"Woe to them who call evil good and good evil...."

Famed police novel author Joseph Wambaugh included a scene in his book The New Centurions that centers on a conversation between a grizzled veteran training officer and a new rookie. The cynical veteran officer tells the rookie: "But today the 'dont's' are dying or being murdered in the name of freedom and we policemen can't save them. Once the people become accustomed to the death of a 'don't', well then, the other 'dont's' die much easier. Usually all the vice laws die first because people are generally vice-ridden anyway. Then the ordinary misdemeanors and some felonies become unenforceable until freedom prevails."*

While that story was written in the late 1960s, it could very well apply to today’s 21^st-century America. (Or should I say, Amerika?)

The Old Testament book of Isaiah says, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil."**

It wasn’t that long ago that we treated trans-gender-minded people - or gender-neutral or gender-confused or whatever the hell it’s being known by today – for mental illness. But what do we do now? We take Bruce Jenner who transgendered himself female and ESPN awards him/her/whatever and ESPN gives him its “Courage Award” for having the guts to consider himself and alter himself female. WTF? A courage award? From a national sports network? This is what is admirable in our society? Not someone who dives into raging floodwaters to save some kid from drowning? Not someone who goes into a burning house to haul out an invalid and save them from burning to death? 

No, not in today’s Amerika. Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.

In today’s Amerika people who don’t even know what sex they are (despite the anatomy pictures in school in the 1960s , being a world-famous Olympic track star in the 1970s and a successful race car driver in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Camel GT series in the 1980s) are celebrated as brilliantly progressive and inspiringly courageous – such that it “transcends sports.”*** Really? This is what we hold up as admirable in our country and culture anymore?

Usually all the vice laws die first.

I don’t know why I should continue to be surprised or shocked by this. I mean, here in Amerika, we glamorize the twenty-somethings who won’t hold jobs &/or haven’t ever moved out of their parent(s)’ home,  abortion, unwed mothers and gay marriage.

Once the people become accustomed to the death of a 'don't', well then, the other 'dont's' die much easier.

And what makes it all the worse, the rule of law means nothing. We have a president who runs the Constitution, its Separation of Powers Clause and its Bill of Rights thru the shredder on almost a daily basis anymore. Executive Orders and puppet courts carry out his community activist, politically-correct agenda the will of the people and state legislatures and their votes which became black letter law be damned. And without so much more than warming the chair of the Oval Orifice and declaring a Beer Summit to ridicule the actions of the Cambridge MA police department, Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize.

…then the ordinary misdemeanors and some felonies become unenforceable….

God help our once-great nation. We are so morally confused.....

*Wambaugh, J. The New Centurions, Little, Brown and Company, 30 January 1971, New York.

** Isaiah 5:20, King James Version.

***Wikipedia (21 June, 2015) Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Retrieved 29 June, 2015 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Ashe_Courage_Award

America or Somalia? American or Shariah Law? You might be surprised.

What passes for leadership today in government/politics....

Google “definition of ‘leadership’” or words to that effect and you’ll get a gozillion hits. There’s definitions that emphasize influence, people over things, social interaction yadayadayad. There seems like there’s as many definitions of ‘leadership’ as there are stars in the night sky.

But whatever definition of ‘leadership’ you ascribe to, I think you’ll agree that what passes for ‘leadership’ in our government officials – particularly those in the Republican Party – is pretty damn lame. That’s right! I said the Republican Party. The Democrat Party has been a cesspool of “liars, cheats and thieves” who say or do whatever’s convenient at the moment – situational ethics, they call it – but the Republicans have suffered a spinectomy since just after President George H.W. Bush kicked Saddam Hussein’s ass the first time. And, that as such, is a more recent development.

No, no; sadly, what passes for “leadership” isn’t even statesmanship. There hasn’t been “statesmanship” out of the Democrats since JFK forced Nikita Kruschev’s nuclear missiles out of Cuba in ’62. So, that’s nothing new. But the Republicans’ of recent haven’t been long on this quality either. The last time I saw it, President GW Bush was standing on a pile of “Ground Zero” rubble a week after 9-11-01 amid chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” and telling those in the audience that al-Qaeda was gonna be getting bombed very soon. And this deficiency in the GOP is another fairly recent development.

Dr. J. Rufus Fears, a college professor of “The History of Freedom” postulates that “a statesman…is not a tyrant; he is the free leader of a free people and he must possess four critical qualities:

1.      A bedrock of principles

2.      A moral compass

3.      A vision

4.      The ability to build a consensus to achieve that vision"*

Before going any further, Yes, yes; “consensus building” and even bipartisanship are both useful tools and necessary approaches to difficulties – but not as your standard operating practice. When something is screwed up, needs fixed or is flat out wrong, the true leader should say so.

Call me crazy, but the way I see it, “just getting along” with the opposition (i.e., Democrats) is not leading. Similarly, just rolling over for and ultimately allowing and/or voting for lamebrain, oppressive legislation that isn’t pro-America, pro-liberty or pro-economic development and defending it by claiming to be “bipartisan” isn’t either. And for damned sure acting like a whipped puppy each time the GOP has a majority in both houses of Congress isn’t leading, it’s wimping out.

Sadly, today’s definition of leadership in D.C. looks like this; Democrats playing the pied pipers while they march us all off the cliff. But so long as the Republicans are marching in lock step behind them (“in the back” behind Democrats as Obama put it in 2010**) and all getting along, today’s GOP ‘leadership’ – and I use the term loosely – the John Boehners and Mitch McConnells and all the other RINOs, “country club” Republicans and those just without the will and spirit to take the fight to them…well…today’s GOP ‘leadership’ is just fine and dandy with that.

What a joke. That’s not leadership in any way shape, size or form.

*McKay, B and Mckay, K. (30 Janu, 2012) The 4 Qualities of a True Statesman, The Art of Manliness, retrieved 4 June, 2015 from http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/01/30/the-4-qualities-of-a-true-statesman/

**Hall, C. (26 Oct, 2010) Obama to GOP: ‘They can come for the ride, but they have to sit in the back.” Mediaite, retrieved 4 June, 2015 from http://www.mediaite.com/tv/obama-to-gop-%E2%80%98they-can-come-for-the-ride-but-they-have-to-sit-in-back/

Here's a man who clearly understands what we're up against in this country!

Admiral James "Ace" Lyons, speaking Feb 11, 2015.

This guy really gets it!

Remember September 29, 1959?

This is really scary.   Boy, are we dumb.

           September 29, 1959

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN HE APPEARED AT THE U.N.

AND BANGED HIS SHOE ON THE PODIUM?

THIS WAS HIS ENTIRE QUOTE:

 WE'RE ALMOST THERE

Conundrum

Received this via email forwarded by someone. So, I have no idea who the original author is. Whoever they are, they're brilliant!

This makes so much sense, why are our politicians so stupid??

Fantastic, so logically laid out; our formerly glorious country is now a major mess!!! 


Interesting…. 


Free people are not equal. Equal people are not free. 

"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again." 

The definition of the word Conundrum is: something that is puzzling or confusing. 

Here are six Conundrums of socialism in the United States of America: 

1. America is capitalist and greedy - yet half of the population is subsidized. 

2. Half of the population is subsidized - yet they think they are victims. 

3. They think they are victims - yet their representatives run the government. 

4. Their representatives run the government - yet the poor keep getting poorer. 

5. The poor keep getting poorer - yet they have things that people in other countries only dream about. 

6. They have things that people in other countries only dream about - yet they want America to be more like those other countries. 

Think about it! And that, my friends, pretty much sums up the USA in the 21st Century. 

Makes you wonder who is doing the math?? 

These three short sentences tell you a lot about the direction of our current government and cultural environment: 



1. We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. 



Funny how that works. And here's another one worth considering.. 



2. Seems we constantly hear about how Social Security is going to run out of money. But we never hear about welfare or food stamps running out of money? 
What's interesting is the first group "worked for" their money, but the second didn't. 



Think about it.....and Last but not least: 



3. Why are we cutting benefits for our veterans, no pay raises for our military and cutting our army to a level lower than before WWII, but we are not stopping the payments or benefits to illegal aliens. 

And our politicians keep raising their own salaries. 

Politically-correct mob appeasement that is downright reckless

In late April, 1992 a jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers of assault and use of excessive force in the videotaped beating of Rodney King at the end of a high-speed (115mph +) chase on freeways and through residential neighborhoods. King, admitted he fled from officers because he was on parole for a past robbery conviction and who had past convictions for assault, battery and robbery and he knew that a DUI would violate the terms of his parole.

The whole incident is quite controversial. One thing is agreed upon by most everyone; the charges were brought based on just a few minutes of videotape – the most inflammatory few moments - that were repeatedly shown all over the media before the case ever came to trial. What only the jury saw prior to rendering a verdict was the entire almost 13 minutes of the apprehension of Rodney King.*

Whether King was apprehended appropriately-per-policy or beaten unmercifully by out of control police officers is a topic for another time. But, the bottom line is the prosecutor in the case, Terry White, failed to meet the burden of proof of the charges of assault and use of excessive force he brought against the officers. And as such, the jury – nine whites, one Asian, one Latino and one biracial – didn’t find the evidence supportive of a verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt (the standard in criminal cases).*

And what is very appropriate to this time and to the rest of this commentary is that Maryland State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby in her rush to play politics and further the mob psychology that 1) Freddie Gray – another known felon who was fleeing from police – was killed by racist cops and 2) sparked the Baltimore riots of most of last week. “To the people of Baltimore and the demonstrators across America: I heard your call for ‘No justice, no peace,’” she said.

Oh, really? Well, let’s look at what Ms. Mosby thinks is “justice.” Firstly, let’s recap who was charged with what here.

Three officers – one a Lieutenant and a female sergeant were each charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office. The Lieutenant and one of the officers are both charged with false imprisonment. Two other officers were charged with second-degree assault, misconduct in office and false arrest.  In addition to similar charges leveled against him with the others, the driver of the jail van has also been charged with second degree murder with a depraved heart (in some states that’s probably termed “depraved indifference to human life.”)**

By the way, three of these six officers are black. One is female. So, again; how there can be ‘institutionalized racism’ in the Baltimore PD and in this case particularly is beyond me.

Now, I’m no lawyer. But I have taken a few law classes in my day – criminal law, criminal procedure, three business law classes and even one in mass media law. All that probably gives me just enough knowledge to be dangerous. But, what concerns me is that in an apparent attempt to appease the mob and help her popularity, Ms. Mosby has brought such serious charges that she’s set the bar too high for realistic hope of convictions – just like happened in the Rodney King case.

And, in so doing she’s setting the country up for another round of riots if she can’t meet the burdens of proof and these officers get acquitted. And that, in my humble layman’s opinion, is nothing but politically-correct, mob appeasement and malicious prosecution and is downright reckless. Even Alan Dershowitz, the well-known liberal criminal defense lawyer and Harvard Law professor of O.J. Simpson case fame, seems to agree.  “The decision to file charges was made not based on considerations of justice, but on considerations of crowd control,” said Dershowitz. “He called the charges ‘outrageous and irresponsible,’ especially the second degree murder count filed against the van’s driver under a legal principle known as ‘depraved heart.’”***

Don’t be surprised if at least some of these officers are acquitted of at least some of these charges – particularly the murder charge. And if that happens, don’t be surprised that the brick-throwing knuckleheads don’t get all wound up again and start the riots all over again.

*Wikipedia (3 May, 2015) 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Retrieved 4 May, 2015 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots

**Calvert, S., Maher, K., Palazzolo, J. (2 May, 2015) The Wall Street Journal, Six Baltimore Police Officers Charged in Freddie Gray Death. Retrieved 4 May, 2015 from http://www.wsj.com/articles/baltimore-prosecutor-probable-cause-to-charge-police-in-freddie-gray-death-1430492304

***Urbanski, D. (2 May, 2015) The Blaze Online. Alan Dershowitz: Charges Against Baltimore Police Officers Are About ‘Crowd Control,’ Not Justice. Retrieved 4 May, 2015 from http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/05/02/alan-dershowitz-charges-against-baltimore-police-officers-were-about-crowd-control-not-justice/