Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Whatever.

The family came to visit and the boys revised the Chistmas Lights.
Check this out

Mt. Hood Lost Hikers

I have posted this image of Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood. I took this on my last visit a few years ago.
This is a beautiful Lodge and vacation resort. Much of the activity on the mountain starts at this lodge.

I tried to contact my Grandson Jeremey who is a volunteer with King County Search and Rescue which covers surrounding areas of Mt. Rainier but he has been without power for some time with the storms that have impacted the area from Seattle to the south. I had hoped he could give us some comments about the rescue attempts. If you watch the Seattle news you have probably seen him helping to rescue climbers on areas around Mt. Rainier.

I saw a new unit that is now available that you carry in your pack and it will charge your cell phone with a few cranks of a handle. Also some sort of GPS or signalling device would save lives and time.

We offer our prayers for the climbers on Mt. Hood. They did what they enjoyed and were good at it.
We were very impressed with the Sheriff, his sincerity, his kind friendly manner and his knowledge.

Brave Men and Women Serving in Iraq

Should we be at war?

Some of you feel we never should have become involved in this war in Iraq.
Others feel we are just starting and we will be fighting terrorists for many years.

The events affect my thoughts about my own service and possible service of my children and grandchildren. Even our new unborn great grandson.

I worry about the loss of 3000 of our brave young men and women at war.

I also honor the almost one million who have made the sacrifice during all the wars that gave us our coveted freedom and protected us from those who would take it from us.

The very least I can do is honor those who now serve. All are volunteers.
Take a look at some photos of these brave friends and neighbors. They have offered to
give their lives to keep you free.

Please click here: Brave Heroes at Work (Courtesy of uwhunter@earthlink.net)

NO, THAT IS A JOB FOR THE UNITED NATIONS

THE UNITED NATIONS IS NOT MEETING ITS GOALS AND SHOULD NOT BE SUPPORTED.

If ever we needed support from the United Nations it would be now.

The Charter for the United Nations requires that it work for International Security and Economic Development. Some of its goals are to Prevent and Intervene in International Conflicts.

Iraq has been freed from a murdering and abusive dictator.
Today, Iraq is threatened by international insecurity caused by Iran and its supporters.

Today, Iraq is suffering from a slow down in economic development because of terrorist attacks supported by Iran and others.

One solution to this problem is to increase conflict with danger to innocent civilians.

Another solution offered by the Iraq Study Commission is to negotiate with Iran.

This is the ideal opportunity for the United Nations to intervene and prevent additional conflict, improve international security and improve the economic development of Iraq by negotiating with Iran and other nations supporting Iran.

We have not seen any movement by the United Nations toward this goal. Therefore we must assume the high cost of the United Nations is not a worthy cause and we should reduce or remove our support for its existence commensurate with its level of achievement.

For a related article discussing Kofi Annan’s request for a pension visit this site.


You can learn more about the United Nations charter at Wikipedia.com

U.S.OFFICIALS ADMIT DEFEAT

It is truly a very sad day in this veterans home when he has to listen to the about to be confirmed Secretary of Defense state to Congress that we are not winning in Iraq. How dejected the troops must feel when the greatest and strongest nation in the world sends it bravest and often brightest to war and then tell the world they are losing.

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You Our Young Brave Heroes.

Today a bipartisan panel went before Congress and submitted 79 proposals for Iraq, not one of which mentioned victory.
They did mention using diplomacy. Apparently Secretary Rice failed also.
Then one of the members mentioned that the situation was divisive to the country. Most people I know are agreed that we want to win. People like this panel and the press object and they are the ones who have divided themselves from the rest of us.
They did mention asking for help from the enemy. Iran has already offered help to Iraq. They are very willing to help them by not sending more terrorists and then Iran will of course, as they have done before, offer to help protect and run the country. All financed by money received for their oil from the free world.

The coalition of Iran, Venezuela and North Korea is growing and is financed and supported by business dealings with Russia and China. They grew stronger this week by the results of left leaning elections in several other Latin American countries and by Chavez building his relationship with Cuba.

The enemy is coming and he has the support of some of your neighbors.

Pray for your grandchildren.

Research the Military in Iraq then go Blog

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT IRAQ?

I wonder if you really have your own opinion. You are being fed distorted information from a biased media and someone asks you how you feel. You do what most people do and that is repeat back the headlines from newspapers or leads from media shows and all are designed to get you to look at their show or buy their paper.

No one really cares what you think or if you are really informed.

If they did care they would tell you all the news and how all sides feel, not just their own input.

If you really care about Iraq read the various viewpoints about Iraq and look at the reports giving the actual happenings in Iraq. A great starting point is to visit Hugh Hewitt’s blog site and read the posting by Dean Barnett. He gives a great easy reading viewpoint of the issues. Check it out at the address below.

Dean talks about the decision of NBC to call the current situation in Iraq a Civil War. Last night on Hannity and Colmes Brent Bozell of Media Research reported that the definition of a civil war would not cover the present situation where members of the existing government are fighting.

Dean says call it what you want. It is still a problem.

Recently Kissinger said we could not win a military victory in Iraq. I think we could argue with this viewpoint. We have a very strong military, Google the military count we have and you will find over 800,000 in the military. As the Godfather pointed out the military is trained to maim and kill. If our military were turned loose in Iraq they could destroy most everything and everyone there in a few days. We could win but we are a compassionate nation. We are fighting for a compassionate peace using a police action. Our killer troops are not trained to do police work so we have to move slower and take more casualties.

Enough of my comments. Read a great article by Dean Barnett.

Fair Tax, Boortz and Congress

NEIL BOORTZ, THE FAIR TAX AND THE NEW CONGRESS

Recently Boortz disclosed on his program that a high level Democratic congressional leader is interested in the Fair Tax. It was also indicated this leader is interested in having the Democrats adopt this program in the new Democratic congress.

Until now, Fair Tax supporters have only heard that Nancy Pelosi, Democrat and the new Speaker of the House had told her group that they should not co-sponsor the Fair Tax bill.

The revelation by Boortz raises a couple of interesting issues for the hundreds of thousands of Fair Tax supporters.

Boortz wavered some on his support of those who had co-sponsored the bill in his comments about not supporting the Republican candidates. Boortz is a Libertarian and he would normally support a Libertarian candidate. However, he knows the Libertarian candidates do not have much of a chance and he often gives support for the conservative candidate as the less objectionable of his goals which is a smaller Federal Government.
This past election, he along with many voters were objecting to the wasteful add-ons to bills of pork barrel projects and many felt they wanted to teach the Republicans a lesson.

I have to wonder if Boortz decided not to support Republicans because they sat on the bill and looked more kindly on Democrats because they might adopt the Fair Tax. He wavered and had differing viewpoints at various times. If the possible Democratic support did influence him, then he was suppressing his ideals of the Libertarian Platform in favor of the concept of the Fair Tax. Boortz had difficult decisions to make.

A second issue is the support of the Fair Tax by existing Republican co-sponsors when the leadership changes. It is believed that many would support the concept thus giving the Democrats a victory in their new platform of the “most ethical congress” and the support of the working person because the Far Tax helps the low income worker.

What would happen if the existing Republican Congress brought the bill forward for a vote? What would the Democrats do? If they voted against the bill, then passed it later when they took control they could receive some objectionable publicity of playing politics. If they passed it later they could make a small change in the bill stating they had overcome some objection.

When the bill is passed, the reaction by the lobbyists will be intense. Because the presidential election of 2008 is so important for the Democrats to win, they will not want to lose the financial support of the lobbyists so I doubt if it will come up for a vote until after the 2008 election.

If it does come up the members of congress will do the usual. They will look for an issue that they want to change in the bill. An issue sponsors cannot agree to. Then they will delay their votes to see what type of support it has. If it passes they will then vote yes or no depending on their need for financial support from lobbyists. If it does not pass they can then add their vote, yes if they can gain mileage, or vote no if it does better for them financially and then in the new year they can pass it with a slight change and claim it is a different bill.
In any event, the voting decision will be made about what is best for the survival of the congressional member. Seldom is the best interest of the voter considered and that is the level of politics in our government.

What this country needs is reform of the campaign finance system and stronger restrictions of special interest group influence. All interests must be heard, but the role of congress is to protect the best long term interests of the citizens. Often this coincides with the best long term interests of commerce and that is part of the Republican philosophy. But one side cannot be granted excessive power that will corrupt the leaders of our nation.

Help Wanted in Congress

MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE WILLING TO SERVE THEIR COUNTRY IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Salary range is $168,500 to $212,000.
A generous office budget is provided.
Generous retirement benefits, up to 80% of base salary.


Your duties will be to represent your state for 6 years as a senator or represent the citizens of your district for 2 years. You may run for reelection at the end of each term.

The citizens who elect you expect you to give their needs and safety the highest priority. If you place the wishes of lobby groups or those who offer large contributions above the voters you might not be re-elected.

You are asked to understand and believe in the constitution of the United States and support its directives and in rare cases update them.

You are expected to hold hearings and pass legislation that will remove the influence of large cash contributions and lobbying pressures on members of congress. You will evaluate the possibility of federal financing of campaigns.
You will hold hearings and find ways to reform the complex federal tax code.

You are expected to speak truthfully to your constituents and not mislead them with statements that benefit you or your campaign at the expense of constituents.

When you approve increases in your retirement above $11,000 per month remember the people who voted for you must exist on $1,000 per month.

You will show respect for the office and conduct yourself in a manner that is of the highest standards.

To apply, register with your local office of the political party you prefer. If you do not receive support from your party, help us to elect members who agree to the above principles and this will force your party to recognize your ideals.

WHO'S CRYIN NOW?

“Who’s cryin now?”

I think President Lincoln would if he were here, so would John Rusby and Joe Rusby.

Not because we lost the election, oh no! The sadness is for the wasted opportunity!

Let me explain.
About 115 years ago John joined a group with his friends, neighbors and patrons of his small store in what is now Nutley, NJ. That grass roots group was part of a huge group who started a new political party and directed it to do one thing. That one thing was to stop slavery. His grand son, Joe became active in that party, the Republican Party and he worked as a party official organizing and helping wherever he could. I followed and served in elected offices and many volunteer projects.

There have been a number of Republican presidents since Lincoln, actually more than Democrats. But in most cases there was not the control of both houses of congress with the presidency as existed with President Bush.

This was an opportunity that Abe, John, Joe and many other active party members and elected officials would have like to have been a part of. Well, Lincoln did have both houses, so did Teddy Roosevelt and McKinley. Ike had it 25% of his time. Several Democrats had control but Ike was the only Republican in modern times and that was for a short period of his time in office. Gingrich recognized the opportunity and tried to reform the system but he was chastised.

Sure, the president pushed through policies that improved our economy and that is very beneficial. But our congress has missed a wonderful opportunity.
They inserted many special projects into the budget to please their constituency to help get re-elected. Pork barrel.
They continued to negotiate special tax deductions for special groups and accepted campaign assistance and special benefits.
Campaign finance activities continued even though reforms had been introduced. Everyone looked for loopholes.

We have held them in contempt and abandoned them at the polls.

But we stood by and let them do this. Do we have to take some of the blame? We the citizens must insist on a better way to finance campaigns.

Republicans had the chance to make changes. They could have reduced the pork barrel dipping and campaign finance abuses. They could even have done some investigations and started a new way to finance campaigns. They could have even pushed a grass roots program for meaningful tax reform with a bill that was on their desk.

Greed prevented progress. We stood by and did not demand excellence. We let them plod along and satisfy their greed.

It was an opportunity that we trashed. I am sad, I am sure Joe and John and Abe would be disgusted at us for allowing such a rare opportunity to do so much good was wasted.

Totally wasted.

The election suprise!

An inside look at campaigns…

In a few hours the polls will open and we will listen for the first results or exit polls to see what is happening. I can tell you this race is going to surprise a number of people. It is going to be very close and we can expect many legal challenges which will delay results.
It might be weeks before we know if the Republicans hold on to either house.

I think back to the years when I was very active in campaigns. The first campaign I had any connection with was when I went with my Dad to hand out flyers for Tom Dewey who was challenging Franklin D. Roosevelt. Later I worked on my own campaigns and helped others. I remember a very important lesson I learned and it hit me today that the same lesson applies now.

Here it is:

The opposition group always wins.

I am talking about people who are against something. They are anti or against. When something is proposed and a group is dead set against it look out-they will build an organization and a passion that defeats it. I call them the “anti-s” (ant-ties)

In the present election we have the Republican incumbents and the Democrats would normally be the anti-s, but they have miscued or done some things that have placed them in such a position that now the Democrats are the proposers-it is as if they have already won and the Republicans suddenly become the anti-s and have the passion to prevent the Democrats from taking over and installing their liberal agenda. I wrote this in the morning and this evening I saw a former Democratic pollster, Pat Caddell on Fox News at 9:30 PM and he referred to the Republicans who were mad at their congressmen and were going to vote Democratic or not vote. Caddell confirmed my theory by saying they decided the Democrats would not be an acceptable alternative and so they were shifting back to vote Republican. In effect, the Dems have talked so much they have stirred up the Republican base who are now going to vote to prevcnt the Dems from winning. So now, the group in power is the anti-group and is passionate about what it is doing.

This is interesting to watch as it unfolds. Polls show the Republicans moving up fast as their passion grows. Keep up your passion. Find another to encourage to vote,

Another tip for you to observe is that as soon as the election is over it is going to move into court to verify challenged votes. It may be weeks before we know the outcome. Please keep in mind that the leaders of your county control the purse strings and arrange the purchase of voting machines, hiring poll workers and so on. Most of the problems that develop are in major cities that are usually liberal and controlled by Democratic established budgets. Most of these cities have voted as expected by their leadership. When a change takes place it is a little late for the party in power to complain about the equipment they selected and installed and in some areas have used for years.
You will find a balance in votes across the nation, lose some here, gain some there and it balances out so it was not a big problem in the past. When we start fine tuning one or two dominate areas we are going to have to fine tune them all which we should have done years ago.
We can do electronic banking with safety and convenience. It is not conceivable that we cannot establish a safe and accurate electronic voting system. The banks could do it for us.

Talking to the Republican Base

CONNECTING WITH THE REPUBLICAN BASE.

In the past few years I have had the opportunity to communicate with our Congressman John Mica regarding about 3 projects I have been involved in. Congressman Mica is a very sincere person and a representative we can be proud of. He is always involved with his community and district and is thanked many times by his constituents from both parties for his dedicated service.

I am sorry to say we gave Mica a tough challenge with the redistricting that gave his an area from Jacksonville down the coast to Daytona and across the state almost to Orlando. It is a district equivalent to the distance from New York City to Philadelphia, and it is through this huge district he must campaign for reelection every 2 years and manage many offices in all the population centers he represents.
Mica does not complain and forges ahead with projects that make us all wonder how he manages to overcome all the handicaps in his way and still maintain his pleasant and friendly composure when always willing to listen to a new problem.

With great appreciation I had volunteered to help his staff with whatever I could do to help although handicapped with an aging body. This led to an assignment to make phone calls to the local Republicans from the Republican club office in Palm Coast. I was not able to work too long but in the time I was there I learned many things.

Our Republican base is strong and dedicated.
On call after call I was told they were ready to vote or had already voted in the Florida early voting program and had voted the entire Republican slate of candidates. This revelation was very encouraging after hearing our base was not going to vote. Somewhere I had heard that many independents are switching to Republican voting but I could not confirm this anywhere. However, the comment was that this increase would be offset by the Republican base that was discouraged and would not vote. I did not experience that type of response so I want to encourage everyone to keep working to get out the vote because the pollsters might have a big surprise.

It is also exciting to see the dedicated people who volunteer or work at the offices and keep the party active. I met some great people, was very impressed with the activity and dedication of the staff and I look forward to the Tuesday election with a new, hopeful spirit.
If we could all get one more person out to the polls it would be a great contribution and we are going to surprise each other.

Missing Gun story changes by newspaper

Example of the Misleading Press:

On Monday, October 30, 2006, about a week before the national election and as early voters in Florida were starting to cast ballots our local newspaper, the liberal Daytona Beach News-Journal ran the following page 1 headline in large bold letters.

GONE: GUNS U.S. gave Iraq

COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS

Nearly one of every 25 weapons the military bought for Iraq security forces is missing….

Comment: We believe most readers check the headlines and do not read the whole article. Buried on page 11 is that fact the number missing is 4% of the total.

The last paragraph explains that the military inventory includes weapons donated, captured or bought with other funds and not all serial numbers can be registered because some of the weapons are “foreign owned”.

We are left wondering if the weapons that cannot be registered or were captured or donated are the 4% that are missing and what significance that might have.

The Houston Chronicle ran the same article with the headline:
Audit finds many missing U.S. Weapons in Iraq
This article is credited to John Heilprin of the Associated Press and probably indicates the wording of the original article sent by AP (and changed by the News-Journal above.)
The third paragraph quickly indicates the total is only 4% and does not imply that many or all are missing as in the News-Journal headline.
The article ends with general encouragement to improve tracking of materials sent for military, medical professionals and mechanics.
It sounds like an audit was ordered by the government because of items missing (we have seen reports of black market dealings) and an effort is being made by the military to determine why that is happening.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/front/4295769

Newsday.com also carried the article. The headline was:
Weapons for Iraq Missing
Pentagon can’t account for nearly 4% of arms it began giving security forces in 2003, audit finds.
Newsday.com Weapons for Iraq missing

The issue here is that the poor accounting for weapons is not a good thing, it must be corrected and that process has already started. But the lesson is that a couple of words in a headline can alter the perception of the public and helped to shape their thinking. The power of the press is awesome.
A poll held in the Daytona Area would be influenced by this headline. The poll results between Daytona and Houston could be very different because of a subtle change in a story.
We need to alert each other not to be misleading by headlines and a press with an agenda.


Influencing the public perception and then doing a poll to build the shift in perception is fraudulent and not what the 2nd amendment had intended.

Fortunately, the public is smarter and is seeking news elsewhere such as on the internet. Newspapers are losing readership and influence and if they are to flourish they must do what is expected of the press and follow the standards set down years ago by the press editors association.

After reading the Times story I did not have the feeling the Times, in this story, was trying to capitalize on the incident. Maybe I was wrong or maybe I did not find the original story.

I have the feeling there are some in our intelligence community who wish to sandbag our Republican administration. We have seen evidence of this before, we know they were not happy with these papers being released and the work involved in their release. There was an indication of complaints prior to this that some needed to be reviewed more carefully. Maybe someone wanted pay back by dumping obviously sensitive information and then tipped off the Times. Speculation? Sure, but it has happened before.

You can Google these stories and you will see what I mean.

Bush got stuck,Kerry got to go Home

BUSH GOT HIGHER GRADES AT YALE AND GOT STUCK AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF BUT KERRY GOT TO GO HOME.
John Kerry has put on the Dukakis helmet and is driving the tank across our TV screens over and over. I am sure you have all seen the comment.
I went into the Navy a few years before Kerry did. Many of my friends at home were doing that. We had a choice, get drafted and be sent to die crawling through the rice fields of North Korea or enlist in the Navy. In an interview with his college newspaper Kerry indicated the same strategy when he went into the Navy during the Vietnam War.
Kerry was on a ship but heard about the “swift boats” that were to be used near Vietnam to bring out critical personnel. Kerry volunteered and it seemed he was able to imitate his hero, JFK in a safe situation. We all knew that everyone who volunteered was a hero. But if you wanted the glory like he seemed to want, at that time you would join the Marines.
While in training the boats were reassigned to more dangerous duty. Kerry provided his own video camera and managed 3 purple hearts in 3 months in Vietnam (2 have been questioned) and he came home a hero and denounced our troops before congress telling horrendous tales of atrocities he saw in those 3 short months. He is now attacking the troops again and anyone who questions him.
A trial to take place in Pennsylvania in the near future might end his charade or verify his heroism. “The truth will out” and “The evil that man does lives on; the good is oft interred in the bones.” (Or is it the other way around?)
In the meantime, Bush did get a grade point average just above Kerry. But Bush got stuck as the Commander in Chief and Kerry was able to go home.

NORTH KOREA
Let us give thanks to China for its effort to bring North Korea to the discussion table with all parties involved. Now, with any discussion there will be stronger repercussions with more countries to answer to.


OUR PROBLEMS IN IRAQ:
Are the Iraq people any worse than we were?
Frank Waters was a historian and wrote about the lives of our Native American Indians. In his “Book of the Hopi” he recorded the information about how some of our territories would stir up activity of the Native Americans in order to ask the government to send troops. This resulted in increased commercial activity for the territories and it was to their benefit to keep the activity high so that money flowed though the troops to the locals.
Is it the same in Iraq? I have mentioned this before in previous blogs.

The dogs would like you to know that they have lots of friends because they wag their tails and not their tongues.

Stop the Water boarding Reports!

ENOUGH ALREADY WITH THE WATER BOARDING REPORTS!!!

We are citizens of the United States of America.
We would like to be left in peace and reach out to others who ask for help
Sometimes this makes problems for us and we get involved where it is not appreciated.
But when we do not help enough we are criticized for not helping enough.

We support the United Nations as a moderating and peace keeping forum. When the United Nations takes a position but then does not enforce the position we have taken alternate action, for the benefit of peace and prosperity of the world.

When we take action we try to do it in a manner that causes the least amount of harm and suffering to innocent civilians. We have made mistakes and are trying to overcome them.

We could use our powerful weapons to destroy our enemies but this would kill millions of innocent people. Our brave citizens volunteer to fight on the ground to try to attack just the enemy. But the terrorist enemy hides behind civilians and coerces them into killing themselves in an attempt to fight us. They are cowards and refuse to meet us on a battle field because they know they cannot win. So they hide behind children and then complain when a child is hurt in battle. They have caused the death, not the USA. They do not wear a uniform or identify with a known movement and therefore are not members of the Geneva Accord and do not qualify for its protection. They do not recognize the Accord when they torture us or citizens or warriors of other nations.

Whenever possible we take prisoners and take care of them as citizens of the world rather than killing them which would be cruel. Sometimes our own fighters die trying to protect the enemy fighters.
In order to harm fewer civilians we have taken action to obtain information from these terrorists. The press and media want to know exactly what we do to learn information. When the press publishes this information our enemies practice techniques to help their members resist giving information. This action can result in the unwanted death of innocent or mislead civilians.

The terrorists have vowed to destroy us or use us as their tools.

Every member of the press and media must ask themselves these questions:
Do you want to cause the United States to lose this war and subject your family and your children to be placed in the hands of terrorists who will torture or slaughter all of you?

Your actions are going to kill many innocent people unless you change your goals.
In fact, right now, you are giving an incentive to our defenders to “Take no Prisoners”.

Because of your actions and beliefs, more people are going to die.

A sad veteran, Grampa Stew

Bush, Fox and Stem Cells

While reviewing the controversy over stem cell research let us not forget a couple of items.
There are no restrictions against stem cell research.
Bush was the first president to allow government funds to sponsor stem cell research.
Government funding is required because private funding is limited due to the limited success with the research.
The only limitations imposed have been placed on the extent of government involvement and sponsorship as an attempt is made to represent the will of the people.
Everyone will support research with any significant hope of success to cure these terrible diseases.
The major successes in disease curing or prevention have been where the body has been involved.
If you believe in creation then you know you have to search for the system designed by the creator to cure these diseases.
We must search together, help one another and cooperate with each other.
We must be tolerant of those who represent the public and do their bidding.
Thank you.

Technorati Profile

ADJUSTING STRATEGY FOR THE WAR IN IRAQ.

I must admit that I am not big on my local newspaper. The code of ethics of the Newspaper Editors group is to give all facts about a story which would mean if different people have different opinions as to what is happening all sides should be presented.
Our founding fathers did not want us to be restricted to the news.
However, like many newspapers our local paper gives only the side of the news that meets its own opinion. We are often denied many facts.

I was interested in a story submitted recently by a former professor of international politics and retired State Department Official who lives locally and submitted a story to our local paper. (The professor is Raymond Platig, PhD)

Supporters of the President have not been pushing changes while opponents have used the status quo as a talking point. I have placed faith in the President and Rumsfeld but I recognize a shift and possible interest in exploring options.

He gave an explanation of three possible options for Iraq based on the current conditions influenced by the sectarian activity.
1. Reposition and possibly increase U.S Troops.
2. A Diplomatic Offensive.
3. Exercise sovereign power in Iraq.
These are worthy options for consideration and discussion and I encourage you to read the original article and voice your opinion. You will find this article at:
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/opnOPN85101306.htm

I had prepared a possible solution to this and the Iran problem but it is more flamboyant than and not as sophisticated as Dr. Platig’s paper.

Find the article at:
http://divinebullet.blogspot.com/2006/08/what-would-teddy-do.html

I find John Kerry’s comments today surprising. There are different religious groups in Iraq fighting for power. Kerry says we should not promise long term support and indicate an early pull out. This action would just add to the mess with the warring factions just waiting for us to leave so the strongest can take over. The Bush policy lets them know their struggle will not be tolerated and they need to work together for the good of all the citizens and then we can leave.
The civil bickering does damage our patience and some penalties might be considered. The professor’s thoughts about exercising sovereign power are tempting.

THERAPY FOR THOSE WHO WILL NOT VOTE THIS TIME.

Okay, you are upset and have decided not to vote this year as a protest to those in power. Sort of a non-power display.

I want you to know that I will not give up. I intend to vote. In fact I am giving my pledge to you that I will be there.

My family, as I have constantly reminded you has been there since the founding of the Republican Party. We have seen many failures and most of them did not live to see the party have control of both houses of congress, the presidency and have a big influence on the judicial branch. Until this current condition the opposition always had enough control to block a strong Republican influence.

Sure, I am upset by the actions of various members and the failures that have happened. But I do not want to give up. Hot shots come and go, but it is the plodders who keep plodding away and eventually get the job done. Just think about all of the Mom’s and Dad’s who sacrifice so much to send their children to college, working to give them a better life. So many individuals keep plodding away and it adds to the success of our country and gives it renewed strength.

I PLEDGE TO YOU:

I will vote and I will encourage as many of my friends as possible to vote.
I will not be swayed by failures that can be corrected. I will push on and work to correct the problems and change those who fail to meet the goals of our party.
I will work for the high ideals of my party. I want less government and more self responsibility.
I will work to help individuals succeed because it is the entrepreneur who gives our country its strength. This includes having a favorable business and investment atmosphere
I will not allow the main stream media to corrupt my outlook. I will not accept poll results based on the influence of the MSM. I will seek the truth.
I will not stop plodding because of some setbacks, instead I will continue to work against those impediments and overcome them.
I pledge to you that I will keep plodding along until we win.
I pledge to you that I will vote.
Please join me.

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE ABOUT FOLEY?

Because we are doing a what if (?) think about if you are an executive in a mid size corporation and one of your department heads sends some emails to clients or employees similar to the first emails disclosed sent by Foley.

These emails were suggestive but none were forward about sex like the messages recently released (but went back a couple of years).

So you are an executive and you want to do something about this person who sent out questionable emails. What you do is call your personnel manager or head of human resources as they are called now. Because of the present laws you have to be careful that you follow the procedures to prevent you from losing the company in a law suit.

Not surprisingly your HR people tell you it is probably better not do anything except keep your eyes open for more evidence. What you have are some comments from someone that seemed to be overly friendly and there were rumors of him possibly being gay.
Therefore, if you attacked him for his comments you would be guilty of restricting his rights to free speech. If you bring up a rumor that he might be gay you are guilty of discrimination. Therefore, the professionals and your lawyers are going to tell you not to do anything or you are going to end up in court.

This same procedure was probably considered or followed in the halls of congress. After all, these are the people who wrote the laws and confirmed the judges of SCOTUS who interpret them. They must have had these considerations. I do have some unconfirmed buzz that this is exactly what happened. The implication is that former appointments to the court have it leaning toward the rights issues very heavily and rulings are blocking many corrections in human behavior. Foley will be supported in his right to free speech to the Pages except in the most recent and more explicit text messages that have been revealed.

The messages that recently were revealed are more suggestive and more action could no doubt have been allowed. However, the press disclosed the messages before they were taken to the leadership. Emails are preserved when you turn off your computer. However, text messages disappear unless they are saved. One wonders why a message that is so objectionable was actually saved. Was Foley being baited? Were plans under way to set him up? Or was this a reasonable effort to disclose what Foley is like? If so, then the person or group that withheld these messages until just before the election are guilty of leaving young Pages at risk longer than necessary and are as guilty as Foley.

None of the charges are about protecting the Pages or doing what is right. There are no cries for reform, standards of treatment or education of congress. All we have are charges against the leadership and a request to resign. If Hastert did resign his opposition would make headlines about his weakness and that he had to resign. If he does not resign they will make headlines about him not accepting responsibility and resigning. It is a no win situation for the Republicans.

But it is not the end of the election. At my age I have been through this many times and always know these neat tricks being performed will backfire. The Democrats are elated and confidant. This will take the pressure off many to endure the inconvenience of voting because many will figure it is going to be such a slaughter that their vote will not be missed. The Republicans are worried and energized and will push to get as many votes as they can. The polls are all based on likely voters. It is the actual turn out that will determine the outcome and I am predicting it will be closer than you think.

I would suggest the Republicans should follow a different course of action. They should be critical of the Democrats for setting up a system that protected Foleys rights to verbally intimidate the young people. Republicans must point out the failure of Democrats to seek reforms to protect Pages such as a code of ethics for the treatment of them by the congressional members and an advocate where Pages may discuss any item making them uncomfortable without placing them at risk for dismissal. Show instead that the Democrats are only interested in taking control of the purse strings for their own benefit.

.
.
.
CAN WE IMPROVE CONGRESS OR JUST BASH IT?

There always seems to be something about the hallowed halls of congress that disturbs us. We blame everything on the President but congress has a lower approval rating than he does.

I am most concerned with the way the members of congress raise money to finance their campaigns and have been outspoken about it in my blogs.

If we can seriously do anything about the problem we must study it and understand it. This week Bruce Bartlett wrote a very educational article for Townhall.com titled “Evolving democracy” and it explains the background of congress from the intent of the founding fathers up through current changes. It is an easy short read that I really enjoyed and if you have interest in the government you will want to look this over. Go here: Evolving Democracy

If you start reading previous postings of Mr. Bartlett you will find him very interesting. He also writes for the Washington Times and is an author. He is a conservative, he understands what he believes in and he is dedicated to his cause. I have mentioned before that my great grandfather was a member of the grass roots movement that founded the Republican Party for the primary purpose of ending slavery. We are a large party and try to appeal to enough voters to gain influence and often must soften our conservative ideals to at least slow down the opposition. Sometimes our thinking gets cloudy and Mr. Bartlett can always be counted on to help us think through and clarify conservative objectives. We need Mr. Bartlett and must support and encourage him.