LONG TIME, NO SEE, MOTHER

UPDATE FROM COUNTRY JAIL, MARCH, 2006
SORRY IT'S TAKEN ME YEARS TO WRITE. NO NEED TO WORRY. SEPARATION ANXIETY IS LONG GONE. I PRETTY MUCH HAVE THE THE HUMANS UNDER COMPLETE CONTROL. WHEN I BARK THEY LET ME IN FROM THE OUTDOORS. WHEN I BARK AND DRIVE THEM CRAZY, THEY ONLY SAY "SHUT UP" BUT DON'T TOUCH ME. WHEN I BARK, THE CATS SCURRY. I'VE BECOME THE BEST CANINE BUMPKIN AROUND.

THE OLD GIRL DIED. NOW IT'S JUST ME!! THE FOOD HERE ISN'T BAD. I JUMP UP AND DOWN FOR IT 2 TIMES A DAY. TREATS ARE DAILY FORTHCOMING. THOUGH MY NEW MOM FEEDS ME CAT FOOD INSTEAD OF DOG FOOD FROM A CAN, IT DOESN'T SEEM TO AFFECT MY WEIGHT AND SHINY COAT.

HERE'S MY TYPICAL DAY: I STILL GET UP BEFORE THE SLOTHS ( TO VIEW THE PORCH SQUIRRELS) AND THEN WHINE NEXT TO THEIR BED UNTIL I GET SOME ACTION. THE TABLES HAVE TURNED, HOWEVER. IT'S THOSE 2 CATS WHO IN THE MORNING, RUN AMOK. MAMA ( REALLY A GRANDMA ) FEEDS ME BREAKFAST INDOORS WITH THE CATS. WHO IS THE SERVANT NOW? THEN I SNIFF OUT THE PERIMETER UNTIL I FEEL GOOD AND READY TO RETURN TO THE INSIDE, AT WHICH TIME I BARK OR TAP ON THE DOOR WITH MY PAW AS A SIGNAL. DAYS HAVE IMPROVED ACTIVITY BECAUSE THEY ARE NOW RETIRED. I CAN RECREATE WITH A WARM SUNBATH OR A HEARTY ROLL AT WILL. TV TIME AT NIGHT STILL CALLS FORTH MY TASTY SNACK.

YOU WILL BE HAPPY TO KNOW I DON'T EVEN CHECK THE GARGAGE CANS ON THE ROAD IN MY SPARE TIME. BUT THE FOOD BIN INDOORS IS STILL NOT SAFE; IT MUST BE LIDDED AND LOCKED UP WHEN THEY ARE AWAY. SPEAKING OF WHICH, I STILL SLEEP ON MY MASTER'S PILLOW WHENEVER I CAN. THEY TRIED TO KEEP ME OUT OF THE BEDROOM WITH A LATCH, BUT I CIRCUMVENTED THAT 'TRICK' WITH A SCRATCHED UP DOOR WHICH GAVE ME PERMANENT ACCESS TO THE BED. OF COURSE, I STILL CAN REST IN MY PRIVATE CHAIR.

THE JAILERS HAVE ABANDONED MY COLLAR TOO. INSTEAD THEY INSTALLED A WOOD 'DOOR' ON THE STAIRS TO PREVENT ME FROM "OFF-LIMITS' SNACKING IN THE CAT BOXES.

YOU WILL BE HAPPY TO HEAR THAT WILD BLACKBERRY PICKING HAS ENDED, THANK GOD, BECAUSE NEWLY PLANTED BUSHES HAVE NO THORNS! THAT VIDEO THEY MADE OF ME CAME TO NAUGHT ANYWAY. MY BALL HAS BEEN RE-INSTATED FOR MY FROLICKING, BUT MY AGE IS BEGINNING TO TELL. HOW OLD AM I? 9 OR 10? IN ADDITION TO MY WIND, MY BACK LEGS ARE GETTING A LITTLE WEAK

I SHOULD TELL YOU ABOUT TWO FRIENDS I MADE OVER THE YEARS. NOT MY NEW MOMMY TO WHOM I AM VERY ATTACHED NOW. IT'S HARD TO ADMIT THAT I MUST CHECK ON HER EACH DAY AND EACH TIME I GO OUT TO 'PLAY' TO MAKE SURE SHE IS WITHIN MY SCOPE. MY ONE FRIEND WAS A PUPPY TO WHOM I BECAME ALPHA DOG. HOW SHE LOVED TO ROMP, SCAMPER AND RACE AROUND WITH ME, EVEN FOR THE TIME SHE WAS ON HER THREE GOOD LEGS AND ONE BROKEN ONE. SHE LIKED MY NEW MOMMY TOO. BUT WHEN SHE GREW UP, THE BROWN AND BLACK BEAUTY (MY COLORS TOO) MOVED AWAY. MY OTHER FRIEND IS THE LADY ACROSS THE ROAD WHO GENEROUSLY REWARDS ME WHENEVER I BARK FOR A BISCUIT. ]

MY SIGHT AND SMELL STILL REIGN SUPREME. I CAN SPY DEER TWO FIELDS AWAY. I CAN CORNER AND AMBUSH A SQUIRREL OR RABBIT WITH A MAD DASH. BUT THEY MUST BE GETTING SMARTER BECAUSE I HAVEN'T CAUGHT EITHER FOR A LONG WHILE. I WOULD LOVE TO! THAT LAST RABBIT WAS TASTY. THAT LAST SQUIRREL DIED.

I WAS NOT FORCED TO DICTATE THIS LETTER TO YOU. RATHER I HOPE IT REASSURES YOU THAT ALL IS WELL AT MY HOME IN THE COUNTRY. I GET FLEA DROPS IN THE SPRING. I HAVE NEVER KNOWN A LEASH. PETA EAT YOUR HEART OUT! I'M A HOUSE PET AND I'M NEEDED. I OVERHEARD THE HUMANS ADMITTING THAT I AM "THE DEFENDER OF THE LANE!"

FINALLY, WILL YOU EVERY GET A NEW POOCH LIKE ME TO LOVE?
SAVANNAH

LETTER FROM THE DOGHOUSE

REPRINT FROM AUGUST 1999
MOTHER, MOTHER, WHY HAS THOU FORSAKEN ME?
]
I'M IN THE COUNTRY JAIL - A GenX DOG SURROUNDED BY PHILISTINES AND BUMPKINS. THE SNOTTY CATS LASH OUT AT ME EVERY TIME I CHASE THEM! THE SENILE OLD BROAD ( THE RETIRED, DEAF BITCH NOT THE OTHER ONE) HAS ONLY TAUGHT ME TO BARK EVERYTIME I WANT SOMETHING. JUMPING AND RUNNING IN CIRCLES AT MEAL TIME COMES NATURALLY. THIS IS TRULY BENEATH MY MIXED BREED TALENTS.
HERE'S MY TYPICAL DAY: GET UP BEFORE THE SLOTHS AND WHINE NEXT TO THEIR BED UNTIL I GET SOME ACTION. WHINE. BARK AND RUN AMOK WHILE GRANDMA (FORTUNATELY HUMAN) GETS MY BREAKFAST. THEY STILL MAKE ME EAT OUTSIDE LIKE I WAS A SERVANT. THEN I SNIFF OUT THE PERIMETER UNTIL THEY GO TO WORK BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT GARBAGE MAY HAVE BEEN PUT OUT IN THE ROADSIDE CANS. ON A GOOD DAY THEY FORGET TO PUT THE KITCHEN GARBAGE BIN BEHIND A SHUT DOOR AND I GET TO SHRED IT ALL OVER THE FLOOR. THOSE 2 FELINES BETTER NOT GET IN MY WAY. I SLEEP ON MY MASTER'S PILLOW ON HIS SIDE OF THE BED UNTIL THEY COME HOME FROM WORK. THEN, AND - I HATE TO SAY IT BECAUSE IT SOUND HUMANITARIAN - THEY FEED US AGAIN.

BUT I HAVE TO WEAR THIS COLLAR THAT STOPS ME FROM GETTING ALL THOSE LUSCIOUS TREATS UPSTAIRS THAT ARE PUT OUT IN THE CAT BOX TO TEMPT ME. THE PAIN IS EXCRUCIATING. ALSO, THEY LIKE TO GIVE ME SHOCKS WITH IT FOR FUN WHEN THEY HAVE NOTHING TO WATCH ON TV. YOU CAN'T IMAGINE LIFE HERE SINCE YOU MADE THEM ADOPT ME.

BECAUSE THEY WERE AFRAID OF GETTING POISON IVY, THEY MADE ME DO THE BLACKBERRY PICKING THIS SEASON, FOR HOURS ON END. THOSE BUSHES HAVE THORNS! THEN THEY MADE A VIDEO THAT IS GOING TO MAKE THEM BIG BUCKS AND I, THE TALENT, WILL GET NOTHING. THIS IS LIKE PLANTATION LIFE WITH SLAVES! NOW THEY WANT ME TO PICK APPLES BY JUMPING AND SNATCHING THEM OFF THE LOWER BRANCHES. IS THERE NO END TO THIS INJUSTICE? ALSO THEY SOLD MY BALL BECAUSE THEY SAID I HAD WORK TO DO AND NO TIME FOR FRIVOLITY.

I BET THOSE CHEESE SNACKS I LOOK FORWARD TO EVERY NIGHT (AND MUST SHARE WITH THOSE CATS) ARE FILLED WITH ARTIFICIAL PRESERVATIVES AND CHEMICALS WHICH WILL DIMINISH MY BRAIN POWER IN THE FUTURE (LIKE THE OLD GIRL). WELL, AT LEAST I DON'T THROW UP EACH MORNING LIKE SHE DOES. AND MY SIGHT AND SMELL STILL ALLOW ME TO CHASE RABBITS AND SQUIRRELS. I MUST SAY, MY GENES CAN STILL KEEP THEM ON THEIR TOES.

THEY FORCED ME TO DICTATE THE PREVIOUS LETTER TO YOU BUT IT IS ALL LIES EXTRACTED UNDER TORTURE. MAYBE, SOON THEY'LL MAKE ME WALK ON A LEASH LIKE A YUPPIE'S MUT. FOR GOD'S SAKE, CALL PETA OR REPORT THEM TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL.

BUT DON'T TELL PETA I AM A HOUSE PET. MISS YOU, SAVANNAH.

WHEAT FROM CHAFF

SEEMS LIKE WHENEVER I WANT TO DECIDE HOW TO 'COME DOWN' ON AN QUESTION I REVERT TO THE PRISM OF MY PAST. THREE SEEMINGLY UNRELATED ISSUES IN THE NEWS HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON - THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF SEPARATING THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF. TO TAKE A SIDE I LOOK BACK.

OUR GOVERNOR PROPOSES THAT ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEACH BIOLOGY, PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, ALGEBRA 1, GEOMETRY AND ALGEBRA 2. WHAT DOES MY MIRROR INTO MY ACADEMIC CAREER TELL ME? EVERY STUDENT WAS REQUIRED TO TAKE THE 1ST FOUR SUBJECTS WHEN I ATTENDED HIGH SCHOOL. AFTER THESE COURSES WERE PASSED, INCLINATION AND APTITUDE DETERMINED A FUTURE PATH INTO ALGEBRA 2 OR TRIGONOMETRY OR SCIENCE OR LITERATURE OR HISTORY OR ART, ETC. SEEMS LIKE A SIMPLE SYSTEM FOR BASIC EDUCATION TO ME. THE TELLING PART OF MY GOVERNOR'S PROPOSAL, HOWEVER, WAS HIS EXCEPTION FOR THE "MOST DISABLED." WHO OF MY ADOLESCENT PEERS WAS DISABLED? I RECOLLECT THAT MOST STUDENTS WERE 'ABLE' AND EXPECTED TO DO THE WORK. THE WHEAT WAS HARVESTED; THOSE WHO WERE LAZY, UNCOOPERATIVE, ABSENT OR RECALCITRANT EARNED THE STATUS OF CHAFF.

THE NEXT ISSUE CONCERNS THE BI-FURCATED STATUS OF NEW ORLEANS. IN THE FRENCH QUARTER AND ON BOURBON AND ST. PETER'S STREETS, MARTI GRAS MADNESS PREVAILS THIS WEEK. BEYOND THOSE PERIMETERS, HOWEVER, RECONSTRUCTON AND RENEWAL OF THE CITY HAS APPARENTLY STALLED OUT. THROUGH MY LOOKING GLASS INTO THE OLD NEIGHBORHOODS, I SEE RESIDENTIAL AREAS THAT WERE FLOURISHING AND ECONOMICALLY VIABLE LIKE WHEAT WHICH USUALLY SEPARATED ITSELF FROM THE UNPRODUCTIVE, UNNECESSARY CHAFF. TAXPAYERS' MONIES WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN SOLICITED (OR APPROVED) TO PROP UP RISKY OR UNREDEEMABLE PLACES LIKE LOW-LYING NEW ORLEANS.

THE FINAL ISSUE REVOLVES AROUND A DEBATE AT A NEARBY UNIVERSITY ABOUT PROHIBITING CONSENSUAL SEX BETWEEN TEACHERS AND STUDENTS, MAINLY ADULT MALE FACULTY AND FEMALE GRADUATE STUDENTS. ON THE ONE HAND, THE LEGISLATION OF MORALITY IS INVOLVED. ON THE OTHER, THE INEQUITY OF STUDENTS' GRADES. I CAN CLEARLY SEE SUCH ACTIONS IN MY SCHOOL DAYS FROWNED UPON AND PROHIBITED BECAUSE THEY WERE ASSUMED TO BE 'MISBEHAVIORS' OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO WERE LIKE "CHAFF." NO COLLEGE BACK THEN WOULD HAVE SUPPORTED THE UNHEALTHY LIAISONS WHICH AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT THIS SCHOOL SAID PRODUCED "POSITIVE, HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS." THE WHEAT KNEW WHAT WAS ETHICALLY UNACCEPTABLE AND ACADEMICALLY UNFAIR.

AS IN NATURE, A NATURAL SIFTING OUT OCCURS. EVEN DARWIN KNEW THIS MADE SENSE. YET STORIES IN MY NEWSPAPER REPORT ISSUES OF UNCOMMON SENSE, WHICH IS WHY I NEED A BACKWARD LOOK TO SORT OUT MY STANCE.

GLENN BECK

WHEN HE IS 40 SOMETHING, MOTOR-MOUTHED AND A TALK SHOW HOST, IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT MISTAKES ARE MADE. MY MAN - WHO PROFILES MORE LIKE A WOMAN - PROVED HIMSELF HUMORLESS BY MISTAKING AN IRONIC, OVER-THE-TOP SATIRICAL ESSAY BY SARAH VOWEL AS A SERIOUS INDICTMENT OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION. MY MAN - WHO PROFILES MORE LIKE A YUPPIE THAN A SELF-DESCRIBED REAL AMERICAN - RECENTLY OPINED THAT "NO ONE GOES TO LIBRARIES BUT HIPPIES TOO CHEAP TO PAY FOR A BOOK."

THIS CHARACTERIZATION OF ME WAS NOT INNOCENTLY ENGENDERED TO PROVOKE HUMOR. AS I STATED ABOVE, MY MAN CAN'T TAKE A JOKE. THIS STATEMENT REVEALED AN INNER PSYCHE THAT PROFILES PEOPLE FROM AN ELITIST'S WORLD VIEW. GEORGE LAKOFF, A LINGUIST ASSISTING THE DEMOCRATS IN THEIR CAMPAIGN STRATEGY IN 2004 TOTALLY BELIEVES IN "FRAMING" ALL DISCUSSIONS TO ACHIEVE GOALS. LET ME FRAME FOR MY CELEBRITY HOST, THE CLIENTELE AT MY LOCAL LIBRARY. WE PATRONS ARE READERS AND CONSERVATIVE BOOKWORMS. HIPPIES ARE NOWHERE IN VIEW BECAUSE THEY HAVE YEARS AGO TRANSFORMED THEMSELVES INTO THE YUPPIES AND LIBERALS OF TODAY. WE PATRONS ARE CONSUMERS WITH COMMON SENSE ENOUGH TO VALUE SAVING MONEY. BOOK BUYERS ARE NOWHERE IN VIEW BECAUSE THEY SHOP AT RETAIL, COMMERCIAL STORES WHERE EVEN THE LATTE ISN'T FREE.

GIVE US A DAGUERROTYPE THAT DOES NOT TYPECAST US, MR. BECK.

OUTRAGE IN PARIS

LET'S JUST SAY IT - SOMETIMES SOCIETY'S MORAL CONDITION IS ENOUGH TO MAKE ONE SICK. HITLER'S HATRED OF JEWRY IS LIVE AND EVIL IN PARIS, FRANCE. BARBARIANS COMMIT MURDER AND MAYHEM IN CLEAR DEFIANCE OF THE HUMANITARIAN BELIEF THAT WE INHABIT A "CIVILIZED" WORLD. INAPPROPRIATELY, ON VALENTINE'S DAY, 2006, A MARTYR FELL. I REFER TO THE TORTURE AND KILLING OF A FRENCH JEW AT THE "HANDS" OF A GANG OF MUSLIM RASCISTS CALLED "THE BARBARIANS." I'M SURE THE GORY DETAILS WILL NOT BE FORTHCOMING ON THE "NEWS AT 11." WHO WOULD WANT TO HAVE HIS OR DAY, NIGHT OR ENTIRE PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE RUINED BY THE SAD ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT THE DEVIL IS STILL WITHIN OUR MIDST?

WHAT IS TO BE DONE OTHER THAN TO BEAR WITNESS TO THIS TRUTH? C.S. LEWIS, THE AUTHOR, ACADEMIC AND CHRISTIAN APOLOGIST ANALYZED THE ISSUE OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT AND CONCLUDED THAT IT IS JUSTIFIED AND NECESSARY IN ORDER GIVE THE CRIMINAL HIS "DESERT." TRUE, BUT WHAT DO THE THUGS IN FRANCE DESERVE? WHAT HORRIFIC PUNISHMENT COULD SATISFY? WHAT RECOURSE EXISTS FOR YOU OR ME BEYOND SORROW AND TEARS OF REGRET NOT ONLY FOR THE VICTIM BUT FOR THE PERVERTED AND BLASTED CONDITION OF HUMAN BEINGS TODAY? ALLAH CANNOT BE PRAISED. WWJD - WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? WHAT USE IS AN "AMEN?"

THE BIG EASY

ONE COULD EXPERIENCE A VICARIOUS HANGOVER READING STEVE GARBARINO'S ESSAY ON THE NEW ORLEANS CONFEDERACY, THURS. FEB. 23, 2006. NOT ONLY WAS HIS EXPOSE A BLOT UPON THE SOUTHERN CAUSE, BUT IT ALSO WAS A BLOT UPON REPORTERS, TYPIFIED BY HIMSELF, DRUNK IN THE 'IN' BARS. WHEN MR. GARBARINO WAS IN NEW ORLEANS AFTER KATRINA, I INTERPRETED HIS COMMA-RIDDEN SENTENCE TO MEAN THAT HE WAS SODDEN AND REPORTING AFTER HELPING WITH RELIEF EFFORTS, "UP TO (HIS) KNEES IN SANDBAGS AND HUMAN DEBRIS." I AM NO PRUDE, BUT MUCK IS WHERE HE PLACED ME WITH HIS SPREAD ABOUT DEPRAVITY AND GREAT WRITING AT THE INSPIRATION OF DIONYSIUS. I WAS "ENRAGED BEYOND ALL MEASURE," AS DR. LAURA WOULD SAY ABOUT UNWED MOTHERHOOD, THAT WHAT THE WSJ SAW FIT TO PRINT WAS SO UNFITTING FOR A DECENT, INTELLECTUAL READERSHIP. MY JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTION BASICALLY FACILITATES MY HUSBAND'S INTEREST IN FINANCIAL NEWS THOUGH I APPRECIATE CUTTING-EDGE REPORTING AND COVERAGE OF MEDIA TRENDS. BUT WHO NEEDS A PAEAN TO A BACCHANALIA, THE MOT JUSTE FOR DRINKING, FORNICATING, CREATIVE WRITING AND USELESS LIVING DEPICTED OVER THE DECADES IN NEW ORLEANS? WHO, OTHER THAN PARTYGOERS, NEEDS THE ORGIASTIC SPACE IN AMERICA FOR NON-PRODUCERS CALLED NEW ORLEANS ANYWAY? I SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED NO LESS IN AN ARTICLE FROM A JOURNALIST AT 'VANITY FAIR,' A MAGAZINE ON WHOSE COVER JOHN FORD, THE CLOTHING DESIGNER, POSES WITH TWO NUDE MOVIE STARS IN AN OPAQUE PANDERING TO PURIENT, PUBLIC INTEREST. WOW, WHAT A LUCRATIVE RUN THAT ISSUE SHOULD HAVE! CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS LIKES TO REMIND US THAT FREE SPEECH IS GUARANTEED. BOOZE TOO. BUT AS WITNESS TO ANOTHER TRUTH, I SAY A NEWSPAPER IS FREE TO REJECT AN OBJECTIONABLE ESSAY.

WHY

WHY DID I INSTILL FREE WILL
WHEN IT IS MISUSED?
WHY DID I INFUSE GRACE
WHEN IT IS ABUSED?
WHY IS REASON IGNORED?
WHY IS FALSENESS ADORED?
WHY IS NONSENSE THEIR LORD?
WHEN I HAVE NOT REFUSED?

conservative angst

no person can get all the questions right on a life quiz except jesus, and even he would be subjected to modern day interpretation and misrepresentation by the examiner. neverthless, the extreme counter-cultural conservatives often believe they have found the answers. i think they are misguided.

the egomaniacal candidate for governor of new york, eliot spitzer, has said that new york (and by implication the nation i presume) needs "open access to emergency contraception." really. doesn't he realize that open access to emergency contraception could simply be prevented by the closing of two legs? because of plotting lawyers and perverted politicians like mr. spitzer, counter-cultural conservatives espouse resistence to the "tides of modernity." after all, they contend, who needs more immorality championed as freedom? they are proponents of a switch in lifestyle which rejects the politics of lust and greed, consumerism, selfishness, liberalism, crassness of the culture, poor quality education, environmental abuse, big business and religious secularism. they believe that americans should choose virtue over freedom. i disagree. freedom and virtue are not an either/or, nor are they mutually exclusive. well-intended though some of these god-conscious, conservative reformers might be, they usually cannot resist going to extremes. i dislike unrealistic extremes. today, humanity enjoys its highest level of civilization in history. people naturally do not aspire to simplify, to live spiritually apart, to "go back to the good 'ole days." come on, living in close proximity to your neighbors in anti-sprawl environs, usually sucks. come on, how many parents can successfully home school? come on, one program on televison or one movie might be worthwhile. come on, is not a nice car or house a statement of psyche? come on, who wants to return to work on the farm? come on, how many believers want to overindulge in religious services? come on, how many americans want to completely reject modern inventions, conveniences and entertainments?

counter-cultural conservatives do. yet their virtuous beliefs triumphing over unchecked freedoms often represent a peculiar, radical individualism and materialism that often results in economic and philosophical contradictions. for example, when a proponent of anti-consumerism chooses organic gardening or organic products, it makes him more of a consumer not less and more of a free market capitalist not less, than his 'lessers'. opposing the shopper who selects aldi supermarket's inexpensive produce, the virtuous, environmentally conscientious conservative not only chooses to pay more for his food (which therefore saves him less), but also cons himself into believing that he is morally superior. ultimately, the organic concept itself is what he lusts after and what drives his greed for a more virtuous life.

if intelligence marks the progress of man, how can the counter-cultural conservative reject common sense and practicality which could serve him well? modern american culture might be debased, but it is still about choices that need not debase individuals. better than the choice to regress and reject, would be the choice to advance and embrace what is virtuous and right inspite of modern, external, societal pressures. a routine trip to church could help too. a routine trip to town to shop should be accompanied by a silent partner, self-control. i don't see flight from reality as a hopeful solution to conservative angst. i would rather see a flight to virtuous choices, where freedom and virtue are inextricably linked.

POLICE NONSENSE

I AM ENRAGED BEYOND ALL MEASURE," AS DR. LAURA SCHLESSINGER WOULD SAY ABOUT YOUNG WOMEN BEARING CHILDREN OUT OF WEDLOCK. I AM ANGERED ABOUT THE STUFF AND NONSENSE THAT PASSES AS POLICY FOR MY STATE POLICE. IF A STATE HIGHWAY TROOPER DOES HIS DUTY, SHOULD HE BE SENT HOME? ARE WE NOT PAYING OUR OFFICERS WITH THE EXPECTATION OF PROTECTION? IS NOT SELF-DEFENSE A NATURAL RIGHT AND DUTY? DO BAD PEOPLE EXIST WHO OWN GUNS, PULL THEM AND THEN ATTEMPT TO SHOOT LAW ENFORCEMENT WITH THEM? EACH OF THESE FOUR ARE RHETORICAL QUESTIONS. YET, FOR PROBABLY A POLITICALLY CORRECT AND MORALLY INCORRECT REASON, A STATE TROOPER, WHO STOPPED A PERSON FOR A TRAFFIC VIOLATION, WHO FOUND HIS LIFE TO BE THREATENED, WHO THEN PROTECTED HIMSELF AND SOCIETY FROM THE (I WILL NOT USE THE WORD ALLEGED) ATTEMPTED MURDERER, NOW FINDS HIMSELF ON "PAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE ." WHERE IS A SIGH OF RELIEF HE'S SAFE, A VOTE OF THANKS OR A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR HIM? WHAT DOES HIS SIDELINING MEAN OTHER THAN THAT HE MUST STAY HOME AND NOT DO THE JOB HE WAS TRAINED AND HIRED TO DO? AN ELDERLY, FORMER SENATOR, ALAN SIMPSON, RECENTLY OBSERVED THAT WASHINGTON BELTWAY POLITICS IS FULL OF "CONTROVERSY, CRAP AND CONFUSION." MY FINAL QUESTION: SHOULD THESE WORDS NOT DESCRIBE THE PUBLIC'S REACTION TO MY STATE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S POLICY?

HAVE YOU NO SHAME, SIR?

"Have you no shame, Sir?" Those words by one brave soul started the downfall of the demagogue, Senator Joseph McCarthy, in a United States Senate hearing in the 1950's. This "emperor has no clothes" moment brought down the curtain on two years of demagoguery and inflammatory statements by McCarthy that were unchecked and un-refuted by almost all in government due to their fear of his tongue. For two years there were no brave men in government to take a principled stand and challenge a liar and buffoon. But when one brave man finally challenged the misrepresentations the house of cards collapsed and then everyone in government, Senators, Representatives and the President jumped on the bandwagon and censured McCarthy.

Today when we have ego triumphing over patriotism, we are anxiously awaiting a brave soul to stand up to Congress, either chamber, and again challenge "have you no shame, Sir?" Daily we are exposed to Congresspersons , Senators and Representatives, who are exposing the United States to mortal peril for partisan political gain. In their rush for Photo-Ops, microphones and face times in TV sound bites to promote themselves, their agendas and political ambitions , they are willing to be the 5th column for al Qaeda intelligence operations in America. Has no one the courage to tell them "enough?"

It is astounding to see Congresspersons holding forth daily that the interception of al Qaeda phone conversations was a "threat" to Americans and not a protection of our lives and society. It is idiocy to believe that al Qaeda is just calling in for pizza delivery or checking Super Bowl scores. Through their efforts al Qaeda has been warned and advised how to circumvent our intelligence operations. Several weeks ago we had the spectacle of seeing the Democrat Minority leader, Senator Harry Reid, do a victory lap around a party meeting crowing that "I killed the Patriot Act!" All for cheap political gain at the cost of this nation’s safety.

The incredible leak of secret information to the New York Times to be used to embarrass the Bush administration seems to emanate from a U. S. Senator privy to top secret briefings. The name circulating on the Internet is that of Democrat Senator Jay Rockefeller, now the subject of a Justice Department investigation. How strange that certain politicians demand that the administration keep them informed on all activities and plans, but trip over each other trying to be the first to reveal secrets to burnish their images with the mainstream media. Politics trumps principle.

Almost as unbelievable is the "catch and release" program advocated by many of these same Congresspersons. According to their theory, enemy combatants captured on the field of battle should not be considered prisoners of war but criminals entitled to a long list of rights and protections in the civil courts. The lunacy of calling witnesses from the battlefield to testify exactly how the "crime" was committed, providing "accused" with free lawyers and endless "appeals" escapes these witless wonders. Do they really believe in a special al Qaeda "Bill of Rights?" Perhaps not. Perhaps it is merely another way of embarrassing the administration and playing to their looney left political base. Pure crassness.

More than one observer has noted that the ravings of some Congresspersons provide the fodder for the videos, tapes and Fatwahs beamed back at the world from Osama bin Laden, in his Afghan cave and from Zarqawi in the alleys of Baghdad. Their words are virtually the same words and lies that dribbled from Congresspersons’ mouths only this time in Arabic. With so many similarities in phrasing, one wonders if Harry Reid sends his talking points to Osama or if Osama sends them to Harry.

Last week I heard someone remark that Jimmy Carter was the worst President of the Twentieth Century. I take umbrage. He certainly is the worst President of the Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty First centuries. Unfortunately our perennial national embarrassment thrust his gray and fuzzy-thinking head into the national debate again this week. He helped turn the funeral of Coretta Scott King into a political spectacle with his diatribe against the war on terror, the Iraq war and the Bush Administration. Liberals like him, several years ago, turned the funeral for Senator Paul Wellstone into a political rally too. Not even the dead or safe from rant, distortion and bombast. Is our civil discourse now so debased that from now on we will have to listen to the unhinged declaim over graves?

Arguably Jimmy Carter is responsible for most of the terrorism that swirls through the world today. His incompetence in handling the Iranian Hostage Crisis was a green light to all terrorists that the United States was a "paper tiger" ripe to be goaded and gored and eventually toppled by Islamists. When the attack of 9/11 happened, bin Laden fully expected the United States to dither, wail and call a U.N. Security Council meeting for some serious finger wagging, just like Carter did in the Iranian crisis. Unfortunately, the muscular reaction by the Bush White House after this attack came too late to put the genie back into the bottle. Terrorists have had 15 years of plotting in the belief that we would meekly surrender. We see the Jimmy Carter approach in Europe today. In the Danish Cartoon flap, it is distressing to see most European governments trying to figure how to appease the Muslim extremists. They have even added Sensitivity Sessions to dithering as an answer. Ah, Jimmy Carter, what hath you wrought.

Safety rule #1 in Washington, D.C. is never get between some politicians and a camera. And it turns out that many of the politicians that put publicity ahead of national security are leaders of this pack. Think Senators Kennedy, Kerry, Durbin, Leahy, Boxer, Feinstein and Rockefeller. A sample from the House would include McDermott, McKinney and Murtha. Someone needs to tell them there is a war on and it is not against the Administration but al Qaeda.

We again see the "ego trumps brains" scenario in the Major Media’s hysterical reaction to Vice President Cheney’s accidental shooting of a hunting companion. A tragic accident becomes Political Theater with the cameras and microphones of the self-absorbed Washington and New York Press Corps. The tragedy, to hear them tell it, is not the wounded man but the fact that they were not the first to be informed. They confuse and conflate their "right to know" as being identical with the "public’s right to know. Their egos have been wounded more seriously than the actual victim. Most media could hardly cover any breaking news for a week because they were so involved having a hissy fit of being slighted. Grow up; nobody cares.

If the phrase, "Have you no shame, Sir?" is too grandiloquent to be used by a Congressperson in 2006, maybe one of them could say, "You idiots, shut up and sit down!"

IF

IF YOU HAVE NEVER HAD A PADDED TOILET SEAT,
IF YOU WOULD BE OUT OF PLACE IN WINDSOR CASTLE ,
IF YOU WISH BEER COST LESS SO YOU COULD DRINK IT,
IF YOU TALLY A WARDROBE WITHOUT A DRESS,

IF TO YOU FOOD IS MORE THAN JUST THE STUFF OF LIFE
IF TO YOU SHACKING UP TOGETHER STILL MEANS LIVING IN SIN,
IF TO YOU THE OLYMPICS OR THE MASTERS IN GOLF ARE BORES,
IF TO YOU INSOMMNIA KNOCKS ON OTHER PEOPLES' DOORS,

IF THE SOUL OF YOUR HOME IS A SHARECROPPER'S CABIN,
IF THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A COLD-WEATHER SPORT,
IF A CHROMATIC SUNSET BRIGHTENS YOUR DAY,
AND A HUGE, MYSTERIOUS GOLDEN MOON YOUR NIGHT,

IF YOU STEP OUTDOORS TO WALK BUT NOT TO TALK,
IF YOU DESPISE THOSE WHO WEAR MASKS OF BEAUTY,
IF YOU BELIEVE RELIGION IS A FORCE FOR GOOD,
IF YOU THINK OBESITY IS A SELF-INDUCED,
IF YOU THINK SANITY IS SELF-MEDICATION,

THEN YOU ARE AGING WELL OR OLD-FASHIONED,
THEN TO YOU POETRY MUST BE INTELLIGIBLE,
THEN TO YOU THE HATRED OF TERRORISTS IS SAD,
THEN TO YOU SATSIFACTION COMES FROM UNEXPECTED FINDS,
THEN FOR YOU LOVELINESS RESIDES WITHIN AND NOT WITHOUT,
THEN JOIN ME IN A TOAST TO GOD AND CONTRARINESS.

BATTLE CRY

MINE ARE THE CRIES TO STIR UP SOULS. RISE UP, MEN AND WOMEN OF MIDDLE AMERICA. MARCH FORTH AGAINST THE TYRANNY OF BLUE CITY LIBERALS. WAVE YOUR RED STRIPES PROUDLY. NEVER WAVE THE WHITE FLAG. WITHSTAND THE LIARS NO MORE WHO DEPICT US AS THOSE LEFT BEHIND. WE ARE, NOR HAVE WE EVER BEEN LEFT BEHIND. RATHER WE LEAD WITH OUR CONSERVATIVE EXAMPLE. WE WILL NOT ACCEPT BEING DESCRIBED BY A WRITER FOR A LIBERAL NEW YORK NEWSPAPER AS A MIDDLE AMERICA WHERE THE "VCR REPRESENTS" FOR US " THE CUTTING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY." THIS IS AN ELITIST INSULT AND A DELIBERATE PERVERSION OF REALITY. ALSO, WE WILL TAKE NO MORE INTIMATIONS BY OUR RIVALS OF REPUBLICAN RACISM , SUCH AS THE ALLUSION TO OUR GOP CONVENTIONS WHERE THERE IS A "PAUCITY OF BLACKS." FURTHERMORE, WE MIDDLE AMERICANS WILL BROOK NO MORE REFERENCES TO OUR LIVING LIKE PRIMITIVES STILL PIDDLING IN POTS. WE HAVE NEVER DONE SO WITH ANY LESS ABUNDANCE OR ENTHUSIASM IN THE PAST THAN OUR LEFT-WING POLITICAL ENEMIES WHO TODAY RESIDE ON THEIR BLUE ISLANDS LOCATED PRIMARILY ON THE EAST AND WEST COAST OF THIS COUNTRY. CHEAP SHOTS ARE JUST THAT, CHEAP. OUR DETRACTORS CHEAPEN THEMSELVES WITH EVERY TWIST AND TURNAROUND IN THEIR PHRASES.

LET US, THE MORAL MAJORITY, LET IT BE KNOWN WE HAVE JUST BEGUN TO FIGHT. WE WHO ARE RIDICULED FOR OUR DEVOTION TO CHURCHES, FOR OUR OVER-SCALED WAL-MARTS SELLING US, NOT VCR'S, BUT iPODS, DVD'S AND FLAT SCREEN T.V.'S, AND FOR OUR SPORTS' VENUES WHERE BLACKS AND WHITES CHEER TOGETHER. LET US RALLY AROUND OUR FLAG THAT THE OPPOSITION HAS ABANDONED. LET US REBUFF LEFTIST, LIBERAL LIES WITH TRUTH. SURE, WE HAVE BEEN CALLED LIARS, SO WAS JESUS. BUT REMEMBER, THE PROGRESSIVES NEVER LABEL LIARS, LIARS. FOR EXAMPLES, REMEMBER THE DECEASED UNCLE JOE STALIN, IRAN, SOUTH KOREA, FIDEL CASTRO, HELLARY AND BILL CLINTON, AL FRANKEN AND WARD CHURCHILL. IT'S TIME TO RUN OUR BANNER UP, PUT OUR FEET DOWN, SPEAK OUT WITH TRUTHS. WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT THOSE LOSERS WHO DENIGRATE US AND WE HAVE NOTHING TO GAIN BUT ANOTHER STAY IN THE WHITE HOUSE.

THE FOURTH ESTATE

WHAT YOU ASK IS MY OPINION OF THE PRESS?
IF I OWN A BEAUTIFUL CAT WITH AN HONEST FACE,
WITH APPEALING EYES, RIMMED IN BLACK, THAT I LOVE.
IF A DOWNY WOODPECKER CLIMBS A ROPE,
LURED TO MY HANGING SUET FEEDER AND I'M GLAD.
IF HONEY BEES SURROUND SUNFLOWER SEEDS
ON A STUMP, HIDING THEIR AGENDA, YET I'M PLEASED.
THEN TO THE NATIONAL PRESS, WHO DON'T INFORM,
BUT JUST PERVERT FACTS TO FURTHER THEIR ENDS,
I SAY - MY PUSS IS PRIESTLY, MY BEES ARISTOCTATIC, MY BIRD
A WORTHY SERF. IRRELEVANT IS THE FOURTH ESTATE.

WE NEED A BASTILLE

RANDOM DATA LEADS ME TO A RANDOM THOUGHT THAT COMMON SENSE CONSERVATIVES WITH NORMAL, MENTAL ACUITY OUGHT TO STORM A SELECTED BASTILLE, UP-FRONT AND NON-VIOLENTLY (OR IF ALL ELSE FAILS, VIOLENTLY), TO DEMAND SANITY IN AMERICA. JUST PICK OUT SOME BUILDING SYMBOLIC OF AMERICANS' FINAL STAND AGAINST THE REPRESSION OF COMMON SENSE AND GO AT IT. (BUT SPARE MCDONALDS).

RICH REPUBLICAN CHURCH GOERS WHO ARE THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES ARE BUFFETED BY THEIR OPPOSITES, THE WORKING POOR WHO DON'T EXIST AND PAY NO TAXES, THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS AND THE UNRELIGOUS DO-GOODERS WHO SPREAD THEIR COMPLAINTS ALL OVER THIS LAND.
THE LEGAL SYSTEM HAS ABANDONED REASON AND JUSTICE BECAUSE KILLERS CAN PLEAD FOR MERCY, THUS TRIVIALIZING THEIR HEINOUS CRIMES, AND BECAUSE LEGAL OPINIONS DICTATE THAT FORCE FEEDING DURING A HUNGER STRIKE OR LETHAL INJECTION AS A METHOD OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, ARE FORMS OF TORTURE.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN ACCIDENT ANYMORE. POOR VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY ACCIDENTALLY SHOT A FRIEND AND FELLOW QUAIL HUNTER LAST SATURDAY. FOR THIS 'MISTAKE' HE HAS BECOME THE LATEST TARGET OF THE SHAMELESS MEDIA, FILLED WITH MAD HATE FOR THE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION, PRACTICING THEIR ANTI-BUSH SHENANIGANS.

TIMOTHY, A FICTIONALIZED TORTOISE MONOLOGIST, BASED ON TIMOTHY, A REAL FEMALE PET TORTUSE WHO DIED AT AGE 81 IN ENGLAND YEARS AGO, SATIRIZED THE HUMAN RACE BECAUSE ITS SENSES WERE "DULLED BY MENTAL ACUITY."

WHERE HAS ALL THE BRAIN POWER GONE? IF A TIMOTHY COULD LAUGH, IT WOULD BE HER ONLY ESCAPE FROM OBSERVATIONS OF THOSE HIGHER FORMS OF BEING WHO HAVE STOOPED SO CLOSE TO HER GROUND.

THE ANTIHESIS OF LOVE

ON VALENTINE'S DAY I WILL CONSIDER AN OBJECT OF MY DISAFFECTION. FROM PHILOSOPHICAL AND MORAL BASES, I DO NOT INVOKE HATRED HASTILY OR LIGHTLY, BECAUSE THE HARSHNESS OF THE PUNISHMENT REQUIRED FOR THE CULPRIT, GIVES ME PAUSE. TECHNICALLY, I MAY HATE ONLY THE DEVIL OR HIS FELLOW TRAVELERS. NEVERTHELESS, A HUMAN BEING MAY QUALIIFY WHO DISSEMINATES AND/OR INSPIRES EVIL. OVER TIME I HAVE TAKEN MANY TIME-OUTS TO CONSIDER MY CHOICE.

I REFER TO SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON. HERE'S MY PERAMBULATON ABOUT HER, THE ANTITHESIS OF LOVE. AS A EXTREME, LIBERAL FLOWER CHILD FROM THE 70'S, SHE MORE APPROPRIATELY REPRESENTS HER GENERATION'S DANGEROUS WEED, MARIJUANA. SINCE SHE APPEARED ON THE POLITICAL SCENE ( A LONG, TIME AGO), SHE HAS PRACTICED AND RE-INVENTED MACHIEVELLIAN MEANS. "FRAILTY IS NOT THE NAME OF THIS WOMAN," TO PARAPHRASE SHAKESPEARE. HER CALCULATIONS ARE STEELY; HER CHOICES HARD. WHAT IS HER GOAL? THE PRESIDENCY, OF COURSE. FIRST LADY HAS ALWAYS BEEN HER SECOND CHOICE. AMERICANS HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED ON A DAILY AND YEARLY BASIS TO HER CRASS AND TASTELESS WORDS AND ACTS AND THE JABS AND COUNTER JABS OF HER BATTLE PLAN FOR SUCCESS. SHE ALLOWED (PERHAPS ENCOURAGED) CONDOMS TO HANG ON THE WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS TREE. SHE ACCUSED CONSERVATIVES OF A CONSPIRACY AGAINST HER HUSBAND IN ORDER TO DEFLECT ATTENTION FROM HIS AND HER MISDEEDS. SHE PRETENDED TO 'LOVE' NEW YORK FOR HER RESIDENCE IN ORDER TO FACILITATE HER SENATORIAL ELECTION. SHE INVOKED THE IMAGE OF A REPUBLICAN PLANTATON AS SHE PANDERED TO THE BLACK VOTE IN A PUBLIC SPEECH. SHE TAUNTED THE STANDING PRESIDENT ABOUT HIS INCOMPETENCY IN NOT CAPTURING A TALL TERRORIST, BIN LADEN, YET SHE CONVENIENTLY FORGETS THAT HER HUSBAND - AS PRESIDENT- IGNORED OSAMA'S STATURE. HER SPECIALTY IS THE ACCUSATION FOLLOWED BY AN EQUALLY OUTRAGEOUS OPPOSING COMPLAINT. NO HAIRDO, WARDROBE, DECEPTIVE GLOW, IMPRESSIVE TITLE OR CONTRADICTORY POLITICAL POSITION CAN CAMOUFLAGE THE SCHEMING HARRIDAN HIDDEN BENEATH HER SUAVE SURFACE. HILLARY CLINTON REMINDED US AT CORETTA SCOTT KING'S DEMOCRAT, FUNERAL RALLY THAT THE GREAT WIDOW PICKED UP THE MANTLE OF THE FALLEN CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER'S CAUSE. MRS. KING'S UNSELFISH WORDS THEN WERE, "SEND ME." NOT REALIZING THAT CRITICS LIKE ME MENTALLY WERE REPEATING TO OURSELVES WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO SEND HER, HILLARY, THE SHAMELESS CHAMELEON, AS FINAL SPEAKER AT THE MEMORIAL SERVICE, HELL BENT ON TAKING HER PROPER PLACE IN THE OVAL OFFICE, REPEATED THESE INSPIRATIONAL WORDS OF MRS. KING, SO THAT THE AUDIENCE AND AMERICA WOULD THINK OF HER 'SENDING' (OR ASCENT) TO THE WHITE HOUSE. WHAT A PERFORMANCE

FROM MADAME HELLARY. SHE HAS NEVER BEEN A HILLARY TO ME. WHAT MORE PROOF DO I NEED OF MY INTENSE DISLIKE OF HELLARY CLINTON? I WOULD SEND HER A VALENTINE ABOUT THE ANTONYM OF LOVE.

TRUE LOVE

THIS VALENTINE'S DAY, WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF MY PREMISE - RESOLVED: FIRST LOVE SHOULD BE LAST LOVE? I'VE OBSERVED HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS IN THE CONTEXT OF HISTORICAL HINDSIGHT AND DECIDED THAT THE PULL OF FIRST LOVE IS DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN BUT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO LOOSEN. EXAMPLES ARE COUNTLESS OF COUPLES IN FIRST LOVE FOLLOWED BY STRUGGLES TO SUSTAIN IT, SEPARATIONS AND THEN STRUGGLES TO FORGET. YET INEVITABLY THEY ARE DRAWN BACK TO EACH OTHER AGAIN AND AGAIN, SOMETIMES WITH TRAGIC ENDS. GRANTED, FIRST LOVE IS NOT INFATUTION, LUST OR CONVENIENCE. IT INVOLVES TWO FIRST FACES AND VOICES MISSED, THAT FIRST GIFT OF MAGICAL, ALIEN, PHYSICAL ATTRACTION ACCOMPANIED BY THAT FIRST FEAR OF A DESTINY WHICH INCORPORATES A LIFETIME.

BUT YOUTH IN THE THROES OF FIRST LOVE OFTEN DON'T UNDERSTAND THE AWESOME CONSEQUENCES. CONSIDER THE FUTILE AND CONSTANT SEARCHES FOR 'LOVE' IN HOLLYWOOD AND ACROSS AMERICA'S WASTELAND OF 'HOOKUPS.' THE BREAKUP OF ANGELINA JOLIE AND BRAD PITT - PITY THE CHILD - PUTS TWO FACES ONTO A PICTURE OF LUST LOST RATHER THAN ON ONE OF A FIRST LOVE GAINED.

LOVE, OF COURSE, SHOULD BE LOOKED FOR IN ALL THE 'RIGHT' PLACES BUT SO MANY UNEDUCATED YOUTH ONLY GO WHERE IT'S GOING TO GO WRONG. LOVE, FOR SURE, MEANS COMMITMENT, NOT CONVENIENCE OR CHANGE. DARN A BELOVED IN WHOM A LOVER FINDS FLAWS. DRAT IT WHEN A LOVER WON'T CHANGE. THE EASY ANSWER IS TO 'FALL OUT OF LOVE.' TRUE LOVE , FIRST LOVE, BY IT VERY HUMAN NATURE, IS IMPERFECT LOVE AND CAN ONLY BE PERFECTED BY HARD WORK AND A HAPPINESS PURSUED DAY BY DAY. TO QUOTE FROM WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE IN HIS SONNET #116:

"LOVE IS NOT LOVE/ WHICH ALTERS WHEN IT ALTERATION FINDS."

IF TRUE LOVE IS FIRST LOVE, AND FIRST LOVE IS TRUE, SHOULD IT NOT BE WORTH A LIFETIME OF LOVE'S LABOR TO BE FULFILLED IN A VORTEX OF LOVE?

WHAT ARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS, COMMENTS, OPINIONS?

HEROES' DAY

HOW APPROPRIATE TO MULL OVER THE COINCIDENCE THAT FEBRUARY 12TH IS BOTH ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY AND THE DATE WHEN THE FIRST VIET NAM PRISONERS OF WAR FLEW HOME. 1809 AND 1973 ARE NOT SO FAR APART IF THE THEMES OF PATRIOTISM AND EMANCIPATION ARE CONSIDERED. LINCOLN LOVED HIS NATIVE COUNTRY AND SACRIFICED HIS LIFE TO PRESERVE ITS ONENESS OUT OF DIVERSITY. SYMBOLICALLY HE BECAME A TORTURED PRISONER OF ITS CIVIL WAR. EMANCIPATON FOR AMERICA'S SLAVES FROM THEIR SLAVEHOLDERS WHO HELD THE ENEMY POSITION, CAME FROM LINCOLN WITH STROKES OF A PEN. UNFORTUNATELY FOR LINCOLN, RELEASE FROM HIS EARTHLY STRUGGLE CAME AT THE HAND OF AN ANARCHIST. FREEDOM WAS SWIFT AND SURE. COMPARE LINCOLN WITH OUR HEROIC POW'S OF VIET NAM, MANY OF WHOM WERE TORTURED AND HELD IN CAPTIVITY FOR YEARS. THEY LOVED AMERICA AND WERE LOYAL TO THEIR MILITARY CODE OF BEHAVIOUR REGARDLESS OF THEIR PERSONAL CONVICTIONS ABOUT THEIR COUNTRY'S CAUSE IN WAR. THEY NEVER ABANDONED HOPE OF EMANCIPATON FROM THEIR BONDAGE. THEIR FREEDOM FLIGHTS ON MECHANICAL EAGLE'S WINGS WERE SWIFT BUT NEVER ASSURED. LINCOLN'S AND THE POW'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO PATRIOTISM ARE UNQUESTIONABLE. EMANCIPATION WAS DEFINED FOR THEM IN HIGHLY PERSONAL TERMS. FEBRUARY 12TH SHOULD BE A HOLIDAY FOR HEROES.

DNA AND SCIENCE

SCIENCE IS GOOD WHEN IT UTILIZES DNA. SCIENCE IS HELPLESS IN THE 'FACE' OF DNA TOO. DNA FOUND ON THE BARREL OF A GUN OPPOSED TO DNA EXPOSED ON THE MUZZLE OF THE SAME WEAPON, PAINTS THE PICTURE OF A WOMAN AT THE END OF HER LIFE. DNA CAN CONVICT CRIMINALS; IT CAN ALSO EXONERATE THEM. SUCH SCIENCE IS GOOD. ON THE OTHER HAND, DNA DETERMINES CHARACTER, WHOLLY SEPARATE FROM SCIENCE. LEWIS 'SCOOTER' LIBBY'S DNA, HIS AMANUENSIS FOR MISDEEDS, ALLOWED HIM TO MISLEAD INVESTIGATORS WHEN ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT CIA LEAKS, INCORPORATING A REFERENCE TO HIS BOSS, THE VICE PRESIDENT AS A SMOKE SCREEN. LIKEWISE, MICHAEL BROWN UNDER INTERROGATION ABOUT THE SLOWNESS OF FEMA'S RESPONSE TO HURRICANE KATRINA, DELIBERATELY PARSED HIS WORDS AND INTENTIONALLY MISDIRECTED ATTENTION AWAY FROM HIMSELF AND THE CORE ISSUE WHICH INVOLVED FIRST, MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS AND SECOND, THE GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA. THE BUCK SHOULD HAVE BEGUN WITH THE TWO LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND THEN BEEN PASSED ON. SCIENCE IS HELPLESS HERE BECAUSE ALTHOUGH DNA PROPOSES, MEN MAKE DEPOSITIONS. FURTHERMORE, NEITHER SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH NOR ITS DATA CAN EXPLAIN WHY FREE SPEECH CAN BE PERVERTED TO SERVE CONFLICTING IDEOLOGIES. THE MUSLIMS EMPLOY IT TO JUSTIFY VIOLENCE. DEMOCRACRIES EMBRACE IT TO PROMULGATE PERSONAL OPINIONS. THE VATICAN STATES THAT "IT CANNOT OFFEND RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS OF BELIEVERS." THIS POSITION IRONICALLY MISSES THE PREVALENCE OF INSULTS HURLED AT JESUS, CHRISTIANITY AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WHICH ARE ROUTINELY IGNORED. I CONTEND THAT DNA SHOULD TAKE THE CREDIT FOR ALL PECULIAR, UNSCIENTIFIC EXERCISES OF FREE SPEECH.

A PEGGY NOONAN REBUTTAL

I DARE TO REFUTE PEGGY NOONAN, A CHAMPION OF TWO OF MY DECEASED HEROES POPE JOHN PAUL II AND FORMER PRESIDENT, RONALD REAGAN. UNFORTUNATELY, A SMART WRITER AND THINKER SUCH AS PEGGY NOONAN, HAS 'GONE OFF THE DEEP END' INTO COMMON NONSENSE. I QUESTION HER REASONINGS AND REVERENCE OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING FUNERAL, WHICH SHE FELT WS A VEHICLE FOR FUN AND FREEDOM. I WONDER WHY ANY HEROINE WOULD WARRANT AN OVER-THE-TOP SIX HOUR MEMORIAL OTHER THAN TO SERVE POLITICAL AND POLITICALLY CORRECT ENDS, ENDS WHICH COULD NOT BE SELF-SERVING BECAUSE THE GOOD LIFE HAS ALREADY BEEN LIVED. MRS. KING'S CEREMONY INCLUDED OBVIOUS, NUMEROUS, POLITICAL MOMENTS. INSPIRED BY A BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AN ORCHESTRATED CONVENTION EMERGED. FOR EXAMPLE, THE ACCUSATION THAT BUSH LIED TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ABOUT WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTON WAS FOLLOWED BY MINUTES OF APPLAUSE. EVEN IF MRS. KING OPPOSED THE WAR, WHY WAS THIS RALLYING CRY NECESSARY? ANOTHER MORE BLATANT EXAMPLE WAS THE BEHAVIOR OF FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND HIS ASPIRATIONAL (TO THE OVAL OFFICE) WIFE HILLARY, WITH OBVIOUSNESS, EACH UNVEILED A 2008 POLITICAL CAMPAIGN BY A SPEECH FILLED WITH PARTY PANDERINGS STRAIGHT FROM THEIR CROOKED HEARTS. BOTH OF THEIR PRESENTATIONS WERE ACCOMPANIED BY CALCULATED HAND GESTURES AND TELLING GLANCES. YES, THE MEMORIAL SERVICE CONTINUALLY PUT THE LORD AND HIS BIBLE UP FRONT AND PERSONAL. BUT THE REPETITIVE, RELIGIOUS ALLUSIONS WERE CLOYING AND POLITICALLY OVER-INDULGENT. GODLY STOICISM WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. ACCORDING TO PEGGY, THE SERVICE WAS JOYFUL FUN; SHE PRAISED THE LORD FOR ITS EVIDENT, FREE SPEECH. SHE SAID, "THIS WAS THE AUTHENTIC SOUND OF A VIBRANT DEMOCRACY DOING ITS THING." HOW AUTHENTIC IS UNFETTERED PANDERING TO THE PASSIONS OF THE FUNERAL PATRONS? HOW AUTHENTIC ARE POLITICAL BACKBITINGS AND UNPATRIOTIC ACCUSATIONS IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD?

I RETURN TO MRS. CLINTON BRIEFLY. BUMPKIN POLITICIAN DAVY CROCKETT EXPOSED AND REVILED THE HYPOCRISY OF ANDREW JACKSON, A PAST PRESIDENT REVERED BY SOME OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES AND BY LATER HISTORIANS. I WISH COMMON AMERICANS COULD SEE THROUGH THE DECEPTIVE GLOW SURROUNDING HILLARY CLINTON. IT CAMOUFLAGES A HELLISH, DARK, MANIPULATIVE, INTERIOR PLACE FROM WHICH SHE DRAWS UP HER POLITICAL BATTLE PLANS. I HOPE I AM THE FIRST, BUT NOT THE LAST, OBSERVER TO PRAISE THE LORD FOR GIVING ME INSIGHT INTO MADAME HELLARY, WHO, FAR AND AWAY, HAS NEVER BEEN A HILLARY.

A PHOTO SHOOT

A PHOTO IS A COURSE ON AGING 101,
A STUDY, DENIED, DEFERRED, NO FUN,
PUT OFF TWO SCORE AND TWO,
BECAUSE ENTICEMENTS ARE FEW,
DUE TO THE FACTS OF LIFE AND LINES
ON MY FACE, UNERASED BY SHARED TIMES
OR PLOWED-UNDER MEMORIES. THEN-
IS NO LESS LOVE-LIT THAN NOW BY HIM.

OUR NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT

TODAY IS MY 100TH BLOG. THE NUMERAL IS AN APPROPRIATE REMINDER THAT THE DEMOCRAT PARTY ACHIEVED A PERFECT SCORE, 100%, ON THE SHAME TEST AT CORETTA SCOTT KING'S FUNERAL YESTERDAY. IT TOOK ONLY 5 MINUTES OF REPORTING AT THE HANDS OF A RATIONAL TALK SHOW HOST, FOR ME TO HEAR ABOUT THE DISGRACEFUL DISPLAY OF POLITICS AT MRS. KING'S MEMORIAL HELD IN A CHURCH. THERE WAS NO TALK ABOUT SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE THERE, JUST AN EXCESSIVE REPRISE OF THE CAMPAIGN SPECTACLE AT THE PAUL WELLSTONE FUNERAL A FEW YEARS AGO. WHO WAS CENTER STAGE IN ATLANTA BUT OUR PERENNIAL, NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT, FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER. HE IS PERHAPS NOT ONLY THE WORST PRESIDENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY - WHY BE SO BLIND AND KIND - BUT ALSO THE WORST IN AMERICAN HISTORY. DOES HE EVEN KNOW WHAT AMERICA REPRESENTS? IF HE DOES, HE DELIBERATELY EMBRACES REVISIONIST HISTORY AND A COUNTER-INTELLIGENT BRAND OF PATRIOTISM.

FIRST HE ACCUSES GOD OF TARGETING THE BLACKS WITH DEVASTATION DURING THE RECENT HURRICANE KATRINA AND OUR PRESENT ADMINISTRATION WITH RACISM AND SEGREGATION. SUCH PANDERING TO BLACKS, INSULTS MANY WHITE VICTIMS OF THE DISASTER AND CONDONES THE VICTIMHOOD MENTALITY.

NEXT HE ACCUSES THE GOVERNMENT OF SPYING ON DR. AND MRS. KING AND RACIALLY PROFILING THEM. DID HE OR DID HE NOT COUNT ON THOSE GRANTING HIM AN OVATION FORGETTING THAT IT WAS YEARS AGO, UNDER THE DEMOCRAT ADMINISTRATION OF PAST PRESIDENT, JOHN F. KENNEDY, SUCH SPYING WAS AUTHORIZED? FURTHERMORE, IT WAS AUTHORIZED BY ROBERT KENNEDY, BROTHER OF THE PRESIDENT AND RELATIVE OF A PRESENT, DEMOCRAT SENATOR, TEDDY KENNEDY, IN ATTENDANCE AT THE FUNERAL SERVICE.

WHEN EGO TRIUMPHS ABOVE BRAINS, WE CAN EXPECT NO MORE OR NO LESS THAN NATIONAL EMBARRASSMENT FROM JIMMY CARTER. HIS ATTITUDES - AND THOSE PROFILED BY OTHER LIBERAL, DEMOCRAT SPEAKERS YESTERDAY - PERPETUATE THE 'OLD' , OUTDATED CIVIL RIGHTS MENTALITY THAT PERVERTED MARTIN LUTHER KING JR'S CONCEPT OF EQUAL RIGHTS INTO DEPENDENCY ON GOVERNMENT. THIS ROAD WAS PAVED BY FORMER PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON AND FOLLOWED FOR GENERATIONS WITH THEIR EXCUSALS FOR IRRESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR. UNFORTUNATELY A SHADOW ON THE 'OLD' WAY FELL OVER THE SOUTH AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA. APPROXIMATELY 25,000 KATRINA REFUGEES LIVED FREE IN HOTEL ROOMS OR APARTMENTS FOR 3 MONTHS AT TAXPAYERS' EXPENSES. THIS ACTION OBVIOUSLY WAS DEMANDED BY 'OLD', LIBERAL DEMOCRATS. NOW THAT THE RENT SUBSIDIES HAVE BEEN TERMINATED, I HOPE THE 'VICTIMS' WILL JOIN THE 'NEW' CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, THAT IS, THE ROAD TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND PERSONAL ADVANCEMENT, WHICH WAS BUILT AND HAS BEEN MAINTAINED BY THE CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS. NEW TRAVELERS ON THE ROAD TO GLORY WOULD BE SMART TO LOOK FORWARD AND NOT TO THEIR WAKE. AND WHERE IS JIMMY CARTER? IN BLISSFUL IGNORANCE, STILL LIMPING DOWN THE "OLD' TRAIL.

FIRE AND ICE

WHEN FROST SAID THE WORLD MIGHT BE CONSUMED IN FIRE
OR THE POET SAID THE EARTH COULD BE FROZEN IN ICE,
HE KNEW NOT THE MEANING OF JIHADIST DESIRE,
OR THAT HATE, IF SOLIDIFIED, ALONE WOULD SUFFICE.

LOVE FROM CHRISTIAN'S CAN'T MELT THEIR MISSION,
NOR PRAYERS TO JESUS' BURNING SACRED HEART,
NOR FRIGID ISOLATION END DEADLY CONFUSION,
NOR A FLAT WORLD KEEP POLAR PEOPLE'S APART.

SWIFT AND SURE

WHOEVER DECLARED THAT A PUNISHMENT SHOULD BE "SWIFT AND SURE," NEVER SUSPECTED THAT THIS DICTUM PROVES OUR NEED FOR FAITH IN GOD. ONLY GOD, THE ULTIMATE EXTRA-TERRESTIAL, CAN DELIVER A JUST PUNISHMENT WHICH EXTENDS BEYOND SOCIETY'S IMPERFECT, MORAL IMPERATIVE.

IF I FALL IN A HOLE BY CHANCE AT MY WORKPLACE AND BELIEVE THAT CHANCE PLAYED NO PART IN DELIVERING TO ME MY SPRAINED ANKLE, I PROBABLY WILL SUE SOME ENTITY WITH THE AID AND COMFORT OF A LAWYER. IF I AM THE VICTIM OF A VIOLENT CRIME, SOCIETY WILL ATTEMPT TO BRING MY COLD-BLOODED KILLER TO JUSTICE. IN BOTH CASES, HOWEVER, PUNISHMENTS TO THE PARTIES RESPONSIBLE WILL BE, BY NATURE OF THEIR EARTHLY CONDITION, SLOW AND DOUBTFUL.

WE HUMAN BEINGS SHOULD KNOW THAT CHANCE PLAYED THE ONLY PART IN AN ACCIDENTAL FOOT INJURY AND THAT TECHNOLOGY DELIVERS THE FATAL BLOW AFTER AN ENEMY FOCUSES A VICTIM WITHIN HIS GUNSIGHT. SUCH PUNISHMENTS ARE SWIFT AND SURE BECAUSE THEY ARE WITHIN THE NATURAL LAW WHICH IS THE LAW OF NATURE'S GOD.

THE LAWS AND ACTIONS OF MAN ARE JUST THE OPPOSITE. HOW MUCH SATISFACTION CAN I EXPECT TO DERIVE FROM AMERICA'S JUDICIAL SYSTEM TODAY? NO PUNISHMENT IS SWIFT AND SURE DUE TO THE INTERMINABLE PERMUTATIONS, PENUMBRAS, MACHINATIONS AND SHEER NONSENSE INHERENT IN THE SYSTEM. THIS IS WHY I BELIEVE THAT THE SOLUTON TO THIS SITUATION IS FAITH IN GOD. I CAN COUNT ON HIM IN A FUTURE WORLD COURT TO METE OUT JUST PUNISHMENTS (AND JUST REWARDS) THAT ARE SWIFT AND SURE.

CORETTA SCOTT KING

IF THE DEAD COULD SPEAK, WOULD THE MOURNERS LISTEN? CORETTA SCOTT KING LIES IN STATE IN THE GEORGIA CAPITOL BUILDING. WHAT ARE BLACKS IN AMERICA TO REMEMBER AFTER HER PASSING? WHY IS SHE THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN HONORED IN GEORGIA'S CAPITOL? IS IT BECAUSE SHE WAS THE WIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR? ...WAS A WOMAN WHO STOOD BY HER MAN IN SPITE OF HIS PHILANDERINGS? ... WAS A MOTHER DEVOTED TO HER CHILDREN AND HER MARRIAGE? ... WAS A WIDOW WHO KEPT HER HUSBAND'S CAUSE ALIVE BY ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A FOUNDATION IN HIS NAME? ... WAS A LEADER WHO TOOK UP THE MANTLE OF CIVIL RIGHTS FROM HER ASSASSINATED HUSBAND? DOES THE HONOR ACCORDED TO HER NOW NECESSITATE INCLUDING ALL OF THE ABOVE?

WHAT IF SHE WERE A BLACK WOMAN WITHOUT COURAGE? WHAT IF SHE WERE A WHITE WIFE? WHAT IF HER STATUS WERE NOT WIFE BUT COHABITANT? WHAT IF SHE HAD DIVORCED DR. KING BEFORE OR AFTER HIS DEATH? WHAT IF SHE HAD RE-MARRIED (AFTER THE DIVORCE) OR AFTER HER HUSBAND'S DEATH? WOULD THE MANNER OF MAN SHE MARRIED MATTER? WHAT IF SHE PURSUED A PRIVATE LIFE AFTER HER HUSBAND'S DEATH, SHUNNING ANY LIMELIGHT TO CARRY ON HIS WORK? WHAT IF COMMITMENT TO DR. KING'S CAUSE WAS NEVER 'ON HER MIND.'?

WHAT IF A CONTRASTING MRS. KING HAD LIVED? WHAT IF HER LIFE DID NOT REPRESENT DIGNITY AND DEVOTION TO THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE? WHAT IF HER LIFE DID NOT CONNOTE THE STRUGGLE AND PERSEVERENCE OF A NOBLE CAUSE? WHAT IF SHE DEFILED A WORTHY LEGACY LEFT BY AN ELOQUENT WRITER AND SPEAKER AND A GREAT, RELIGOUS CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER, HER HUSBAND, DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.? BUT MRS. KING DID NOT. SHE WASN'T COMPRISED OF ANY IGNOBLE PART. THE SUM OF HER DAYS SET AN EXAMPLE FOR HER FELLOW BLACKS AND AMERICANS TO PONDER AND IMITATE. IF SHE IS SPEAKING FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE, DO BLACKS TODAY HEAR HER? ALL AMERICANS CAN FIND CLOSURE IN HER MESSAGE OF COMMITMENT TO MORALITY, JUSTICE AND LOVE.

THE EU BULLY

WHO IS THE GLOBAL BULLY WHO DOMINATES THE WEAK AND DICTATES WORLD-WIDE BEHAVIOR? NOT THE IMPERIALISTIC, BIG, BAD UNITED STATES, BUT THE EU, THE EUROPEAN UNION. A DIPLOMAT HAS CALLED IT "A SERIOUS GLOBAL ECONOMIC FORCE," TO WHICH AMERICANS "NEED TO PAY HEED." THAT SOUNDS LIKE A 'CLOSET' BULLY STATEMENT TO ME. TO PROVE ITS IMPORTANCE, THE EU CLAIMS THE 2ND LARGEST ECONOMY WHICH , WITH 11.75 TRILLION IN GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, CAN PUSH AROUND GENERAL ELECTRIC BY DASHING ITS PLANS FOR A MERGER WITH HONEYWELL AND ORDER MICROSOFT TO PAY A HUGE FINE FOR ANTITRUST VIOLATIONS. IT PROBABLY DOESN'T MATTER THAT SUCH BULLYING RESEMBLES THE ACTIONS OF A POWERFUL, EU TRUST. ON THE OTHER HAND, WHEN MUSLIMS REACTED VIOLENTLY TO A CARTOON INSULTING THEIR PROPHET, MOHAMMED, THE BIG, BAD BULLY EU BETRAYS WEAKNESS. IT MATTERS NOT THAT MUSLIMS CHAMPION NEITHER FREE SPEECH NOR A SENSE OF HUMOR, THE INSULT TO MOHAMMED HAS HAD DANGEROUS REPERCUSSIONS. THE EU, WHICH ATTEMPTS TO REGULATE THE WORLD WITH ITS 80,000 PAGES OF REGULATIONS TO WHICH ITS MEMBER STATES MUST ADHERE, WON'T STAND UP TO THE OUTBURSTS OF ANOTHER BULLY, RADICAL ISLAM. WHEN FUNNY CARICATURES ARE PUBLISHED IN DENMARK AND ONE OF ITS MEMBERS IS ATTACKED FOR DEFENDING VALUES THAT THE EU IS BASED UPON, THE BIG, BAD EU BULLY IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. IT HAS NOT INVOKED THE BULLY PULPIT OR THE CLUB. PERHAPS THE EUROPEAN UNION'S BULLYING IS LIMITED TO THE ECONOMIC SPHERE, WHICH WOULD SUPPOSEDLY EXCUSE ITS SILENCE AND INACTION. BUT WHEN ONE BULLY WITH 80,000 REGULATIONS TO GIVE IT HEFT, ENCOUNTERS AN OPPOSING BULLY WITH GUNS, BOMBS AND STEEL, WE CAN GUESS WHICH BEAST WILL TURN TUSH AND RUN.

SUPER BOWL 40

THE WICKEDNESS OF IRAN'S PRESIDENT, MR. AHMADINEJAD, WHO SPEWS 'HOLY' PROCLAMATIONS ABOUT THE TAKEOVER OF THE WORLD FROM THE INFIDELS IN THE WEST, MIGHT IN PART BE EXPLAINED BY THE FACT THAT HIS KINGDOM ON EARTH HAS NO SUPER BOWL #40. ON SUNDAY, DETROIT WILL BE AMERICA'S MECCA FOR SPORTS' MANIA. THIS MANIA HAS EVEN SPILLED OVER TO MSMBC WITH A HOT, SIDELINE DISPUTE OVER BLACK QUARTERBACKS IN FOOTBALL. WHAT A CALMING AND RATIONALIZING EFFECT, THE MADNESS OF AN INCONSEQUENTIAL, BUT DEMOCRATIC EVENT ( IN TELEOLOGICAL TERMS ANYWAY) LIKE OUR SUPER BOWL COULD HAVE ON THE ARAB WORLD. INTO THE 17TH, 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES EUROPE'S CHRISTIANS BELIEVED IN THE SEVEN CHAMPIONS OF CHRISTENDDOM. THESE WERE SAINTS FROM ENGLAND (GEORGE), SCOTLAND ( THE APOSTLE ANDREW), IRELAND ( PATRICK), WALES (DAVID), FRANCE (BISHOP DENIS), SPAIN ( THE APOSTLE JAMES) AND ITALY ( ANTHONY OF PADUA) WHO KICKED SOME CELESTIAL BUTT AGAINST EVILDOERS. WHERE ARE THEY TODAY? PERHAPS THEIR MODERN AVATARS ARE ON THE GRIDIRON, AS AMBASSADORS WITH 'OLD-FASHIONED' WARRIOR MENTALITIES. A SAINT IS TYPICALLY THE RECIPIENT OF PRAYERS WHICH ASK FOR SAFEGUARD AGAINST WICKEDNESS AND SNARES OF THE DEVIL. MAY THE CHRISTIAN GOD REBUKE HIM, ( THE DEVIL), WE USUALLY HUMBLY ENTREAT. AS A PRINCE OF THE HEAVENLY HOST, WE HOPE THE SAINT WILL, BY THE POWER OF GOD, CAST INTO HELL ALL THE EVIL SPIRITS WHO PROWL ABOUT THE WORLD SEEKING THE RUIN OF OUR SOULS. I MIGHT ADD, ALSO THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR BODIES. AMEN. WHERE ARE OUR 7 HORSEMEN OF THE APOLOCLYPSE ? PERHAPS ... CHEERING IN THE STANDS AT SUNDAY'S SUPER BOWL.

THE BOOK SALE

I REVVED UP MY PINIONS,
FOUR RUBBER ORBS,
CONCENTRIC WITH CHROME,
TO FLY TO THE SALE,
MINGLE WITH PRINT,
SHUFFLE WITH LITERATE
BARGAIN HUNTERS,
STOCK UP ON BOOKS,
FOR FUTURE MEALS.

THE MORNING AFTER

IN SPITE OF AN HOUR OF RHETORIC LAST NIGHT AT THE PRESIDENT'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS - AND DEMOCRATS CHEERING THEIR BLOCKAGE OF SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM - THE STATE OF THE UNION, THE MORNING AFTER, IS UNCHANGED. SPENDING PROGRAMS APPARENTLY REMAIN THE ONLY WAY OUT OF PROBLEMS. DEMOCRATIC IDEALS AND REPUBLICAN IDEAS REVERBERATED LOUDLY IN THE HALLOWED HALL OF THE CAPITOL BUILDING, BUT IN THE LIGHT OF THE NEXT DAY, THEY FACE RECRIMINATIONS FROM THE MOUTHS OF LIBERALS AND PUNDITS. MY MORNING WAKE-UP CALL SOUNDED WHEN A TYPICAL BASKETBALL COACH, WHOSE UNCONTROLLED DRIVEL TYPIFIES RAMBLINGS FROM POLITICIANS, TOLD ME THAT HIS TEAM WILL CONTINUE TO "DELIVER THE GET GO." SPORTS LINGO IS A POPULIST VERSION OF POLITICAL PALAVER.

SO WHAT'S THE SAME THE MORNING AFTER THE ADDRESS TO THE NATION? THREE SHIBBOLETHS STILL STAND. THE FIRST IS THE PUBLIC'S DISINTEREST IN POLITICS. ONLY A TINY PERCENTAGE OF CITIZENS LISTENED TO (OR CARED ABOUT ) THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH FILLED WITH A LAUNDRY LIST OF INITIATIVES AND COMMISSIONS. MOST AMERICANS' LAUNDRY LISTS ARE ON REFRIGERATOR DOORS AND THEIR LAUNDRY IS PROBABLY STACKED UP IN A CORNER AT REST. THE SECOND ISSUE IS AMERICA'S ADDICTION TO OIL. WE STILL GET AS MUCH FOREIGN OIL FROM SAUDI ARABIA AND VENEZUELA AS FROM MEXICO AND CANADA ( THE TOP 4 IMPORTS), BUT WHO CARES? THE AUTOMOBILE EQUATES WITH AMERICA'S SOUL. TO FOOL WITH THE SOUL'S EMBODIMENT IN THE FORM OF HORSEPOWER WOULD BE TO UNLEASH INNUMERABLE ANGRY BULLIES, A COUNTERPRODUCTIVE MEASURE, TO SAY THE LEAST, IF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS IS NOW PROMOTING A NATION OF WIMPS. THE THIRD SHIBBOLETH UNTOUCHED AT LAST NIGHT'S EVENT IS SINGLE MOTHERHOOD. SINGLE MOTHERS, A SINGULAR, CULTURAL CATASTROPHE, ARE ROUTINELY INVOKED AS AN EXCUSE FOR THE UNAFFORDABILITY OF EVERYTHING - FOOD, HOUSING, JOBS, EDUCATION, DAY CARE, INSURANCE, SAVINGS, THE FUTURE - WITHOUT THEIR BASIC, IMMORAL BEHAVIOR BEING CRITICIZED. WHAT WE CANNOT AFFORD TO NEGLECT IS THE FACT THAT THEY ARE, HAVE ALWAYS BEEN, ALWAYS WILL BE UNACCEPTABLE AND AS SUCH ARE A DETRIMENT TO THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF THIS COUNTRY.

AMERICA'S MANDATE SHOULD BE TO PROMOTE INTELLIGENT, MARRIAGE UNIONS BECAUSE THE MORAL STATE OF THE UNION BEGINS AND ENDS THERE.