Common Ground

Ted Kennedy was laid to rest Saturday and while I had planned just to note the funeral and burial, something that happened during the interment really has been haunting me. I do not plan to "pile on" Teddy at the time of his death, in fact, I am hesitant to even write this and if I do post it, I post it as a commentary to Catholics in this country more than anything else.

With each gathering, be it the wake, the funeral or interment of Teddy, I began to like him just a little bit more. I am sure he would have been fun to have as an Uncle, Grandfather, or as a friend. Putting politics aside, Ted from everything I heard was an OK guy. Of course, no one is really going to say he was an SOB (and I don't mean Sweet Old Bill) at his funeral, even if he were one.

What struck me and bothered me during the funeral was his relationship with the Church and his views of what was right and what was wrong.

Let me say that I am Catholic. I am far from perfect, I have failed myself and my God many times. Over the years I have struggled with my own demons and with my own faith. I am not by far what you would consider a "devout" Catholic like my father, although I hope someday to have someone see my works and acts and say that I am. That would be a high honor, especially if it comes on my judgement day and it is my Lord saying it.

As I have said before, it is not my call who gets into to Heaven and who doesn't or even why they got in. As my best friend always tells me, "Those who you think won't be there just might be and those you think are, just might not be." We are not to judge. But we do, because we are human and don't have that divine gift.

As a Catholic lay person, if we want to be faithful to our God and to the Church, there are some basic tenets, beliefs if you will, that we must believe in. As a good Catholic, we are suppose to follow all. It is not a cafeteria where you take what you like and leave the rest. The major and most important belief is that we believe in the sanctity of life.

I must confess that I myself have had problems with that over the years. Up in till a few years ago, I was a strong believer in the death penalty. I believed that if you intentionally took someone's life, you had to give up yours and to be honest, in some of the most vile and heinous crimes, I still struggle with that. But my Church teaches that taking a life, no matter how vile and disgusting that person may be, is wrong. While I have different ideas about "life in prison" than some, it is still the option of choice for me.

I also believe that when we can and when we have the means, however small, we are our brother's keepers and as we do for the least of these, we do for our God.

I despise those politicians who wear their Catholicism on their sleeve and call themselves "devout" Catholics, but time and time again vote against life. As I have said so many times, no one is forcing you to be Catholic. If you can't believe in even the basic principles of the Church, please find another one. I am sure that there is some Church that does not have the same standards and who would be happy to have you as a member. Being born Catholic does not give you the right to stay Catholic if you refuse to follow the teachings of the church.

But back to Ted. Ted wrote a letter to the Pope (Which is at the end of this commentary) that I thought we would never know the contents of. It was a touching and sorrowful letter from a man who was dying asking for the prayers of the Holy Father. The fact that Ted even felt he needed to write it was sad in and of itself. Here was a man facing his own mortality and coming to grips with his fate. In the letter, he talks about how his faith has carried him though all the trying times of his life and how he has tried to remain faithful to the Church's teachings and to his God. He list his accomplishments as a Senator and how he has fought for those less fortunate than he. It is as if he has to list everything to show how good he was and to convince the Holy Father that he is worthy. He omits the fact that he did not try and help the most vulnerable.

(Editor's note: The parts in green were added after this commentary had been written)

One talking head E. J. Dionne from the Washington Post said on ABC's This Week: "You know, we Catholics believe profoundly in the power of confession, and in a way, part of that letter was Ted Kennedy's last confession, an acknowledgement of sin. What he really did is he got the last word at his own funeral, and it was an extraordinary manifesto in part. And I think he was -- his Catholicism was very important to him. He was a serious churchgoer, and it was not only a way to make a public case for his kind of liberal Catholicism, it was also a way of lobbying Pope Benedict."

What church does this trick or treater go to? Apparently Mr. Dionne and I see things quite differently. Since when do you "lobby" the Pope to change God's position? An "extraordinary manifesto?" The teachings of the Church and of God is not part of a legislative process, where if you get enough votes, God's laws are changed. Yes, we believe in the power of confession and if the confession is from the heart, God will know it and will forgive, but we are taught it must be from the heart and you must truly be sorry and must work to make sure it does not happen again.

There is no deal making, no "lobbying" for your sins. We all must face that and I hope Mr. Dionne understand that before his judgement day. I do not believe that Ted was "lobbying" for his position, I believe that in his way, he was confessing his sins and knowing that he had not done right all the time, asking for forgiveness. I also see no reason why he should have wanted to make this extremely personal letter to his Holiness public for all the rest of us to dissect.

God does not change for us, we must change for God.

His Priest from Hyannisport said that Ted struggled with abortion and wished he could have found a common ground with the Church. As I have said before, please show me the common ground between life and death, good and evil.

But, if we all do some soul searching, we are all trying to find the "common ground" in something, whether it be with our beliefs, a relationship or our Church. We all try and compromise or make deals with God at some time in our life. If we have a belief in God, but we stray from what we know is right, we try and justify it by trying to find some "common ground." In the end, we know there is no common ground.

God does not change for us, we must change for God.

We know they are the Ten Commandments, not the Ten Suggestions, but because we are human, we look for the common ground to justify our transgressions.

We as Catholics (and quite honestly as human beings) must stand firm in our beliefs. We need to develop a spine and stand up for what we believe in and what we know in the depths of our heart to be right . We can't look for common ground by saying "I believe that life begins at conception, but......" We need to stand up for our beliefs.

Believe me, it sounds like I am a one trick pony, but I am not. But if we as a society cannot or will not protect the most innocent and most vulnerable, then we as a society stand for nothing and then nothing else matters. As Catholics we believe that "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me."

Ted did a lot of good for his fellow man and I hope and pray that he did enough. I hope that he was able to find that "Common Ground" he was searching for. I have no doubt that he felt he was being faithful to the Church and to his God, I just hope that our God saw it that way.

Below is just a portion of the 10 page letter he wrote to the Holy Father:

"Most Holy Father, I asked President Obama to personally hand-deliver this letter to you. As a man of deep faith himself, he understands how important my Catholic faith is to me, and I am so deeply grateful to him. I hope this letter finds you in good health.

"I pray that you have all of God's blessings as you lead our Church and inspire our world during these challenging times. I am writing with deep humility to ask that you pray for me as my own health declines. I was diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago, and although I continue treatment the disease is taking its toll on me. I am 77 years old, and preparing for the next passage of life.

"I have been blessed to be part of a wonderful family. Both of my parents, particularly my mother, kept our Catholic faith at the center of our lives. That gift of faith has sustained and nurtured, and provided solace to me in the darkest hours.

"I know that I have been an imperfect human being, but with the help of my faith I have tried to right my path. I want you to know Your Holiness that in my nearly 50 years of elective office, I have done my best to champion the rights of the poor and open doors of economic opportunity. I have worked to welcome the immigrant, to fight discrimination, and expand access to health care and education. I have opposed the death penalty, and fought to end war. Those are the issues that have motivated me and been the focus of my work as a United States Senator.

"I also want you to know that even though I am ill, I am committed to do everything I can to achieve access to health care for everyone in my country. This has been the political cause of my life. I believe in a conscience protection for Catholics in the health field, and I'll continue to advocate for it as my colleagues in the Senate and I work to develop an overall national health policy that guarantees health care for everyone.

"I have always tried to be a faithful Catholic Your Holiness. And though I have fallen short through human failings, I have never failed to believe and respect the fundamental teachings of my faith. I continue to pray for God's blessings on you and on our Church, and would be most thankful for your prayers for me."

Please join me tonight as I pray for the soul of Ted Kennedy.

Please join me tonight as I pray for the soul of our country.

F R E E D O M

From across the world and up your alley, this is the news.

Well let's not get to ahead of ourselves bucco, if BHO and his gang have their way, freedom of speech may just be a thing of the past. Think I'm over reacting? Let's have a little history lesson. As a former influential member of the media, let me explain how a few things work.

The FCC was set up to watch over and control the "public airwaves," to insure that the public's interest was protected. Over the years, the FCC has been responsible for issuing licenses for radio stations. Every couple of years a station's license comes up for renewal. What the FCC has the stations do is show that they were acting in the public interest. If you go into a radio or television station, at the reception desk is usually a binder which contains letters from the public the station received during the course of their license period. This will contain letters of protest the station received as well as letters of support. The station also has to show that they have served the public, this is usually a log of all public service announcements and public affairs shows they have aired. This would also include any news shows or reports they would have aired.

For many years there was the "Fairness Doctrine" which basically said that if you aired one side of an issue, you had to air the other side equally. Sounds nice and fair, but as with most regulations the government puts in place, it was taken too far. During the 1980 Presidential election, if a station showed a movie with Ronald Reagan in it, someone had to time how long Reagan appeared on the screen and then the station had to GIVE Jimmy Carter the same amount of time.

When Reagan took office, his administration was the force behind getting rid of the "Fairness Doctrine." That was credited with helping to save AM radio with the advent of "Talk Radio." Talk radio now dominates the airwaves. Many AM stations that were dying were resurrected with this new format and for the first time in years, advertising revenue on radio went up.

What has dominated talk radio has been conservatives. Rush Limbaugh has over 20 million listeners, Sean Hannity has around 18 million as does Glen Beck. Dr. Michael Savage has over 10 million listerners and others such as G. Gordon Liddy and Laura Ingraham have millions more. This has upset the left to no end. They have tried to counter by putting "progressive" or liberal radio shows on the air. They have even tried to put famous liberal icons on the air, such as Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo. All have failed. The listening public has rejected liberal talk radio for many reasons. Some will say it's not informative, some will say it doesn't entertain, mostly they will say they don't believe in what they were saying.

Because the liberals were unable to make any inroads into talk radio, their "solution" is to bring back the "Fairness Doctrine," or worse yet, try and enter the back door with "Localization." They also want those stations that don't comply to pay a hefty fine that will be given to local "Public Radio" stations.

For years the liberals have been crying for "free" speech. If something was offensive on radio or television to "conservatives," we were told, (and I actually agree with this) "We have the right to put this on the air and if you don't agree with it, or don't want to listen to it, change the station."

BHO and his band of Marxist have their own agenda. They want to silence their critics. He has appointed a "Diversity Czar" for the FCC, one that is a self admitted Communist. They now have this whacked out formula to fine and as such, kill talk radio that doesn't agree with him. Look up the FCC's "Diversity Czar" and see what is in the works.

The "Diversity Czar" also wants to "Balance" the Internet.

Which leads us to a bill that is being crafted by Jay Rockefeller that would give the President the power to shut down and control the Internet if he deems there is a "cyber security" threat. I can't make this stuff up.

We cry foul when China and other countries "censor" what their people can see and do on the Internet, yet we are going to let this band of "progressives" shut down the Internet if THEY feel there is a threat? What is a threat? Who makes the call if it is a threat? What say do we have? The Government does not own the Internet, who are they to shut it down? Are we becoming a Banana Republic?

We as Americans need to be outraged! We need to protect our freedoms.

How do people know what's in the health care bill? The media hasn't told them the details, it's not in the newspapers. People are READING the bill on the Internet. Take that away from people and you have people who are not informed and when they are not informed, they are your captives.

They say that talk radio (read "Conservative") talk radio is filled with hate. It is not. They think that all people who listen to talk radio are puppets. we are not. In fact, people who listen to talk radio are the most informed because in addition to listening to talk radio, they READ newspapers and news magazines and actually (gasp) look things up! They are probably the MOST informed people around. Spreading ideas, thoughts and information is only a danger if you as a representative of the government are trying to hide something.

This is not a democrat vs republican thing. This is not a liberal vs conservative thing. This is a freedom thing and we have to protect what is our right, the right given by our Creator, not by a government agency.

What it all boils down to is a back door approach to dissolving the 1st Amendment. If you think I'm kidding, exaggerating, or making this up, I urge you to do some research and look it up.

If this basic of rights is taken away or watered down, you will see an outcry that will make the town hall meetings taking place now look like Girl Scout Meetings. All of our freedom of speech is on the ropes and under attack. The revolution may not be broadcast on TV, but it will take place if our freedoms and rights are taken away from us.

Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain.

We interrupt the wall to wall Kennedy Tributes and resume our daily pontificating. Here's praying that Ted's funeral will be sometime next week as not to spoil BHO's vacation.

As I have said before, my best friend lives in Chicago, that "toddling town," home of The Hawks, Bears, Cubs, Sox, Bulls and BHO.

A question often tossed around by both of us is, "Who's really behind BHO?" You may ask what do we mean by that? Let me do some 'splaining" to you Lucy.

Forget about Rahm and Axelrod, we're talking about the big money, the "man behind the curtain" so to speak. Many (wrongly we are finding out) accused Cheney of being behind Bush. But with BHO, there truly is someone behind the scenes.

Here's a guy like Bill Clinton who made ONE speech at the democrat convention that propelled him into the national spotlight. Unlike Clinton who had "bones" as a state Attorney General and then Governor, BHO was a little know state senator, who for whatever reason, refused to vote on most of the legislation put before the legislative body. He introduced no meaningful law and except for a vote that would have protected those born from an abortion, stayed away from controversial bills. From there, he parlayed that ONE speech into a Senate seat, where he again had a limited voting record, but had his name attached to almost every bill introduced by democrats and then because of that ONE speech, moved on to the White House.

There is no doubt that BHO can deliver one hell of a speech. When he has a speech rehearsed and memorized, or he has his trusty teleprompter the guy can talk. When he doesn't, he (and I will be kinder than those who said the same of Bush) he becomes a college basketball star full of "um" and "you know" along with "ah, um, well." Not a communicator without a little help from his friend, the teleprompter.

All during his childhood and through college he was known as "Barry," which was dropped in favor of Barack upon graduation. We know that he was a "community organizer" who was friends with the Ayers' and Bobby Rush. We know he was deep into ACORN and other "community" groups, but that doesn't explain where the backing came for a national campaign.

BHO was never vetted by the press. Why? Hillary certainly was vetted, as was Edwards, Richardson, Biden and Dodd. McCain and Palin were vetted, but BHO was not. Why? What gave the press that "tingle up the leg," that made them look the other way? Certainly BHO did not get the vetting the other candidates received.

My first inclination is that George Soros is behind BHO. He has the money, the contacts and certainly the hate for this country that would make him a prime suspect. BHO's people keep saying that it was the "grass roots" $5 and $10 donations that made the difference. They are liars. According to the FEC (Federal Election Commission for those of you in McKeesport PA) BHO had more "large" contributions than any candidate, Republican or democrat. You don't get that much support on ONE speech.

My friend thinks it's someone else, but who?

What would propel a candidate with no executive experience, a limited voting record in the state senate and a limited voting record in the US Senate to the Presidency?

The left laughs at those who question BHO's citizenship status. They call them "Birthers." But, why has BHO spent several million dollars to fight these allegations when all he had to do was produce a birth certificate? However crazy the notion may be that BHO was not born in the US gives credence to the "Manchurian Candidate" theory and beckons us back to the question, "Who is BHO?" And, more importantly, who is behind BHO?

Now this all may very well be blown out of proportion and good conspiracy theory arguments, but these questions remain and will remain until some answers come forth.

Why were unions and blocks of democrats willing to cozy up to a candidate with a limited record and experience? Surely the name James Earl Carter crossed their minds? Surely they weren't going to take a chance on an unknown when so much they say they cared about was at stake? Was their hate of George Bush so strong that they threw caution to the wind and went out on a limb? Was the cry "Anyone but Bush" so strong? Maybe among the rabid left, but not enough to carry through to a general election.

Charisma can carry one so far. John Edwards had a certain glow about him. He had the liberal resume, channeling the dead, an affair along with a love child certainly would have propelled him to the top. What was it about BHO that made the press all giddy and willing to look the other way?

Unfortunately, we may never know.

Now a medical update.

This corespondent used his private medical insurance today to visit the orthopedic doctor. As you may or may not know, I have been suffering with severe pain in my knee. Well after x-rays and an examination, the doctor said I showed no tear of the cartilage which was suspected. He feels it is a severe inflammation of the joint that may have unknowing happened during skydiving or extreme rock climbing. In any event, I was given a shot of heavy duty steroids and pain killers and sent on my way all for my $25 co-pay. (Barry Bonds should be so lucky) Under the democrat health care reform which Robert Byrd is now shamelessly trying to name the "Ted Kennedy Health Care Reform Act," I would have had to wait six months to see the orthopedic specialist, (if one was still available) only to be told I am too old, out of shape and don't fit the requirements and should seek counseling with the "death panel."

Thank you Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Ted is Dead

This is the day that the State Run Media and liberals all over the world has been waiting for and wanting for so long. Senator Ted Kennedy died Tuesday night. They now have another Kennedy to worship, to praise and to martyr. At the 2012 convention, they will have a 45 minute Hollywood produced "tribute" to the man from Massachusetts. While we despised just about everything about him, we wished him no ill will. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this time of grief.

Ted Kennedy was not like his other three brothers. He served in the Army, he never had a real job and he lived his life as an elitist, not like any of his brothers. He was kicked out of Harvard for cheating but was later re-admitted.

I often wondered if Jack had lived, how he and Teddy would have gotten along. Don't get me wrong, they were brothers and blood is thicker than water, but politically they were miles apart. Jack believed in the free market system and he favored what is now called the "trickle down" theory of economics. Jack believed that low taxes would lead to wealth and prosperity for all and believed that the average working guy knew more about what to do with his money than the government. JFK was pro-life and was against abortion. Jack Kennedy believed in a strong military and standing up to dictators. I have often said that were he alive today, Jack Kennedy would not be welcomed in the Democrat Party.

Don't get me wrong, JFK had his faults. Nikita Kruschev played him like a violin, plus he wasn't exactly a role model for fidelity, but he wasn't like Ted.

Ted's career as a Senator started with him riding the coat-tails of his brother, taking over the Senate seat he vacated when he became President. While Jack and Bobby worked on Camelot, Ted took his place in the Senate.

Ted was right on some issues. Civil rights and the elimination of the Jim Crow laws was one of them. The elimination of Apartheid in South Africa was another. Wanting to be known as the champion of health care (why not, he's put more people in the hospital and morgue than any other Senator) his approach has been socialistic to say the least. Kennedy was a strong voice of the pro-choice movement and spent as much time thumbing his nose at his church.

Ted lamented the fact that he never got the health care bill he wanted and stated that his greatest mistake was not working with President Reagan to get the job done.

Ted's personal life was nothing short of scandalous.

There was the plane wreck in which two people were killed and then the famous "Chappaquiddick" incident that cost a young Mary Jo Kopechne her young life. Driving off a bridge, his car landed in the water. Instead of trying to rescue Miss Kopechne, he swam away and did nothing to aid this helpless young lady. Ted went home, went to sleep and waited for his car to be found with the lifeless body of Mary Jo Kopechne inside. Putting on the neck brace, he sobbed for the cameras and got off with two months in jail, suspended sentence of course. He was able to have the official inquiry made secret and served no time for his crime.

Then there was the alleged sexual assault in Palm Beach. A young woman accused Ted's nephew (William Kennedy Smith) of sexually assaulting her at Ted's grandiose estate over looking the Atlantic Ocean. When police came to question all of the parties involved, Ted refused to let them in, as he did not have enough neck braces to pass around. Once they found enough neck braces, (and got their stories straight) Ted gleefully welcomed the police to his palatial estate.

The famous picture of a naked Ted Kennedy on top of a young lady getting busy on his boat along with the stories of Chris Dodd and Teddy making a "sandwich" of a waitress in a bar only added to his sorted life story.

Ted fashioned the "No child left behind" bill, worked with Bush to pass it, then spent the rest of the time criticizing the legislation. While hammering Bush for his climate change stance and pushing for "alternative" sources of energy, Ted blocked a wind farm off the Nantucket Sound as it "interfered" with his sailing.

Ted was human after all and suffered through two of his brothers being the victim of an assassin's bullet. That in and of itself would drive anyone crazy having to endure those tragedies. But any goodwill he earned from the loss of his two brothers he quickly used up with his antics.

His son Patrick talked in July about what his father has been doing. "He is a spiritual man. He prays a lot," Patrick Kennedy said. "And I think there is almost something spiritual about where he is right now. He is reminding every one of his colleagues about the fragility and the dignity of life. I feel like he's contributing in way that's perhaps more profound."

The "fragility and the dignity of life?" I guess that doesn't apply to the unborn or to the "vegetables" like Terry Schiavo? Where is the dignity for these people, the most vulnerable members of society. You know it is great that Ted wanted everyone to have the same health care as he and I applaud him for it. But Ted, Ted you never stood up for the unborn child, who never did anything, who is the most dependent and most vulnerable. To you, a man who is suppose to be so "spiritual," you were more than willing to let them hook up the Sears shop-vac and suck away life. You were more than willing to let them kill Terry Schiavo because she was a "burden" on her husband (probably the guy who caused her condition in the first place), while her parents were willing and able to care for her for the rest of her natural life.

I bet Ted was praying during the last chapter of his life, saying a lot of "Hail Marys" to save him from the fiery fires of hell.

Finally we say goodbye to another "Cafeteria Catholic" who would hob knob with Cardinals, (Bishops were beneath him) and put himself out there as a "devout" Catholic, but thumbed his nose at the teachings of the church. When he found he was in God's waiting room, he sent a letter to the Pope asking that the Holy Father "pray for" him. A true hypocrite to the end.

As I have said so many times, I can't say who will be in Heaven and who will be in Hell. That's not my call. Our God is a loving and forgiving God, so if Ted was genuine in his heart, then God will do what HE thinks is right.

We wish Ted well wherever he is and pray for God's mercy for his soul.

Red Herring Edition

BHO's quest to get health care reform his way is dead. How do I know that? He is now trying to get back his base which he was loosing because he was giving in on health care. It's off his table for now and so to get his base back, he's turning to an old favorite, "Bush was evil."

Eric Holder has assigned a couple of Justice Department officials to investigate if any laws were broken by the lawyers who said that Water Boarding was alight to use. This will insure that his rabid base will come back and while the are salivating at the prospect of "nailing Bush," they won't notice that BHO is backing away from health care reform democrat style. Barbara Boxer is in trouble, Harry Reid is in trouble and a whole slew of democrat congressmen are in trouble, so they are going to "water down" their health care reform and try to get more "modest" reforms.

Which bring us to the question of Water Boarding. It's a Red Herring and they know it. They know that prosecuting anyone for Water Boarding is not going to result in a conviction. If it does, public opinion will turn against them. Closing Gitmo is nothing compared to putting someone in prison for keeping Americans safe.

I had a discussion once with a liberal friend of mine. He told me that Water Boarding under ANY circumstances was wrong and the United States should never stoop to such behavior, the United States is better than that and it violates every principle this country was founded on. I posed a scenario in which a leader of a terrorist group was captured. You had absolute infallible information that there was going to be an attack, the magnitude of 9-11. You just didn't know where or how. You now had the mastermind of the attack and you have less than three hours to act. He's not talking. Do you Water Board him?

His answer was no. It did not matter that three thousand or three million people would die, we were better than that. He was willing to let thousands if not hundreds of thousands of Innocent people die rather than Water Board a terrorist. He swore that he would go to his grave knowing that he did the right thing even if three million people would die because of it.

Give me the freakin' hose.

First of all, we are not engaged in a war with a country. It is a war like we have never been involved in before. There is no government that has attacked us. The Geneva Convention does not apply in so many ways. Second of all, if it is to save one innocent life, in my mind and the mind of most people, the ends do justify the means.

If 9-11 could have been prevented by Water Boarding one terrorist and it wasn't done, they would have been screaming for Bush's head because he didn't do it.

Most Americans want a Jack Bauer to do their dirty work. They want someone who will do what they can't or won't do. They want someone who is going to track down the bad guy and do whatever he has to to prevent another attack. They want someone who will do all the dirty things it takes to keep them safe, they just don't want to know about the details. If it goes wrong, or if it doesn't work and it's made public, they will fain disgust and call for someone's head on a platter.

You want and you need Jack Bauer. You just don't want to know anything about it.

Since 9-11 there has not been another attack. Bush and the evil Cheney kept this country safe for eight years. I think that's pretty good. I am also sure that there have been several attacks that have been foiled and we never may know about it. If the enemy knows how we did it, they can adjust their strategies.

As Jack Bauer once said: "That's the problem with people like you, George. You want results, but you never want to get your hands dirty. I'd start rolling up your sleeves. (pause) I'm gonna need a hacksaw. "

Dude Looks Like A Lady, Random Thoughts Edition

When you are awoken in the middle of the night with knee pain, you read a lot.

*Have you seen and heard about the South African runner Caster Semenya? This gal is F A S T and many think she's fast because she is not a she, but a he! In fact, so many people have raised eyebrows that the governing body of world athletics the IAAF has asked South Africa to "test" Ms. Semenya to see if she is a he. This process could take several weeks. There is a great story about all the intricacies involved in this in the Daily Mail. (One of my favorite UK rags only because of the hot babes in it) Without boring you with the details, you can look it up if you are inclined, there has a lot to do with chromosomes, comparing XY with XX and such, but several things struck me as obvious.

If South African is going to "test" her, wouldn't they be a bit bias? She's going to be examined by a panel of OB-GYN doctors, Physiologist, MDs and such. wouldn't a good GYN doctor be able to tell if she was the "real McCoy?" Aside from the women of East Germany who were always suspect, would you want to go through life playing the part of a woman if you were a man or visa versa?

*Jerry Hall who spent 23 years as Mick Jagger's wife had an interesting comment (also in the Mail). she said the following, "I want to marry again because I miss the sex." Insert your own comment here.

*David Paterson the besieged governor of New York blamed the "Racist Media" for his problems and for trying to get him to drop out of next year's primary. He went on to say that it was because of his color the press and others are out to get him and that BHO is also on their "list" and they are going after him as well because of his race. Please feel free to insert your own comment here as well.

*Teddy Kennedy knowing that he is one step closer to meeting his maker wants the legislature in Massachusetts to again change the way a successor is chosen should his senate seat become vacant. According to the WSJ (That's Wall Street Journal for those of you in McKeesport PA) reports that:

"Current law mandates that a special election be held at least 145 days after the seat becomes available. Mr. Kennedy is concerned that such a delay could leave his fellow democrats in the senate one vote short of a filibuster proof majority for months while a special election takes place.

"I therefore am writing to urge you to work together to amend the law through the normal legislative process to provide for a temporary gubernatorial appointment until the special election occurs," write the senator.

What Mr. Kennedy doesn't volunteer is that he orchestrated the 2004 succession law revision that now requires a special election, and for similarly partisan reasons. John Kerry, the other senator from the state, was running for President in 2004 and Mr. Kennedy wanted the law changed so the Republican Governor at the time, Mitt Romney could not name Mr. Kerry's replacement."

Please, feel free to insert your own comments here.

* From the Washington Times:

Voight: Is Obama creating a civil war in America?

Civil Disobedience

A Hollywood conservative has headed East. It's "Freedom Concert" time for Jon Voight the Academy Award winner will join Sean Hannity in Cincinnati and Atlanta this weekend to honor fallen soldiers and present college scholarships to surviving children. Mr. Voight--a warrior himself in many ways--has been cogitating about the state of America, meanwhile.

"There's a real question at stake now. Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?" Mr. Voight tells Inside the Beltway.

"We are witnessing a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation, and whoever can't see this is probably hoping it isn't true. If we permit Mr. Obama to take over all our industries, if we permit him to raise our taxes to support unconstitutional causes, then we will be in default. This great America will become a paralyzed nation."

Be outraged, Mr. Voight advises.

"Do not let the Obama administration fool you with all their cunning Alinsky methods. And if you don't know what that method is, I implore you to get the book "Rules for Radicals," by Saul Alinsky. Mr. Obama is very well trained in these methods," he continues, citing a television campaign critical of the Republican Party and contentious town-hall meets about health care reform.

"The real truth is that the Obama administration is professional at bullying, as we have witnessed with ACORN at work during the presidential campaign. It seems to me they are sending down their bullies to create fist fights among average American citizens who don't want a government-run health care plan forced upon the," Mr. Voight says. "So I ask again, is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?"

See my August 19th post regarding Saul Alinsky, in the meantime, please insert your own comment.

*A new Pew Poll shows the following:

30% of Americans overall say health care reform will create death panels.

47% of Republicans agree as well as 45% of Fox News viewers.

20% of democrats agree as well as 27% of MSNBC viewers.

28% of Americans overall say the press is not critical enough of BHO.

52% of Republicans and 8% of democrats agree.

Please, insert your own comment here.

And Finally:

*Former HP (That's Hewlett-Packard for those of you in McKeesport PA) former HP Chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina is expected to run against senator Barbara (don't call me mam, call me senator) Boxer in next year's election. She actually may have a chance! According to a Rasmussen poll taken in July, if the race was between Boxer and Ms. Fioria, Boxer held a slim 45-41 lead.

Inserting my own comment here:

Carly, You Go Girl!

Peace, Love, Dove

With apologies to Cheech and Chong.

Hey there groovy guys, groovy girls, peace, love, dove. Beads, bells, incense, light shows, crash pads and Hari-Krishna all your groovy freaks, dig it, right on and power to the people!

This month marks the 40Th anniversary of the 3 days of peace and music festival known as Woodstock. (Why it's know as Woodstock is beyond me. It was held in Bethel New York which is 43 miles from the town of Woodstock.)

"Well I came across a child of God, he was walking along the road and I asked him where he was going and he told me. Well, I'm going down to Yasqur's farm, going to join in a rock and roll band. Got to get back to the land, set my soul free.

We are stardust, we are golden, we are a billion years old carbon and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden.

By the time we got to Woodstock, we were half a million strong and everywhere there was song and celebration. And I dreamed I saw the bombers jet planes riding shotgun in the sky, turning into Butterflies above our nation." CSNY

All the big names were there, Jefferson Airplane, The Band, Janice Joplin, Richie havens, John Sebastian (without the Lovin' Spoonful) The Who, Joe Cocker, Jimi Hendrix and my favorite who just stuck out as being at the wrong venue, Sha-Na-Na. Swami Satchidananda gave the invocation, which I hear was "heavenly."

Almost as fascinating as the performers who showed up were the ones who didn't. Acts like The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, The Byrds, Tommy James & The Shondells, Bob Dylan, The Moody Blues and Joni Mitchell whose manager convinced her to do the Dick Cavett Show instead.

On the last day, the crowd was awoken to the sounds of Jimi Hendrix playing the National Anthem. In between there were the crowds literally over flowing and people were parking their cars miles away and walking to the farm. Soon it was evident that the promoters didn't have a handle on the crowd and were unable to collect any admission fees and so it became a free festival.

I know several people who went there and I myself regret not going, not for the music as much as the "free love" that was abundant. After all, I was a young teenager with raging hormones. But as an adult you look back on the festival in a different light, although believe it or not, I had pretty much the same political views as I do now. While I wasn't an Alex Keaton, I wasn't buying all the anti-war stuff.

As a teenager, the "free love" stuff was a huge attraction.

A lot of the music has become classics and too many of the performers of that time are now gone which is a testament to the hard and fast living they were doing. Tripping out on acid, LSD and other drugs was probably "groovy" at the time, but it really ruined a generation and quite frankly has contributed to the decay of our country. The "flower children" are now parents and their parenting skills have been less than desirable.

Woodstock was an event that probably couldn't be replicated in a million years. It was an escape from the world. It was as Timothy Leary said, "Turn on, Tune in and Drop out."

Fantasy is always better than reality.

The other day I promised to spend some time with Saul Alinsky. For those of you who don't know who Alinsky was, he penned the book "Rules For Radicals." While the majority of Americans have never heard of the book let alone read it, it is some interesting reading. Alinsky does lay out his manifesto of sorts and he does have his disciples. Williams Ayers and Bobby Rush, Hillary Clinton and our own Commander in Chief BHO.

What old Saul (who died in 1972) preached was how to take over, drive the opposition into the ground and if possible ram your way of life down everyone's throat. One of his biggest lessons is what has been used in the last couple of years and that is "personalize the argument."

See Saul knew that most Americans did not agree with his position and if left to argue just the merits of the position, he would loose every time. We see that all the time. BHO ran in the general election as a "Centrist" who would give people hope and change. Once he is in and his policies have been shown the light of day, most Americans don't like it and have resisted these policies.

A recent poll released just this week shows that more Americans are identifying themselves as "Conservatives" than ever before. On the flip side, those identifying themselves as "Liberal" is lower than ever before. The Liberals are not getting there message out and when they do, American's are rejecting it.

So how the liberals approach the argument is to take a page out of Alinsky's playbook. They personalize it. "You are against people receiving medical care." "You have insurance, shouldn't everyone else?" "Why do you want to deny people their rights?" When they personalize it, they put their opponents on their heals and make they look like the "Bogey Man."

Take abortion. They now call themselves "Pro-choice" and refer to Pro-lifers as "Anti-abortion," or "Anti-Choice." They make it that they are "Pro" and their opponents are "Anti." It is a small thing, but it is a way that they use words to try and bring people over to their side.

Saul was a radical and knew that Americans would not see the world the way he did. Like all radicals, they never see the good of this country, they only see the bad. Rules are only good when they are "their" rules. Most Americans see that and that is why when liberals run for office you hear worlds like "Centrist, Populist" and "Progressive." It is also why they run from the tag of liberal. It's how guys like Clinton and BHO got elected. The American people were rightly discussed with the way the Republicans were handling things and they turned to the people who painted themselves as "Centrist" who were going to bring a rational and even handed approach to government.

To his credit, Clinton became a "Centrist" or as I call it a "Finger Tester." Clinton would wet his finger and stick it in the air to see which way the political winds were blowing. It keeps you popular, but as I say, you compromise your values. When Clinton stole credit from the Republican's for welfare reform, you knew he was choking inside, but it's what the people wanted and he gave them a watered down version that kept them happy. He tried "healthcare" reform, but when the people resisted, he dropped it so fast, you almost didn't know he brought it up.

Bill wasn't as much a disciple of Saul's that Hillary and BHO are.

BHO has the votes in Congress and a dollar to a donut says he's really doesn't care if he gets any Republican support for any of his programs, they will just ram them through and then it will be too late. That's alright if as a party you are willing to as they say "Own it." It will be yours and yours alone, so you had better be willing to accept the wrath of the people, whether it be health care, the deficit, or homeland security. You go it alone and you "Own it."

That is going to be the test for democrats in the next couple of months. Do they go with what their constituents want or do they go against the wishes of the people? Watch them, they will be out trying to "personalize" the argument.

Don't be fooled and don't fall for the radical's tricks.

Let's Have Some Fun Edition

Do you get a lot of e-mail? I do. Some is funny, most is not. I have a group of friends who send me some really clever stuff. Some of it is, how do you say? Politically Incorrect. Some is just plan funny. Below is an actual e-mail that I received today.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT

THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY WELL PUT AND I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT'S BY A YOUNG PERSON, A STUDENT!!! WHATEVER HE RUNS FOR, I'LL VOTE FOR HIM. OUTSTANDING.

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:

We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Here is a model separation agreement:

Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a portion. That will be the dif ficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU and ACORN. Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell (You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them).

We'll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies and illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood.

You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peace-niks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security along with our own.

We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values... You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bill.

We'll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you20can find.

You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors. We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right. We'll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I'm SURE you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine, I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya and We Are the World.

We'll practice trickle down economics and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberals and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely,

John J. Wall

Law Student and an American

P.S. Also, please, please, PLEASE...take Barbara Streisand, Jane Fonda & Nancy Pelosi

Now as funny as that is, I have often wondered what it would be like if the "liberals" and the "Conservatives" divided up things.

The hard thing is to figure out how to split up the country. As Conservatives, we would like to have some places with nice weather like Florida with the Keys and all. We could split the country straight down the middle, but then we would loose Alaska, Colorado and other parts of the Mid-West that has oil. We know that would be wasted because the Libs wouldn't use it.

We could divide straight across, but then we still wouldn't have the oil and we'd have to deal with Mexico.

So let's make a deal. We'll divide down the middle, give the Libs Hawaii and we'll take Alaska. So everything west of Minnesota would go to the Libs and everything east would go to the Conservatives.

We would have the military to protect our borders and if a Liberal would want to visit (or visa versa) passports would be issued. You would have ten years to move and find a new job and get settled.

Within the first ten years I am willing to bet that the east would flourish. Capitalism would take over and the free markets would boom. We would produce cars and SUVs and sell too other countries (like the West Coast) and make nice profits.

The big changes would be socially. It wouldn't be politically incorrect to pray before a high school sporting event or at graduations. It wouldn't be politically incorrect to start town meetings with a prayer, nor would it be politically incorrect to set up a Manger Scene in the town park and to wish everyone you see a "Merry Christmas."

Families would be celebrated and abortion would not exist. Hard work would be rewarded and welfare would be only for those who absolutely couldn't work, but who could do some sort of public service, even if it's answering our phones.

Retirement would be fun again and families would help each other. Legislators would work for the people they represent or they would have to find another line of work. There would be no government healthcare and no "Nanny" state. Common Sense would rule. Justice would be blind and represent the people it serves and judges wouldn't be allowed to legislate from the bench.

Of course we would still have problems, just like any other city, state or nation, but we would work together for the common good and we would not be invasive into each others lives.

It would be hard, but it would be worth it. I am willing to be that in ten years you would see a huge difference between the East and the West.

It will never happen, but it would be nice to have a world without the Boxers, Pelosis, Durbins and Franks.

More Things I think I think Edition

*At this point I am sick and tired of talking about the Health Care debate. I'm sick of hearing idiots like Specter dismissing his constituents and I am sick of hearing the left making light of the protest. If anything REAL develops, I'll make a comment on it, but until then, I'll just keep one eye on it.

*Again I'm watching ABC News (why I have no idea) and to show you how the media is trying it's hardest to make race an issue I offer this.

Sunday night there was a report about National Parks and the visitors there. I should say, the lack of visitors. According to this report, they were lamenting the fact that only 1% of the visitors there were black. They were "probing" for reasons why black people don't go to National Parks. One of the reason they came up with (and I am not making this up) was because going out and visiting these parks reminded black people of slavery! You see when they are out in the country, it reminds them of the time when they were forced to work the fields for the white man.

OK, again I must be insensitive here and take issue with this theory. Again, I am not black. I have not lived the life of a black man and I have not been held in the bonds of slavery, BUT NEITHER has 99.9% of the black population alive today! How is going to a National Park, walking through the woods and enjoying what God has made going to make ANYONE including someone that has NEVER been forced into slavery think about slavery?

Am I missing something here?

If you have never lived that life, how in the hell can you associate with that life? Who alive is or has lived that life? For God's sake, we are like 150 years past that! Let us stop playing the race card and stop TRYING to be victims and move ahead with our lives. Not everyone likes doing the same thing and not everyone has the same taste.

I like to go camping. To a point. I don't mind sleeping in a tent as long as I can stand up in it. I will sleep on the floor of a tent, but prefer a cot. My wife's idea of camping and roughing it is the Motel 6. I like hiking through the woods, some people don't. I would like to travel down Route 66 and explore the past, some wouldn't. Some would like to see the world's largest ball of string, I could care less. I love hockey, some people believe it or not don't.

Why would ABC News even THINK to do a story on something like that? Because BHO "looked out of place" when he and his family visited a National Park? Give me a freaking break! Just report the news and don't try to MAKE UP news!

*A little birdie tells me that the Republicans have a really good chance to take BHO's former Senate seat Illinois. That would be something that would get the talking heads wagging their tongues.

*This past weekend has been a big one for Michael Vick. You all have heard the story, the crimes he was convicted of and the horrible acts that went on at his farm in Virginia. There has been an outcry from people that he should not be let back into the NFL. I saw him on Sunday night on 60 Minutes and whatever you think of him, he "manned up" and took responsibility for the actions. Vick blamed no one but himself and said that he was "ashamed" of himself. Tony Dungy who is perhaps one of the premier "class acts" of the NFL is not mentoring him at the request of the NFL Commissioner. Apparently Mr. Dungy has been counseling Vick for a while now and feels that he deserves a second chance.

While I detest and deplore the actions of Mr. Vick, I agree with Mr. Dingy. Michael Vick has served his time, lost his endorsements and has paid a heavy price for his crimes. He deserves a second chance and if he has true remorse, we will all know. For now, he deserves to be allowed back into the NFL.

*Let's get out there and visit a National Park!

We Interrupt Our Daily Programing For This Important Message.

I was originally going to expound on radical Saul Alinsky today, but a story caught my attention and I thought it was serious enough to write about that instead. Sometime in the future we will talk about Alinsky. He's been dead since '72 so he can wait.

What I would like to talk about is a very serious matter that I feel each and every American should address, think about and also pray about.

Brian Ross of ABC News had a story posted today about the threats to BHO. Mark Potok who works for the Southern Law Poverty Center has been banging the drums since before BHO got elected that "White Supremacy" groups have increased because of BHO and the threat level to him is the highest of any American President.

According to Ross:

"Experts who track hate groups across the U.S. are growing increasingly concerned over violent rhetoric targeted at President Obama, especially as the debate over health care intensifies and a pattern of threats emerges."

The report goes on to say:

'While officials told ABC News that the President's daily threat matrix has yet to reflect a sharp increase in threats, White House officials privately admit deep concern and have told the Secret Service to keep security tight, even if Obama objects."

The man who spoon fed this information to Ross is Mark Potok of the Southern Law Poverty Center who had this to say:

"I think the president has, in effect, triggered fears amongst fairly large numbers of white people in this country that they are somehow losing their country, that the battle is lost," Potok told ABC News. "The nation that their Christian white forefathers created has somehow been taken from them."

Have you picked out what's wrong with this story? First, the Secret Service has said that the threat level has not gone up since BHO became President and second if the threat level HAD gone up, why do they keep sending this guy out in public all the time?

Where was the outrage when books and movies about George W Bush's assassination were out there? We were told we had to respect the artistic writings and freedom of speech that depicted his demise. The media embraced these people and did nothing to rebuke them.

That was wrong then and it is wrong today.

We do NOT want any harm to come to BHO.

First because that is not how this country operates. We are not some third world banana republic who whacks it's leader. We have elections to voice our opposition. If you feel that harming the leader of your country is the right thing to do, then you are Un-American and should catch the next boat to Cuba.

Second, if something would happen to BHO, do you realize who the idiot is who would take his place?

This country has fought racism for the past 40 years and we will continue to fight it for another 40 if need be. There is no room in this country for anyone who hates someone simply because of the color of their skin. I detest some of the policies of BHO, but I would NEVER want any harm to come to the man. As stated before, that's not how we operate.

Unlike the liberals of the last eight years, conservatives do not advocate the killing of a President. We do not advocate the over-throw of an administration EXCEPT through the ballot box. That is what makes us Americans. That's what makes us special. We have the RIGHT, the DUTY and the PRIVILEGE to speak our minds openly and freely and to make our choice through the ballot box.

It is right to express your anger towards your elected officials. If your elected official is not representing his or hers constituents, then they need to be told they are not fulfilling their commitment to you and others. Now, having said that, they do not deserve, nor should they be subjected to any physical harm.

I cannot believe in this day and age that this needs to be said, but there are many Wackos out there.

Having said all that, there is also no room for the race baiting that is going on in this country today. BHO and his people have been playing the race card and it is not right. We as conservatives judge people on their thoughts, deeds and policies, not on their race. If we object to BHO's policies, it is just that, his policies.

What this country really needs is prayer. We need to pray for our leaders, especially for those who we do not agree with. We also need to pray for the safety of our President so that we don't become a banana republic.

We also need to pray that Joe Biden won't be sitting in the Oval Office.