Bell Bottom Blues? There is not a better Clapton original anywhere (with the possible exception of "Badge"). The hidden gem on this CD is Anyday. Tell the Truth is a very good mid-tempo jam with Duane Allman playing slide as if his life depended on it. Then there's the aforementioned title track, which legendary producer Tom Dowd once described as "the national anthem." It doesn't get any better than this. Put this CD on the shelf right next to your Cream collection.

8. Empty Glass, Pete Townshend [1980] - Pete Townshend opens a vein and bleeds. Unlike previous conceptual works with The Who [Tommy, Lifehouse, Quadrophenia], this first proper solo album from Pete Townshend is a collection of songs about the state of Pete Townshend’s world. The same guy wrote penned the words “I hope I die before I get old” finds himself very much alive and not enjoying it very much. There’s Jools and Jim, where Pete shows his disdain for music critics [“they don’t give a shit Keith Moon is dead”]. The title track is Pete questioning the meaning of life [“Why was I born today/Life is useless like Ecclesiastes say”…], rueing the then-current state of his life [“My life’s a mess I wait for you to pass/I stand here at the bar I hold an empty glass…”]. There is light at the end of Pete’s tunnel though [“Don’t worry, smile and dance you just can’t work life out/Don’t let down moods entrance you, take the wine and shout!”]. Not all is doom and gloom in Pete Townshend’s world. The opening song, Rough Boys, is an open letter of affection to punk rockers everywhere. There is the lighthearted Let My Love Open the Door, which was a Top Ten hit for Pete (?!?). A Little Is Enough expresses the same kind of sentiment. This album is full of the energy that should have been on The Who’s two post-Moon albums Face Dances and It’s Hard. Empty Glass is every bit as good as Who’s Next.

9. All Things Must Pass, George Harrison [1970] – George Harrison’s first album after the breakup of The Beatles. This is the one with My Sweet Lord, Isn’t It a Pity, and What Is Life. John Lennon and Paul McCartney had such a stranglehold on the songwriting in The Beatles that George acquired a huge backlog of unrecorded songs. George came into his own as a songwriter with While My Guitar Gently Weeps [The White Album, 1968], and continued blossoming with his two songs from Abbey Road [Something, Here Comes the Sun] and the 1969 B-side Old Brown Shoe. On All Things Must Pass, George picked up where he left off from Abbey Road and produced four sides of Beatles-worthy songs, most of which concern themselves with George’s love affair with God. The title cut was thoroughly rehearsed by The Beatles themselves during the Let It Be sessions, but somehow missed the cut. This album includes an excellent cover of Bob Dylan’s If Not For You, which in my opinion is better than Dylan’s original. George also uses the Phil Spector “Wall of Sound” to great effect on this album [Phil Spector co-produced]. This is the best solo album from any Beatle – period.

10. American Beauty, The Grateful Dead [1970] – Issued the same year as its immediate predecessor Workingman’s Dead, this album continues Workingman’s Dead’s emphasis on songcraft. Gone are the wacked-out spacey jams of the first few Dead albums, American Beauty has a more rustic feel to it. The album kicks off with Phil Lesh’s Box of Rain, an ode to his dying father. This song is so good we awaken to it during the school year.American Beauty contains other Dead classics including Friend of the Devil, Ripple, Sugar Magnolia, and Truckin'. If you have to own one Dead album, this is it.

Emmylou Harris - An Appreciation

2008-06-22T00:30:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I got heavily into listening to the music of The Byrds. After finding their “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” CD, I picked up on Gram Parsons. Gram Parsons has been credited with inventing “country rock.” Gram Parsons didn’t like that term – neither do I because of the connotation lesser talents like The Eagles. He preferred the term “Cosmic American Music.” Gram Parsons’ music was more than just taking rock music and putting it into a country context. More like he took country music, which he loved since he was a teenager, and put it in a rock contest. Roger McGuinn once remarked that he thought that when he hired Gram Parsons, he was hiring just a piano player, but instead he got “George Jones in a Nudie suit.” “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” was Gram Parsons bringing country music kicking and screaming into rock. He also brought soul music, like the William Bell chestnut “You Don’t Miss Your Water”, and merged it with country, hence the term “Cosmic American Music.” After his short stint with The Byrds, Gram Parsons co-founded the Flying Burrito Brothers with Chris Hillman, also of The Byrds. Their first album “Gilded Palace of Sin” laid the blueprint of Gram Parsons’ “Cosmic American Music.” Gram Parsons lasted one more album with FBB [“Burrito Deluxe”] before Chris Hillman fired him. With little to do, Gram Parsons hung out with the Rolling Stones during the making of their last great album, “Exile on Main Street.” Soon afterwards, Gram Parsons set out on his own career under his own name. He had expressed to Chris Hillman that he wanted to find the perfect female singer with whom to harmonize. While in Baltimore, Chris Hillman found such a singer waiting tables and singing in a small club. That singer was Emmylou Harris.

Gram Parsons shortly thereafter contacted Emmylou, and soon she began her recording career in earnest. She recorded two albums with Gram Parsons – “GP” and “Grievous Angel.” Emmylou can be heard harmonizing with Gram Parsons on such songs as “Ooh Las Vegas”, “In My Hour of Darkness”, “Love Hurts”, and other country standards and Gram Parsons originals. Shortly after completing “Grievous Angel,” Gram Parsons died of a drug and alcohol overdose in Joshua Tree, California. Unexpectedly at a career crossroads, Emmylou had made friends with Linda Ronstadt. Linda Ronstadt persuaded Reprise Records (Gram Parsons’ label) to sign Emmylou to a record deal. It is reported that one condition of her being signed was that she have a “Hot Band.” Using many of the players whom she recorded with on Gram Parsons’ albums, she had her “Hot Band.” Her Hot Band has included the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Rodney Crowell, and Albert Lee. Her debut, “Pieces of the Sky”, was released in 1975. It contains Emmylou’s first tribute to her mentor Gram Parsons, “Boulder to Birmingham,” a song she still sings in concert today. She released many more albums on Reprise. In addition to “Pieces of the Sky”, I have “Elite Hotel”, “Luxury Liner”, “Blue Kentucky Girl”, and “The Ballad of Sally Rose”, a concept album that is loosely based on Emmylou’s relation ship with her late mentor Parsons. Emmylou Harris is not a prolific songwriter. She has admitted that songwriting does not come to her easily. She prefers to interpret the songs of others, including the likes of Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Townes Van Zant, the Beatles, the Louvin Brothers and, yes, Gram Parsons. Her career picked up where Gram Parsons’ left off so prematurely.

Since leaving Reprise, Emmylou has since recorded for Nonesuch Records. In doing so, she has pursued a more experimental direction, working with Daniel Lanois. Lanois is known for his work with U2, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan. She has worked not only with Lanois, but also the likes of Neil Young, Willie Nelson [“Teatro”], and Mark Knopfler [“All the Roadrunning”]. She has produced acclaimed work such as “Wrecking Ball”, “Red Dirt Girl”, and “Stumble Into Grace” [the last two containing mostly Emmylou Harris originals]. I have them – I think they’re great. They definitely aren’t the heavy metal fare I usually listen to. Country records these are not. They didn’t get any country radio airplay, but she got the attention of alternative rock listeners. She recorded for soundtracks of movies such as “O Brother Where Art Thou?” and “Cold Mountain.” She's released two "Trio" albums with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt. Two weeks ago she released her latest CD, “All I Intended To Be.” It's another good one. She has been awarded a dozen Grammy awards for her work in country music, and she was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame just this past February. She is highly respected throughout the music world, and rightly so.

Since her beginnings with Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris has followed his vision of "Cosmic American Music." She learned well from her mentor. If there is one word I can use to describe Emmylou Harris’ voice, it would be “flawless.” What more can one ask for from a performer? If you haven’t heard Emmylou’s work, you’re missing out on something special.

Great Truths

2008-06-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

These found their way into my email the other day...

GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT LIFE THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:
*No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
* When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
* If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
* You can't trust a dog to watch your food.
* Puppies still have bad breath, even after eating a Tic-Tac.
* Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
* You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
* Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT LIFE THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:
* Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
* Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
* Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.
* If you can remain calm, you don't have all the facts.
* Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's acorn that held its ground.
* My mind not only wanders; sometimes it leaves completely.
* One reason to smile is that every seven minutes of every day, someone in an aerobics class pulls a hamstring.
* God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now, I am so far behind I will live forever.

THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE:
1) You believe in Santa Claus.
2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.
3) You become Santa Claus. [That would be me...]
4) You start to look like Santa Claus.

Obama’s Promises – Part I

2008-06-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Now that both parties have “presumptive nominees, I intend to document their campaign promises and see if the candidates will actually do what they say they are going to do. Yesterday Barack Obama made a campaign stop in Wayne, PA. He told voters at a campaign rally about some specific things he would do if he was elected president. These things include:

1. Cutting taxes for the middle class ($1,000 tax cut for most working families);
2. Raising taxes on the wealthy (a new Social Security tax on incomes above $250,000);
3. A "windfall profits" tax on oil companies;
4. Pouring money into "green energy" (spend $150 billion over 10 years to establish a "green energy sector");
5. Require greater fuel efficiency in cars and devote more money to solar, wind, and biodiesel energy;
6. A $4,000 annual college tuition credit for those who commit to national or community service programs;
7. Requiring employers to set up retirement saving plans for their workers;
8. Put an end to income taxes for elderly people making less than $50,000 a year.

In 1992, when Bill Clinton first ran for president, one of his most oft-repeated promises was a “middle class tax cut.” Eight years of Bill Clinton’s administration went by, and there was no middle class tax cut to be found. That promise was conveniently forgotten. During the last half of the Clinton Administration, the US government had a budget surplus. This meant the government took in more money than it spent (our money, YOUR money – it’s NOT the government’s money), yet there was still no tax cut. Why? Who knows.... We didn’t get our middle class tax cut until George W. Bush became president in 2001.

Sixteen years later, Barack Obama is making the same promise of a “middle class tax cut.” If elected, will he keep that promise, or will he follow Bill Clinton's 1992 example and break it? When John McCain makes a similar promise, will this “principled maverick” keep his promise, or will he break it?

What I Think [This Week…]

2008-06-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of school. Mark and Greg are looking forward [as are their parents] to not getting up at 5:30 every morning to get ready for school.

I'm very proud of both of my boys. Mark made the Principal's List for the school year for having all A's for each quarter of the school year. Greg made the Honor Roll for the year for having all A's and B's for each quarter of the school year. We thought the first year of middle school was going to be very tough for Greg. We need not have worried. Both our boys had an awesome school year. Way to go guys! Your dad loves you and is very proud!

Yesterday we learned that Greg's 4th grade teacher, Mr Brown, is leaving us and going to Virginia to pursue other opportunities. He is Greg's all-time favorite teacher and was very good for him. He knew about kids who had Asperger's Syndrome [as Greg has] and was very understanding of Greg's needs and his quirks. He set high standards and held all of his students accountable for their actions. He made learning fun for Greg and the rest of his students. He also helped Greg wherever and whenever he could after he was no longer his teacher, and for that Carol and I are eternally grateful. We are saddened that he won't be around to teach Mark when he reaches the fourth grade, and Carol told him as much. Though we are sad to see him go, we are happy that he gets to go after new opportunities in life. He told Carol today he wants to be here when Greg graduates high school. We know that we won't have to hold him to that because Mr Brown is a man of his word. We need more teachers like Mr Brown. Fortunately, Liza Jackson Preparatory School has more such dedicated teachers just like him. Good luck Mr Brown - we will miss you. :-(

Today we saw a movie called "Dan in Real Life." It has Steven Carell and Juliette Binoche. It was the story of a widower with three children [all girls] who goes to his parents' house in Rhode Island for a family get together. Steven Carell's character writes an advise column for his local newspaper. During the trip to Rhode Island, Carell's character [Dan] goes out to get the morning paper for his mother. While on his sojourn, he meets a woman at a bookstore. Her name is Marie [Juliette Binoche's character]. Thinking that Dan is an employee at the bookstore, she tells him what she's trying to find in the way of reading material. So while she's telling Steven Carell what she's looking for, he gathers all kinds of books and tells her that what she's looking for can't be found in only one book. She's quite taken with Steven Carell as he is with her. She discovers he's just another bookstore customer like her and they start to talk, only he does most of the talking. Suddenly she gets a call on her cell phone and she has to leave. She gives him her phone number so he can call her, which he wants to do very badly. He goes back to his parents' house and tells his family (he has two brothers and two sisters, most of whom have kids of their own) about this great girl he met at the bookstore. His brother Mitch tells everyone about his latest love of his life. Unbeknownst to Dan, it was Mitch's girlfriend Marie that he met at the bookstore. Complications ensue, but that's not really the point I want to make. The family depicted in this movie is very close. They are a loving family, are very supportive of one another, but are also very competitive with one another. One illustration of this competitiveness was a crossword puzzle race. Guys get one paper, girls get the other. Each team has the same puzzle, and the race is on. The girls win, but it's all in good fun. They do aerobics together, and actually stage their own talent show. I had the weirdest feeling that I had seen the movie before, and then I realized I had seen it - in real life. I spent a great deal of time with the Gordon family during my years in Ohio. There's Brian [one of my best friends], his older sister Julie and his younger sister Jean. We have all since scattered to the forewinds. I live in Florida, Julie and her family live close to the Gordon parents in Kentucky, Brian and his family are in Chicago, Jean and her family are in San Jose. Every now and then the whole clan gets together at "Camp Gordon" in Kentucky. They do family activities just like what I saw in the movie tonight. I looked at Jean's website once and found that one of Julie's daughters wrote and directed a short movie. Who were the actors in this movie? Lots of the Gordon clan of course. :-) I envy their close, loving family. I'm jealous.

So here's where I switch gears into rant mode...

If Barack Obama is elected president, it’ll be hard for race pimps like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to keep insisting that blacks are being held back by “The Man” because Obama will BE “The Man.”

Someday I would like to be excited and energized about voting for president. The last time I actually looked forward to voting for a president was 1984, the first time I was able to do so. But alas Ronaldus Maximus is no longer with us. Ever since then I’ve had to hold my nose and choose the lesser of two evils.

Democrats and the mainstream media are sexist. Democrats are the ones who roughed up Hillary. Members of the mainstream media, most of whom are self-described liberals, kept calling for Hillary to drop out of the Democratic race. Not so Fox News. Their punditocracy wanted her to stay in and fight. She was closer behind Barack Obama than Gary Hart was behind Walter Mondale in ’84 or Ted Kennedy was behind Jimmy Carter in ’80. Both of those guys took their respective campaigns all the way to the convention – why can’t Hillary?

Barack Obama would be committing political suicide if he chose Hillary as his running mate. What Hillary said in 1992 is still true today: with the Clintons you get two for the price of one. With Hillary as vice-president, Bill would still find a way to suck up all the oxygen in the White House.

Ted Kennedy is an old man, he has brain cancer, and he will die sooner rather than later. He's lived a long and by most accounts successful and fruitful life. He’ll be able to pick where and when he dies, he’ll be surrounded by friends and family at the time of his passing. He’ll be in his nice comfortable compound in Hyannis Port when the time comes. Mary Jo Kopechne will never get to experience any of these things. She died unexpectedly, underwater, and alone. All because Ted Kennedy left her to die to save his own skin. Maybe she’ll be whispering in St. Peter’s ear at the Pearly Gates when Teddy tries to get into heaven.

The firing of Buzz Moseley didn’t come soon enough. In fact, this perfumed prince should never have become AF Chief of Staff in the first place. For once a perfumed prince is being held accountable for poor performance. Now maybe the Air Force can concentrate on things other than new uniforms. Things like nuclear security, nosecone fuses for ICBMs, providing more UAVs to the fight against terrorism—you know, IMPORTANT stuff!! The great part of this episode is that he was fired by a career intel guy [Gates] and has been replaced by a transport guy [Gen McNabb]. Maybe there is a God after all. Hopefully the new chief won’t be a McPeak clone [again].

For the first time since 1976, neither the names “Clinton” nor “Bush” will appear on the presidential ballot. Now THAT's "change I can believe in."

My friend Tom thinks that the End of Days is coming soon because a) Hillary won't be president; b) a fighter pilot was fired by an old intel guy and is being replaced [at least temporarily] by a trash-hauler [Tom and I both like trash-haulers]. The apocalypse will surely be upon us if the next AF Chief of Staff is Mike Hayden, the current CIA Director.

Don’t Know Much About History…

2008-05-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

According to Barack Obama, it’s George Bush’s fault that Hugo Chavez rules in Venezuela. Never one to let cold hard facts get in the way of a good speech, the Obamessiah said this on May 23rd:

"Since the Bush administration launched a misguided war in Iraq, it's policies in the Americas have been negligent toward our friends, ineffective with our adversaries, disinterested in the challenges that matter in peoples' lives, and incapable of advancing our interests in the region. No wonder, then, that demagogues like Hugo Chavez have stepped into this vacuum.”

There’s only a slight problem with that statement – Hugo Chavez was in power for two years when George Bush was first elected in 2000.

After he won the North Carolina primary, the Obamessiah again didn’t let facts get in the way of making a point: "I trust the American people to understand that it is not weakness, but wisdom to talk not just to our friends, but to our enemies, like Roosevelt did, and Kennedy did, and Truman did."

Just what enemies did Roosevelt and Truman talk to? Roosevelt never met Hitler, never met Mussolini, and never met Tojo. Neville Chamberlain and Eduoard Daladier met with Hitler and Mussolini at Munich in 1938. I think even liberals know the outcome of that meeting. France and the UK sold out Czechoslovakia, and World War II followed shortly thereafter. Truman never met with Kim Il-sung or Mao Zedong. When the North Koreans attacked South Korea, Truman didn’t call Kim Il-sung to have a chat – he sent troops instead. South Korea is still free as a result.

JFK met Khrushchev once in June 1961. Khrushchev had Kennedy for lunch. Kennedy told New York Times columnist James Reston that Khrushchev had "just beat [the] hell out of me" and that he had presented Kennedy with a terrible problem: "If he thinks I'm inexperienced and have no guts, until we remove those ideas we won't get anywhere with him. So we have to act." Shortly thereafter JFK made a speech to the nation, when he announced that he was seeking more defense spending, increasing the number of draft calls, calling up reserves, raising the Army's total authorized strength, increasing active duty numbers in the Navy and Air Force, bringing planes and ships out of mothballs, and a civil defense program to minimize the number of Americans that would be killed in a nuclear attack. Khrushchev built the Berlin Wall, resumed above-ground nuclear tests and put missiles in Cuba. Kennedy also observed to Reston that the only place where the Communists were challenging the West in a shooting war was in Southeast Asia. In short, Kennedy got us into the quagmire that became Vietnam.

It’s ok to negotiate with your adversaries, but you have to have something to talk about first. Reagan did it with Gorbachev and got Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missiles out of Europe. Nixon talked with the Chinese and received a counter-balance to the Soviet Union. In November 2007 the Obamessiah said that as president he would personally negotiate with Iran, offering economic incentives and a chance for peaceful relations if Iranian leaders would forego pursuit of nuclear weapons and support of terrorists. He said in an interview with The New York Times that Iran could possibly be rewarded with membership in the World Trade Organization and other economic benefits if the country shows "changes in behavior." The Obamessiah hasn’t done his homework. One of Mr. Ahmadinejad's first acts as Iran’s president was to freeze Tehran's efforts for securing WTO membership because he regards the outfit as "a nest of conspiracies by Zionists and Americans."

The Obamessiah is forgetting some of his own history. On his own website, he said in no uncertain terms that he would meet with terrorist-sponsoring heads of state “without preconditions” [his words, not mine]. Per his web site:

Diplomacy: Obama is the only major candidate who supports tough, direct presidential diplomacy with Iran without preconditions. Now is the time to pressure Iran directly to change their troubling behavior. Obama would offer the Iranian regime a choice. If Iran abandons its nuclear program and support for terrorism, we will offer incentives like membership in the World Trade Organization, economic investments, and a move toward normal diplomatic relations. If Iran continues its troubling behavior, we will step up our economic pressure and political isolation. Seeking this kind of comprehensive settlement with Iran is our best way to make progress.

During the July 2007 CNN-You Tube Democratic debate, one questioner asked the following:

“Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?”

The Obamessiah’s answer: “I would.” Queen Hillary called him out during this debate as being “naïve.” Given the chance to “revise and extend” his remarks three months later [ABC News has it on tape], the Obamessiah confirmed what he said in the July debate. Last week he told a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel that he’d personally meet with Hugo Chavez. To quote the Obamessiah:

"One of the obvious high priorities in my talks with President Hugo Chavez would be the fermentation of anti-American sentiment in Latin America, his support of (Marxist narco-terrorists) FARC in Colombia, and other issues he would want to talk about. It is important to understand that ignoring these countries has not led to improved behavior on their part and it has not served our national security interests."

But the very next, during a speech in Miami this little nugget came out the other side of the Obamessiah’s mouth:

"We will shine a light on any support for the FARC that comes from neighboring governments," Mr. Obama told the Cuban American National Foundation. "This behavior must be exposed to international condemnation, regional isolation, and -- if need be -- strong sanctions. It must not stand."

So what’s it going to be Barry – talk to him or isolate him? You can’t do both. How Clintonesque to think you can.

Here’s a sample of something that could happen when you want to discuss things “without preconditions.” I found this little nugget in the Business Day archives from 1998 [during the Clinton Administration’s 'Holiday from History']:

Politically correct amateurs at sharp end of US-Africa diplomacy. THE dynamic duo of US-Africa policy, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Susan Rice and the National Security Council's Africa director Gayle Smith, briefed reporters in Washington last Friday on their recent 11-day, seven-country swing through the continent to "discuss" the Congo crisis. They were not convincing.
By all accounts other than their feeble own, their rundfahrt was not a smashing success. President Eduardo dos Santos of Angola, the pre-eminent military power in the conflict, refused to see them. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe demonstrated his disdain by keeping them waiting for hours before granting them an audience. President Laurent Kabila of the not-so-Democratic Republic of the Congo was unprintably rude, though Rice insisted the four-and-a-half-hour session ended "cordially".

They had more success in Uganda and Rwanda, evidently, persuading the latter's vice-president, Paul Kagame, to admit what everyone already knew - that he had troops in Congo. Obtaining this confession seems to have been the towering achievement of their journey.

Rice stressed that she and Smith had embarked with no "pre-cooked US plan" for ending the conflict but rather to "listen, learn and share ideas". That is what diplomats often say under such circumstances, but in this case, it is all too true.

There is a yawning absence of strategic thinking - or even a half-baked plan - on the administration's part about how to deal with the Central African quagmire.

An interesting read, though I must confess I don’t know what rundfahrt means. Maybe this is where Queen Hillary got the idea for her “listening tours.” In case you missed the point, the Susan Rice that is mentioned in this article is the same Susan Rice who now advises the Obamessiah on foreign policy. Do you think she's told her new boss about this fiasco?

Winston Churchill said a long time ago that those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it. It appears the Obamessiah never learned history in the first place. I foresee an amateurish ineptitude in foreign policy should the Obamessiah win the election in November.

Here’s a thought the Obamessiah should ponder – he wants to talk with all the leaders of these rogue states. What if they don’t want to talk to him? What does he do then?

Look in the Mirror, Hillary

2008-05-25T23:16:00.000-07:00

Hillary Clinton is not going to be President of the United States in 2009. I think it’s safe to say that now, and I couldn’t be happier. As 2008 began, I felt I was going to have to turn off my television until after November. The thought of hearing the Clinton News Network and other media outlets wet themselves about Queen Hillary and how she’s the “world’s smartest woman” all year long just filled me with utter dread. But that isn’t going to happen. Thank you, Barack Obama, for saving this country from such a spectacle.

What happened to the woman who was going to be “ready to lead from Day One”? If you ask the Queen herself, she’ll give you a few different answers. It’s the media’s fault – they’re in-the-tank for Obama [especially MSNBC]. The media treated Obama with kid gloves while she got all the tough questions during the 2 million debates the Democrats have held since mid-2007. She’s been touting her so-called thirty-five years of experience, so getting tough questions shouldn’t be a problem for the World’s Smartest Woman. Or maybe it’s because there’s a bunch of sexist pigs out there who would never vote for a woman. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Tell that to the thousands of hard-working white folks [a lot of whom are men] who voted for her in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. Recently on that televised daily record of intellectual discourse known as The View, Joy Behar herself said the Democratic nomination was being taken away from her by a man. It must be true if Joy Behar said it. However, today someone with a brain joined in the discussion. Peggy Noonan wrote the following in her column for the Wall Street Journal:

It is not true. Tough hill-country men voted for her, men so backward they'd give the lady a chair in the union hall. Tough Catholic men in the outer suburbs voted for her, men so backward they'd call a woman a lady. And all of them so naturally courteous that they'd realize, in offering the chair or addressing the lady, that they might have given offense, and awkwardly joke at themselves to take away the sting. These are great men. And Hillary got her share, more than her share, of their votes. She should be a guy and say thanks.

It is prissy. Mrs. Clinton's supporters are now complaining about the Hillary nutcrackers sold at every airport shop. Boo hoo. If Golda Meir, a woman of not only proclaimed but actual toughness, heard about Golda nutcrackers, she would have bought them by the case and given them away as party favors.

It is sissy. It is blame-gaming, whining, a way of not taking responsibility, of not seeing your flaws and addressing them. You want to say "Girl, butch up, you are playing in the leagues, they get bruised in the leagues, they break each other's bones, they like to hit you low and hear the crack, it's like that for the boys and for the girls.

While hearing Queen Hillary play the sexist card, I couldn’t help but think of something I heard in a Dirty Harry movie many years ago. In The Enforcer Tyne Daly became Harry’s partner. When his boss questioned whether Harry was being too hard on her, he responded “if she’s going to play lumberjack she needs to learn to hold up her end of the log.” Well said. If Queen Hillary was as tough as nails as she would lead you to believe [my words, not hers], she wouldn’t be playing the sexism card.

Queen Hillary expected to cruise to the nomination. She paid her dues. She subordinated her own career to that of her husband. That same husband humiliated her for years with his many infidelities, so the presidency was something that she was owed, something she was entitled to. She had "thirty-five years of experience." She was “ready to lead from Day One.” She was the “inevitable nominee,” a perception she and her campaign staff did much to perpetuate. She claimed that because she had been in the public eye for so long, she had been thoroughly vetted and that there were going to be no surprises that would doom her candidacy. Terry McAuliffe, the former DNC chairman who now works for Queen Hillary’s campaign, stacked the primary calendar in her favor by front-loading most of the primaries early in the campaign. Such a move could only favor an "inevitable nominee” who has a money-raising machine at her disposal. But then a funny thing happened – she got caught in a lie. She repeatedly told a whopper about being under sniper fire when she visited the Balkans after that war had ended. Since the media had been so in-the-tank for the Clintons during the ‘90s [our ‘holiday from history’] she hadn’t imagined that someone would have the veracity to do some fact-checking. The press didn’t do its job during the nineties, so why should today be any different?

Sharyl Atkisson of CBS News was on the plane that took Queen Hillary to Bosnia. She didn’t remember the events the way Hillary did, and she found the videotape to back it up. Not only was Queen Hillary not under sniper fire, she was met on the tarmac by an eight-year-old girl who read her a poem. Chelsea stood by her side while this little girl read her poem. You see, if you tell an untruth once, people spin it as a “gaffe.” But Queen Hillary told this whopper over and over again. That makes people think you’re a pathological liar who cannot be trusted, who would do anything and say anything to get elected. When her husband was president, people liked him, but they didn’t like her. She already had high negatives going into this campaign, so her Bosnia tale was just one of many nails in her electoral coffin.

Another problem – hubris. According to Wikipedia, hubris is a term currently used to indicate overweening pride, self-confidence or arrogance, often resulting in fatal retribution. Queen Hillary had run two Senatorial campaigns in New York against token opposition and cruised to victory each time. She figured if she did well in New York, she can do well anywhere. There’s one problem with facing token opposition – you don’t really know if you can take a punch from a more worthy opponent. Laziness creeps in. Such is the life for an “inevitable nominee.” As an “inevitable nominee," you have no need to work hard to get what you want. This is exactly where Obama sunk Queen Hillary. He had a plan. He outworked his opponents, he raised more money than his opponents [more on that later], he out-organized his opponents, and he tapped into the mood of the body politic. Obama realized quickly the mood of the electorate was one that wanted change after eight years of George W. Bush. Queen Hillary, in thinking she was the “inevitable nominee,” ran her campaign as if she was an incumbent. If you’re running as an incumbent, it’s hard to make the claim that you’re an agent of change. She ran on her name recognition, and that alone would propel her to the top slot in the Democratic Party. Since she had name-recognition and what was thought by many to be a well-oiled political machine, she could have the presidential nomination sewed up by 5 Feb, Super Tuesday. Obama fought her to a draw on Super Tuesday, and then he ran off a string off victories in eleven straight states. Hence his now almost-insurmountable delegate lead.

As for money-raising, Obama ran circles around Queen Hillary. She decided to do things the old way. She’d get her big contributors to give the maximum allowable all in one slug. She’d amass this huge war chest of money to spend, thinking that alone would scare off most of her opponents – it did (Biden, Dodd, and Richardson). That strategy would work with a token opponent. Barack Obama has shown himself to not be a token, but a shrewd fundraiser. He’d get his millions of contributors to give small amounts of money to finance his campaign. This way, since these contributors had given small amounts and were nowhere near the limit one can contribute to a campaign, they could give again. Not so Queen Hillary’s contributors. In this post McCain-Feingold era, they maxed out early, and couldn’t contribute any more money legally. Oops! Such was the problem of Queen Hillary’s fundraising that she had to borrow $11 million from her own fortune to keep her campaign afloat.

This campaign effort is by far and away the largest operation either Democratic candidate has had to run. Obama has demonstrated the ability to hire the right people and run an effective organization. Not so Queen Hillary. She’s had to fire two campaign managers, didn’t have a plan for what to do after Super Tuesday, had to loan herself millions to keep her campaign going, and was generally caught flatfooted by this upstart rookie who didn’t know that it wasn’t his turn yet. Most of Queen Hillary’s wounds were self-inflicted, and since she is the one supposedly in charge of her own campaign, she is to blame for its troubles. Do you want to know what really caused your campaign to fail, Queen Hillary? Look in the mirror.

For the record, I wouldn’t mind if we had a woman for president. I just don’t like THIS one.

If You Don’t Like the Rules, Change Them

2008-05-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

This year’s race for the Democratic Presidential nomination is like 2000 all over again. Then, Al Gore won the popular vote, but George W. Bush won in the Constitutionally-mandated Electoral College [i.e. the vote that counts]. Back then, I remember a televised encounter between Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator John Warner. Feinstein made the argument Al Gore should be president because he won the popular vote. Warner responded to the effect that Gore won the popular vote was true, but it was also irrelevant. Feinstein was stunned into silence because she knew Warner was right.

Fast forward eight years. Long ago and far away both main political parties established the rule of “he/she who wins the majority of delegates wins.” The rules say nothing of whoever wins the popular vote. This is because delegates are not all allocated by a popular vote. Some delegates are allocated by caucus. Barack Obama has won a majority of the pledged delegates [i.e. the votes that count]. That fact alone will not get him the nomination. He needs superdelegates to put him over the top. Hillary Clinton also needs those superdelegates to claim the nomination. Queen Hillary makes her argument for superdelegate support that she has won the popular vote. That which John Warner said eight years ago is relevant today. Winning the popular vote may be true, but it is also irrelevant. Queen Hillary can whine and complain all she wants that the rules aren’t fair, but she knew the rules coming into the game and didn’t have a problem when the game started. She just didn’t expect to have her “experienced” ass handed to her by a rookie. If she was “ready to lead from Day One”, why didn’t she have a plan for the aftermath of Super Tuesday? Ahh, hubris – I recognize it.

Everybody went into this campaign season under the same rules, but now that those rules are hurting Queen Hillary, she wants to change them. She wants the nomination based on her claim of winning the popular vote. What is it with these people? Didn’t they learn something in 2000? Surely the Democrats could see that their selection process for presidential nominees resembled that of the Electoral College. If they didn’t like the Electoral College in 2000, why do they have a similar system for picking nominees eight years later?

Is the Democratic Party really democratic?

Would You Like Some Cheese With That Whine?

2008-05-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

There I was – I just came back from lunch and my cellmate Kurt hands me a copy of the Air Force Times. He says “can you believe this?” He directs my attention to an article titled “Too Pooped to Pilot.” Under the headline there’s the statement “study shows demand for UAVs have crews physically, emotionally exhausted.” Immediately I’m already thinking “you gotta be kidding me.” But these days, there is almost nothing that I hear or read about today’s Air Force that surprises me, except on those rare occasions when they do something that makes sense. I read on…

This article details how an “alarming” number of crews flying Predators are falling asleep during missions. Half of those surveyed said they became drowsy during missions, and 30 percent of the crews confessed to napping during their missions. I can understand that. I don’t condone it, but I understand it. Having had enlisted folks work Predator missions on the ground station end, I know that Predator missions can be pretty boring. It’s like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. Pick your favorite metaphor for boring tasks, and Predator missions will fit it.

Anyway, getting bored to tears by Predator missions is not a big deal to me, but this article combined with another article I found in the 12 May 08 issue of the Wall Street Journal [“Air Combat By Remote Control”] really chapped my ass. According to the Air Force Times article, 65 percent of those surveyed said their work schedules gave them “inadequate time” with their spouses. Also, 35 percent of those surveyed said they had inadequate time with their children. Give me a break! According to the WSJ article, the crews who “fly” Predator missions do so in the safety of being out of range [by about 8,000 miles]. They do so in eight hour shifts in air-conditioned comfort in Nevada. A Predator “crew” consists of a pilot, who by virtue of having “made his gates” still collects flight pay without actually having to step into a jet, and an enlisted sensor operator, who does not collect flight pay.

“Flying” a Predator is no more than operating a joy stick, the kind you would find with a video game. And only then he is needed only for take-offs and landings. The Predator is on autopilot the rest of the time [this from the Air Force’s own AF News Service]. The enlisted sensor operator has a more demanding job since he/she is always looking for something. Since the “pilot” isn’t physically “on” the Predator, he isn’t subjected to turbulence, he isn’t in danger of being shot down by a surface to air missile. He isn’t subjected to the possibility of getting blown-up by a roadside IED, and he gets to go home when his shift is over and sleep in his own bed. He doesn’t have to sleep in a 10-12 man tent, he gets to take hot showers every day, and chances are he doesn’t have to eat MREs like is less fortunate counterparts who are actually deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. He gets to go home every day. Conversely his Army and Marine brethren deploy up to 15 months at a crack. They patrol in neighborhoods where they aren’t exactly welcome. They kill bad guys in face-to-face firefights. Navy enlisted EOD troops disarm IEDs daily. Air Force enlisted troops escort convoys that run the risk of getting blown up by the IEDs. I fail to see what these perfumed princes who fly Predators are complaining about. Kurt, my aforementioned cellmate, thinks these guys who fall asleep at the wheel should be court-martialed for dereliction of duty. Nice sentiment, but it’ll never happen as long as a fighter pilot is in charge.

Relay for Life

2008-05-08T21:15:00.000-07:00

And now for something completely different – something positive in this blog. Every year the American Cancer Society has an event called the Relay for Life. It is an 18-hour event where people can do one of the most simple things there is in order to raise money to fight cancer. That simple thing of which I write is walking. Both my sons, Greg and Mark, participated in each relay for the past three years. This event is their community service as part of their education. However, they don’t do it because it’s a check in the box to satisfy some school requirement – they do it because they want to do it. They join their school team and try to raise money to help find a cure for cancer. They’ll email my friends, my co-workers, Carol’s friends, members of both our families, asking each of them for donations to the cause. Greg even had his head shaved to show his support for cancer survivors. I have evidence in case anyone wants to see for themselves. :-)

For us this is personal. Carol’s has lost family members to cancer. Her grandfather on her mom’s side and her grandmother on her dad’s side both lost their struggles with cancer. Carol misses Grampo Claudio and Grandma Tillie very much. Her cousin is a cancer survivor, and he’s only in his thirties. During the opening ceremonies for this year’s Relay for Life, there was a trio of guys playing bagpipes. For Carol, this was the signal to let the tears flow. The wounds caused by her loss are still there and may never heal. My brother fought cancer and won. He’s been cancer-free for over 20 years. A very good friend from my childhood had a fight with cancer, and I’m happy to say that right now she is cancer-free. She told me once that she felt like she had this sword hanging over her head because she is afraid that someday her cancer may come back. The scary part for me is knowing that somebody 3 years younger than me had cancer. I didn’t even have the disease and I was scared for my dear friend. I always remember her as the little sister I never had, so to hear the news she had cancer was shocking. I still have memories of when we were children in Ohio, and to hear that someone you’ve known for a long time has something that is life-threatening just boggles the mind. I cannot imagine what a life-changing experience it was for her, her husband, and her young son who is only a year younger than Greg. Having read her blog, she calls her life now as “Life, Part Two.” She relates that you never know how much you like your hair until you no longer have any. I’m happy to say her hair has grown back. I always thought that “old people” got cancer. My friend is not an old woman by any means. I hope that someday she will no longer feel as if a sword is hanging over her.

Now back to the relay. After the opening ceremony, those people who are present and who are cancer survivors get to walk the first lap around the track. I know of two such people. One is an older guy who works in my office, and the other is his wife. Both had cancer at the same time, but are now cancer-free. Once the survivors take their lap, the rest of us are allowed to join then fun. There is a stage set-up in the infield grass of the stadium. Local bands are asked to come and perform for the walkers. Organizations from around the local area set up booths to sell food, water, provide massages, or paint your hair funny colors. All is done in the name of finding a cure.

The festivities usually begin around 6pm on a Friday night and last continuously until noon the following Saturday. This year we walked from 6-8 pm and again from 1-3 am. While we were walking and recording our laps after each lap, there was a competition to earn “spirit points.” How these spirit points translate into actual dollars I do not know. The point is there were many people out there in the wee hours of Saturday morning earning spirit points. One such way people earned spirit points was by dancing. A guy manning the sound desk would play danceable music very loudly. Carol and I watched in awe as many teenagers (and a few hyper adults) danced the night away. These people had energy to burn. I swear each and every one of them must have drunk a six-pack of Red Bull prior to the event. A lot of the teens present were from the AFJROTC detachment at one of the local high schools. Those guys and girls were very intense. We just marveled at how they knew every dance step, could all do the dance steps in unison, and seemingly never got tired. I walked over 7 miles and I was wasted the next day. Man I hate getting old. The judges of the contest were on-stage while the dancers danced on the infield (some were on-stage too) and handed spirit points as they saw fit.

The next big thing happened around 2am. This was called the “Miss Relay” contest. It was a beauty pageant that included a talent competition, a question and answer period [you know, the part where the contestants say they want “world peace”], and then a final appeal for money with all the contestants flaunting their stuff all at once. Oh, did I mention all the contestants are men dressed in drag? These ladies would display talents such as lip synching, modeling, choreography, and rhythmic gymnastics. One of Greg’s teachers won this event the last three years by playing on his guitar and singing his version of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl.” He chose not to defend his title this year so the field was wide open. The guy who was from Greg and Mark’s school twirled these sticks with ribbons attached to the ends while music played. One guy we knew from TGI Friday’s wore leather pants, REALLY high heels, wore a Tina Turner wig and lip-synched. Whenever a team had someone on-stage, someone else from the team would pass around a coffee can to rake in more dollars to support the relay. Our guy finished second. It was a fun time.

Not only did the boys participate in the Relay for Life, but Carol also put a lot of time and effort into making this event a reality. She set up the boys’ web pages for tracking their donations (both Mark and Greg met their goals this year), she helped set up the school tent at the event, she brought snacks and refreshments for the walkers. She and the boys went out hunting in the dark for milk jugs all over the neighborhoods to help support the “penny challenge” at school. She did a lot of stuff.

All told, the boys’ school raised almost $6,000 to help find a cure. For those who helped us, we thank you. We will gladly do it again next year!

The Air Force Got One Right

2008-03-30T15:21:00.000-07:00

It pains me to say it, but I think for once the Air Force got something right. What did they get right? The Air Force selected Airbus over Boeing for the new tanker. Why do I think this was the right call? When I was going through officer training over 20 years ago, one of the things that was always harped on was hat “perception is reality.” Several years ago, the chief acquisition of the Air Force, Darlene Druyun, made a lucrative deal with Boeing to lease 767s in return for a top-paying job for her and her daughter at Boeing. John McCain blew the whistle on the deal. Ms Druyun ended up going to jail for her actions, the lease deal was cancelled, and the government announced a competition to buy, not lease new tankers. To compound the Air Force’s acquisition nightmare, Druyun’s successor, Charles Riechers, got paid for sitting in a “no-show” job for an “intelligence contractor” for the Air Force. The perception was that the Air Force was getting too cozy with the contractors with whom they do business.

Most everyone that I know expected Boeing to win the tanker contract – I know I did. Boeing built the KC-135, owns the company that built the KC-10 and the C-17 [McDonnell Douglas], and built many heavy bombers for the Air Force. Boeing seemed to have a corner on the Air Force market for heavy jets. But surprise surprise, Northrop Grumman and their Airbus partners won instead. Why? The A330 carries more fuel, more cargo, more passengers, has longer range than the 767. Any wonder why it won the contract and not the 767?

Had Boeing won the tanker contract, the perception would have been that it was business as usual in Air Force acquisition, the Air Force had not learned its lesson from Druyun affair, and that there is still corruption in Air Force acquisition. By awarding the contract to Northrop Grumman and Airbus, no one can claim [except perhaps Boeing] that the bidding was fixed and only for show. If one of the aims at not awarding this contract to Boeing was to demonstrate real acquisition reform, I hope the trend continues.

“Count Every Vote”

2008-03-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was eight years ago that this very mantra came from the Democratic Party. During their election coverage that long night in November 2000, the three major TV networks called Florida for Al Gore, even though we here in the Florida Panhandle had not yet finished voting. Then the networks took back their call. Then George W. Bush won Florida, and with it the presidency. Al Gore called Bush to concede the election. Then there were questions about the voting. Al Gore called Bush again and took back his concession. Since the election was so close, a statewide recount was required by Florida law. Then the fun began. Hanging chads, dimpled chads, butterfly ballots oh my!

Gore wanted hand recounts – Bush wanted machines to do it. Gore said “count every vote”. Bush wanted the votes all counted the same way. Each county had a different method for recounting, some more liberal than others. Since hand recounts were time-consuming the four Florida counties in question [all of which are heavily Democratic] were unsure whether their recounts could be done in the allotted time as required by statute [one week]. Two counties sued to have their deadlines extended. The Democrats went to court to “make every vote count.” The Republicans also went to court in an attempt to get a single standard for recounting votes. They preferred machines over people to do the recounting – they thought machines were more objective than people. The Gore campaign appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. The Florida Supreme Court [a majority of which was Democratic] ruled in Gore’s favor and ordered a manual recount for the four Florida counties. The Bush campaign appealed to the US Supreme Court, citing the lack of a statewide standard in recounting, thus bringing up the “equal protection” clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. Finally the US Supreme Court said to the effect “enough is enough.” Their ruling said the following:

“In the circumstances of this case, any manual recount of votes seeking to meet the December 12 “safe harbor” deadline would be unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

By a 7-2 vote the US Supreme Court said the manual recount method ordered by the Florida Supreme Court was unconstitutional, citing differing vote-counting standards from county to county. The court sided with the Bush argument that the manual recounts violated the Equal Protection Clause. The US Supreme Court also voted 5-4 to end the recounts in Florida and allowed Florida to certify its vote for George W. Bush. News organizations across the nation staged their own recounts. Much to the chagrin of those news organizations and Democrats everywhere, George W. Bush won the election. Al Gore won the popular vote, but George W. Bush won the electoral vote, and that’s what counts. The Democrats have been challenging the legitimacy of George W. Bush’s presidency ever since. Democrats have been bitching about the Electoral College ever since. Does the phrase “selected, not elected” ring a bell?

Fast forward to the present day. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are engaged in a Texas Death Match for the Democratic nomination for president. Before the state primaries and caucuses for the 2008 presidential election began in earnest, the legislatures of Florida and Michigan indicated their eagerness to move their presidential primaries up to earlier in the year in order to make a more powerful impact on the selection of the presidential candidates. The national committees of both the Democrats and Republicans told those states “don’t do that – we want Iowa and New Hampshire to go first.” Both national committees threatened the two states with sanctions if they moved their primaries ahead. So a game of political “chicken” ensued. Florida and Michigan moved up their primaries, then the Democratic and Republican national committees sanctioned them for doing so. The Democrats stripped the two states of all of their delegates, while the Republicans cut the states’ delegates in half. Since there were no delegates at stake, and since these states were sanctioned by the Democratic party, no Democratic candidate campaigned in either state at the behest of the party. All candidates except Hillary took their names off the Michigan ballot. The Democratic National Committee set the rules for the game, and all the candidates, including Hillary Clinton, agreed to those rules. The practical effect of the Democrats’ move was to disenfranchise the voters of two states they need to win the election in November. How ironic it is that the party that wanted to “count every vote” in 2000 won’t count the votes in Florida and Michigan in 2008.

Before the actual voting started in 2008, the conventional wisdom was that Hillary Clinton would win the Democratic nomination in a cakewalk. The voting would just be a formality. Because of all the crap she put up with her husband Bill, she felt she was entitled to the nomination. Her nomination was seen by political pundits across the fruited plain as being “inevitable,” a feeling the Clinton campaign did much to encourage. The voting in the primaries and caucuses was merely a formality before Queen Hillary’s coronation in Denver this August. In the Clinton campaign’s collective feeble minds the nomination would be wrapped up by Super Tuesday, when twenty states held primaries and/or caucuses. The votes in Florida and Michigan weren’t needed because all this voting for Hillary on Super Tuesday would make their votes unnecessary, unneeded as it were. Hillary won both states, but no delegates. However a funny thing happened to Queen Hillary on the road to the nomination. Barack Obama turned out to be a serious contender. He raised more money than Hillary, out-organized Hillary, was a better campaigner than Hillary, and won more votes than Hillary. Now that Queen Hillary is locked in a real street fight of a campaign, she needs every delegate vote she can get, party rules be damned. At first she agreed with the DNC’s sanctions on Florida and Michigan. But now that she’s getting her ass handed to her by Barack Obama, she wants to change the rules. Does this theme sound familiar? Just like in 2000, if you're a Democrat and you don’t like the rules to which you've already agreed, change them.

There is another wrinkle to this story. Neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton have enough pledged delegates to win the Democratic nomination. To win the nomination, they need the vote of “superdelegates.” These “superdelegates” consist of various Democratic officers, be they governors, Congressman, US Senators, organized labor bosses, or leaders of various special interest groups that support the Democratic Party. These “superdelegates” were not selected in primaries, they were not selected in caucuses. These “superdelegates” are beholden to no one and can vote for whomever they please. Queen Hillary, though outpolled in the popular vote by Barack Obama, argues that since she won the “big states” (New York, California, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Texas) the superdelegates ought to vote for her. If that happens, won’t the superdelegates, for whom “count every vote” was a mantra in 2000, disenfranchise millions who voted for Barack Obama?

Will Rogers once said “I don’t belong to an organized party, I’m a Democrat.” More than 70 years after Will Rogers uttered those words they still ring true. The Democratic Party is a group of special interests – labor, abortion rights, women’s rights, minority rights. Identity politics is something the Democrats practice every day. As long as a white man was at the top of the ticket, that white man could make all kinds of promises to each of these special interest without appearing to favor one over another. However, this year the Democratic nominee will be either a woman or a minority. Thus, two of the biggest groups of identity politics within the Democratic Party are now squared off against one another, and it’s getting ugly. Blacks have long been a reliable voting bloc in the Democratic Party. But if the primary season ends with Barack Obama winning more votes and more states than Queen Hillary, and if the “superdelegates” go against the “will of the people” and choose Queen Hillary as the nominee, you might as well hand the keys of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to John McCain. Obama supporters will rightly see themselves as getting screwed by the Democratic Party and may stay home in November. Republicans can and have won the White House without the black vote. The same cannot be said about the Democrats. If they don’t get the black support they have taken for granted all these years, they are toast.

This election year the Democrats have everything going for them – a shaky economy, an unpopular war started and waged by an unpopular president, a desire for change after a two-term president. If the Democrats can’t get it together within their own party, how do they expect to govern this country?

Giants 17, Patriots 14

2008-02-03T19:04:00.000-08:00

Wow! Two years in a row the Patriots go down at the hands of a quarterback named Manning. Last year it was Peyton - this year it was Eli. How fitting that Plaxico Burress caught the winning touchdown pass. Burress called it and he delivered. So much for perfection... The '72 Dolphins can pop their champagne corks now.

Tom’s Uncle Frank

2008-01-20T00:05:00.000-08:00

We were sitting in our cubicle talking about Bill’s latest trip for work. He went to Hawaii and he was telling us about going to the USS Arizona Memorial. He mentioned that he didn’t see any Imburgios or any Rutherfords on the wall, but he did see a few Howards there. This got Tom to tell us a story about his Uncle Frank. He allowed me to share this story with anyone who cares to read about it. Hopefully I can write it as well as he told it. This is an amazing story…

During the late 1930s, Uncle Frank was a bit of a troublemaker in Brooklyn, so much so that his mother wanted to get him out of the house. This being during the Great Depression and the era of FDR’s New Deal, Uncle Frank’s mom decided to enlist him in the Civilian Conservation Corps. He shipped out to Idaho so he could spend his youth cutting down trees to build national parks. Uncle Frank soon grew tired of the outdoor life, so he hitch-hiked all the way back to Brooklyn. This was long before the advent of interstate highways, so to hitch-hike from Idaho to Brooklyn was quite a feat. Uncle Frank showed up back at his house but his mom wasn’t too thrilled to see him, so she took Uncle Frank to the nearest Army recruiter and enlisted her under-age son. This is where the story starts to get interesting…

After basic training, Uncle Frank soon found himself stationed at the Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. His unit, and others like his also stationed at Schofield Barracks, rotated regularly to the Philippines. Uncle Frank spent a bit of time in the PI. Now, Uncle Frank was pretty good with dice. He got into a crap game and ended up winning over $3,000. This is $3,000 in 1941 money, so you might say Uncle Frank scored big – really big. When his unit was due to rotate back to Hawaii, Uncle Frank went to his commanding officer and asked if he could fly the Pan Am Clipper back to Hawaii instead of taking the normal troop transport ship. His CO told Uncle Frank that if he could show him the ticket, he would take care of the necessary paperwork so Uncle Frank could fly to Hawaii. So Uncle Frank headed to Manila and bought himself a ticket with his crap game winnings for the Clipper. He made the flight with no problem and flew back to Hawaii ahead of his unit. He arrived in Hawaii on Dec 6, 1941. Upon his arrival he met up with some sailors from the battleship USS Arizona. They went out partying, eating and drinking and living it up like they were Romans. When all the fun and games ended that night, his newfound sailor buddies offered to let him sleep that night on the ship. Uncle Frank said “no thanks” and took a taxi back to Schofield Barracks.

Early on the morning of Dec 7th, some of Uncle Frank’s comrades woke him up so they could get an early breakfast at one of the local establishments. Uncle Frank, who wasn’t feeling too well because of his adventures the night before, declined and decided he’d eat at the chow hall on the post when he became somewhat human again. Shortly thereafter, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. They also attacked Schofield Barracks. It turns out the place Uncle Frank’s friends went to eat got blown up by the Japanese. A hangover saved Uncle Frank. I asked Tom whatever became of the sailors from the Arizona that Uncle Frank partied with the night before. His response: they’re still on the Arizona. Uncle Frank cheated death at both Schofield Barracks and Pearl Harbor. I asked Tom what happened to Uncle Frank’s unit that was supposed to come home from the Philippines. He said they never shipped home – they participated in the Bataan Death March. Somebody or something was definitely looking out for Uncle Frank.

During World War II, the Army operated on a points system. Depending on what kind of missions or what kind of hazards you faced, you could earn a certain number of points to get to the required number to be able to rotate Stateside. Uncle Frank decided he was going to volunteer for as much hazardous duty as he could get away with in order to get home as soon as possible. He fought the Japanese hand-to-hand in the jungles of New Guinea. In one engagement he killed a Japanese officer and got his samurai sword for a war trophy. Uncle Frank carried that sword with him wherever he went. Tom told us that he and his brother heard these stories from Uncle Frank, but they didn’t really believe him because they sounded so outlandish. They do have sort of a “Forrest Gump” quality to them. Uncle Frank’s wife took Tom and his brother aside and showed him this box. Inside this box were Uncle Frank’s medals – two Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars, and a few others. Also included in this box was a picture of Uncle Frank holding up a Japanese flag [see the picture above]. This was another souvenir from New Guinea. Tom told us that there were a lot of “spots” on that little Japanese flag. Those were Japanese blood stains. It soon dawned on Tom and his brother that “damn, Uncle Frank was a no-shit war hero!” Yeah, I think two Silver Stars and three Bronze Stars qualifies.

Uncle Frank volunteered for other hazardous duty. In one such instance, he volunteered to become a spotter for naval artillery. The practice during World War II was for the Navy to patrol offshore any island that was targeted for invasion, and then soften up the Japanese defenses with continuous artillery bombardment before the Marines would hit the beach. In one such instance, Uncle Frank and one naval officer was taken ashore in the Philippines in 1944 for just such duty. He and this officer landed during the night [taken there by submarine], and they were hidden by Filipino guerillas until it was time to go to work spotting for the Navy. Shortly thereafter, MacArthur’s army invaded the Philippines. It was MacArthur’s famous "return."

In another such instance of volunteering for hazardous duty, Uncle Frank discovered there were openings to become gunners on the then-new B-29 bombers. Uncle Frank volunteered, went through the training, and then became a B-29 crewmember. He flew on two or three missions over Japan without incident. The next mission didn’t go so well. Uncle Frank’s plane was shot down over the Pacific. He spent a couple of days in a life raft waiting to be rescued. Once he was rescued and returned to home base, Uncle Frank decided he’d had enough of air duty and went back to being a ground-pounder. I guess this was Uncle Frank’s last brush with death. He didn’t bring his samurai sword home with him, though. He had his war trophy with his gear ready to ship out to go home when the war ended. But when he was reunited with his gear at journey’s end, the sword was gone. Someone had stolen the sword that Uncle Frank took from that Japanese officer he killed in New Guinea. He’s still pissed about that – hell, after what he went through to get it, I’d be pissed off too.

Uncle Frank is one lucky man. I wonder if he’s ever played the lottery… Thanks Tom for letting me share a part of your family history. Of course, thanks to Uncle Frank, a genuine war hero.

"Nominate and elect a doer, not a talker"

2008-01-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

Hillary Clinton uttered these words in Manchester, NH as she campaigned for votes on Jan. 6th, two days before the New Hampshire primary. She also said "there is a big difference between talking and acting, between promising and delivering." Hillary should know the difference between talking and acting, between promising and delivering – she’s been doing a lot of talking and promising, and very little (if any) acting and delivering since 1992. Just what has Hillary Clinton done that makes her think she can “act” and “deliver”? Bill Clinton made health care reform one of the top priorities of his first administration. To underscore the importance he placed in this priority, he put Hillary in charge of the Health Care Task Force. What did this task force produce? A bill, presented to the Democratic-controlled Congress in November 1993 that ran over 1000 pages. The core element of the proposal was to force employers regardless of size to provide health insurance coverage to all their employees. That’s a lot of talking and promising. It was painted by critics as an attempt by the federal government to take control over 1/7 of the economy. Hillary was successfully depicted and demonized by her critics as a “big-government liberal.” It proved to be so unworkable and so unpopular that it would not pass through a Congress controlled by her own party. The fallout from this failed proposal was the repudiation of the Democratic-controlled Congress in the 1994 mid-term elections, giving us the first Republican-controlled Congress in 40 years. In a recent article published in the Sept 14, 2007 issue of “The American Prospect,” Paul Starr, a senior health policy advisor for Bill Clinton, described the task force as “useless for reaching decisions” and that President Clinton never gave up control of the policy-making process. Starr describes the process of coming up with the failed healthcare proposal thusly: “Beginning in March and continuing in a stop-and-go fashion until September, the decision meetings about the plan took place outside the formal structure of the task force, usually in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, and the president ran the meetings himself.” Starr goes on to say that “I took part in the decision meetings and presented some of the issues to the president. The first lady was an active force in these discussions, but there was never any question that the president was in charge. We took our guidance from him.” So much for her being an actor and deliverer.

Hillary did participate in choosing personnel for the Clinton Administration. She controlled the process of selecting the next Attorney General. The first choice, Zoe Baird, had to withdraw her nomination because she had hired illegal aliens to serve as her chauffeur and nanny, and she didn’t pay Social Security taxes for her domestic help. Hillary’s vetting process didn’t catch that. The second choice for Attorney General, Judge Kimba Wood, is a federal judge. She was nominated to the bench in 1987 by Ronald Reagan and currently serves as the Chief Judge of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was obviously qualified to be Attorney General, but like Zoe Baird, she hired an illegal alien as a nanny. Hillary’s vetting process missed that one, too. The third choice for Attorney General was Janet Reno. You can decide for yourself what her legacy is.

Then there was the White House Travel Office. This office dates back to the days of Andrew Jackson and handles travel arrangements for the White House Press Corps. Staffers serve at the pleasure of the president, so he can hire or fire any of them as he chooses. However, in practice the staffers were career employees who had served both Democratic and Republican administrations. A friend of the Clintons, Harry Thomason, and his business partner, Darrell martens, wanted to get their own air charter company, TRM, in on the action. The Clinton White House claimed there were financial irregularities in the Travel Office (there were, but nothing criminal), and all the employees were fired. Some of the employees were indicted, tried, and later acquitted of all charges (embezzlement and criminal conversion), but not before having their personal reputations destroyed. Hillary at first claimed she had nothing to do with the firings at the Travel Office, and even swore an affidavit to the General Accounting Office saying as much. However, a memo from White House Director of Administration David Watkins identified Hillary as the motivating force behind the firings. Watkins told the GAO that Hillary urged “that action be taken to get ‘our people’ into the travel office. Watkins also wrote a memo to the White House Chief of Staff at the time, Mac McLarty, said there would be “hell to pay if we failed to take swift and decisive action in conformity with the First Lady’s wishes." Robert Ray, who replaced Kenneth Starr as the Whitewater independent counsel, also concluded that Hillary, contrary to her statements, “ultimately influenced” the decision to fire the employees, but the evidence was insufficient to warrant prosecution. Not only does Hillary make bad personnel decisions, she lies about them. Is this the kind of “doer” you want for president?

Then there are foreign affairs. What did Hillary do in this area? She claims to have so much “experience” that she will be able to hit the ground running as president, to be ready on “Day One.” How ready is she? A look at recent events paints a very revealing picture of Hillary’s “readiness” to serve. In the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Hillary told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that “If President Musharraf wishes to stand for election then he should abide the same rules every other candidate will have to follow.” The problem with that statement is that Musharraf is not a candidate in the upcoming Pakistani elections. These elections will be held to determine the make-up of the next parliament, not who the next president of Pakistan will be. Later she told George Stephanopolous, former Clintonista lackey and current host of ABC’s This Week, "I think it will be very difficult to have a real election. You know, Nawaz Sharif (leader of the PML-N, an opposition party) has said he's not going to compete. The PPP is in disarray with Benazir's assassination. He (President Pervez Musharraf) could be the only person on the ballot. I don't think that's a real election." She actually thinks that Bhutto, Sharif and Musharraf were going to compete against one another for the same office. How could the “world’s smartest woman” be this ignorant? To give her credit, though, at least she knows Musharraf’s name [Dubya didn’t before 2000].

What were Hillary’s foreign policy accomplishments as First Lady, the time during which she gained the “experience” she trumpets like a mantra on the campaign trail? Patrick Healy of the New York Times recently wrote a fairly comprehensive piece on Hillary’s experience. He details many of Hillary’s shortcomings as a person with much foreign policy experience. Hillary had no security clearance, was never given a copy of the president’s daily intelligence brief, never sat in on National Security Council meetings. According to Healy, Hillary never asserted herself in crises in Somalia, Haiti, and Rwanda. When al-Qaeda blew up US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Hillary was barely on speaking terms with her husband because the facts of the Monica Lewinsky affair came to light at the same time. Susan Rice, a national Security Council senior aide under President Clinton who now works for Barack Obama, stated Hillary “was not involved in the heavy lifting of foreign policy.” Said Rice, “Making tough decisions, responding to crises, making the bureaucracy implement decisions that they may not want to implement — that’s the hard part of foreign policy. That’s not what Mrs. Clinton was asked or expected to do as first lady.” In 1999, Hillary made a public appearance with Suha Arafat, wife of Yasir Arafat. During this joint appearance Ms Arafat accused Israel of using “toxic gasses” that caused cancer among Palestinian women and children. What was Hillary’s response to this accusation? We’re still waiting for one. Give her another nine years – she might come up with one.

Hillary has been the junior senator from New York since 2001. What are her major legislative accomplishments during that time? She voted in favor of the Iraq war, but doesn’t vote to fund it. She found a way to support the war before she opposed it. How Kerry-esque. She supported a $1 million appropriation for a memorial celebrating the 1969 Woodstock music festival.

So where’s this “experience" again? Who is this “doer” she talks about? It certainly isn’t her. By being married to the 42nd President of the United States, Hillary claims to have gained the “experience” necessary to be president herself. A friend sent me a funny email the other day that sums this up nicely. In illustrating absurdity with absurdity, it says: The Green Bay Packers delivered a shocking announcement today. Their starting quarterback next Sunday will be Mrs. Brett Favre, who will play for Brett during the first quarter. Fans in Green Bay were shocked when this announcement was made, but Mrs. Favre assured the fans that, 'Hey, I know this game. I live with Brett. I have taken several road trips on the team plane. I've gone to the pre-game meal. I know a lot of the Packers. I've played around with a lot of the Packers in the back yard. I've tossed the football with them, and I know what a slot right 60-Prevent-Slot- Hook-And- Go is and I know how to avoid a corner blitz.' So they polled the people in Green Bay, 50% of Packers fans are excited, motivated, looking forward to the big game.

All right, you think that's ridiculous? Let me reread this. In a shocking announcement today, Mrs. Hillary Clinton announced that she is running for president of the United States because she knows Bill Clinton and has lived with him, and she was there on a lot of trips to China and around the world, and she really cared about kids for 35 years. She's fought and she stood up for kids, and she's tried to fix health care, and she knows fifty percent of the American people say, 'That's good enough for us.'

Why Guitars Are Better Than Men/Women

2008-01-03T19:39:00.000-08:00

First of all, Happy New Year! Here's some equal-opportunity bashing I found while wandering through the Allman Brothers Band webpage. I wish I knew who the author was so I could give him/her credit. Why can't I be this creative [sigh]. Enjoy - I did!

WHY GUITARS ARE BETTER THAN WOMEN

Guitars don't get pregnant.
You can play your Guitar any time of the month.
Guitars don't have parents.
Guitars don't whine... unless you want them to.
You can share your Guitar with your friends.
Guitars don't care how many other Guitars you've played
Guitars don't care how many other Guitars you have.
Guitars don't care if you look at other Guitars.
Guitars don't care if you buy Guitar magazines.
You'll never hear, "Surprise, you are going to proud father of a new Guitar" unless you go out to buy one yourself.
If your Guitar is flat you can fix it.
Your Guitar doesn't care if you never listen to it.
Your Guitar won't care if you leave up the toilet seat.
You don't have to be jealous of the guy who works on your Guitar.
If you say bad things to your Guitar, you don't have to apologize before you play it again.
You can play your Guitar as long as you want and it won't get sore.
You can stop playing your Guitar as soon as you want and it won't get frustrated.
Your parents won't remain in touch with your old Guitar after you dump it.
Guitars don't get headaches.
Guitars don't insult you if you're a bad player.
Your Guitar never wants a night out with the other Guitars.
Guitars don't care if you're late.
You don't have to take a shower before you play your Guitar.
If your Guitar doesn't look good you can refinish it or get new parts.
You can play your Guitar the first time you meet it, without having to take it to dinner, see a movie, or meet its mother.
The only protection you have to wear when playing your Guitar is a decent thumb pick.
When in mixed company, you can talk about what a great time you had the last time you played your Guitar.

and last, but not least:
If you decide to part with an old Guitar, you don't have to give up half of everything you own.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----

WHY GUITARS ARE BETTER THAN MEN

Guitars don't work late.
Your Guitar stays as clean as you want it to.
Guitars don't have parents or kids.
Guitars don't get sick.
Guitars don't get overweight, unless you like the Jumbo style.
If you say bad things to your Guitar, you don't have to apologize before you play it again.
Your Guitar always has time for you.
Guitars don't watch TV.
Guitars never need a shave, nor do they have hair on their backs.
Guitars don't snore.
Guitars don't leave a mess in the kitchen or bathroom.
If you don't like the length of your Guitar's appendage you can get a new one.
You can try out as many Guitars as you like before you get your own.
You don't have to feed your Guitar.
Guitars never argue, you are always right.
Guitars never wake you up in the middle of the night, for any reason.
Guitars never try to show you off to their friends.
Guitars don't come home drunk after a night out with the other Guitars.
Guitars don't sneak around with other Guitars.
Guitars don't care what you look like or what your age is.
Guitars don't care and don't comment about what you spend your money on.
Guitars don't care if you have to work late.
When you're playing, your Guitar doesn't care if other Guitars are bigger or better.
Guitars don't care about their performance.
Guitars don't get you pregnant.
Guitars don't have mothers.
When you've finished playing, you can put it away.
You don't have to praise a Guitar after playing it.
Guitars don't sulk.
Guitars don't bore you.
Guitars don't abandon you at gatherings for more interesting players.
Guitars don't have to prove anything.
Guitars don't try to change you once you've bought them.
Guitars don't get jealous of your male colleagues.
Guitars never interrogate you.
Second-hand Guitars don't brag about previous owners.
Second-hand Guitars don't go to see previous owners when you're out of town.
You don't have to explain to a Guitar if you don't feel like playing tonight.
Guitars never put you down, yet you can put them down whenever you wish.
Guitars don't complain if you wear "sensible" clothes.
Guitars don't have egos.
Guitars don't need remote control units.
When you're lost you don't have to argue with your Guitar about stopping to ask the band for directions.
When your Guitar is being played too slow, you can speed up.
When you need someone to play with, your Guitar is happy to accomodate.
You buy the tools your Guitar needs; it doesn't buy tools that never get used.
You don't have to continually assure your Guitar that its string length is just right.
You determine the length and frequency of playing, and you're always in control.
Your Guitar never finishes before you do.
Your Guitar doesn't complain about your going out to dinner with your women friends rather than staying at home with it.
You never get helpful suggestions from your Guitar's mother.
Your Guitars will allow you to play it even on Super Bowl Sunday.
Your Guitar never complains if you put on a few pounds.
When your Guitar is dysfunctional you know how to get it fixed (and knowthat it can be fixed).
Your Guitar will never earn more than you do for the same job just because it's a Guitar.
Your Guitar never spends a "night out with the Guitars" and comes home with a strange rash on its fretboard.

and last, but not least:
Your Guitar will never turn into a beer bellied blob of wood and metal on the couch in front of the TV.

Another Thought

2007-12-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

I am a hardcore Dallas Cowboys fan. That having been said, after having seen the New England Patriots play 13 games and winning them all, I would like to see the Pats run the table and have a perfect 19-0 season. Why you may ask? So I won't have to hear about those damn '72 Dolphins that went 17-0. After beating the Redskins in Super Bowl VII, I distinctly remember a smug, sanctimonious Don Shula telling a reporter "we want to be talked about." Every year we sports fans hear about how the '72 Dolphins crack open a bottle of champagne and celebrate when the last undefeated team in any given season loses for the first time. This is their only reason for living. How pathetic. An undefeated season for any sports franchise is a huge accomplishment, so I have to give the 'Fins their props for having achieved that feat. Keep in mind that they beat TWO, count 'em, two teams with a winning record during the regular season. But that doesn't give you license to be assholes about it every year. Just think of the Springsteen song "Glory Days" and you get the picture.

When the Pats roll into Miami in a week, will the '72 Dolphins show up like they did in '85 when the Bears rolled into town with a perfect record? Another question to ask - will this year's Dolphins team run the table and finish winless at 0-16? That would be the icing on the cake if the Pats go all the way.

In contrast to the 'Fins beating only two winning teams in '72, compare that with this year's Patriots. They beat the defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts in their own yard, beat the NFC-leading Cowboys in THEIR own yard, and just recently beat the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers by three touchdowns and the AFC West-leading San Diego Chargers by an equally huge margin. They also beat the 8-5 Cleveland Browns. Not too shabby. Next up is the New York Jets. I expect a beatdown of epic proportions.

Thoughts For Today

2007-12-10T20:14:00.000-08:00

Led Zeppelin played their first full concert since 1980. From all
accounts I've read about the show, they confounded their critics and
blew the roof off the O2 Arena in London. For many, this is like having
The Beatles getting back together [that possibility having ended
forever on Dec 8, 1980], such is Led Zeppelin's impact on popular
music. The setlist for anyone who cares: Good Times Bad Times/Ramble
On/Black Dog/In My Time of Dying/For Your Life [live debut!]/Trampled
Under Foot/Nobody’s Fault But Mine/No Quarter/Since I've BeenLovin '
You/Dazed And Confused/Stairway To Heaven/The Song Remains The
Same/Misty Mountain Hop/Kashmir Encore: Whole Lotta Love/Rock &
Roll. Those lucky Brits... I hope the "one-off" isn't just a one-time
deal, but I won't hold my breath. I'd still need a babysitter, dammit.

Today was the 40th anniversary of Otis Redding's death. He was 26 when he was killed in a plane crash in a lake near Madison, Wisconsin. Only recently did I get into his music. It's very good stuff I must say. What a shame he died so very young. The last time I was in Macon, Georgia I had some time to kill so I visited the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. There is an exhibit taking up a large section of the museum dedicated to Otis. One of the video screens showed an interview with Steve Cropper from Booker T & The MGs. Steve Cropper co-wrote [Sittin' On] The Dock of the Bay with Otis and produced the song. He said the hardest thing for him to do during his long career was to mix the song, knowing that at the time Otis' body hadn't been recovered yet from Lake Monona [eventually he was]. They recorded the song only days before Otis' death. In a brief five-year span, he left behind an impressive body of work. Check it out if you have the chance.

Today it sucks to be Michael Vick. Today he learned what it is like to piss off a federal judge. His reward for stupidity - 23 months all expenses paid courtesy of the federal prison system. But do not feel sorry for him. Nobody put a gun to his head to make him run a dogfighting ring. Nobody made him participate in the killing of dogs whom he thought underperformed. Nobody made him smoke marijuana and flunk a drug test while he was out on bail. Nobody made him to lie to federal investigators to protect himself. He did that all himself. He was the top pick of the 2001 draft. He was the Atlanta Falcons' marquee player. He was payed millions of dollars to play a game. He had endorsement deals from major corporations. He pissed all of that away because he just had to get his freak on watching dogs try to kill one another. What a dumbass!

As I was watching the news on BBC America this evening, there was a story about Kosovo. Almost nine years ago we went to war with Serbia to protect the Kosovars from Serbian persecution. Did it solve anything? Not really. Slobodan Milosevic is dead, but there are many just like him still alive and well. Now, almost nine years later, Kosovo is set to declare its independence from Serbia. To Serbs everywhere, Kosovo is the cradle of Serbian civilization. Many Serbs are willing to go to war to keep Kosovo as part of Serbia. Many in the West are bound and determined to recognize Kosovo independence once it is proclaimed. These same people are also banking on Serbia's wish to become part of the European Union as a deterrent to further war and bloodshed. If the West is to learn anything about the last time Serbia fought over what they thought was theirs, it's that the Serbs don't really care much about what world opinion thinks of them, and they will do what they think is best for Serbian interests. In 1999, Bill Clinton and Madeline Albright staked their reputations on saving the Kosovars from the Serbs. Ten years later, it might all erupt again. Madeline Albright, you have solved NOTHING!!! Do we really want to see these clowns in charge again? I saw this movie once already - I didn't like it then, either.

I've been labelled a Scrooge and The Grinch, but this year more so than others I am just not into the Christmas spirit. My sister tells me (with tongue planted firmly in cheek) that I'm not singing enough Christmas carols. Maybe it's because it's almost the middle of December and I still have to turn on the air conditioning in my house. Maybe it's because I have to travel hundreds of miles to see one real snowflake. Maybe it's because I haven't heard Cheech and Chong doing "Santa and His Old Lady" on the radio. Perhaps my heart is two sizes too small. A good friend complained to me that while people like to preach about peace on Earth and goodwill toward man, that doesn't apply when you're looking for a parking space in the driving rain with a nine-month old baby in tow. I feel for you Cheryl. I too am annoyed by people who hold up parking lot traffic while waiting for that one space, that one special parking space that is three or four spaces closer to the door than the one they just drove by. Not to mention that they're holding up traffic while talking on a cellphone that plays music, takes pictures, does text messaging, makes coffee, wipes your ass, and oh by the way acts as a telephone. What a bunch of lazy slaves-to-technology bastards we've become.

I need to go to bed now so I can continue this grinchy rant another time.

Rounding Third and Heading For Home

2007-11-16T14:25:00.001-08:00

An icon from my childhood died yesterday. Joe Nuxhall, the youngest person to ever play in a major league baseball game and longtime broadcaster for the Cincinnati Reds, died last night at the age of 79. He died of pneumonia while awaiting surgery for a pacemaker.

I spent the first sixteen years of my life in Fairborn, Ohio. Cincinnati was only an hour away, so most everyone that I knew was a Reds fan, as was I (still am). I was lucky enough to see about three Reds games a year. Going to a game at Riverfront Stadium in the 1970s was always a big deal. This was the era of The Big Red Machine - Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Ken Griffey Sr, Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo, and Pete Rose. The first three names on this list are in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. It was a great time to be a Reds fan. On those nights every summer when we couldn't go to a game, I'd listen to Reds games on the WLW from Cincinnati. Marty Brennaman (a Hall of Famer himself) and Joe Nuxhall called the games. Marty did the play by play, Joe did the commentary. In the middle innings, Joe would do the play by play, and after the sixth or seventh inning Marty would do the rest.

It was always a treat to listen to these guys call a game. I would even take a transistor radio to the games with me just so I could hear these guys talk about what I was watching. Yes, they were THAT good. It always felt like having friends over to your house for the evening and hear them tell baseball stories. Joe Nuxhall had lots of stories, but he told them in such a way that they would never get in the way of the game. When you listen to 162 games a year for many years, you feel like the guys are part of your family.

After each game, Joe would go down to the dugout of the winning team and have a short interview with his "Star of the Game". After he finished with the "star", he would go back to the booth an give his listeners a game summary. When he ended every broadcast, his signoff was "this is the old lefthander rounding third and heading for home - good night everybody."

Goodbye Joe - you made it home safe.

Duane Allman Remembered

2007-10-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

On October 29th, 1971, a motorcycle crash killed Duane Allman three weeks shy of his 25th birthday. He was the lynchpin, the guiding force of the band that bears his name, the Allman Brothers Band. I never got to see Duane Allman perform in person. I was only two weeks shy of my own 9th birthday (which makes us both Scorpios) when Duane went down, so I was a bit young to be able to see him. Even though I never saw him, in the years since his premature death I've had the pleasure of enjoying the music he made. He made only three and a half albums with the Allman Brothers: "The Allman Brothers Band," "Idlewild South," The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East," and "Eat a Peach." Each is a certifiable classic. I say 3 1/2 albums because the Brothers were halfway through the sessions for "Eat a Peach" when he died.

It was the summer of 1981, ten years after Duane's death. I had just graduated high school and was anxiously awaiting to begin my freshman year at the University of Colorado in Boulder. I wanted desperately to get away from my home in Pueblo, Colorado. The Police was becoming the big group at the time. U2 was just getting started. Michael Jackson was just beginning to create his own legend. New Wave was all over the radio. The girl with whom I was in love had unexpectedly broken up with me. The music I heard on the radio at the time didn't do anything for me. Then during that summer of 1981 I heard a song on the radio that was like no other. It was a blues song that was unlike any other blues song - it had power and swing at the same time, it was in your face, it was real music played by real musicians. It was something that somehow touched my inner core. That song was called "One Way Out." It was from the aforementioned "Eat a Peach." It featured Dickey Betts on lead guitar and Duane Allman on slide. It was intriguing how the two guitarists worked together without getting in each other's way. Although the song had nothing to do with the emotional turmoil I was going through at the time, it struck the right chord. It lead me to discover other musical treasures created by the Allman Brothers Band, and then I found it - the blues song that spoke directly to me and my inner torment. It's a song written by Gregg Allman called "Please Call Home." I was hooked. I have been an Allman Brothers Band fan ever since.

The Allman Brothers Band never thought of themselves as a "Southern rock" band. In fact they don't really like that term, since rock 'n' roll originated in the South. They have never thought of themselves as a "jam band" either. Gregg Allman himself addresses that by saying "we are not a 'jam band', but we are a band that jams. There is distinction between the two. Jam bands - that's all they do. They have little if any foundation to anything they play. Sometimes they ramble, sometimes they all play together. The Allman Brothers Band, on the other hand, created great songs which they would use as reference point for their cosmic musical explorations. There were songs like "Whipping Post," "Dreams," instrumentals like Dickey Betts' "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed." They could play anything thrown at them, be it blues, jazz, rock, even a little country. Their line-up was unique - two lead guitarists (Duane Allman, Dickey Betts), a bass player who played like a third lead guitarist (Berry Oakley), two drummers (Butch Trucks, Jaimoe), and an organ player/songwriter who I think is one, if not THE finest blues singers on the planet, Gregg Allman. The band and that beautiful noise they created were the vision of Duane Allman. The slide guitar that Duane played while Dickey played lead is incredible. He even played on Eric Clapton's "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs." The opening riff that starts off the title song is actually one of Duane's. It's incredible to think that the most famous song in Eric Clapton's career began with one of Duanee Allman's throwaway licks, but it worked. Compare the Eric/Duane version of Layla and the acoustic version recorded many years later (without Duane's intro), and you can hear for yourself the difference. One is a rock classic - the other a sacriligeous snoozefest.

Tiring of the session work that earned him money in Muscle Shaols, Alabama, Duane wanted to do his own thing in the late 1960s. One musician at a time, all the pieces fell together and Duane had his band. Once created, the band earned their stripes the hard way. They would gig a punishing 300 nights a year, sometimes playing two shows a day. They built their following from the ground up from massive gigging. Yes, there were lots of drugs, alcohol, and women to fuel the fire, but somehow they kept up an intense schedule. Oh yes, and they managed to record music when they weren't gigging. That just isn't heard of these days. The band was a true "brotherhood," either by birth or by choice. Even the roadies were treated as part of the band. They were featured on the back of the "Fillmore East" album. One roadie, Kim Payne, was credited as a co-writer for Gregg Allman's "Midight Rider" for the line "and the road goes on forever." Duane's policy was the roadies would be paid before the musicians were paid. This goes along with the old adage that a happy crew is a productive crew. Duane realized that without the roadies, there would be no show.

Duane Allman didn't write much music. The only song to which he is soley credited as a songwriter is the song that closes "Eat a Peach" [and every Allman Brothers concert], "Little Martha." Duane claimed that he was showed the tune by Jimi Hendrix in a dream. If you don't know how to tune your guitar to an "open E," you will become an alcoholic trying to learn how to play it. Once you do figure it out, it is very easy and enjoyable to play. Jerry Douglas, who plays dobro with Alison Krauss and Union Station, covered "Little Martha" on his "Far From Home" CD.

When the Allman Brothers Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in his acceptance speach Gregg Allman paid tribute to his older brother. He told the assembled audience that Duane was always "the first to face the fire." Duane was the leader, the guiding light, the driving force. He was young and he was full of life. He was always in a hurry. Perhaps he knew that his time on Earth would be short. Every Allman Brothers Band concert is a tribute to his memory. That is Duane's legacy.

Thank you Duane for being such a visionary and such a gifted musician. Your time on this Earth was way too short.

Embarrassing Problem Solved [The Tragic Way]

2007-10-23T17:44:00.001-07:00

Earlier this month I posted a rant about an individual who occupied a "no-show" job with a Pennsylvania-based organization for two months prior to his becoming the #2 Air Force official ["Here We Go Again", posted 5 Oct 07]. The man in question, Charles D. Riechers, 47, was found dead in his Virginia home on Oct 14th. He apparently committed suicide after he came under scrutiny from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Not to speak ill of the dead, but his position and the circumstances of his previous employment was an embarrassment to the Air Force. I can't help but wonder what prompted Mr. Riechers to take such a drastic step.

For more details see http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/us/15cnd-contract.html?_r=3&n=Top/Refe&oref=slogin

Stax - Very Cool!

2007-10-22T21:20:00.001-07:00

This year is the 50th Anniversary of Stax Records. This small Soul/R&B label, a competitor of Motown, operated out of Memphis, Tennessee. I'll spare you the history lesson of its humble beginnings. Instead, think of these names - Booker T. & The MGs, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, bluesmen Albert King and Little Milton, the Mar-Keys, The Staple Singers, Eddie Floyd, Rufus & Carla Thomas. Both Stax and Motown had very distinct sounds. Motown had the string arrangements - Stax had the "house" band - Booker T. & The MGs. They played on almost every Stax record made between 1962 and 1968. In addition to making records for other people, they made instrumental records under their own name which are very cool. Adding to the backbone of Booker T. & The MGs was the Mar-Keys. They provided the horns for the Stax "sound." It was a much harder, grittier sound than Motown. Think the Sam & Dave song "Hold On! I'm Comin'" and you get the idea. They all played on that. "Soul Man" too. They sometimes recorded with other artists not signed to Stax - Wilson Pickett the top among them. Ever hear "In the Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett? Booker T. & The MGs and the Mar-Keys are all over that. A Stax record in everything but name.

Otis Redding - what can you say about him? The only soul artist to play the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. The songs - "Try a Little Tenderness," "Respect" [which made both he and Aretha Franklin a ton of money], and "[Sittin' On] The Dock of the Bay," just to name a few. Otis recorded this song just days before dying in a plane crash in December 1967. A couple of weeks ago I went to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon, Georgia. They have a 40th anniversary exhibit dedicated to Otis Redding. In this exhibit is a certificate from BMI certifying that "[Sittin' On] The Dock of the Bay" has been played over 7 million times. WOW! Booker T. and Otis have been getting a LOT of airplay on my CD player. I mention Booker T. & The MGs a lot because their story and the story of Stax Records are one in the same. You cannot talk about one without the other.

One of my favorite bluesmen, Albert King, was a Stax artist. Booker T. backed him, too. Booker T. Jones even wrote Albert King's song "Born Under a Bad Sign," a song covered later by Cream. Albert King had a big influence on such players as Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Clapton practically copied Albert King's guitar solo from "Crosscut Saw" onto Cream's "Strange Brew", which appears on Disraeli Gears, Cream's most famous album. Little Milton was a Stax artist. Gregg Allman, my favorite singer, cites Little Milton as HIS favorite singer, so in my mind he's got to be good [yes - he is, or rather was since Little Milton passed away two years ago].

Isaac Hayes began his career as a staff songwriter, producer, and session musician for Stax. Oftentimes he would play sessions with Booker T & The MGs. One of his early efforts at songwriting was "I Thank You", first done by Sam & Dave, later done by ZZ Top. His big mark, of course, was "Theme From Shaft," for which he received an Academy Award for Best Original Score. I picked up an anthology of his last week. I highly recommend it.

Fantasy Records, famous for having Creedence Clearwater Revival, bought Stax Records years ago after Stax went into bankruptcy and closed its doors in 1975. Fantasy has since relaunched Stax and most of the works from the above mentioned artists are available. They are well worth checking out. All the music is worth every penny paid. You'll miss out on some rich musical heritage if you don't.

Intemperate Thoughts

2007-10-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, Al Gore. You’ve won the Nobel Peace Prize. Your fellow Nobel Laureates include Yasir Arafat [Palestinian terrorist], Le Duc Tho [North Vietnamese Communist], and Jimmy Carter [who never met a dictator he didn’t like]. Enjoy the company, Al.

While waiting to go get my take-out food this evening, the TV was tuned to Fox News. Yes, they’re still annoying. Shepard Smith asked the question “Rosie O’Donnell seems to have disappeared. Where did she go?” My answer – who cares as long as she stays there?

Why are the Chinese so interested in Hillary Clinton becoming president? What do they want in return for all their campaign contributions?

How long will it take the Democrats to blame the fires in California on George Bush?

I haven’t heard any body counts on US casualties in Iraq for quite awhile. Could the surge be working?

If the Democrats win the White House, will law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies still be allowed to share information, or will we go back to the Clintonian pre-9/11 mindset? Will the “Gorelick Wall” make a comeback? Will Sandy Berger continue to stuff incriminating classified documents into his pants?

This year’s World Series has the Boston Red Sox vs. the Colorado Rockies. Being that I’m from Colorado I’ll root for the Rockies, but I see the Red Sox winning it all in a sweep. The Rockies had an amazing streak getting this far [winning 20 of their last 21 games], but they haven’t played a game in a week. Boston just finished coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win their championship series with Cleveland, so momentum [and better starting pitching] is on their side. Having seen some of the homers that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez have hit in American League parks, I wonder what will happen once they get to Coors Canaveral. Will their home runs there achieve low Earth orbit?

After seeing the New England Patriots play for seven weeks, maybe Chris Berman was right after all, although he was ready to hand them the Lombardi Trophy after only one week of play. I would rather not give that buffoon credit for anything, but New England looks unbeatable. They are loaded, and they are crushing everybody like bugs.

What does Oprah Winfrey have to say about six black students beating a single white guy into unconsciousness in Jena, Louisiana?

When will Turkey invade Iraq and pimp-slap some Kurds? If you think things in Iraq are bad now, just wait until the Turks get in on the action.

Joe Torre got screwed by the Steinbrenners. In this world of “what have you done for me lately,” I guess 10 division championships, 6 AL pennants, and four World Series wins in twelve years doesn’t count for anything. What a pity the Steinbrenners don’t offer the same kind of incentive-laden contracts to their overpriced on-field talent that they offered Joe.

As a postscript to the whole Torre nonsense, one of George Steinbrenner’s idiot sons remarked that his dad rescued Torre’s baseball career, and the reason they did so well when Torre took over was because “a pretty good team was handed to him.” Uh, excuse me, but the team that won the World Series in Torre’s first year was basically the same team that couldn’t get out of the first round of the playoffs the year before under a different manager [Buck Showalter]. The only difference between the ’95 and ’96 Yankees? Derek Jeter. Oh yeah, and Don Mattingly retired after the ’95 season. It sounds like the son is as much of a dick as the old man.

It’s not just that I’m old – today’s music really does suck.

Remember 30 years ago when we were told to worry about “global cooling” and the “coming Ice Age”?

Hollywood has a habit of recycling old TV shows and old movies and other such trash, so if the writers go on strike, will anybody notice?

Hollywood is notoriously liberal. If they’re care so much about “equality,” why don’t female movie stars get paid as much as their male counterparts? Whatever happened to “equal pay for equal work”?

At what moment did this country’s citizens decide to mistrust its own government more than the terrorists that blew up the World Trade Center? Was it Abu Grahib? Was it the lack of WMDs?

If Lt Gen Sanchez had such a problem with the way things were going in Iraq, what did he do about it while he was in charge over there? The new commander over there, Gen Patraeus, came up with a plan that seems to be working – why couldn’t Lt Gen Sanchez? Is Gen Patraeus that much smarter than Lt Gen Sanchez? Abu Grahib happened on his watch – why wasn’t he held accountable?

If we didn’t have the CIA, would we miss it, and would anybody care? Would you believe the CIA if they told you that cigarette smoking causes cancer? They got 9/11 wrong, their “slam dunk” on WMDs in Iraq was only a missed free throw, just to name a couple.

"Bent Spear" Update

2007-10-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

Heads have started to roll in the case of the nuclear missiles that went missing for 36 hours in August this year [see my 7 Oct 07 rant "And Another Thing..."]. The Air Force has decided to relieve the wing commander at Minot and the operations group commander at Barksdale. They are actually relieving some full colonels, something that I thought would never happen in these days of "mentorship." Three other officers, whose identities are unknown to me at this point, are also to receive similar punishment. Additionally, 65 enlisted weapons personnel have been decertified from handling nukes. The question I have for the Air Force is this - what took you so long?

As reported in today's Washington Post by Thomas E. Ricks and Joby Warrick, one Air Force official stated "the intention is to send the message that 'the Air Force is getting back to the roots of accountability.'" Another AF official stated "the service is determined to handle the case better than it did a 1994 incident in which two Air Force F-15C pilots shot down two Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters that were in northern Iraq's "no-fly" zone, killing 26. Few disciplinary actions resulted then, an outcome that some generals said should not be repeated." You're damn right this shouldn't be repeated!!!

These statements explicitly say that "accountability" is something that hasn't been practiced in the Air Force for at least the last 13 years. Two of the Air Force's stated "core values" include "excellence in all we do" and "integrity". Lack of "accountability" for the past thirteen years tells me these "core values" were nothing but lip service. In short, the senior leadership of the Air Force didn't practice what it preached. In aiding and abetting those who let their favorites break the rules without consequence, Air Force leadership allowed the third core value, "service before self," to become "serve yourself, to hell with the rest" [Darlene Druyun, Tony McPeak, Buzz Moseley, call your office!]. It's all been one big lie!!!

Perhaps with this incident the Air Force may turn the corner and start to rid itself of the square-fillers, the professional staff weenies, the lifetime service school attendees who go while their contemporaries deploy multiple times in their place, the guys who earn Bronze Stars while they're "in the rear with the gear," the ones who time their own very short deployments at the end of one month and beginning of the next month to get the tax breaks for two months while those who volunteer numerous times to deploy are left at home, the sycophantic butt-snorkelers who tell their superiors what they WANT to hear rather than what they NEED to hear. I would like to believe that the Air Force would stop being a corporation and become a fighting force once again, but I think I'll be pushing up daisies before that happens.

It’s Johnny’s Birthday

2007-10-12T22:27:00.001-07:00

This is a very short song from George Harrison’s first album after the break-up of the Beatles, All Things Must Pass. The “Johnny” he sang about was his old partner in madness, John Lennon. October 9th, 1940 is the day John Lennon came kicking and screaming into this world (or was it singing? I don’t know which…). Had he been alive, he would have been 67 this year. Rather than wait until the anniversary of his death to put pen to paper and express some thoughts about John Lennon, for once I thought I’d do it on or near the anniversary of his birth.

Every Beatles fan has a favorite. Many people say that Paul is their favorite. He was the “cute one.” My sister’s favorite was George. My wife’s favorite was George. He was “the Quiet Beatle.” Mine was John. He was way different than the others. He was from a different planet. He wasn’t the best all-around musician of the group (that would be Paul), or he wasn’t the best guitar player either (that would be George), but he did have a very quick wit, had a wicked sense of humor with a keen gift for words, and damn he could sing! If you need any evidence on that last point, give “Twist and Shout” a spin. That’s all you need. He was also “the weird one,” which above all else is probably the reason he is my favorite Beatle. He was the one among the group that would be the first to face the fire. In short, he was the pack leader.

I became a Beatles fan at a very young age, and it’s all my sister’s fault. She’s 12 years older than I am. She experienced Beatlemania as a teenager. She gave me my very first record. She probably gave it to me so I would stay out of her room while she was at school (obnoxious little meddlesome kid that I was – some things never change). It was the song “Help!” - a 45 on the old Capitol yellow-and-orange swirl label. It was a “John” song. It’s my favorite song to this day. Only “Comfortably Numb” from Pink Floyd even comes close. My poor mother - she had two Beatlemaniacs in the family. She put up with Beatlemania during the ‘60s, and when I was old enough to start buying records of my own, she got it again.

John Lennon was the one who would be more willing than the others to experiment with sounds on his songs. When I first got “Help!” I just thought it was a neat little 2-minute song. When you’re three or four years old, your thoughts don’t go any deeper than that. It was just a cool song. It was only when I got older, a lot older, that I realized “Help!” was one of the Beatles’ first songs that wasn’t a love song. It was a real cry for “Help!”, which I thought was odd because here you’ve got this guy who was (at the time) one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, yet he was miserable. This was the first of many autobiographical songs. “Nowhere Man”, “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”, “In My Life”, “A Day in the Life”, “The Ballad of John and Yoko”, “Cold Turkey”, “Watching the Wheels”, “Beautiful Boy” – all of the autobiographical variety. “Strawberry Fields Forever” is another such song, but it’s different – very different. It started off as a very simple song that John wrote while filming “How I Won the War” in Almeria, Spain after the Beatles quit touring in 1966. As it began to take shape in the studio, it became a production masterpiece. Plainly put, it’s a very cool “headphone” song. It’s got some very clever words – “living is easy with eyes closed/misunderstanding all you see,” "nothing is real/nothing to get hung about," “no one I think is in my tree.”

Then there’s the “weird” songs. These are the ones that I think capture John’s unconventional essence. “Rain”, the flip side of Paul’s “Paperback Writer,” fits into this category because of the last verse - it's sung backwards. The circumstances of this came about because John got stoned after the recording session for “Rain,” recorded during the "Revolver" sessions. He took a tape of the song home to listen to, only he threaded the tape backwards onto his tape machine (well, he WAS stoned). Whilst in his stoned state he played the song and heard himself singing backwards. He liked what he heard, and that’s what ended up on the finished product. Also, the song was recorded at a slower than normal speed, so when played back AT normal speed the listener has the sensation of listening to someone who is groggy, sleepy or, dare I say it again, stoned. Also from the same “Revolver” period is the song “Tomorrow Never Knows,” the last song on the album. It was done like an Indian raga, all in the key of “C”. The song is a series of tape-looped sound effects, backwards-recorded guitar from George with a droning Indian sitar playing along (also done by George), and some very heavy drumming from Ringo. The lyrics come from John’s “The Tibetan Book of the Dead” period. Not satisfied with just the “instrumentation” he told George Martin, their producer, that he wanted to sound like the Dalai Lama singing from the top of the Himilayas. Somehow their recording engineer figured out how to run his voice through a Leslie rotating speaker from a Hammond organ, and the results were otherworldly. John loved what he heard, and so do I. You wouldn’t catch Paul creating work like this [not for public consumption, anyway] – he was too busy writing hit songs or other more "conventional" stuff, not that there’s anything wrong with that. “Sgt Pepper” was Paul’s baby, after all. Don't get me wrong - I like a lot of Paul's songs. It's just that Paul's songs, while they were the hits with much greater appeal than John's sonic experiments, were also very "normal."

Then there are what I call “the Seinfeld songs” – songs about nothing. “I Am the Walrus” was one such Seinfeld song. One day while reading some of his fan mail, he came across one letter that told the tale of some music teacher trying to explain the meaning of Beatles songs. Thus inspired, he wrote a song that strung lots of nonsensical words together, accompanied by a string section written by George Martin that sounds as if he was tripping on acid. “Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog’s eye” always grossed out my friend Brian when we were kids. The bit that always got me was “elementary penguins singing Hare Krisha/Man you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.” To go along with the music, there’s a boy-girl choir adding “ho ho ho hee hee hee ha ha ha,” “oompa-oompa stick it in your joompa” in the background. While mixing the song, John plugged a radio into the mixing board and changed the station until he found a BBC production of Hamlet. This is probably one of the first examples of what’s known as “music concrete”, the introduction of non-musical elements into songs. This is a technique that Pink Floyd later used to great effect. The result is all very surreal. As for the song as a whole - go ahead, figure that one out – I dare you. It’ll give you an aneurism if you try. When he finished the song, John told one of his friends “there, let the fuckers try and figure that one out.” The result – another very cool "headphone" song. For the record, John WAS the Walrus, and it’s “goo goo ga joob”, not “koo koo ka choo.” While Paul came up with such songs as “Hello Goodbye” and “Penny Lane”, John was coming up with stuff like this. Any wonder why the Beatles broke up? Don’t blame Yoko – John and Paul just weren’t on the same page anymore.

John has two other “Seinfeld” songs – “Hey Bulldog” and “Come Together.” “Hey Bulldog” is from the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, but instead of using weird sound effects, surreal strings and the boy-girl choir, this is a straight ahead rocker (and it DOES rock). Recorded five months after “I Am the Walrus,” “Hey Bulldog” uses the same lyrical approach, but the musical approach was just straight-ahead rock and roll. When I burn CDs of Beatles songs I put these two one after another because lyrically they are similar in that they don’t mean a damn thing – just bits of words strung together. “Come Together” begins the Beatles’ last album they recorded, “Abbey Road.” Here is another song with bits of words strung together for poetic effect sung over a snakey, swampy song that John Fogerty would kill for.

John had his “message” songs as well. “Revolution”, “All You Need Is Love”, “Give Peace a Chance”, “Gimme Some Truth”, “Imagine.” I loved the song “Imagine” when I was a kid because I thought it was a good song with a nice melody. At that time I didn’t pay any attention to the words about “no heaven,” “no possessions,” “no countries”, and “living life in peace.” But those concepts (and the song) really annoy conservatives, so I like the song even more because of it. John’s been gone for almost 27 years and he can still annoy “the man.” Would the “artists” of today (and I use that phrase very loosely) have such an effect on people 27 years after they’re gone? Only Bob Dylan and Neil Young (both from John’s generation) come to mind. The others from today’s generation? I somehow doubt it.

John Lennon was murdered by a crazed fan on December 8th, 1980. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news. I was watching Monday Night Football with my dad. The Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots were playing. I have since forgotten the outcome of the game through the mists of time. Given what happened to John Lennon it didn’t matter. My first musical hero was dead and I was heartbroken. I remember at the time the Russians were getting ready to crack down on Poland and Solidarity. Walter Cronkite led off his broadcast the next day with a short mention of Poland, but he said the biggest news of the day was about “the death of a man who sang and played guitar.” I was 18 years old then. After all this time, I still miss him.

Happy Birthday John, wherever you are.

And Another Thing...

2007-10-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

Recently, a B-52 from Air Combat Command (the forerunner of which was Tactical Air Command – the fighter mafia) armed with nuclear weapons made a journey from Minot, ND to Barksdale, LA. I repeat; nuclear weapons that were unaccounted for were loose in this country for several hours. In the immediate aftermath of this incident, the maintenance squadron commander was fired, the weapons personnel handling the weapons were “temporarily” decertified, and the crew was grounded. This is typical ACC fighter mentality bullshit. I grew up as a young officer in Strategic Air Command. Mother SAC – to err is human, to forgive is not SAC policy.

Say what you will about SAC being anal retentive with checklists out the ying-yang, but at least you know where you stood when you were in a SAC unit. Checklists existed for a reason. Things like this didn’t happen without severe consequences. SAC has been gone for 15 years now, and not so coincidentally the Air Force has gone to shit since then. Had this incident happened during the heyday of SAC, the wing commander, not some lowly squadron commander, would have been fired that very day. While I was in SAC I saw O-6s fired for less. The weapons handlers would have been forbidden from handling nukes ever again, and the aircrew would have to look for other work as well, probably handing out basketballs in Shemya. But since we live in a “fighter pilot is king culture” now, that won’t happen. The concept of “nuke surety” is foreign to the fighter jocks of today.

The Secretary of the Air Force has recently said there will be a thorough investigation of this matter. Anybody who believes this raise your hand. Word has it the wing commander involved has Buzz Moseley as a "mentor", so of course nothing will happen to him. There will be a whitewash, more underlings will be sacrificed, and once again the Air Force will pay lip service to its core values.

Fighter Pilots Have Ruined My Air Force

2007-10-07T20:56:00.000-07:00

I detest today’s fighter pilots. There – I said it. They have ruined my Air Force. Yes, it’s true that I no longer serve in uniform, and it’s not really my Air Force anymore, but I still care about what happens to a once-great organization. I wonder why the Air Force’s fighter pilot cadre is so damn cocky, considering they haven’t faced an enemy of any caliber since they faced the Luftwaffe in World War II. They talk a good game about not letting enemy aircraft strafe US ground forces since the Korean War, but that’s an empty boast when you consider the enemies they faced since then have been Vietnam (good SAM shooters, though), Libya, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Serbia (they shoot SAMs pretty good, too), Iraq (they BURIED their air force), and Afghanistan. Those countries aren’t exactly the Great Russian Bear of the Soviet Union.

These fighter guys have been running the Air Force since 1990, the beginning of the McPeak Reign of Error. This four-star clown never met a fighter pilot he didn’t like, and he never met a support puke that he did like. In Merrill “Call Me Tony” McPeak’s world, there were two kinds of people – F-15 pilots and everybody else. During his tenure, he spent $1.5 million to take the pockets off the Class A uniform and make us look like Delta pilots. Maybe McPeak thought the new uniform was cool, but it only served to hold us up to ridicule by the other services. He instituted the bike test to replace the 1.5 mile run. We still haven’t lived that down, and I’ve been out of the Air Force for 8 years. He tried to give away our A-10s to the Army, the only Close Air Support weapon in the Air Force inventory that is worth a damn. We had a good tactical reconnaissance capability with the RF-4C, but it is gone thanks to “Tony” and his perfumed-prince minions. He came up with the brilliant idea of the composite wing. Do any composite wings even exist today? When one of his prized fighters crashed into a C-130 on the ground at Pope AFB and killed dozens of Army 82nd Airborne troops, this SOB did nothing, repeat, NOTHING to express any kind of regret or condolence to the Army. When two F-15s shot down two US Army Blackhawk helicopters immediately after the first Gulf War because they couldn’t tell the difference between a Blackhawk and a Soviet Hind, they pinned the blame on some poor AWACS controller. I guess the F-15 guys have been so used to engaging their enemies outside of visual range that they can’t tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys anymore. This incident really hit home for me. While I was stationed with the 480th Intelligence Group at Langley AFB, VA, I was selected to participate in a Career Day at the US Air Force Academy. While I was there, I got to meet other intelligence officers from Air Intelligence Agency. One day I went to lunch with one of them, and while we were on our break, he asked if we could go by the AFA Cemetery to pay his respects to somebody he knew. It turns out the person to whom he paid his respects used to baby sit for him before she deployed to Turkey. She was a young Lieutenant on one of those Blackhawks shot down by our illustrious F-15 corps. Message to Tony McPeak: we’re supposed to kill guys in other armies, not our own.

With the exception of Ron Fogleman, we haven’t had a Chief of Staff worthy of the name for a long time. Fogelman fell on his sword and took early retirement rather than fire the officer in charge of Khobar Towers (who had been in charge a grand total of one week when the incident happened). Each has seen the US Air Force decline from being the “finest in the world” to one that gets defeated by the Indian Air Force in war games. While “Rome was burning” the priority of the Air Force has been to acquire the F-22, a fifth-generation fighter built to face an enemy that no longer exists. It has taken twenty years for this aircraft to get from the drawing board to the field. The F-22 is supposed to replace the F-15. The F-15 is getting long in the tooth. When I was a youngster living near Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, we kids often got a chance to see the latest and greatest airplanes before they got fielded. I had such an opportunity in 1972, when I saw the YF-15. I was 10 years old then. The Air Force’s primary bomber, the B-52, was built during the Eisenhower administration. It is older than me and the pilots that fly them, and I will be 45 this year. Its follow-on was the B-1, a cornerstone of the Reagan defense build-up in the 1980s. Many of these fairly new (by B-52 standards) airframes ended up in the Boneyard at Tucson in order to pay for the upkeep of these dinosaurs. The backbone of the tanker force, the KC-135, is also a product of the Eisenhower years. These relics of the Cold War cost a fortune to maintain. When will they be retired before their wings fall off and kill experienced aircrews? Will the precious F-22 perform the functions of these venerable aircraft when it’s their turn to go to the Boneyard?

One thing the Air Force has always done poorly is personnel management. Either they have too much of something, or too little. When I was a young Captain, we had too many pilots. What did the Air Force do with these pilots? They “banked” them – put them in support jobs until such a time when cockpits became available. While the Air Force was banking pilots, it RIFfed (Reduction in Force) support people. I survived the RIF, but others did not. A friend of mine was the Company Grade Intelligence Officer of the Year for USAFE for 1992, yet he got RIFfed that same year. Where else but the Air Force does such a thing happen? Two classmates of mine at Squadron Officer School (SOS), neither of whom were pilots, also got RIFfed. When I got to Korea in late ’92, two out of three targeting officers in the 6th Tactical Intelligence Group (6th TIG) were RIFfed. Who replaced these people who got RIFfed? You guessed it – banked pilots. Fast forward fifteen years. The Air Force decided it needed some quick cash to pay for some F-22s. Where did they get the money? Cuts in support personnel, of course. Now the Air Force is short on communications officers. The current Chief of Staff, “Buzz” Moseley, is making a big deal about fighting “tomorrow’s war” in cyberspace. He’s even standing up a Cyber Command. But who is going to man it? The Air Force keeps cutting support people, and we can’t expect fighter pilots to do it. It’s too much like work for them. A friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) said that in his years in the Air Force, he’s heard the comment “I need another comm officer” or “I need another intel officer.” He’s never heard anyone utter the phrase “I need another fighter pilot.”

What has “Buzz” Moseley been doing while “Rome is burning” [damn I love that metaphor]? Besides cutting support personnel and breaking the bank in acquiring F-22s, “Buzz” has taken time out of his busy schedule to make yet another uniform change. What is with these guys, anyway? If you want to know what the new Class A uniform looks like, watch an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Not satisfied with making the Class A uniform a complete joke, the Battle Dress Uniform is also undergoing a makeover. The BDU replacement uniform looks like that worn by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. That’s right, our guys now look like “Marvin the ARVN.” And those poor missilier guys - they can't wear their "pocket rockets" anymore. They have to suffer the indignity of wearing the Buzz Lightyear Fairy Wings. To infinity, and beyond!!!

Now comes the startling revelation from the Secretary of the Air Force that cutting troops during wartime to pay for new toys ISN’T WORKING. Well NO SHIT, BUCKWHEAT!!! Giving up hard-won experience for short term gain is never a good thing. Where did this tower of intellect go to school, and why did it take him so long to figure out that his uniformed “leadership” (and I use that term very loosely) screwed the pooch? How can the Air Force prioritize its resources so that it can do the job without breaking the bank? Some ideas include cutting the flying program. In PACAF alone the flying program costs the Air Force $900 million of a $2 billion O&M program, all for maintaining proficiency in an aircraft (the F-16) that will be retired fairly soon and will be replaced by the F-22. But since that affects fighter pilots, that’ll never happen. Another potential source of income for the Air Force is reducing waste. As a developmental tester for the Air Force, I and others like me see program after program that are years late and over budget, failure is rewarded with more money awarded to developers, and nobody is held accountable. Nobody is fired for poor performance, and life goes on. Good money after bad is thrown down the festering rathole in order to “save face.” Nobody in positions of authority wants to admit mistakes, cut losses, and make refinements to systems in the field (that actually work) to make things better. I am sure that millions of dollars can be saved by killing numerous “general officer bright ideas” [we call them GOBIs]. Why can’t the Air Force build new F-15 airframes, fit them with new avionics and replace the old ones? That would surely be cheaper than buying F-22s, the fighter jocks’ “precious.”

Will the Air Force have to kill some aircrews before it does something? My fear is that’s what it’s going to take for Air Force leadership to sack up and do something right for a change. Hopefully some of my contemporaries, who when we were all younger and naïve wanted to fix what’s wrong with the Air Force, can make some real changes now that they are in positions of authority. Hope springs eternal, but since my friends on active duty are intel guys, I won't hold out much hope of them making any actual change. Maybe they can stop the cycle of promoting guys who spend their rotating assignments being commanders' execs, professional students at service schools, and lifetime staff weenies, but I won't hold my breath.

Happy Birthday Carol

2007-10-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

On a much more positive note, my loving wife who has put up with me for over 23 years [how does she do it?], she who is the brains of the Howard outfit, she who is the one who holds the family together while I'm on my many trips, she who lets me know about it when I misbehave, she who makes sure I take care of myself so I can be around a long time, celebrates her birthday today. Happy Birthday Carol - I love you. More than you'll ever know...

Give Back the Medals, Marion

2007-10-05T08:14:00.001-07:00

In the grand scheme of things, given the events involving our troops in countries far far away, this story really isn’t worth much more than a gnat on a flea’s butt, but I feel like writing about it anyway. Marion Jones, a female track and field star from the late 1990s and early 2000s, won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. It turns out she had a little help. Yesterday a story broke on ESPN News that Marion Jones wrote a letter to her family admitting steroid use during the period 1999-2001. She is expected to plead guilty to making false statements to federal agents in federal court today. This admission taints her Olympic accomplishments. Three years ago she vehemently denied using steroids. Her coach, Trevor Graham, who supplied her steroids she used, has been banned by the US Olympic Committee from its training facilities. Several athletes coached by Graham, including shot putter C.J. Hunter, 400m runners Antonio Pettigrew, Jerome Young, Calvin Harrison and Alvin Harrison and 200m runner Michelle Collins , and Tim Montgomery (whose World Record in the 100m has since been revoked) also used steroids. Justin Gatlin, a former 100-meter dash record-holder also coached by Graham, tested positive for steroids in 2006 and had accepted an eight-year ban from international track and field competition. C.J. Hunter, it should be noted, was Marion Jones’ first husband. He tested positive for steroids on the eve of the 2000 Summer Olympics and was banned from competition in those same games. Given that she associated with, was married to, and in one case had a child with people who enhanced their performances with steroids, it was hard for me to believe Marion Jones’ denials of wrongdoing.

Oprah Winfrey featured Marion Jones, along with Toni Morrison and Gloria Steinem in her “O” Magazine in an article about having self-esteem. Oprah also had Marion Jones on her TV show with Tim Montgomery and their infant son in a show featuring world record-holders, extolling their virtues as role models for others to emulate. It was all a lie. In 2003, James Frey wrote a book called “A Million Little Pieces.” He called it a memoir - a true account of Frey's life as an alcoholic, drug addict and criminal. Oprah was so captivated by this book she featured it on “Oprah’s Book Club” in September 2005. The book was a fraud. After this book was exposed to be a fraud, she had James Frey on her show and publicly scolded Frey for lying, and rightly so. Nobody likes to be lied to, especially on a nationally-syndicated television show. Oprah was outraged, as well she should have been. Marion Jones’ Olympic success is as much a fraud as James Frey’s “memoir.” Are you outraged yet, Oprah? Will you publicly scold Marion Jones as you did James Frey, or do you just save your rage for men?

In 1988, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson won the gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, shattering the world record in the process. He later tested positive for steroids and the International Olympic Committee stripped Johnson of his gold medal, awarding it to second-place finisher Carl Lewis. Given her admission to her family that she took steroids during the time she competed in Sydney, if Marion Jones had a shred of self-respect, she would give up the medals she won in Sydney before the IOC takes them away.

Here We Go Again

2007-10-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

An article concerning Air Force acquisition posted to the Early Bird came to my attention a couple of days ago. First, a little background. Several years ago, a top acquisition officer for the US Air Force, Darlene Druyun, went to jail. She had gotten herself a top-paying job at Boeing in return for her getting Boeing a lucrative contract for leasing tanker aircraft to the Air Force. Druyun also was known as a staunch defender of Lockheed Martin's F/A-22 Raptor fighter aircraft, which faced billions of dollars in cost overruns as it was developed in the 1990s. The result of her actions on the tanker deal and other contracts [like the Small Diameter Bomb, an improved avionics package for the C-130] led to a temporary suspension of the Air Force's acquisition authority. The Department of Defense couldn't trust the Air Force with the checkbook. The person who now holds Darlene Druyun's position is Charles D. Riechers. While he was awaiting confirmation from the US Senate, the Air Force helped arrange a job through an intelligence contractor that required him to do no work for the company. For two months, Riechers held the title of senior technical adviser and received about $13,400 a month at Commonwealth Research Institute, or CRI, a nonprofit firm in Johnstown, Pa.

What did Mr Riechers do for CRI to earn such a nice salary? In an interview with the Washington Post, Riechers admitted he did nothing for CRI. In fact, Riechers said the first time he met company officials was at the company Christmas party. During this time during that he actually worked for Sue C. Payton, assistant Air Force secretary for acquisition, on projects that had nothing to do with CRI. CRI paid Riechers a total of $26,788 as part of the contract to provide research to the Pentagon, CIA and other intelligence agencies. The guy who hired Mr Riechers, Frank Cooper, said he did not know precisely what Riechers did for the government, saying he did not ask because he assumed such information was available only on a "need-to-know" basis. So, this guy hires Riechers at the request of the Air Force, yet didn't bother to oversee his work. In a statement, Riechers said he had no problem accepting the pay because Commonwealth Research is a nonprofit organization "that had an established relationship" with the military service. Riechers said he has not made any decisions relating to Commonwealth Research contracts since his appointment. Yeah right, and OJ is still looking for the "real killer."

Didn't this guy ever hear about Darlene Druyun? Has the Air Force learned nothing from the Druyun affair? Have the concepts of accountability and responsibility for one's actions been totally forgotten by the Air Force? There is a saying in the Air Force, or at least the Air Force that I joined 20 years ago, that "perception is reality." My perception is that there is something wrong and possibly criminal with regard to Mr Riechers temporary employment. Is Mr Riechens' current Air Force boss showing the same kind of "hands-off" management style his boss at CRI? Will he become another Darlene Druyun? This is yet another one of those things that makes you go "hmmmm......"

Silence in Syria, Panic in Iran

2007-10-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

While I was away in Baltimore earlier this week I wrote an item about how much I despise the fighter pilots of today and how they are breaking the Air Force's bank in buying the F-22. I planned to post that rant today, but instead I got this article in the mail from my friend Shaman. I shared this article with my co-workers. My friend Tom read both this article and my fighter pilot rant and suggested that this article made a great case for NOT buying the F-22. Since the Israelis used F-15s and F-16s to defeat the best air defense that money can buy, why buy the F-22? My rant about fighter pilots will wait for another day (tomorrow perhaps?). At any rate, read on enjoy!

Silence in Syria, Panic in Iran
By Dr. Jack Wheeler, To The Point News 19/9/07
Sep 25, 2007 - 12:09:27 PM

"Everyone in the government and military can only talk of one thing,' he reports. 'No matter who I talked to, all they could do was ask me, over and over again, 'Do you think the Americans will attack us?' 'When will the Americans attack us?' 'Will the Americans attack us in a joint operation with the Israelis?' How massive will the attack be?' on and on, endlessly. The Iranians are in a state of total panic.'

And that was before September 6. Since then, it's panic-squared in Tehran. The mullahs are freaking out in fear. Why? Because of the silence in Syria. On September 6, Israeli Air Force F-15 and F-16s conducted a devastating attack on targets deep inside Syria near the city of Dayr az-Zawr. Israel's military censors have muzzled the Israeli media, enforcing an extraordinary silence about the identity of the targets. Massive speculation in the world press has followed, such as Brett Stephens' Osirak II? in yesterday's (9/18) Wall St. Journal. Stephens and most everyone else have missed the real story. It is not Israel's silence that 'speaks volumes' as he claims, but Syria's.

Why would the Syrian government be so tight-lipped about an act of war perpetrated on their soil? The first half of the answer lies in this story that appeared in the Israeli media last month (8/13)[Editor's Note: I posted this article just below this one]: Syria's Antiaircraft System Most Advanced In World. Syria has gone on a profligate buying spree, spending vast sums on Russian systems, 'considered the cutting edge in aircraft interception technology.' Syria now 'possesses the most crowded antiaircraft system in the world,' with 'more than 200 antiaircraft batteries of different types,' some of which are so new that they have been installed in Syria 'before being introduced into Russian operation service.' While you're digesting that, take a look at the map of Syria: Notice how far away Dayr az-Zawr is from Israel. An F15/16 attack there is not a tiptoe across the border, but a deep, deep penetration of Syrian airspace. And guess what happened with the Russian super-hyper-sophisticated cutting edge antiaircraft missile batteries when that penetration took place on September 6th. Nothing.

El blanko. Silence. The systems didn't even light up, gave no indication whatever of any detection of enemy aircraft invading Syrian airspace, zip, zero, nada. The Israelis (with a little techie assistance from us) blinded the Russkie antiaircraft systems so completely the Syrians didn't even know they were blinded. Now you see why the Syrians have been scared speechless. They thought they were protected - at enormous expense - only to discover they are defenseless. As in naked. Thus the Great Iranian Freak-Out - for this means Iran is just as nakedly defenseless as Syria.

I can tell you that there are a lot of folks in the Kirya (IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv) and the Pentagon right now who are really enjoying the mullahs' predicament. Let's face it: scaring the terror masters in Tehran out of their wits is fun. It's so much fun, in fact, that an attack destroying Iran's nuclear facilities and the Revolutionary Guard command/control centers has been delayed, so that France (under new management) can get in on the fun too. On Sunday (9/16), Sarkozy's foreign minister Bernard Kouchner announced that 'France should prepare for the possibility of war over Iran's nuclear program.' All of this has caused Tehran to respond with maniacal threats. On Monday (9/17), a government website proclaimed that '600 Shihab-3 missiles' will be fired at targets in Israel in response to an attack upon Iran by the US/Israel.

This was followed by Iranian deputy air force chief Gen. Mohammad Alavi announcing today (9/19) that 'we will attack their (Israeli) territory with our fighter bombers as a response to any attack.' A sure sign of panic is to make a threat that everyone knows is a bluff. So our and Tel Aviv's response to Iranian bluster is a thank-you-for-sharing yawn and a laugh. Few things rattle the mullahs' cages more than a yawn and a laugh. Yet no matter how much fun this sport with the mullahs is, it is also deadly serious. The pressure build-up on Iran is getting enormous. Something is going to blow and soon. The hope is that the blow-up will be internal, that the regime will implode from within. But make no mistake: an all-out full regime take-out air assault upon Iran is coming if that hope doesn't materialize within the next 60 to 90 days. The Sept. 6 attack on Syria was the shot across Iran's bow.

So - what was attacked near Dayr az-Zawr? It's possible it was North Korean 'nuclear material' recently shipped to Syria, i.e., stuff to make radioactively 'dirty' warheads, but nothing to make a real nuke with as the Norks don't have real nukes (see Why North Korea's Nuke Test Is Such Good News, October 2006). Another possibility is it was to take out a stockpile of long-range Zilzal surface-to-surface missiles recently shipped from Iran for an attack on Israel. A third is it was a hit on the stockpile of Saddam's chemical/bio weapons snuck out of Iraq and into Syria for safekeeping before the US invasion of April 2003. But the identity of the target is not the story - for the primary point of the attack was not to destroy that target. It was to shut down Syria's Russian air defense system during the attack. Doing so made the attack an incredible success. Syria is shamed and silent. Iran is freaking out in panic. Defenseless enemies are fun.

IDF: Syria's antiaircraft system most advanced in world

Alex Fishman
Published: 08.13.07, 09:38 / Israel News

Israeli military source says that after studying IAF's performance during Second Lebanon War, Damacus has purchased most advanced ground-to-air missiles from Russia. IDF fears Assad's arms race may be sign of possible conflict with Israel.

Syria possesses the most crowded antiaircraft system in the world following its continued purchase of Russian weapon systems, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday, quoting a senior Israeli military source.

According to one estimate, the Syrians hold more than 200 antiaircraft batteries of different types.

In a bid to respond to the Israel Air Force's supremacy, Damascus has been exerting great efforts in the past few years to improve its ability in terms of ground-to-ground and ground-to-air missiles.

According to the military source, as part of these efforts the Syrians have purchased the most advanced ground-to-air missiles from the Russians, considered the cutting edge in aircraft interception technology.

Some of these missiles were snatched from the production lines even before being introduced into Russian operation service.

Damascus' race to purchase antiaircraft weapons is one of the prominent characteristics in the Syrians' preparations for a possible conflict with Israel.

According to the military source, Syria studied the IAF's performance during the Second Lebanon War and has since invested great sums of money in antiaircraft systems, particularly in systems for the defense of strategic sites.

The Institute for National Security Studies recently issued a memo on the strengthening of the Syrian army. In the chapter dealing with air defense, researcher Yiftah Shapir writes that the antiaircraft deals between Syria and Russia include the purchase of SA-24 missile systems, an armored vehicle which carries four Igla-S missiles – among of the most advanced shoulder missiles on the market.

In addition, the Syrians purchased between 36 to 50 Pantsir S-1 (SA-22) systems. This is a system combining missiles and shells and its development has only been completed recently. It is installed on a high-mobility vehicle and has a launcher of 12 missiles. Each missile weighs 65 kilograms (143 pounds) and has a 16-kilogram (35.2-pound) warhead.

The Syrians have also improved their old antiaircraft systems, such as the SA-3 and SA-6.

According to the memo, the Syrians are interested in purchasing long-range S-300 air defense systems and S-11 and SA-17 medium-range mobile air defense systems.

The S-300, one of the most advanced missiles used by the Syrian army can accurately intercept aircrafts from a distance of several tens of kilometers, thanks to an improved radar system combined with special sensors on the missile itself.

According to the military source, the Syrian army possesses today improved long-range and short-range air defense systems for the interception of aircrafts.

Aryeh Egozi contributed to this report

Now, what exactly do we need the F-22 for? I'm sure the Syrians and the Mad Mullahs in Iran are crapping pretty large bricks right about now. :-)

Where’s Oprah, Jesse & Al?

2007-09-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Basketball Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas is being sued for sexual harassment by a former New York Knicks executive. Anucha Browne Sanders, former vice president for marketing, claims she was unfairly dismissed by Thomas because she accused him of harassment. She claims that he often called her “bitch” during business meetings and berated her with foul language at other times. On the witness stand she quoted Thomas, Knicks President of Basketball Operations and head coach, with saying “What are your job responsibilities, you…ho?” She also alleges Thomas repeatedly told her he was in love with her. According to Browne Sanders, Thomas said that he didn’t give a “f—k” about season ticket holders whom he referred to as “these white folk” even though they were paying the salaries of him and his sorry excuse of a basketball team. In a videotaped deposition (which is done under oath), Thomas said that he thought it unacceptable if a white man had referred to a black woman as a “bitch” or a “ho”, but that it was acceptable if a black man did that.

As in all sexual harassment cases, this is a “he said, she said” thing. However, Thomas’s deposition is a matter of record. He said he wouldn’t stand for a white man to call a black woman a “bitch” but wouldn’t be as angry if the same words came from a black man. This is an astonishing double standard, indeed. If all of this is true [the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seems to think so], where’s Oprah? When the whole Don Imus mess happened (I won’t rehash the particulars), she was quick to beat her breast and castigate those who behave in such a manner, be they black or white. Bravo – more power to her. But in this case she has remained silent. To give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe that’s because this is a case that is still pending and she might withhold comment until the case is settled. However, that didn’t stop her in the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill case. As I recall, because of the “seriousness of the charge”, Oprah and others like her were quick to pronounce Clarence Thomas guilty as charged without benefit of a trial. What’s different here? Why has Oprah remained silent on this? Why is there not any righteous indignation coming from the likes of Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton? Is it because Isaiah Thomas is black and Don Imus is white? Is it because Clarence Thomas is a Republican and Isaiah Thomas contributes to Democratic campaigns? Are they being a bit selective in their outrage?

Things That Annoy Me

2007-09-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Christian conservatives - they want minimal government intrusion into peoples' lives [which is good], but they have no problem telling you what's wrong with YOUR life [which is not so good]. They talk a real good game about "love the sinner, hate the sin" and "turning the other cheek", but watch out if you are pro-choice, if you are not bothered by gay marriage, or heaven forbid, your children read Harry Potter. They have no problem in passing moral judgement on you if you don't act like they do.

Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh - need I say more?

Air America - same category as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, but at least Hannity and Limbaugh don't go bankrupt like Air America

CNN - leftist political opinion disguised as journalism

Fox News - sensationalism disguised as journalism. And oh yeah, rightist political opinion disguised as journalism.

Liberals - you know the type. These are the kind of people who are so spun up about saving the environment yet live lifestyles that are more environmentally-unfriendly than yours (Al Gore, John Edwards, call your office!!). They're the kind of people who think government is the solution to every problem. They're the kind of people who say they're concerned about civil liberties and free speech, yet when anyone strays from their party line, the dissenters are silenced. They're the kind of people who think that government knows better than you how to spend your money that you earned. They're the kind of people who think illegal immigration is ok. Excuse me, but what part of "illegal" don't you understand? They're the kind of people who want to get to know a bully's "feelings" when they're attacked instead of hitting them back at them. They're the kind of people who say we must "talk to our enemies" yet won't have debates on Fox News. They're the kind of people who think it's ok to take your money and give it to someone else. They're the kind of people who decry the "politics of personal destruction" yet hire private detectives to dig up dirt on enemies real and imagined. They're the kind of people who shun the word "liberal" and embrace the word "progressive."

Oprah Winfrey - she of the mass cult following; she of her own magazine, the cover of which can only have pictures of her; she of her own television show; she of her own television network ("Oxygen"); she who has a production empire all her own (she produces Dr Phil and Rachel Ray, too); she who has all these assets and a following at her disposal yet is too gutless to take on the issue of rap music until it's popular to do so (like in the Don Imus story); she who used to make a daily living out of bashing men as the root of all evil.

Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton - professional race pimps. Barack Obama isn't "black enough" for them. Obama is a threat to these guys because he doesn't practice the politics of perpetual victimhood.

Gloria Allred - the ubiquitous Gloria Allred. She's everywhere. Attorney for practically everybody. One of the most dangerous places on Earth is between her and any television camera. The same can be said for Chuck Schumer.

Ann Coulter - she has a message, but I'm not sure what it is. She could be effective if only she didn't resort to so much hyperbole.

Today's country music - it's "pop & western" these days, not country. Waylon & Johnny Cash are gone, Dwight Yoakam makes more movies than records these days. What a shame.

Rascal Flatts - who knew that country music could be so whiny?

Montgomery Gentry - country guys trying very hard to be rockers. Sorry guys, it isn't working.

Big & Rich - they're outlaws, just ask them. My take: if you have to tell people you're an outlaw, you aren't one.

Rap - short for "crap." Creates and re-inforces (daily) negative stereotypes of black people.

Britney Spears - if this girl could actually sing, she might have a future in the music business.

Lindsay Lohan - cute but stupid.

Today's rock music - complete utter shite. It's faceless, generic, stale, and just plain sucks. Back in the day you could hear good soul from Mowtown and Stax, good blues from Chess, different varieties of rock from the likes of Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Deep Purple, the Allman Brothers Band, Santana, Cream, Traffic, the Beatles, the list goes on. Variety in rock music has long since passed.

Classic rock radio - take away the collective works of Led Zeppelin, Boston, Pink Floyd, the Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Steve Miller, these stations would have nothing to play.

Sheryl Crow - who knew that "rock" music (if that's what you can call what she plays) could be so whiny?

John Lennon and George Harrison are still dead. :-(

Yup. Lots of things annoy me. This is the short list.

Intemperate Thoughts About Football

2007-09-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

For this lifelong Texas Longhorns fan, it’s going to get ugly very quickly. They barely got by Arkansas State in the first game, couldn’t put TCU away until the 4th quarter of the second game, and had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to squeak past Central Florida. If this is the best they can do against double-digit underdogs, not only will the Texas Longhorns not win the Big 12 Conference, they won’t even win the Big 12 South Division. They are, in a word, overrated. I hate to say that, but the ‘Horns don’t impress me this year. Their #6 ranking is a gift from the football gods. They better enjoy it while it lasts. Their first conference game is Sept 29 against K-State, who beat Texas last year. The following week they play the Oklahoma Sooners in the annual Red River Shootout at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Oklahoma is destroying lesser opponents this year, the way Texas SHOULD be playing. Three weeks after the Oklahoma game they get the Nebraska Cornhuskers at home. Texas Tech is no pushover either, and then they finish the regular season in College Station against Texas A&M, who also beat the Longhorns in Austin last year. The Aggies are also crushing lesser opponents this year. My friend Mike [in Plano] is an Aggie grad, and it promises to be a good time for him at the game this year. I hope the Longhorns prove me wrong this year, but I just don’t see it happening.

It’s a good thing Charlie Weis has a ten-year contract with a very hefty buyout clause with Notre Dame. Otherwise, with a pathetic 0-3 start with ZERO offensive touchdowns this year, he would be shown the door as Ty Willingham was after three years of coaching the Domers. Only two years ago Charlie Weis was hailed as an “offensive genius” after the New England Patriots, of whom he was the offensive coordinator, won three Super Bowls in four years. Oh well, at least the Michigan Wolverines finally won their first game since Bo Schembechler died. 38-0 against Notre Dame? OUCH!!! You know Bo had to be smiling.

On the pro side, if I’m Carson Palmer, I have to wonder what I have to do to win a football game. The dude throws SIX, count ‘em, SIX touchdown passes, and his Bengals lose. How does that happen? Your head coach Marvin Lewis has a reputation for being a defensive genius, yet his defense gives up 51 points to, of all teams, Cleveland. The Cleveland Freaking Browns, a team that has won a grand total of two division games during their current coach’s tenure. Yeah I know the coach doesn’t suit up to play, but he does have to get his team prepared to play. For the last year or so the only thing these guys seem to be prepared for is a perp walk after yet another arrest for an off-the-field incident. Last year Peyton Manning got upset at the Colts defense for their poor play and blowing big leads. He said something to the effect of “this isn’t basketball where I can play offense AND defense.” Carson Palmer must be thinking the same thing. It’s a sad commentary for that team where the offense scores 45 points and they LOSE. Not good.

Last week I ranted and raved about how ESPN's Tom Jackson said last week’s Patriots’ game against the Jets was a “statement game.” Sunday night they really did make a statement. They crushed San Diego, they of the 14-2 record last season, 38-14. No doubt about it, these guys are scary good. But, there are still 14 games to play. Can they run the table? It would be funny if they did – then we wouldn’t have to hear about the ’72 Dolphins popping any more champagne corks when the last undefeated team loses their first game. Every time I hear about the ’72 Dolphins I think of the Springsteen song “Glory Days”. A 17-0 season is a tremendous achievement. Hasn’t been done before or sense. But these guys seem to define their very existence on this singular achievement, as if being successful fathers, husbands, or businessmen isn’t enough. One exception is Nick Buoniconti. In addition to being a Hall of Fame linebacker and a successful lawyer, he has done much good work in raising awareness about spinal cord injuries since his son Marc suffered such an injury in 1985.

Man I love this game!!! It's so fun to poke holes in guys who make millions of dollars to play a "game."

"A Catastrophic and Life-Threatening Spinal Cord Injury"

2007-09-10T21:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I talked about what happened with Kevin Burnett. At the time I blogged last night reports about his condition were scarse. Today is a different story. Everett sustained what amounts to a broken neck - a break between the third and fourth vertebrae. The orthopedic surgeon who worked on Kevin Burnett, Dr Andrew Cappuccino, said "a best-case scenario is full recovery, but not likely. I believe there will be some permanent neurologic deficit." He determined Burnett's injuries were life-threatening because he is breathing with the aid of a ventilator and because he is "still susceptible to blood clots, infection and breathing failure." Dr Cappucino doesn't think Kevin Burnett will be able to walk again [damn!].

I had flashbacks to two players yesterday. Darryl Stingley, whom I've mentioned in these pages before, and Mike Utley. Mike Utley, an offensive lineman for the Detroit Lions who sustained a career-ending injury in 1991 similar to what happened to Kevin Burnett. While Utley was being taken off the field, he gave a "thumbs up" to tell everybody that he was going to be ok. I kept waiting for Kevin Burnett to do the same thing. I think a lot of people who saw that game were thinking the exact same thing. The "thumbs up" never came.

My good buddy Ken said it best when he told me "one minute you're in peak physical condition, the next you're an invalid." Sad but true.

Ah --- Football Season At Last!!!

2007-09-09T23:57:00.000-07:00

The first Sunday of the NFL season is in the books. I couldn’t be happier. Finally a REAL sports season gets underway. This week there were blowouts, there were close games [two game-winning field goals at the gun, one overtime game], there was a defensive struggle [Chargers-Bears, 14-3], and there was one game that looked like a basketball game [Cowboys-Giants, 45-35]. If Chris Berman from ESPN is to be believed, you might as well hand the Lombardi Trophy to the New England Patriots right now. To quote him “is it over already?” Let’s get a little perspective, shall we? The Patriots were good, but they played the Jets. Not the Colts, the Broncos or Steelers [teams that have actually WON the Big One in recent memory] – the Jets. The Patriots-Jets game was one of the aforementioned blowouts [38-14]. The Jets haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire, so to base the Patriots’ season on one win over these guys is jumping the gun just a tad. There are still 15 games to play. Tom Jackson, Chris Berman’s partner in hyperbole, labeled this a “statement game.” If New England played the likes of Pittsburgh, Denver or Indianapolis and had a similar result as they did against the Jets he MIGHT have a point. You want a “statement game”? How about Indianapolis handing New Orleans their asses on Thursday [41-13]? THAT was a “statement game.” At least the Saints played for the right to go to the Super Bowl last year. The quality of competition the Colts faced this week was significantly higher than what New England faced. But I expect nothing less from the likes of over-caffeinated buffoons like Chris Berman and Tom Jackson. I haven’t seen this much bias towards one team since, well, Chris Berman in the 1990s, Mr 49ers fan, Mr Buffalo Bills fan. It’s only Week One.

Unfortunately, there was one very bad thing that happened this week in the NFL. Kevin Everett, a back-up tight end for Buffalo, plays special teams for the Bills. He made a tackle on the second-half kickoff against the Broncos. Everett stopped the Broncos’ return guy. However it was a helmet-to-helmet hit and he didn’t get up. No movement at all. It was scary to watch. Everett had to be carried off the field on a stretcher. He had to be taken to the hospital to undergo emergency surgery on his neck as he suffered a cervical spinal cord injury. He has very limited movement and is intensive care. I don’t care if he ever plays another down. I just hope the guy can walk again. I hope he doesn’t end up like Darryl Stingley. This is just another reminder of how dangerous professional football can be.

In college football, how ‘bout those Michigan Wolverines? First they lose their home opener to Appalachian State, a I-AA team (!), then the following week they get a Rodney King beating from the likes of the Oregon Ducks, again at the Big House in Ann Arbor. Michigan’s coach, Lloyd Carr, is so gone after this year. Michigan’s opponent next week? The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. They too started the college football season 0-2. Last week they were squashed like bugs by Georgia Tech, and this week Penn State beat them senseless, payback from last year. Charlie Weis doesn’t look like such a genius this year. The one good result from this awful play by Notre Dame this year is that we won’t have to hear about them quite as much. Every year it seems the talking heads in sports talk about how great and wonderful Notre Dame is, but this talk of their greatness is always rooted in glories past. What have they done lately? When was the last big game they won?

Another team we won’t have to hear about as much this year as we did last year is Boise State, the guys who play on the blue field. Washington ended their 14-game winning streak this weekend. Boise State, who plays in the WAC, found out the hard way it’s a little harder to go undefeated when you play someone in a big conference like the Pac-10. At least you have to give Boise State their props for even scheduling a game with a big-conference team. My team, the Texas Longhorns, is bound and determined to give me a heart attack this season. They barely beat Arkansas State last week, and they waited until the fourth quarter to put away TCU. Before the games were played this weekend, I actually thought TCU might beat Texas since the Longhorns struggled against Arkansas State the week before. I figured Texas was ripe for an upset, and for three quarters TCU tried their best to prove me right. But luckily for my coronary health, Texas got it together in the fourth quarter and won the game by a comfortable margin. Texas cannot afford to keep playing this way every week, because if they do against a really good team like Texas A&M (whom they play in College Station in November) or Oklahoma (whom they play in October), they’re going to get spanked.

Two teams to watch this year? Oklahoma and LSU. These guys are so good it’s scary. The “statement game” in college football so far this season was the LSU-Virginia Tech game. Going into this weekend’s game, both teams were ranked in the Top Ten [LSU #2, Virginia Tech #9]. Before game time it sounded like a good match-up. But the result didn’t turn out that way. LSU stomped the proverbial mudhole in Virginia Tech 48-7. How did Oklahoma do? They slaughtered Miami of Florida 51-13. Ouch! One of my cellmates at work is a grad from Auburn, but I don’t think I’ll be hearing too much from him about how little respect Auburn gets from the pollsters after they lost at home to [drum roll please]…South Florida. USC is going to get the usual gush treatment from the media because they’re the pre-season #1. It’ll be interesting to see how they play against Cal, who is already 2-0 this year and have already beat one SEC team [Tennessee]. The defending national champions, Florida, promise to have another great year. We’ll know better about them after they play LSU later this year. Auburn usually plays them very tough as well. The SEC is such a loaded conference every year that the teams that play in that conference beat each other up and take each other out of contention for the national championship.

And finally, baseball season is starting to get interesting [finally!], as it usually does this time of year. The Yankees are not going to catch the Red Sox in the AL East, but they do look good for a wild-card berth in the playoffs. Here we are three weeks before the end of the regular season and three teams in the NL Central are within 2 games of one another. The Brewers lead the Cubs by one game, the St Louis Cardinals by two. The season for my team, the Cincinnati Reds, was decided by the end of April as usual. I’m afraid they will be forever stuck in mediocrity for the foreseeable future. One thing that does please me is the Atlanta Braves are in third place in the NL East. Such a big deal had been made about them winning 14 division championships in a row. A notable achievement yes, but only recently the Braves have seen good competition in that division from both the Mets and the Phillies. Coincidentally, those are the two teams that are currently ahead of the Braves in their division. A surprise this year has been the play of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It’s September and they’re still in first place in the NL West. Once again in the NL West, the Giants will play try to play spoilers. Another year will have gone by and Barry Bonds will still not win that coveted World Series ring, and the Reds will get to watch the playoffs on TV. The Angels are still hanging on in the AL West, and the Tigers are fading in the AL Central. It should be an interesting post-season. I hope it is, anyway.

Two Houses

2007-08-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

This little interesting bit came my way from a good friend in Texas.

House #1 [top]. A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas --- add on a pool, a pool house and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area. It's in the South.

House #2 [bottom]. Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee; it is the abode of the "environmentalist" Al Gore.

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas; it is the residence of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

An "inconvenient truth".

The Summer of 2007

2007-06-15T12:36:00.001-07:00

It isn’t the Summer of Love of 1967, but it is a good time to be a Beatles fan. This month marks the 40th (!) anniversary of the release of the Beatles’ masterwork, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. There are three other Beatles-related releases out this month. After being out of print for the past ten years, Rhino Records re-released the complete remastered Traveling Wilburys on June 12th. Paul McCartney’s newest release, Memory Almost Full, dropped on June 5th. Amnesty International, with permission from Yoko Ono, compiled 2 CDs-worth of other artists covering John Lennon’s solo material for Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, which dropped on June 12th.

The Traveling Wilburys was a “supergroup” that happened completely by accident. In 1987, George Harrison, with the help of Jeff Lynne from the Electric Light Orchestra, released his first album in five years, Cloud 9. It was by far his best album since 1973’s Living in the Material World. The following year, Warner Bros. Records asked him to record a B-side for a single from the album. Back then it was common practice to have a B-side that wasn’t from the album in order to give the single extra worth. At this time, Jeff Lynne was working on two projects – Tom Petty’s Full Moon Fever and Roy Orbison’s Mystery Girl. They were all in town (in this case Los Angeles) at the same time, so George asked for a little help from his friends to create this song. George had the song, had a “band”, all he needed was a studio to record it. He knew somebody who lived in Southern California who had a home studio, so he called him to book studio time. That friend was Bob Dylan. Together they recorded the song that became “Handle With Care.” George took the completed song back to Warner Bros. They thought the song too good to be “wasted” on a B-side for a single, so they prodded George to record a whole album. Thus the Traveling Wilburys were born. They put their first album, Volume 1, together in 10 days. "Handle With Care" was the big hit, but there are hidden nuggets that are worth the find. "Not Alone Any More" is one of Roy Orbison’s finest vocal performances – ever. Dylan’s "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" (with tongue planted firmly in-cheek) is a hysterically funny Springsteen-parody punctuated by a nasty twelve-string slide figure played by George. My wife hates it – I love it. It’s all good. What makes this and Volume 3 (there was no Volume 2) so good is the total lack of pretense. It’s good, it’s silly, irreverent, and there are excellent performances throughout. Since George and Roy are no longer with us to make new music, we’ll have to be content with what they left behind.

Paul McCartney is still very much alive. Ever since the Beatles Anthology project of the mid-1990s, Paul has been on a bit of a winning streak that has seen him put out one good album after another. Beginning with 1997s Flaming Pie and his 1999 rock-n-roll covers CD Run Devil Run, Paul put out some very good no-frills music. Paul then recorded Driving Rain in 2001. For the first time, he recorded with an outside producer not named George Martin. David Kahne brought Paul’s “sound” kicking and screaming into the 21st century, and the results are a pleasant surprise. What makes this album refreshing is the fact that there are quite a few good songs. On many albums past, Paul’s albums would have two or three good songs, the rest being syrupy filler. Not so here. Continuing with the “new sound’ and working with another outside producer, the follow-up to Driving Rain, 2005’s Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, was a one-man band effort (Paul played almost every instrument recorded on the album) that garnered much critical acclaim. Which brings us to Memory Almost Full, another one-man band effort. This album picks up where Chaos and Creation leaves off. Another solid album with several good songs and not a lot of filler. There is even a medley of songs at the end reminiscent of the one on side two of Abbey Road. Some on-line critics are calling this album the best of Paul’s solo career. I wouldn’t go nearly that far. This is the guy who created Band on the Run, which at the time of it’s release was praised as a “masterpiece” even by Paul’s most strident critic, his former partner John Lennon. Chaos and Creation and Memory Almost Full are worth every penny spent on them.

John Lennon would have turned 67 in 2007. If alive, he could well be at the forefront of bringing peace to Darfur, where more than half a million have died from violence and disease during four years of rebel discord. So to create awareness of the ongoing conflict, Amnesty International (with permission from Yoko Ono) has mined Lennon's solo work and rounded up nearly two dozen current artists to reinterpret the music, which spans the ex-Beatle's entire post-band catalog (plus a pair from while the Beatles were still in business). I haven't heard the CDs myself, so I'll withhold any critical comment on them. Suffice to say that 27 years after his untimely death, it speaks volumes that John Lennon is still being looked to for guidance and "words of wisdom" to highlight a human tragedy.

Not bad for a bunch of guys [two of whom, like Francisco Franco, are still dead] who recorded their last album together 38 years ago.