More Evidence That Liberal Ideas (Almost) Never Work

On June 22 of this year I posted an argument concerning our government’s “solutions” to any number of issues. It was with a smug horror that I find that my words were almost prescient.

I argued that America is a wealthy nation. We, as barely four percent of the World’s population produce fully twenty-five percent of the World’s wealth. And I stated that it is this wealth that causes liberals to make us believe that we are greedy or just too self-centered and they must come up with solutions to cure this sinful selfishness.

And so we are now in the midst of the worst financial breakdown in America and on Earth since at least the fiasco of the Carter Administration and quite possibly the Depression of the 1930’s. In the 1930’s, in the throes of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt came up with the “Alphabet Agencies” which expanded the US government exponentially and militarily socialized society. It is felt by many historians and economists that this effort actually lengthened the downturn by as much as 100 per cent. One of the programs introduced during FDR’s tenure in 1938 was the Federal National Mortgage Association, or “Fannie Mae.” When Richard Nixon took over from Johnson’s Great Society, his populist conversion led to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, or Freddie Mac in 1970.

I previously said that I understand that all these programs are based on the best of intentions, and that I also know to that the Road to Hell is paved with those same intentions. And so it is with Fannie and Freddie. Our benevolent government decided, with some real evidence, that homeowners are more stable, less likely to commit crime, and are therefore more responsible and better citizens. So, the US Government jumped into the mortgage business in order to boost the ability of the average American to own a home, and then be more stable, become responsible, and raise a family. This would all, then, contribute to a stronger, more stable nation. It seems all so logical.

So, during the Clinton administration, Fannie, Freddie, and the private banks and institutions that are dependent on them, were ordered to ease their lending requirements and give loans to nearly anyone who wanted to buy a home. Great idea! Except, there were no real rules to ensure that EVERYONE was going to make the proper decision. In fact, the financial institutions were threatened by the Clinton Justice Department with criminal charges if they refused to go along!

Nevertheless, it soon dawned on managers of banks and other lenders that huge money could be made by lending to people who were traditionally high risk, AND THAT THE LOANS WOULD BE GUARANTEED BY THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER! No muss, no fuss, and it was ALL LEGAL! Why? Because Congress, whose job it is to control and manage these agencies were more interested in catering to their constituencies than in the dangers of a potential global financial meltdown. Warned of the potential problems repeatedly over the past decade, Congressional committee chairs Christopher Todd and Barney Franks refused to increase oversight or tighten regulations.

How were they warned? Shoot, even the liberal New York Times in an article published in 1999 stated as much.

But, the government decided some social engineering was a good thing, and that we could MAKE people responsible if they owned their own home. This same entity also thought that welfare was a great idea. That is why today a black child is less likely to be raised in a two-parent household than he was during Slavery.
The point of all this? Simply that the government is incapable of properly and effectively performing those things that the free market does so well. When the government puts its hand in where it should never have ever been, it brings catastrophic returns to our nation. In this case, it also brought it to the World.

Don’t be fooled. Capitalism didn’t cause this catastrophe. It was the intrusion of government into the mortgage market that was the prime reason for this melt-down. Capitalism, as it is wont to do, took advantage of government foolishness and a small group of people got rich. And you and I are left holding the bag. Christopher Todd, Barney Franks, John McCain, Barack Obama, and as far back as Lyndon Johnson and even Franklin Roosevelt, and a host of others are the real culprits in this. These are the people that WE elected to run our government.

And, so, we too are to blame.

FEAR & LOATHING IN JUSTICE

In 1985 I and a friend were in an underground mall in Pusan, South Korea. It was a fascinating moment for me, as I hadn’t been in a foreign country since leaving (then) West Germany in 1963 as a three-year-old Army brat. As we walked down the corridor, darting in and out of the shops to sample the wares, our attention was diverted to a disruption ahead of us.

The packed Korean humanity parted like Cecil B. De Mille’s Red Sea as people quickly moved against the walls and glass fronts of the shops, or quickly ducked inside suddenly filled stores, as three Korean National Police Officers, walking abreast, strode down the middle of the corridor. Some people pulled others out of the way, ensuring that those unaware did not impede the progress of the KNP officers.

Why such a spectacle? The people feared and respected these approaching officers. Truly.

Could you imagine anything of the sort today in America? I can’t. American police are almost universally portrayed in police dramas as something short of incompetent, frustrated Neanderthals barely able to think without the canny prosecutor, DA, or CSI expert there to guide them through.

Additionally, constant efforts by the media and the courts to emasculate American police forces ensures that on almost every occasion, a cop has to completely outsmart, outrun, or out-drive a suspect. Why is this? I get so frustrated when I watch police videos that show an officer having to holster his weapon and take chase of a suspect. Incredible! Why is this person running?

Seriously, if the suspect is innocent, why would he run? Invariably, the suspect/runner will say "I was scared," or something in that vein. But of what?
The cop has a weapon, but he can't use it. He knows it, the runner knows it, and everyone in society knows it.

But, the police officer should be able to use it. Period.

I can already hear the cries of indignation! Police brutality! Sanctioned murder! Give me a break. It occurred to me some time back that if a police officer in pursuit of a murder/rape/assault suspect would just pull his service weapon and shoot that suspect, I’d bet that a whole lot of others who normally take flight would stop, put up their hands, and peacefully lie down on the ground the next time. Hey, suspects run because they think they might be able to outrun the police. They're only fear is that they WON'T be able to outrun that cop.

And if they can outrun the police, that means that they get more opportunities for murder, rape, and assault. I can assure that a South Korean citizen would stop, put up their hands and peacefully get on the ground. If not, the NKP would shoot. And Koreans KNOW this, beyond a doubt.

I’ve seen dashboard cameras of cops getting run off the road by people who will do anything to get away. These people will run over others, ram other cars, hurt other people, and if that cop making the arrest hits the driver or strikes him, the COP will be investigated for assault!

Really, does it make any sense to arm a cop if he can’t use the weapon? We need to get serious about STOPPING bad people immediately, instead of giving them more opportunity to do bad things. And as for hitting someone because he’s an idiot and a criminal, they really probably deserve it.

Really.

A White Cloud AND A Silver Lining?

I sit here two days after the second most historic Presidential election in United States’ history – the first being George Washington’s, of course – and wonder what other silver linings could there be.

I watched as throngs of Americans – black, white, yellow, brown, and all colors in between – celebrate a truly historic occasion. I listened to a story on National Public Radio of a 109-year-old daughter of a slave who saw a son of a black man win the highest office in the land. And I saw a nation change right before my eyes. It was an amazing thing to witness.

I also watched as infamous race-baiter (and fellow South Carolinian) Jesse Jackson crying his eyes out in Chicago. And I was struck by the question that popped into my mind: “Was Jesse crying tears of joy? Or was he crying because he saw his meal ticket flying away in the Chicago wind?”

“Huh? What could you possibly mean, Rupe?” you are surely saying. Jesse watched as Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., bled out in Memphis after being shot down by an assassin’s bullet. Jesse fought hard for that very moment when Senator John McCain conceded defeat in Arizona and Barack Obama became the President-Elect of this multi-racial nation. Jesse even ran for president on a few occasions, being soundly thumped when his rhetoric fell upon too many deaf ears even in the Democratic Party. So, what could I possibly be writing about?

Simply this: Jackson’s and Reverend Al Sharpton’s raison d’etre’ can no longer stand up to any public scrutiny. America can no longer be called a racist nation.

With a majority of whites, Hispanics, and nearly every black person in the United States voting to vault Obama to the presidency, any notion that race is still a factor in America goes right out the window.

Liberal “African America” can no longer stand on the platform that every social ill suffered by it is caused by racism. The Bradley Effect is dead. America has just proved what many in America have said for years – racism as an institution is dead.

So, for conservatives, there just may be a silver lining after all.

THE MORAL HIGH GROUND?

Our nation is a nation based on laws that regulate our daily lives. Generally, they are based on the intent and writings of our founding fathers, which were based on English Common Law, Biblical Law, and the notion that each person has certain rights that were granted by God, not man. That these principles have survived for over 200 years proves the fairness and insightfulness of the system. And yet, there are people who live in America who feel the need to break these laws and principles.

Today the United States in the freest nation on Earth, and generally has been for the past two-plus centuries. And despite this, there are those who feel the need or desire to break the few rules that the nation has placed upon us. One of the most basic of rules of the nation and of civilization in general is that against murder. And even then, we codify and grade murder in America – Premeditated Murder, Manslaughter, Third Degree Murder, Malicious Homicide, Negligent Homicide, ad infinitum, it would seem. Of all of those, First Degree or Premeditated Murder is almost universally set aside for those who are the most vile and dangerous. It is for those who plan for and then commit murder.

Now, any way you look at it, anyone who can plan and then actually murder another is truly a horrible being. Many of us plan arguments and things we want to say to others and can’t pull it off. So, to actually visualize, plan and execute a murder takes a deeply mean, vicious, vile and violent person. There is just no two ways about it.

With all the freedoms we have in America, what would be the necessity of murder? What is it that would cause someone in a personal world of rage and frustration to do such a thing? And once they have done such a thing, why would we as a people then provide an unbiased jury, find that person guilty, place that person into an institution, feed them, give them medical care, clothe them, give them a place to sleep, and provide them with most of the amenities of life, all until they die? Have they not proven their inability to live in a free and just society?

And how about all those who live within the rules every day? They work, pay taxes, provide for their families, and give back to the society, and never once hurt anyone on purpose. Those people have to give their money to a system that is required to sustain the lives of people who cannot live within the rules. There are many cold-blooded killers who today, or have in the past, lived the vast majority of their natural lives in prison supported by good, decent, honorable people. These killers provide nothing for the community or society, yet we are required to provide them with all the amenities of a reasonably comfortable life.

Susan Smith murdered her own children in cold blood in order to try and win the heart of a man. Wayne Williams, the Atlanta child murderer is another. Richard Speck raped, tortured and killed eight nursing students in Chicago all for his own, sick pleasure. George Emil Banks, who murdered thirteen, including six children ranging in age from one to eleven (ironically, he has attempted suicide on at least four occasions). Brian Uyesugi killed seven of his co-workers in Hawaii. Jerry Brudos murdered four women on separate occasions for sexual satisfaction, and died in prison of natural causes after 37 years of incarceration. Randy Steven Kraft who is suspected of killing and castrating 67 homosexual men, though 22 of his victims have yet to be found. He’s been in prison 25 years. In all these cases, these people not only killed fellow people, but PLANNED the killings. And then we Americans paid or are paying to keep these people comfortable and alive in prison, until death by natural causes. It’s all paid for by you and me.

While in prison, they can obtain everything from GEDs to Masters Degrees, all on the taxpayer’s tab. They can choose to work in the prison industry system, or do nothing at all, all on the taxpayer’s dole. They’re fed, clothed and housed in some comfort, again with taxpayer financing. They can even legally worship the devil, and taxpayers have to provide them the opportunity.

Then, if they are somehow non-repentant inside this system, we build super-prisons for them, at HUGE expense to us, regimenting their miserable lives to the nth degree in order to ensure that they can murder no more. The cost of this is in the millions annually.

And somehow, this proves that we are a moral people? How is that a moral thing to place upon a citizenry? Why should good, moral, hard-working people be required to provide everything a person would need for as many as 80 or 90 years to anyone who have proven that they are not capable of living within those rules – AND feels the need to take away the life (or lives) of those who can live within the rules? I truly don’t understand this morality. What is moral about requiring a moral society to supply and support grossly immoral people?

I believe that it is not.

And that is why just societies perform and enforce the penalty of death. It is imposed on those who have proven themselves to be incapable of living in just, free and tolerant societies. Just, fair, and righteous people should not be forced to support those who are not, those who are societal leaches, those who refuse to live by the rules we all live by, those who are so coarse and callous as to plan, plot, and execute the murder of others.

Life in prison for this type of person is just only for that type of person. The rest of us continue to pay until after that person has died.

But wait! There is more! How about after their death? Yes, we citizens continue to pay.

The taxpayer also buries the murderer.

Where’s the justice in any of that?

A Prediction of Evil

When it comes to the Democratic Party of the USA, I am a virulent cynic. Their past three presidential candidates (Bill Clinton, John Kerry and Barack Obama) would never be able to pass a standard US Government security investigation in order to hold a government job. And this is also true of many of their Federal office-holders in both houses of Congress.

Now they have nominated Barack Obama, who his so far to the left that his views line up as more socialist than the one Socialist member of Congress! I’m not kidding – this has been documented but totally ignored by the media. Frighteningly, they have been making huge attempts to convince us that this man is a moderate, middle-of-the-road politician! And the US media is lining right up behind this claptrap. It is truly amazing.

Ironically, he defeated a candidate whose sole claim to fame is the blatant attempt to nationalize and socialize one-seventh of the American economy. Hillary Clinton’s aborted attempt to take over American medical practice is still her dream. Unfortunately, the cabal of she and her husband still hold great sway over the Democratic Party, despite the overwhelming evidence of their self-centered and evil ways.

So, it was with much trepidation that I read that the Democrat’s Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden will drop out and that he will be replaced by Hillary Clinton. Of course, this would be a violent knee-jerk reaction to the nomination of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin. This is a frightening prospect, though, considering the fate of many of the Clinton’s political foes, and even friends.

With this in mind:

- If Joe Biden drops out;
- If Hillary Clinton replaces Joe Biden;
- If Obama-Clinton win the November election;
- And if they are sworn in:

I believe that Barack Obama will be dead before the end of his first (and only) term and that Hillary Clinton will become president in accordance with Constitutional succession.

Mark these words.

The Queen has Called us Back!

I have a fine friend in the north of England who has a wonderful, Christian sense of humor. I’ve played Rugby with him and he is a good man with a fine, traditional family. He sent me the following, soliciting my comments. Below are the message and my reply interspersed. I enjoyed this so much that I decided to share. Enjoy:

Message to the Citizens of the United States of America:

In light of your acute failure in recent years to nominate even slightly competent candidates for President of the USA, and thus having the ability to govern yourselves, current Presidential candidates included, we hereby give notice of the Revocation of Independence, effective immediately.

That would be perfectly fine, IF you think you can do any better than you have in the American Colonies, Africa, India-Pakistan-Afghanistan-et al, Ireland, The Falklands, and of course, Scotland.

Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, districts and territories (except California, which Her Majesty does not fancy).

Honestly, nor do we. Do what you will with San Francisco and L.A. We’ll keep San Diego, if you please.

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor General of America without the need for further elections.

Just like it was when we WERE still colonies, right?

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded and replaced with the Chamber of Commons, which is much more appropriate considering the IQ of the majority of contestants on the Jerry Springer show.

Will he or The Queen also ban the Jerry Springer Show? Please? Pretty please? Pretty, pretty please, with sugar on top?

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. Look up "questionnaire" in the Oxford English Dictionary.

You mean those dusty brown books that you find back in the corner of the reference shelves in libraries?

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
1. American Heritage dictionary is banned. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.

See previous statement above.

1a. Then look up "aluminium", and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrong you have been pronouncing it.

But, it is PROPERLY spelled with but one (1) 'i'. Use what we call “phonics.”

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour', 'honour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be eliminated.

OK, but for what good reason. We threw out those letters because they had no use. Kind of like what we did with the Crown (See 'War for Independence - 1775-1783'). Oh, and might as well get rid of '-ate' while you're at it. Oh, and we only throw out slightly more than a third of ‘donut’s’ letters. Can we keep our math? You liked it enough to go to decimals for your money years ago.

2a. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to Junior High School levels (look up 'vocabulary'). You will be required within 3 months to sit a written English exam, personally, by yourself, on your own, with no help. If you fail you will be deported to Mexico. A fleet of buses stretching 320Km has been assembled in San Diego.

Sorry about that, but all our English pretty much evolved from the Scots and Irish you didn't like and threw our way, and perhaps half of Yorkshire. Throw in all the Africans you shipped here in order to prop up the English and Colonial economies and you see the language problem you left us. And that would be 199 miles, correct? I thought you still used the imperial method, not having bowed down the 'perfect' French system of measure. Dang those French.

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" and "not" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.

Sounds bloody good, and no bloody shite, eh mate? Bloody good!

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. This will be replaced by RI day, today!

While you're at it, do you think we could eliminate all those ridiculous abbreviations and spell out everything, like "Revocation of Independence?"

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

Whatever. It still beats having a socialist/fascist government make all my decisions. Although, if we made all our lawyers wear powdered wigs, we probably wouldn't have that many, either. As for therapists, I’ve been unable to trust them since I realized that it’s spelled the same as ‘the rapists.”

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a plastic vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

Then that means I'll have to endure a huge rise in violent crime, just as had occurred in GB? I'll just have to be a criminal. May God bless our Constitution and its attendant 2nd Amendment. An armed populace is Citizens. An unarmed populace is subjects. Oops, sorry. That is the point, right? What with the monarchy and all?

7. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

Outside of Monty Python and Benny Hill, I didn't realize the English had any humor (American spelling!)

8. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it. You will also adopt UK taxes. Get used to that too. And you will be taxed heavily if you live more than 10kms from your place of employment. So there! Don't expect any sympathy for being the all-time greatest wasters!

We're almost there on petrol, hah! As with taxes, that means we'll ALL be poor and if we want to be able to buy our own homes we'll have to take five years of our lives, move to some armpit of a country in order to be able to move back and buy it. Damn. As for all-time great wasters, I find it interesting that we Americans, with four (4) percent of the World's population, use 24% of the Earth's energy in order to produce 26% of the world's wealth. That over an 800% return on human capital, and over 8% return on financial capital. So there!

9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed, not with catsup, but with salt & vinegar.

Now this I can live with. I've never been a big fan of catsup/ketchup. FYI, look up the Mt. Horeb Mustard Museum online.

10. The cold tasteless piss you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, only Guinness will be referred to as draught, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine and Weasel's Pee. This decree so that all beers can be sold without risk of further confusion.

OK, but realize that Budweiser is STILL the WORLD's best selling beer, with about 40% of the market. That's a 1000% return on human capital. So there, again!

11. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

Hollywood? I've seen English flicks do a fair job of mutilating the Scottish inflection, and do a fair job of mutilating logic, but I digress.

12. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play Rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full Kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). However, we suggest you don't try Rugby until well educated - the Kiwis and South Africans will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.

As for football, personally I've never considered soccer football to be a proper anything. Why have arms if you can't use them? We know where I stand on the greatest sport ever to be produced by mankind - Rugby. 'Nuff said! By the way, the US is still the reigning Olympic Rugby champions, and we destroyed the in 1928 French (in Paris, mind you) to do that.

13. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It will be replaced with 'rounders'. (look up 'rounders'). It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn Cricket. You will also study Geography. Your 2nd written test will be to list all of the Capital Cities of each country, personally. If you fail you will be deported to Mexico. Another fleet of buses stretching 1320Km has been assembled in San Antonio.

When 'rounders' can become an Olympic sport, then surely we could consider it, kinda like team handball, y'know. Cricket? That might be acceptable, but only if beer is involved. I can't argue the geography thing. But then we have never tried to rule the whole of the world for God and King through force of arms, and so never needed to know where Queen Maud Land is or was, or if it ever actually existed. But if you must, I would suggest additional busses on the end of that 820 mile long queue.

14. You must tell us who killed JFK.....and who blew up the WT Towers.....and what happened to all the gold in the basement of Building 7?

There you go with the initials and abbreviations again. OK, but we’ll trade the World Trade Towers if you tell us who killed Diana. As for the WT Towers: probably some guys whose history had some British influence. Also: Gold? What gold? There was no gold. I swear it!

15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

Kinda like those pagans in ancient Rome, eh? Render unto Caesar, oops, I mean the Crown.

16. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups and saucers, and never mugs, with high quality chocolate biscuits (cookies), scones (biscuits) and cream cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

OK, being as that we an overweight nation and all, we can probably live with this. BUT, you will have to shut down all the McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants currently operating in GB and its dependencies, if there are any others left outside of random denuded, overly militarized islands in the middle of some unknown sea.

God save the Queen

And may God bless America. I would never assume the God has blessed America or the Queen. It's a Protestant, American, God-fearin' thing.

Evidence We Won Iraq

Four months into my tour at Qayyarrah-West, Iraq, about January 2005, I wrote this. It seemed appropriate at the time and it still does. It started one night during our tour when my colleagues and I were discussing a variety of things before one of our seemingly never-ceasing meetings. We were discussing home, the war and our jobs, both in the military and in civilian life. We also were “smokin’ and jokin’,” just laughing, and enjoying good company. It’s really amazing what a soldier can find that will amuse him or her in a war zone. Some of the most mundane things will bring howls of laughter in the proper, and sometimes improper, context.

Of course we discussed this war, “Our War” if you will, and how long America will be in Iraq. Opinions range from two years to “till forever.” Of course, we can’t and won’t know when we will leave until it actually occurs. We won the Gulf War and we’re still in Kuwait, though we have left Saudi Arabia.

We’ve also won three wars in Europe over the past ninety years (World Wars I and II, and the Cold War) and we’re still there. It’s the same in Japan and Korea, of course. Promises or assurances when it comes to war and politics are normally useless. Most of us understand this. America was assured by President Clinton that we would be out of Bosnia-Herzegovina within a year. That was in the middle of the last decade and we just pulled the last of our peacekeeping “Implementation” and “Stabilization” forces out of that nation about ten years later. There isn’t a soldier alive then that didn’t know that those words were a pure, unadulterated lie. And we have troops just a few miles south of there in Kosovo still today.

Well, all this got me to thinking. Occasionally soldiers do that, you know. I decided that as a public service it might be good to let you know how to tell when “Our War” is over.
So, in keeping with the craze pioneered by late-night television host David Letterman, I present to you a list of “The Top Ten Ways to Know the Iraq War Has Been Won” in descending order from 10:

10. Your neighbor’s son (or daughter) returns home from Iraq with an Iraqi bride (or husband);

9. The Iraqi Liberal Democratic Party accuses the Iraqi Conservative Party of wanting to make the old people of Iraq eat pork and send their retirement funds to New World corporations because of proposed changes to Iraqi pension laws;

8. The political spending of the Iraqi presidential elections, run by American experts hired from inside The Beltway by Iraqi political parties, is being compared to the spending in California gubernatorial elections;

7. Iraqis protest the impending departure of American troops and bases from their towns, and form committees to go to Washington to lobby the latest Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission, Congress, the Pentagon and the President;

6. Your new state-of-the-art laser satellite receiver/gaming box/movie cube/television combo was manufactured in Fallujah, Iraq, deep in the heart of the Sunni Triangle;

5. Iraq’s leading retailer is Wal-Mart;

4. Iraq’s biggest new hip-hop group, Hezbollah’s Hellions, hit number one on the Billboard pop chart in the US;

3. American labor unions lobby Congress for protection from cheap Iraqi imports;

2. Hooters announces the opening of their new Baghdad restaurant;

And the number 1 way that Americans will know when we’ve won the Iraq War:

1. Teams of Iraqi lawyers arrive at the 9th Circuit Federal District Court in San Francisco and at The World Court in The Hague, Netherlands ready to file suit against the United States Department of Defense for damages incurred during Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and The Iraq War.

Again, America will have freed the oppressed.

Why I'm A Rugger

I’m a rugger. I’ve been one for thirty years now. For those of you unaware, a rugger is a rugby player. I’ve been hooked since my first match in 1978 at Mississippi State University and have never looked back. I have learned much more in Rugby about sportsmanship and honor than I ever learned in baseball, track, football (all of which I played in high school and in recreation) and all other sports I’ve played. Rugby taught me respect for my opposition, and what goes on the pitch (or playing field) stays there.

I continue to learn. Two recent incidents have taught me just how great this sport truly is.

In April, the managing organization of the high school club that I founded and coached, Lugoff-Elgin Rugby Football Club (RFC), released me as their head coach. When I moved to get the parents to form the managing group, it was my intent to ensure that the player’s parents had full control of the club of which their kids were members. While I was upset at my release, I continued to follow the club through its final two matches because it was ‘my’ club and because my son, Ian, played.

Before ‘my’ club’s final match of the year, I volunteered as a match official for another match as a touch judge, and ran touch for that playoff match. The match was well played, but the losing side, a very new club who had yet to understand all that was involved in the sport, came off the field very upset. I made an effort to calm the situation and the team captain mocked me and made somewhat vulgar motions toward me. To my eternal shame and horror, I struck him on his neck with my touch flags.

To this day I don’t know what or why it occurred. I just know that it did. I will regret it till I die. The Palmetto Rugby Union promptly suspended me for a minimum of eight months from any and all activity with Rugby, outside of being a spectator, and placed on me a lifetime suspension from youth Rugby. I applaud their decision. It was clearly the right one and I fully support the decision that was fully vetted by PRU president Bill Bell, South Carolina High School Rugby commissioner Jeff Smolka, and PRU/SCHSR disciplinary chair John Myers. It was undoubtedly the right decision.

I know fully that if I had been a coach for football, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, or any other sport out there, I would likely have received a minor rebuke and perhaps a suspension of two or three games. This would have been likely much less had I been involved with a winning team of any of those sports, such is the state of sports in America today. Nevertheless, I know that USA Rugby is where I still want my sporting dollar to go, because despite my regret and anger at what occurred, the correct decision was rendered.

Then, less than two weeks ago, one of my young ruggers – one of my first in fact – died in a very tragic accident. The team had thrown a surprise party at a lake to send off one of their teammates who was entering the US Navy. There was adult supervision and, like the fine men and women they were, they had no alcohol or anything else that they weren’t supposed to have. The young victim, Tyler Austin Narr, rode there with Ian to the celebration and was quite excited as he had been unable to play any sports due to a severe knee injury, and some attendant complications.

During the party many of the ruggers went swimming, as did Tyler. He suddenly went under in full view of many people and never resurfaced. Ruggers and many others nearby attempted to find him, but couldn’t. It was a diver who recovered him some time later that day. It was a traumatic and tragic day for all involved, obviously.

He was a wonderful young man, who had just returned to high school for his junior year. He played football, wrestled, lifted weights competitively, and played Rugby, all while maintaining a ‘B’ average. And he was the spitting image of Scooby-Doo’s Shaggy.

He so loved Rugby that his mom asked the team to act as pall bearers. The funeral was packed. The team wore slacks and their club jerseys. Some of the football team acted as honorary pall bearers. And, showing all what Rugby is truly about, opposing players from another club, Sumter RFC, also showed up wearing their jerseys, all to honor a fellow rugger. It was a wonderful and touching tribute, and a credit to their coach John Etheridge.

This, all this, along with many other things, is why Rugby is my sport. It will always be. And while I clearly have regrets, two of which are very recent, I will never regret that I was, am, and will always be a rugger.

Michelle's Love & Pride

Back in April of this year Michelle Obama told a highly partisan crown that, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country..." That comment brought a huge ovation from the crowd and an even larger cry from Republicans, conservatives and patriots denouncing her comment.

The Barack Obama presidential campaign went into high gear claiming the mantra of “out of context,” “misunderstood,” and the usual panoply of whitewash, excuses and spin. I’ve read this statement over and over. It was NOT taken out of context. She said it, she meant it, and her audience loved it.

Fast forward to the 2008 Democratic National Convention a mere four months later. Again Michelle Obama is speaking to a highly partisan crown and states "I love this country." I’ve read this statement over and over, too. It was NOT taken out of context either. She said it, she meant it, and her audience loved it.

And I’m sure that BOTH statements are true.

We all love where we’re from. No doubt about. Our homes emote a certain passion from us no matter where we are from. Germans who were born and raised in Nazi Germany, even victims of the government then in power, love their country. It’s only natural. They are certainly not PROUD of Nazi Germany, though. Make no mistake.

And I’m positive that Michelle Obama loves America. It’s her home. America, Illinois, Chicago’s South Side. She loves them all, as I’m pretty sure she loves Princeton and Harvard. But, I’m also sure that out of all those, she isn’t proud of America until April. There is a difference between love and pride.

It’s just a shame to me that a woman, ANY woman, from a working-class family can excel, graduate high school, and graduate from two of America’s elite universities, and not be proud of the nation that allowed her to do that. There are many nations where a Christian, a minority, or a woman would never be allowed the chance to even go to school, no less practice as a lawyer.

I’ve not accomplished any of those things. I’m white and male. And I’m still proud of this nation.

I wonder if she’d be proud to be First Lady?

Jerusalem and Georgia

Obadiah is the shortest of the books of the Old Testament of the Bible, a mere twenty-one verses long. Most religious scholars believe it was written by one of seven “post-exile prophets,” the book is self-titled, and has much in common with the Old Testament books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Amos in their criticism and condemnation of the ancient Middle-Eastern nation of Edom. It clearly must also be associated with other prophecies of Hebrew/Israelite/Jewish restoration within the community of nations on Earth, such as those noted in Joel 3:17-21, Amos 9:11-15, and Micah 7:8-20.

Little known outside the halls of biblical scholarship, the book of Obadiah may well be one of the most profound in dealing with the rights and justice of nations toward one another in the eyes of the single God of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Almost nothing is known of the prophet Obadiah. His name is translated as “servant of the Lord” and is one of at least a dozen others by the same name referred to in the bible, and there is no autobiographical information within the scriptures or in any other known source about the prophet. There, too, is some question as to exactly when the Book of Obadiah was written. It is felt that there are two potential eras in which it could have been recorded – after the Arab-Philistine attack on what is now the Holy Land, c.844 B.C., or more likely two-and-a-half centuries later in the years after the sacking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian Empire in 586 B.C.

Edom, a nation to the south and east of the Hebrew monarchy of Judah, aided and abetted Babylon in the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem. This might be considered a continuation of Edomite-Judean antagonism whose origins stretched back at least as far as the Exodus of the Hebrew nation from Egypt 839 to 651 years previously. During this initial encounter between the nations, Edom refused to grant the Hebrews passage toward their destination of Canaan. And while there was a period of peaceful co-existence in the intervening years, by the time of Jerusalem’s destruction relations were poor. Soldiers of Edom helped to sack the city, carrying off innumerable riches and wealth alongside their Babylonian allies. All this antagonism, ironically, occurred despite the common lineage of the nations to the biblical patriarch Isaac’s sons Esau and Jacob – Edom descended from Esau and Judah’s lineage traced to Jacob. Whatever was the cause and reasons of the animosity, the result was that the destruction of Jerusalem led to a long Diaspora of the Israelite nation that would continue for some 2534 years.

Edom straddled what is today’s southern Israeli border areas with Egyptian Sinai to the west and Jordan to the east, from the central Negev to the north, down to today’s Red Sea seaport of Eilat on Israel’s southern tip. Edom’s capitol was Bozrah, today the small Jordanian town of Bouseira.

Interestingly, many modern Christians believe that Bouseira will be one of the major venues of the Last Judgement. It is their belief that here the Messiah will return to earth to judge the holy and the wicked.

Nevertheless, it was the destruction of Jerusalem and the following Diaspora that apparently led to Obadiah’s short Biblical book.

Today, Edom’s most widely known city is the famed cave-city of Petra, of which there may be some reference within Obadiah’s work: “…Your capital is a fortress of solid rock...” although Bozrah’s ruins appear to have also been built of rock. But there is no doubt that Obadiah accurately predicted the utter and total destruction of Edom and its eventual absorption by a Hebrew nation some two-and-a-half millennia after the sack and destruction of Jerusalem. Obadiah 19 states, “People from southern Judah will occupy Edom; Those from the western foothills will capture Philistia; Israelites will possess the territory of Ephraim and Samaria; The people of Benjamin will take Gilead…”

This eventually occurred beginning in 1947 as the newly established United Nations (knowingly or otherwise) began the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and mandated the re-establishment of a Jewish nation. And it did indeed lead to the fulfillment of Obadiah’s prophecy when on May 15, 1948, Israel declared independence. Outmanned and outgunned, owning a rag-tag air force and navy barely deserving of the names, and an army of militia, the new Israeli nation fought overwhelming and incredible odds beginning even before independence. This new Hebrew nation, miraculously, was able to defeat the combined might of six Arab nations, the Palestinians living in the region, and the benign neglect of its British colonial predecessor. It conquered Israel, Judah, and Philistine of Biblical times, and drove south to secure what had been the Edomite heartland of 2500 years before. The Israeli Order of Battle followed the prophecy of Obadiah almost to the letter, though its complete fulfillment would eventually come within a generation in later years and in later wars.

Obadiah’s prophecy is clearly a lesson to all nations that they are their brothers’ keepers. Edom was a neighbor and, by their common ancestry to Isaac, a brother nation in the region. With Edom’s lack of assistance to Judah and support of the Babylonian Empire, Nebuchadnezzar was able to effectively destroy Hebrew governance in the area for two-and-a-half millennium. While for the vast majority of that period this looked to be the end of the Hebrew nations of Israel, Judah, and the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, clearly it was not. Israel’s re-establishment in 1948 is ample testimony of God’s power over the nations. Over seven million Jews live today within the borders of the State of Israel, the new Hebrew nation, as do millions of others all over the World.

God stated in the prophecy of Obadiah 8-10:
"On the day I punish Edom, I will destroy their clever men and wipe out all their wisdom.
The fighting men of Teman will be terrified, and every soldier in Edom will be killed.
Because you robbed and killed your brothers, the descendants of Jacob, you will be destroyed and dishonored forever."

Today, one can see and tour the sites and ruins of Bozrah and Petra and marvel at the incredible architecture and craftsmanship of the artisans and workers who built an apparently talented, great, and wealthy nation. Thousands do today and the Edomite city of Petra has even been featured in an Indiana Jones movie. Yet today there is not a single Edomite alive. Not one.

This is a stark and important lesson to other nations today. I would even argue that even now God is at work through his lessons in Obadiah. Barely three generations ago the earth saw two of the World’s greatest nations refuse to come to the aid of their fellow weaker nations and those great powers have since paid a heavy price.

In 1938, France and Great Britain, at the time the greatest colonial and military powers on Earth, pledged to stand by Czechoslovakia as a resurgent, newly bellicose, Godless and pagan Germany threatened. Both nations failed to assist the endangered nation, approving an agreement allowing Germany to roll into the disputed western Czechoslovakian region of Sudetenland effectively destroying the nation’s sovereignty. Eleven months later, to the day, Germany invaded Poland as both Britain and France again stood by. The best that either nation could or would do was when the Royal Air Force dropped propaganda leaflets instead of bombs over the German Ruhr and the French Army occupied three square miles of uninhabited Germany territory for three days before retreating back into France.

Of course, these tepid responses plunged the earth into the Second World War, which then led both directly and indirectly to the nearly complete dissolution of both the French and British empires within a single generation. Today, both nations are slowly being absorbed into the greater nation of the European Union and may be but a memory by the end of this century.

The lesson of Obadiah’s writing and prophecy is that God is the king over the Earth and of all nations and man. It is the responsibility of man and the nations of man to assist and defend their neighbors, and to do so for the glory of God and his people on Earth. The failure of the great European powers led to the loss of empire and their relegation to rump nations and their eventual loss of sovereignty into the European Union. The failure of Edom to do the same two-and-a-half millennia previously led to the total and utter destruction of the nation. Today, Edom has its portions divided between Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, with a vast majority within the boundaries of Israel.

Does this lesson bode poorly for America’s and Europe’s response to Russia’s aggression in the tiny Republic of Georgia? What happens if we do not stand up to an identically resurgent, newly bellicose, Godless and pagan Russia? Is Georgia a new Czechoslovakia?

This is an issue that needs to be closely and carefully studied. Edom will never be restored as a nation as there is not a single Edomite left to return. God’s prophecy has been fulfilled – completely and totally.