Airplanes, Bombs, Security, Detroit and Left Twisted Wing Nuts

As a nation how weak minded are we? Once again some numb nuts shows us up, this time with an underwear bomb. Last time it was a shoe bomb and we have been taking off our shoes ever since. Are we going to have to have our underwear inspected now? I have an idea (if you use this please send me a dollar), you know those Velcro rip off (literally) outer clothes that strippers wear? Perhaps airline travelers could all wear those with bathing suits underneath. Then as they approach the gate they can rip off their outer garments, stuff them in the carryon bag, and stroll through security in their bathing suits and flip flops.

The only reason that we are in this situation is that as a country we listen to the left twisted wing nuts. They practice the idea that everyone in the world has a right to come/live in the US. That is why Home Land Security is wrapped in Swiss cheese and is really Home Land Insecurity. And yes, there is plenty of Presidential blame to go around: Obama, Bush 43, Clinton, Bush 41, and Reagan, were all open border supporters, at least in what they did if not in what they said. And what you do speaks so much louder that what you say.

What should happen on any flight into the US should be this: Everyone must have a passport. All noncitizens must have a Visa. Any person traveling from or born in a non-friendly country, territory, or designated area automatically under goes an automated or personal body search and their luggage is searched both by hand and automation (arrive early or you may miss your plane. Entering the US is a privilege not a right. Play by the rules or do not come).

The Roman Catholic Church and Me

This may seem an odd time and an odd place to write a blog of this nature, but what tripped my trigger was Pope Benedict announcement that he was advancing the cause of Pope – toward Sainthood. Pope Benedict tried "fast tracking" – to Sainthood and was blocked by other Roman– officials. I have some thoughts about all of this but first some self-disclosure.

We all know that there is no one quite as self-righteous as someone who has "overcome". Overcoming can be any one of a number of things: smoking, over eating, religious convictions, political convictions, over indulgence in alcohol, etc. In my case, I consider myself a "recovering Roman Catholic". In spite of my best efforts, I am sure that status will color my remarks. I ask that you take that into account.

There are several different varieties of Catholics, Roman, Greek Orthodox, and others. But the only one that I know anything about are the Romans. For the purposes of these remarks the term Catholic (as well as "Church") will refer to the Roman variety unless noted differently. In fact my personal experience is based almost entirely on Roman Catholicism as practiced in the US.

I was a good Catholic; a serious Catholic. I attended Catholic grade school through 5^th grade, graduated from a residential High School taught by Franciscan priests, and attended a college taught by Benedictine priests. Like most boys I was an altar boy for years (the Mass was still in Latin when I started), and gave some (brief) thought to becoming a priest. Over the years, I lived and worshipped in parishes from south Florida to Harrisburg, Pa., to Madison, Wi., to West and Central Texas. Although I never lived west of the Colorado River I know that the organization of the Church was generally the same throughout the US.

A serious Catholic. I helped to found a parish choir for adults and another for children, a St. Vincent De Paul Society, and a men's auxiliary to a chapter of the Ladies of Charity (one of the first in America). As a professional family and marriage councilor I offered my services on a pro bono basis to the Diocese to evaluate the appropriateness of divorce in specific cases. I was also a 4^th degree Knight of Columbus. As I said, I was a serious Catholic.

Being Catholic takes a LOT of faith. Not so much in God but in His relationship with the Church. Looking back it seems to me not so much faith as "double think". I grew up as part of the "pray, pay, and obey" crowd and believe me that process is still alive and well. As for faith in the Church, of course it was the one true church, there was an unbroken line of Popes from Peter on. Of course sometimes the Church was not exactly sure who was Pope so it entered several possibilities just to cover its bets. Popes of course are selected by the Holy Spirit through the interaction of the College of Cardinals. Clearly the Holy Spirit was having an off day when the Borgia Popes, among dozens of others, were chosen. Did I mention that it takes a lot of faith to believe in the Church? At some point one begins to question why it takes more faith to believe in the Church than it does in God.

One of the major points that my teachers always made, and to which I still subscribe, is that "by their fruits you shall know them." The point being that in spite of all of its foibles, the Church has always been rescued by the goodness of its membership. As proof, the lives of the saints are offered, especially of those like Francis of Assisi. Still the question remains, where is the tipping point? How much evil can a Godly organization perpetrate before it is no longer Godly? In the case of the Roman Catholic Church it takes a lot of faith. The priesthood of the Church is supposed to be a "no sex zone". Being a good Catholic requires that one ignore the common practice of homosexual behavior in the seminaries. Being a good Catholic requires that one ignore the Pink Bishoprics where the Diocesan administrative headquarters is composed almost exclusively of practicing homosexual priests. Understand, it is not so much the sex, or even the kind of sex, that is so disturbing, it is the hypocrisy.

For me the tipping point came with the pedophilia scandal. Every priest that had anything to do with any parish in America probably knew what was going on. The American priesthood is a relatively small, close knit organization with a myriad of informal, horizontal and vertical, information pathways (in other words lots of gossip). In order to move a pedophile from one diocese to another, the sending parish and its priests know, the sending deanery and its priest knows, the sending bishop, his aide(s), and at least one person in "personnel" knows. It is also likely that the office staffs who are mostly civilians in all of the associated offices know. Almost none of these people know who the victim is but they surely know who the pedophile priest is.

Then there is the receiving Diocese. The receiving bishop, his aide(s), and at least one person in "personnel" know. The receiving Dean knows. The receiving parish and its priest(s) know. It is also likely that the office staffs who are mostly civilian in all of the associated offices know. Almost none of these people know who the victim is but they surely know who the pedophile priest is.

Pope John Paul knew. If not the particulars at least he approved the practice of moving the pedophiles around. His close confident, the current Pope Benedict knew. It is likely that certain high members of the Roman Curia knew what was going on.

Returning to America, how many of the thousands of people who knew what was going on, warned their fellow parishioners to be careful for their children? Of all the thousands who knew, did anyone pick up the telephone and call the cops? Render unto Caesar.

I would suggest that every serving bishop today, has played some knowledgeable part in this outrage and no diocese deserves the financial or moral support of its membership. Most parishes don't either.

Most bishops and many on their staff should be criminally prosecuted, as should many Deans and parish priests. Certain civilians who participated in the cover-up should also be prosecuted.

I believe that Pope Benedict is in a sweat to get Pope John Paul canonized to cut off any investigation of either John Paul's or his (Benedict's) culpability in the pedophile scandal.

I believe in God. I no longer believe in the Church. So I guess that I shouldn't care what they do, but I sure hate to see evil break even, much less win.

Going to take some Time

Well, for me this is certainly interesting. Based on my previous blog I thought that I would just go through the Constitution and list out those things that it required of the federal government. That is proving to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be. The first is to realize that it is written in 2 specific sections. The first, which is the opening paragraph, is a goal statement. The second, which is everything else, is a specific “game plan” for achieving those goals. In addition it is important to remember that the Constitution was written in response to the failure of the previous “game plan” called the “Articles of Confederation”.
So in order to understand where we are going it will be helpful to understand where we have been. This will take some time and there will be other blogs in the mean time. Please be patient.

A New Political Party

I agree with the idea behind the Tea Parties. I agree with most of the attitudes expressed at many of the Tea Parties. But (the world's largest eraser) I disagree with the current move to use the successes of the Tea Parties to create a new political party. In some ways I really like the idea but the practical aspects of forming a new national party weigh heavily against success. But, don't give up. There is a way.

We NEED a revolution.

A little over two years ago I was selected as a delegate to our Republican State Convention (held in San Antonio, Texas). I was shocked to discover that Republican candidates for office do not have to agree to any of the state or national party planks and that most candidates had not even read them (no wonder they do not read many of the bills they vote for). What are we supporting with our time and money? Why should the membership be more loyal to the party than the candidates are? Doesn't the membership have a right to expect certain standard of behavior from its representatives? Shouldn't those standards be clear to all?

We NEED a revolution.

Revolutions start with PERSONAL COMMITMENT and RESPONSIBILITY.

Revolutions start small. At this time the best place to start is in the Republican Party. It may take 20 years to complete.

1. Start at the local level.
   
2. Go to the precinct meetings after the primary elections. In the smaller precincts very few people attend. Remember to treat those who do with respect. These folks have often worked hard and long to keep the party viable. We should honor their commitment.
   
3. Volunteer for committee work. Especially volunteer for committees dealing with fund raising, recruiting, and reviewing/recommending party planks. Be dependable and competent. Volunteer for those committees that very few want to serve on. Be dependable and competent. Avoid being in "flashy", "high profile", leadership positions, as these are generally counter-productive to moving a revolution forward.
   
4. Be competent. Draw attention to yourself through competence not by being loud and obnoxious – nobody likes loud and/or obnoxious.
   
5. At first the "established" will resist – sometimes not very nicely. Be respectful.
   
6. Next the "established" will try to co-opt the revolution through reasonable compromise. Resist. Know what you believe is fundamental and stick to it.
   
7. The best defense is knowing and being totally committed to your principles.
   
8. Associate with other conservatives. If, "All the world is but a stage …" be sure your audience is other conservatives. Do not play to the non-conservative audience.
   

 

 

 

Financial Crap

Sometimes Glen Beck on his TV show talks about his head "exploding". That's how I feel about the current so called budget crisis. I say, "so called" because I think that we do not have enough information to know if we have a crisis or not. This Congress is so venal and gutless it makes me want to throw up. Seriously, how stupid do you have to be to not know that when you have dug yourself into a hole the first thing that you do is STOP DIGGING.

That's right:

1. STOP spending. How tough is that you dummies?
   
2. Take inventory of all obligations, financial and others.
   
3. Take inventory of all assets, financial and others.
   
4. Prioritize all obligations in order of most basic and most important.
   
5. Prioritize all assets in order of least basic and least important.
   
6. Shift the least basic and least important assets to support the most basic and most important obligations until balance is achieved.
   
7. Sometimes non-financial assets (personnel, materiel, etc.,) in addition to financial assets will have to be shifted from least important to support the most important.
   

An asset not on hand is NOT an asset - It is a fantasy.

So how hard can this be?

Obama vs the People

The Obama administration now threatens the Congress elected by the people and the people themselves with the EPA!? So remind me, where in the U.S. Constitution is the EPA required? I couldn't find it. Who established the EPA? The CONGRESS did. Perhaps the Congress should find some SELF-RESPECT and defund the EPA.

Failing that, the EPA should start each year with a zero budget and be forced to defend every expenditure for every activity and every position every year.

Thinking of money, where does the administration get the money to pay the so called czars? What can be done about that?

It's true that the House rules can be used to brutalize the Minority party(ies); to establish a dictatorship of the Majority. BUT, there can be a political cost to that.

Remember: Our legislators should fear us more than the "Bigs" (big Pharma, big Industry, etc.). Make 2010 the term limit for all.

Health Care Crap

CC: Health Care

Before we give ne responsibilities to the Federal Government (Legislative or Executive) we should insist that they prove that they can successfully carry out their current responsibilities. After all. Would you have someone fix your car who trashed most of the previous cars that he had been working on?? Would you ride in an airplane built by a company whose planes had a history of crashing??

Here is a partial list of our government’s inability to get the job done:

• ·         Iraq war #2: substantial failure of our intelligence agencies.
• ·         9/11: Critical failure of our intelligence agencies.
• ·         9/11: Critical failure by the administration to recognize the seriousness of previous attacks and to respond appropriately.
• ·         Military Health Care: Consistent inability or unwillingness to care for wounded or damaged veterans. This inexcusable failure has occurred ever since the conclusion of the Revolutionary War.
• ·         Health Care for Native Americans on reservations. Not a new failure. Another failure never resolved.
• ·         Failure of the Federal Government to live within its income.
• ·         Inability or unwillingness to adequately fund or govern Washington D.C.
• ·         Part D of Medicare. Instead of following the very successful example of the Veteran’s Administration the Congress designed and the President signed a program that has the effect of enriching Big Pharma and breaking truly sick seniors (especially if they are dependent on Social [in]Security.
• ·          The Congress has known since President Carter that we have an energy dependence crisis - and we still have one. This was also a failure of leadership on the part of President Reagan who failed to request adequate funding for the programs (was he connected to the oil industry or is my cynicism just showing?).
• ·         In the last 20 years we have had 2 major collapses of the stock market. The first because although the government collected money to hire people to police the stock market (Enron and others) the Congress failed to allocate the monies collected for the stated purpose and spent it instead who knows where. Tens of thousands of people lost money because the Congress could not get the job done.

What evidence exists to show that either the Executive branch or the Legislative branch can adequately run a national health care system? Before we give them more responsibility let them first meet the responsibilities they already have.