The Fourth Of July - America's Most Important Holiday

The Fourth of July is America’s most important holiday. It commemorates the day our Founding Fathers went out on a limb. They bet their property – and their LIVES – on the rather slim possibility that a handful of idealists, townsmen, and farmers could defeat the armed forces of the mightiest nation on earth, Great Britain. In the war that followed the Declaration of Independence, the colonists fought the British army for eight long years. Because of a couple of key military victories, and because the monetary and human costs of the war were taking its toll on Britain, the English people grew tired of the fighting, and the government grew tired of the great cost of the war.  The Americans won the war, but it was largely a reflection of the Crown's unwillingness to prolong the fighting or commit enough forces to destroy the rebels. 
Those two hundred odd years later, it appears we have not learned the lessons history tried to teach us. As a young child, I knew several people whose loved ones were killed in Viet Nam. I saw my grandmother worry and cry nearly every day wondering if her son, my uncle, would live through another day in a land no one had ever heard of, and certainly could not locate on a map. We sent over 58,000 men and women to their death, but in the end there was no victory. Just brave dead and wounded soldiers who gave all for their country. (No, I did not forget Korea. I am just glad that one only lasted three years, but with the same results.) Most of us who are alive now saw the Russians spend ten years or so in Afghanistan, lose thousands of their young men, as well as killing thousands of Afghan civilians. The Russians were the second most powerful military force at the time, and were defeated by primitive tribesmen. Oh, yes, by many of the same tribesmen fighting US today.

My point is really three points. First, we cannot force our way of life on other nations and cultures when those nations do not want to embrace "democracy." Second, if we never learn point number one (history repeating!), we will never have peace abroad or a balanced budget at home. The “War on Terror” for instance (since terror is only a concept) can be a never ending, ever expanding, ever more expensive endeavor. And third, the price of allowing the “War on Terror” to be the driving factor of our foreign and domestic policy is ultimately the loss of our own freedoms, those INALIENABLE rights so precious to our Founding Fathers. For you see, our Government will slowly absorb our freedoms in the name of providing “security.” As Mr. Obama so eloquently told us, “ …a civilian security force just as strong is the military” is what he foresees as the saving factor for this nation. I don’t know about you, but what I see as the saving factor for this nation is a restoration of our democratic republican government, like that described and regulated by our United States Constitution.

This Fourth of July I hope we will all honor the men and women who have died to keep us free, but also I hope we will voice our support of those political leaders who are still bound by the Constitution, who still believe the Constitution outlines our freedom, and limits our government (made up of the people, remember?) in its control and regulation of our freedom. God Bless America on this Fourth of July.

A Cop's Last Watch: Deputy Charles Allen VanMeter, Brazoria County Sheriff's Office

Although we think of police officers getting shot when we think of officer deaths, there other, more mundane ways to die as well.  Deputy VanMeter had just finished his shift and was riding in a patrol car with another deputy who was transporting VanMeter to his personal vehicle a few blocks away.  Without any warning, a pickup turned across two lanes of traffic and directly in front of the police vehicle.  The patrol car T-boned the pickup and was demolished.  VanMeter was killed in the crash.  Deputy Josh Waldrop, driving the police car, was left in critical condition, as were the two occupants of the pickup.

Deputy VanMeter had fulfilled his life's dream of becoming a deputy sheriff, and was serving in the county in which he was raised.  Many people, both police officers and "civilians" were touched by the loss of this young deputy in a such a senseless accident.  Toxicology results are not back yet, but the young man driving the pickup will likely be charged with vehicular homicide in this incident.  I am sure the driver did not leave his home with the thought that "tonight I will do something stupid and kill a man."  But I have no doubt that the driver did not consider his action in any way.  The result is that a man, a peace officer, lost his life, another deputy was badly injured, and both the young men in the pickup were terribly injured as well.

My thanks and my honor are extended to Deputy Charles Allen VanMeter.  My sympathy goes out to his parents and his girlfriend.  And the thin blue line is just a little thinner tonight.

The United States Constitution Is IRRELEVANT

I actually heard someone deliver this line on a talk show a couple of days ago:  The Constitution of the United States is irrelevant.  After my initial unbelief that someone uttered this statement, I thought about it, and asked "irrelevant to what?"  In answer to my unspoken question, the person who held this particular opinion went on the explain that with all the changes in society, technology, and the changes in the world after 9/11, the piece of paper guaranteeing that no government could take away our freedom just was no longer usable in our current situation.

For starters, said this person (whom I hope was not representative a very large portion of society) our GOVERNMENT can no longer keep us safe under the legal constraints outlined in the Constitution.  But I cannot convince myself that the person on the news show was the only person who felt this way.  For one thing, someone else voiced the very same opinion, backed by the power of the United States Congress.  Representative F. James Sensenbrenner (Republican - Wisconsin) sponsored USA PATRIOT, backed by such prominent members of Congress as Senator Orrin Hatch, oddly enough acting in "cahoots" with Senator Dianne Feinstein.  Strange bed partners, for certain.  Like the "ordinary citizen" on the television talk show, these Senators had decided that the Constitution was no longer relevant to the "post-9/11" world.  In other words, the "Government" was powerless to "protect the people."

So, these "prominent individuals" took it upon themselves to "protect" US by "strengthening" the powers of various federal agencies.  For the past two hundred years, police agencies had done a very good job of protecting us, even though they operated within the boundaries framed by the Bill of Rights.  Some terrorists plots were thwarted, others were completed successfully.  People for the most part felt that the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, the freedoms enjoyed here in the United States, were worth the possibility that occasionally we would be endangered by criminals, or even terrorists.  After 9/11, however, many people were understandably shaken, even fearful.  In this climate, the "prominent individuals" mentioned above, with the blessing of President George W. Bush and the US Department of Justice, drafted (here I use the term "drafted" loosely, because I am of the opinion that much of USA PATRIOT had been "drafted" well before 9/11) the bill that would become known as Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act. 

This bill passed into law in 2001, and was titled in such a way that the acronym USA PATRIOT was used to identify this very Unpatriotic, treasonous law.  With the passage of this bill, the Bill of Rights was tossed out the window; indeed, it was trampled into the ground by the full weight of the now out of control United States Government.  We, as a nation, have learned after two hundred years government agencies needed to be held at bay by law, by such ideals as freedom from unreasonable search, no unwarranted arrest, and the need for probable cause before criminal charges could be filed.  The truly sad thing was that many congressmen and senators knew that USA PATRIOT was a bad law, and not only that, but a totally unconstitutional law, but were afraid to vote their beliefs in the face of the anti-terrorist fervor that had swept the nation.  Few, if any, lawmakers knew the true extent of USA PATRIOT in the destruction of our free society.  Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act with less than ten people of either house voting against it.  Many of our lawmakers were not "for" this terrible law, but most were afraid to oppose it. 

Now, over a decade later, USA PATRIOT has been challenged many times in federal court.  Many parts of the law have been stricken down by the Supreme Court, yet our Congress refuses to rescind this law, to throw it out like the refuse it is, and to stand and publicly proclaim their unqualified support for the United States Constitution as the law of the land.  The United States Constitution kept our nation whole and our freedoms alive through a terrible "civil" war, two world wars, the Cold War, and the first Gulf War.  If we follow this Law of the Land, even in the face of terrorists and international criminals, we will prevail as a nation, and we will remain free citizens of a truly free United States of America.  And if our elected officials truly believed and followed their oaths of office, they would immediately act as one united government and remove USA PATRIOT as a blight from the landscape of freedom.  For, you see, when we know that our rights are granted us by the Creator, not by "the Government," when we know that the world is full of risks as well as happiness and that no "Government" can guarantee our safety, and that only in our freedom are we secure, then we will no longer tolerate those who shout and cry out that the Constitution is no longer relevant.  Freedom is not free, and is never without risk.  But the biggest risk of all is the loss of freedom when the people become so afraid, and so dependent on the "Government," that they follow along like sheep, bleating out the chorus that the United States Constitution is No Longer Relevant.  My friends, usually when sheep follow along in a line, there is an executioner with a sharpened axe at the head of that line.

Only Two Weeks Until Independence Day

It is just two weeks, more or less, until the Fourth of July, our independence day.  I was just thinking about the democratic republic that was born that day, over two hundred years ago.  Now, these two centuries later, we - the United States - are engaged in (non) war in several countries around the world, with the stated purpose of "bringing democracy" to those nations.  Regardless of whether or not "democracy" has taken root in even one of those nations, the thought, the intent, was noble.  Ironically, at this same time, here in the United States our own government is engaged in another war, if you will.  It is a war AGAINST the Rights granted to each of us by the Creator and enumerated in our Bill of Rights.  And let us be clear on this point: Our Constitution and our Declaration of Independence state this truth quite plainly.  Our rights, that is, man's rights, were bestowed on us by our Creator, not by any government, any nation, any ruler, or even any sacred document such as the Constitution of the United States.  This point is worth making again, and worth teaching yourself and your children:  The Creator bestowed upon humans the inalienable rights we enjoy today.  The Constitution of the United States only ENUMERATES (or LISTS) those rights.  The corresponding point, also worth making once again, is that since MAN or GOVERNMENT did not bestow those rights, then neither MAN nor GOVERNMENT may legally remove or even LIMIT those rights.

So now, in 2011, we are witness to a great and terrible irony in full sway.  On the one hand, the United States is engaged in conflicts around the world, the point of which conflicts is to allow the citizens of the respective nations to have a chance at creating a democratic nation or society.  On the other hand, that same United States is engaged in a conflict IN the United States, the point of which conflict is the curtailment of our civil rights (bestowed upon us by the Creator, not "the Government"), in the name of "the War on Terrorism," the "War on Drugs," and of course, in the name of "National Security."  While our soldiers are giving their lives daily in foreign lands so that those people may have "freedom," our own government is engaged in slowly unravelling OUR freedom.  Since September 11, 2001, we, as United States citizens, have sat idly by as one government agency or another has implemented "administrative procedures" that effectively curtail our liberties.  A former President signed the USA PATRIOT Act into law.  The current President, though claiming to be for change and openness, has not only failed to take action to restore liberty, but has in fact added his weight and influence to the process of unraveling our freedom.

I plan to blog over the next few days about topics dealing with the current trend of the federal government in which small actions are taken against civil liberty, the people are told the measures are needed for "national security," the small loss of liberty is tolerated by the masses, then the cycle repeats itself.  There is no one point at which a person can say the government has gone too far.  Instead, because freedom is eroded so gradually, most of the public will not realize that liberty has been robbed from us until we wake up one day and the Orwellian world predicted decades ago has "suddenly" come to pass.   I am afraid that only then will the masses be alarmed at the loss of liberty; only then will the masses realize the need to unite against the monster government; and, only then will we -the people - realize, but too late, that our freedom, paid for by the blood of our soldiers for generations, has been taken from us...and no one fired a single shot to do it.

The Transportation Security Administration: If Obama Was Really For "Change" This Agency Would Have Been The First To Go

One of the many abominations borne of United States "Government's" desire to "protect" US - we the people- in the so-called "Post 9/11 Era" is the Transportation Security Agency.  This agency, created in 2001 as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, signed into law by that beloved and freedom-loving president, George W. (Dubya) Bush, has grown from a fledgling upstart into strong and out of control organization in just a decade.  It accomplished what the terrorists of September the 11th could not: It halted the free and unrestricted access we all had to major airports and other transportation centers, by placing unreasonable security demands and procedures on travelers, by restricting loved-ones from free access to their relatives, and creating a sense of apprehension, even dread, every time a free citizen of this great nation attempts to fly or use other means of national and international transportation.  If we need an example of this unreasonable "security" we need only think about the two disgusting procedures we must now all endure; those are the body "pat down" and groping, or the X-ray device that reveals a person's private parts to the full view of the transportation security officer.

President Obama ran on the pretext, I mean, the political platform that he was the President For Change.  Now, nearly four years into his administration, he has done nothing to check the "authority" of the Transportation Security Agency nor to reign in this agency's clearly unreasonable and UNCONSTITUTIONAL search and seizure procedures at our nation's airports and other transportation centers.  Mr. Obama has not issued a single "Executive Order" to restrain this mad-dog agency, or threatened to fire the Director if these highly controversial and obviously unconstitutional "administrative" procedures were not halted immediately.  George W. Bush, A REPUBLICAN, had no problems with the criminal powers granted the TSA.  You would think that President Obama, being the opposite of Bush in all political beliefs, would have immediately moved to disband the agency or at least curtail its powers.  Instead, President Obama now tells us he envisions a CIVILIAN security force that would be JUST AS STRONG, JUST AS POWERFUL, AS THE US MILITARY (His words, My emphasis).  And this strong civilian security force would be specifically to protect you and me from...you and me!  If the TSA currently has all these strong powers but no checks on its authority, I can only imagine what powers this MILITARY "STRONG" CIVILIAN FORCE bring into play against you and me.

It appears that the "President of Change" is not going to change much at all.  If he does change his mind, follow the Constitution, and act in the best interest of the people, how could he do other than throw away this terrible blight on Freedom that is the Transportation Security Agency?

 
 

Hot Air And Sand But No Surf

The past several weeks have all been days of record-breaking high temperatures.  Today, however, we got a break; the high was only 98 degrees above 0.  Yes, it is true, a cold front blew in last night and cooled the area.  As I sat in the shade, where it was only 94, I recalled those wonderful days last year spent beside the shore in Some're Surfin,' our beach home off the beach.  Some of you may remember me talking about the house with the view of the neighbor, who had a view of the neighbor, who had a view of the neighbor, who had a view of the beach.  Even though I had a poor view of the beach, I could walk only a couple of blocks and step in the sand and the surf.  I really miss the waves and the little sea creatures that frolicked just in the waves.  Even the occasional little shark.

Well, it is hot and sandy in Midland, but there is no surf waiting just off the sand, no seagulls begging for the friendly handout, and few cute ladies in bikinis other than at the two public swimming pools in town.  I was was sitting by the small pond at my place of work today, watching the birds drinking and playing in the water as schools of fish swam past, dimly visible below the surface.  The birds were singing and squawking, but alas, not in the comical notes produced by the greedy seagulls fighting over bits of picnic residue or the gifts of the incoming tide. Boy, how I would love to be in a chair at the beach, sipping on something tropical, instead of sitting on this porch and drinking a glass of tea with lemon.

My lunch hour drew to a close, and my melancholy meanderings along Surfside Beach had to take back burner to the job at hand.  But the hot air and dust did not fade away.  I am afraid the hot is here to stay, for today was the first day of Summer.  Now it will start getting REALLY HOT every day.  Oh wait, it has been really hot since March 31st.  I think the heat may have gotten to me, at least a little.  I started thinking, as I was walking through the beautiful West Texas sand, that if I just kept walking...just a little further...just a little further...the surf would come rushing to meet me over the next rise.  Oops, there are no "rises" within fifty miles of here.  This place is very flat.  And that was no seagull, that was a raven.  But I can STILL imagine.  And I can hear my wife laughing.  She is laughing because she will go to the beach in a couple of months.  I, however, will still be here in the burning, drifting, shifting West Texas sand.  And NO SURF. 

USA PATRIOT Act Makes A Mockery Of The United States Constitution

The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.  That is quite a mouth full.  We can shorten the title to a small bite by calling it the USA PATRIOT Act.  I would say that was a patriotic acronym, if that were true; however, the USA PATRIOT Act is in reality the most serious and vile threat to the United States Constitution, and OUR FREEDOM, since Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito conspired to conquer the world and force their authoritarian and fascist way of life upon the entire globe.  We would all do well to remember that just because one assault on the free world, including the United States, was thwarted in the end by freedom loving people finally taking action, that certainly does not mean that other attacks, from without or within, will never again take place.  In fact we know that United States was attacked by terrorists in 2001.  But now this great nation is under attack from within, by the very government that is supposed to protect us and preserve our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

Now I agree that the USA PATRIOT Act is not nearly as dramatic and not nearly as deadly a threat as the German Blitzkriegs or the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  Or even the cowardly but deadly attack on the United States on September 11, 2001 by terrorists, both known and unknown.  But the USA PATRIOT Act is every bit as dangerous to our freedom as a physical military attack bent on conquering America and enslaving her people.  The USA PATRIOT Act violates every provision of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of our United States Constitution.  From secret justice courts to FBI "sneak and peak" searches, this despicable "act" begins the complete erosion of the freedoms GRANTED TO ALL MEN BY THE "CREATOR" and enumerated in the United States Constitution. 

I strongly urge every one of you to read, or at least TRY to read, this horrific federal legislation that has now been in force over us for ten years.  I urge you to read the United States Constitution for yourself.  It is easy to understand.  Then decide for yourself whether you support the USA PATRIOT Act.  Does it violate the Constitution?  You bet it does.  I urge each of you to educate yourself concerning the Constitution and your rights, and what USA PATRIOT HAS DONE to your rights, and will continue to do.  Then I urge you to contact your political representatives to find out whether they support or reject this terrible Act.  I urge you then to give notice to your representative or candidate that you cannot support this person if he or she supports the USA PATRIOT Act.  I think within another five years to a decade we can rid ourselves of this evil simply by electing representatives who will devote themselves to repealing this scourge on our freedom.  I hope all of you will join me in this endeavor with each election, until we are truly free again.

Sheriff Roberts Found Guilty Of Retaliation

Today, Sheriff Robert Roberts of Winkler County was found guilty of Improper Use of Confidential Information, among other charges.  This verdict, while just, was a little bit of surprise to me, given the reluctance of juries to convict peace officers.  In this case, however, Robert Roberts was clearly in the wrong, clearly was acting under the color of his officer strictly to benefit his friend, and was clearly acting maliciously against nurses Ann Mitchell and Vicki Galle.  The Sheriff's sentence was fairly light, but he was removed from office, and that is the  most important thing.

I suspect that Robert Roberts, the former Sheriff of Winkler County, is now looking back with regret, wishing he could go back and change the way he handled this particular "investigation."  This case, in which two nurses were investigated after using the Texas Whistle Blower's Act in good faith and were prosecuted for misuse of confidential information, probably marks the first time a sheriff has personally investigated nurses in this way.  Possibly it will be the last time.  The lesson that peace officers should bring from this case is that an investigation that is obviously not in good faith will ultimately undo the investigator. 

I have been on both sides of the badge now, and I can say there were times over the years that I was tempted to act as Sheriff Roberts did, under the color of legal authority, to do a favor for some friend.  A police officer, however, cannot show favor, even with good intentions, and certainly not with malicious intent, to "help a friend" if the help involves carrying out illegal actions and hiding behind the badge, that sacred symbol of public faith.  The jury did the right thing by convicting Sheriff Roberts.  The judge furthered the jury's action by ordering the Sheriff to surrender his Peace Officer's License and by removing him from office. 

Both Ann Mitchell and Vicki Galle are vindicated in their actions, but they were both subjected to more than 400 days of anxiety and fear during their ordeal.  The Sheriff will spend about 400 days in his own jail, but I doubt seriously if he will be in with the general population.  Both nurses lost their jobs and faced such hostility that they were no longer able to work in the Kermit area.  Mr. Roberts will no doubt have a fairly easy time after returning to the private sector in Kermit.

Nonetheless, Sheriff Robert's conviction will put the teeth back in the Whistle Blower's Act, and will restore the faith of nurses in our legal system.  Very often the only people that are medically competent to recognize a doctor's malpractice are nurses.  Very often the only witnesses to such malpractice are nurses.  Thanks to today's verdict, nurses will be able to do their jobs and know that they will not become victims of unwarranted criminal prosecution if they ever have occasion to resort to the Texas Whistle Blower's Act.  By extension, patients in hospitals will be safer because nurses can provide care and vigilance, without fear of reprisal.

The Brown Sand Dune Lizard, The Chapparal Cock, The Pecos Assiminea Snail, Oil and Gas Drilling, and WCS Andrews

What a long title!  But you will see how these all fit together in just a moment.

This afternoon we learned that the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLAM  (my acronym)), lately concerned with the plight of the Brown Sand Dune Lizard, is now in hysteria because the Pecos Assiminea Snail http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/share_with_wildlife/snailsandamphipod.htm  has suddenly (well, as of 2006) become endangered by oil and gas drilling operations in certain small parcels of land in the Permian Basin areas of West Texas and New Mexico.  Once again, the federal government is come to the rescue of some obscure but cute creature that will cease to exist if petroleum operations continue in the designated areas.  Protect the Sand Dune Lizard...Protect the Pecos Assiminea Snail, that is what the BLAM tells us they must do, no matter what the economic damage might be for the Petroleum Industry, and by extension, everyone in the United States.

Enter, stage left, the Chaparral Cock.  This fairly large, ungainly but fun to watch bird is known to most of us (in these here parts) as the Roadrunner.  The BLAM took all the good time and trouble to save the Brown Sand Dune Lizard from the ravages of the evil Oil Men, but unfortunately forgot about one thing: Mother Nature, disguised as the Chaparral Cock, the common everyday Roadrunner.  I certainly hope my little blog does not inadvertently spur the BLAM into action, such as ordering the wholesale destruction of all roadrunners in West Texas.  For you see, roadrunners appreciate a certain little four-legged delicacy also known as the Brown Sand Dune Lizard.  That's right, even the full might of the BLAM thrown against the  Petroleum Industry cannot save the poor Sand Dune Lizard from the voracious appetite of the Chaparral Cock.  The BLAM may not be aware yet of their little predicament, but surely they soon will be.  Do they save the Brown Sand Dune Lizard, or do they, the persona of the Mighty Fed, allow the lowly roadrunner to continue in his natural pursuit of food, i.e, eat the little creature?  Oh, Gracious, what will they do?  What WILL THEY DO?

Pan across the stage, across the plain, to a certain disgusting locale just west of Andrews, Texas.  The spotlight brightly illuminates the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) Andrews facility.  Tons of "low-level, non-life threatening" radioactive waste have been and are being dumped into a huge pit dug into the Andrews County country side.  Where was the BLAM when THIS little operation was being...well...dumped on the people of Texas?  What if someone ran to the BLAM and told them that the Brown Sand Dune Lizard was running up and down the pits and along the grounds around the WCS facility, and that the mud holes and springs in the bottom of the pits were teeming Pecos Assiminea Snails?  Would the BLAM come riding into the Permian Basin in all their blazing glory, astride their beautiful white stallions, and HALT the operations of WCS Andrews?  Would Mr. Robinson grab Harold Simmons by the collar and tell him, "No more, you Villain!"  No, I think this little melodrama would suddenly slam to a screeching halt.  Mr. Villain Simmons would send the BLAM packing back to Albuquerque and the "National Solution" for our "nuculer" (sorry, Bush the Second!) waste problem would continue, unabated.

It is a shame that the federal government, noble intentions notwithstanding, is so willing to go to extreme means to protect these little animals from the EVIL PETROLEUM INDUSTRY, while that SAME federal government turns a blind eye to LONG TERM killing of the West Texas Desert and the Ogallala Aquifer, and the disastrous consequences that will inevitably fall on the future residents of the area, as well as those that will depend on the Ogallala for their water supply.  Yes, the BLAM is protecting our lizards and snails from the hazards of petroleum exploration and recovery, while NO FEDERAL AGENCY is protecting actual PEOPLE from the evils wrought by Harold Simmons and company at WCS.

Finally, I fear that that comical and fascinating bird, the roadrunner, will end up on some federal "predator" control list when the BLAM determines that the Chaparral does indeed pose a threat to the Brown Sand Dune Lizard.  I can imagine yearly "control hunts" to keep the roadrunner population in check and out of the poor lizard's habitat.  Too bad the Fed does not have the same concern for the habitats of its citizens.

Someone Burglarized My Closet

Someone burglarized my closet!  At least that is what I think happened.  It must have been someone that had a key to the apartment because there was, as the police say, no sign of forced entry.  This was a really unique burglary, too.  The criminal did not take my TV, or any of the few things of value I own.  And, my latest supply of Bailey Black copies were left in place.  Obviously the burglar had no taste in literature!  But, something was taken.  Even weirder, something was left behind.  This was a strange burglary, indeed, one that it would take the likes of Mulder and Scully to solve. 

The strange thing about this burglary was that someone removed all my pants that fit me, and left in their place seemingly identical pants that were too small.  The pants that were stolen were just my size.  The impostors were at least one size too small.  I called the police of course.  The dispatcher questioned me for some time about the circumstances of this burglary.  She seemed so helpful at first, but then seemed to become somewhat less understanding as I described the property taken, and the clothing left behind by the unknown criminal.  Can you believe this?  After a few minutes, the dispatcher told me she would NOT send officers to investigate this crime.  She suggested...and this is the REALLY unbelievable part...that I might have GAINED SOME WEIGHT over the Memorial Day Weekend.  I was appalled! So appalled that I went to the refrigerator and got a double helping of Banana Split Pie to help settle my nerves.  And as I sat down to eat, I think the seat of my pants ripped open.  Dang that Burglar!

Two Presidents and One Inconvenient Truth

We have listened and believed (?) the Brothers President when they both said that ninety percent of the guns being confiscated by the Mexican police were found to be purchased in Texas and other states and smuggled across the border into Mexico.  Both President Calderon and President Obama repeated this statistic over and over, and it was carried by the media day after day.  President Calderon even stated that 93,000 (plus or minus) automatic and semi-automatic weapons used in crimes, including murder of police officers and political officials, were found to be purchased from small gun shops and then smuggled into Mexico.  I wanted to believe both presidents would be truthful about this.  In fact, it turns out that these statements, repeated time after time, are not true.

Documents such as cables between Mexican and United States federal agencies, as well as some cables and memorandums obtained by reporters and in some cases by Wickileaks, have demonstrated something totally different.  According to statements BY THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT and by United States federal authorities as well, the fully automatic rifles and pistols, as well as grenades, land mines, and stinger-type rockets were in fact PURCHASED by Mexico from "legal arms dealers" from the United States, Columbia, and Israel, to name a few.  Then, again according to written correspondence of both the Mexican and United States governments, various Mexican federal and state agencies "lost track" of nearly fifty percent of those weapons.  

I, like many others, desperately want to believe our government when told some fact or another, when offered some explanation or another.  But situations like this point out how often the government is not credible.  President Obama cannot be considered credible anymore.  I have long since quit giving credence to Mr. Calderon.  But it is still very upsetting when our own president uses false information to then advocate for stronger gun laws here in the United States.  Of course, in fairness to Mr. Obama, Mr. Bush certainly had some "credibility gaps" as well.  But Mr. Obama ran on the claim that his would have the most open and transparent government ever.  If he HAS the most open and transparent government ever, we - the people- are surely in trouble.  I hope those that support Obama "no matter what!" will at least look into the information I have discussed here.  There are so many good Democrats who, though they have different points of view than mine, still want a government that is honest, open, and transparent.  I hope you will see, that like Bush the Second, Obama is not that open and transparent person, either.