Bad News, Mom, and Hummingbirds

The news on television, radio, and the Internet is chock full of bad news and should only be taken in moderation, if at all.  News stories inform us that the "Democrats" found no "wrong-doing" on Hillary's part in relation to Benghazi, while the "final report" by the "Republicans" finds that Hillary's actions (rather INaction) directly led to the deaths of our statesmen and soldiers.  Meanwhile, the Orlando massacre is being dissected by many different journalists and from many different angles.  If you read or listen to these stories you find that there is some degree of mystery surrounding why the first officers on the scene were told to "stand down" and pull back even BEFORE the SWAT team took up positions, possibly allowing the shooter more time to kill more victims.  On the other end of the spectrum journalists are positing that the "massacre" (in quotation marks) was "staged by the Government," another "false flag event" to condition Americans to expect, or even DEMAND, stricter gun control.  Some are even saying that "the Government" sent the shooter in the Pulse Club so that he would kill people, then "the Government" killed the shooter (who had surrendered) so that the shooter could not "talk."  In economic news, the ENTIRE WORLD ECONOMY is on the verge of collapse due to "Brexit."  Incidentally, I am SO TIRED of reading the word "Brexit" I could just about barf!!  You can read that in California the police "stood by" so that anti-protesters could attack the Neo-Nazis.  Give me a break!!!!!

So I shut off all electronics, save my cell phone, and just sat and enjoyed nature that was available right out in the front yard.  I only had my cell phone so that I could call Mom.  I promise I did not even LOOK at anything other than the "contact list" so that I could tell Siri to "Call Mom."  My lovely bride lost her mother last year, so I have made a point to talk to Mom as often as possible, even when there is "nothing" to talk about.  Luckily, since I am getting a little older (cough...cough...) I can talk to Mom now about my ailments when other areas of conversation lag.  So I talked to Mom about Baby Baby (our granddaughter) and the latest pictures that either the proud grandparents or the proud parents have sent via "message."  Mom has more or less mastered the art of sending and receiving messages, including photographs, so we now frequently send her pics of the latest cute thing Baby Baby has done.  I had talked to Mom nearly an hour before she finally said she was feeling a little sleepy.  I guess I am not the most exciting conversationalist!

Mom and I exchanged our "goodbyes" and "I love you's" and ended our call.  I sat outside a little longer, now covered in shadows as the sun was setting, and I watched a couple of hummingbirds feeding at a feeder I had just placed on a tree yesterday.  Hummingbirds...now these are truly remarkable and beautiful little creatures.  I am always in awe at the sight of these birds, whose wings flap so many times per second that humans cannot perceive the single beat of the wing.  These fragile little birds that will "defend" the hummingbird feeder from interloping hummingbirds with the ferocity of a grizzly bear, yet so small and delicate.  The birds today were emerald hummingbirds, the kind I have seem most often in this area.  That these tiny little birds can stand on a tree limb is truly amazing to me.  How small must be their toes, yet they can grip the branch and remain steady in the wind.  Truly little creatures of wonder.

It is surprising how "down to earth" one can feel after a talk with Mom and a few minutes with Mother Nature.  So I sat outside a little while longer.  Finally, as the mosquitoes began to sample my blood, I decided to retreat from nature and get back to this blog.  I hope you enjoyed this short intermission from the real world and remember:  Always take the bad news of the world in moderation.  And it really does not take a very big does to hit "moderation."

May God bless you all,

And God Bless America

The Good Listener or, The Gift of Empathy

One of my greatest pleasures in this life has been to be a good listener (my Lovely Bride may not agree with this assessment!) and to empathize with the person who may be telling me his or her story.  This pleasure is even greater when the person has entrusted me with experiences which he or she has not shared with anyone else.  Unfortunately, along with the pleasure of "being there" when someone needs me, needs a shoulder to cry on, or just a free "ear," also comes the burden (which I gladly bear) of feeling, to some degree, the sadness, anger, confusion, loss, as well as joy, happiness, and love that the person has experienced as he or she travelled through this life.

After talking with people (I am sure you know this) I have learned, re-learned, and learned again, that there is no way to accurately judge a person from "the outside looking in."  Not that we should be judging people, yet we do.  It's okay, I know you do, and I do it, too.  But you and I can all try to keep it to a minimum, especially be understanding this one thing: We do not, and cannot, understand why a person "is like" he or she is unless we get to know that person, or at least get to the parts of the person that he or she has chosen to reveal to us.  Once we learn a thing we did not know about the other person, is becomes much easier to understand the person, to "deal" with the person, to overlook the person's little "quirks" (our own quirks are really just "characteristics" that the other person has no need to overlook), and maybe even to forgive the person for some "wrong" in light of the person's experiences and trials.

Yes, I love being the person others turn to, even though there is a corresponding burden of confidentiality, of protection, of the need not to reveal this confidence to others, even accidentally.  And there is another burden, as I said, of feeling the pain, anger, confusion, shame, and other negative emotions, as well as the positive ones. 

In the interest of protecting the confidentiality of a person who recently chose to reveal experiences of childhood physical abuse suffered at the hands of parents and other relatives, I cannot talk about the details here, but I can talk about the new way that I see this person now.  I understand more now about why this person chose a particular life-style, why this person acts in certain ways and believes in certain things, while not believing in others.  I learned (once again) that we all experience different things in life, different good things...and different bad things. 

As a person relates these experiences to me, I can imagine what I THINK it would be like to have been in the situation the person described, but I cannot KNOW what the person actually felt.  For instance, I can try to imagine what it must have been like to be abused, and to be abused over and over again, physically, but I can never really KNOW what that person actually felt, having never been physically abused myself.  Yes, I received the occasional "bottom-burner" as a child, but I have never considered that abuse, so I do not believe I suffered in any way, other than not being able to sit down for a few minutes.  I can never really fully understand how a person's early experiences (positive or negative) have effected that person's beliefs, relationships, abilities, etc., but I can begin to make a few concessions, such as tolerating those "little quirks" the person has that I may not really like so much.  The pleasure of being around the person or having the person in my life certainly covers over those quirks.  Knowing the that the person wanted to share these things with me is truly a gift that I am not sure the other person even realized that he or she was giving to me.

It is this quirk of mine, this empathy, that I think might cause these people to believe that they can confide in me.  And it is my pleasure to receive these confidences.  Occasionally, though, the things shared with me cause me to feel at least a portion of the anger, the hurt, the rejection, that the person himself or herself must have felt.  I also understand that in sharing these experiences, these memories, with me, the person himself or herself is also reliving the experiences, "re-feeling" the pain or whatever emotion might be involved.  As I listened to experiences related to me one night this past week, I was transferred back in time with this person to the many occasions when the person was subjected to abuse, and saddened when told how the abuse effected this person's life, and continues to do so today.  In essence, I felt the pain, but I also felt the triumph this person experienced later on, the success in this person's life today.

It would be easier to tell people from time to time that I do not want to hear these things, not because I am not interested, but because of the very real, very plasma-like, sometimes oppressive empathy that I feel can be over-powering and discouraging.  Yet the person who has overcome all of these things also allows me to feel another kind of empathy, the empathy of his or her current happiness, the happy reunions with long-estranged relatives, successful parenting, even that the person has reached a successful point in his or her career or with personal goals.  Most of all, hearing of another's life experiences keeps me grounded (most of the time) and helps me not to be so judgmental of people I do not know, but who I work with or associate with on a daily basis.

The Good Shepherd said to us "Do not judge, lest you be judged in the same measure that you judge others."  I know I have a long way to go in the judgment area, but I believe I am getting better.  More importantly, I believe I am using one of the few gifts I was blessed with in a way that is beneficial to those who choose to bring their confidences to me.  And I am blessed every time a person chooses to tell me his or her story.  And each of us has a story, I can tell you.

Officer Casebolt Vindicated, McKinney Police Chief Should Resign - Today

What a surprise! Officer Casebolt was NOT INDICTED by a grand jury for the "Pool Party Incident" where he "threw a ""teen"" to the ground then pointed his weapon when two slightly larger "teens" approached him to forcibly rescue the arrested "teen." Of course he was not indicted....he did his job and used his tools and training to protect himself and others.

But, what a bittersweet thing...no, he will not be charged, but he lost his job due to the totally reactionary (and scared) police chief of McKinney PD who got into the bleating sheeple line as quickly as he could to go OUT OF HIS WAY NOT TO SUPPORT THIS OFFICER.  But, facts presented to a calm and reasonable jury vindicate the officer and BEG for the resignation of the cowardly police chief.

Remember the incident started when teens trespassed into private property then began assaulting people who asked them to leave.  The police came and enforced the no trespass as requested by the rightful property owners.  Here's a really RADICAL CONCEPT.  No law violation...no police confrontation.  That was easy...

Incidentally, Officer Casebolt and his family LOST LIFE AS THEY KNEW IT...not because of Casebolt's lawful and responsible actions, but because a POLICE CHIEF was too much of a coward to stand by his officer until an investigation was completed.  He was too much of a coward to keep this officer on the force until the grand jury had convened and made a decision.  Due to the action and hysterics of the McKinney Chief of Police, Officer Casebolt and his family ceased to live life as they knew it, while the perpetrators of the offense, and the perpetrator of this injustice  (Chief Conley) appear to go on with "business as usual."

Chief Conley, please do your officers a favor and leave police work - I am sure you can find a nice place OFF THE STREET with one of the many organizations of which you are a member.  

May God bless Officer Casebolt and his family....

And God bless America 

Ward Churchill Is Not A Native American - or - Eating Crow Filet Mignon

How I hate eating crow!  In fact, it may surprise NO ONE that crow is not one of my favorite delicacies, but I will eat it when I need to...and I need to.

More about crow eating in a minute, but first...I would like to pose this question:  If a person who claims to be someone who his is really not, in other words, he LIED about himself and his background, then can ANYTHING this person has said or written be credible?  I will answer that myself, class.  If a liar says something that he wants to pass off as the truth, and someone knows the liar IS in fact...a liar...it is up to that someone to fact check the liar's information.  Some of the information may prove to be true, and some may not.  But if a person is "fooled" by a known liar, shame on that person.

So, back to the crow filet mignon.  In one of my recent blogs I cited as a good and well-written book on the atrocities the American government has perpetrated on Native Americans, the people of the Middle East, the people of Japan, the people of Africa, of Latin America, and on into infinity and beyond, a certain book entitled On The Justice of Roosting Chickens.  This book, written by Ward Churchill, is a listing of atrocities mentioned above.  Now first let me say that we as Americans cannot deny that our government and its agencies (sometimes including the armed forces) have wrought much pain on various nations throughout the world and throughout the years since 1776.  Since getting a little older and studying things for myself, I have come to the conclusion we as American citizens have sat by idly for many years while these atrocities were committed.  Or as one person said "the Silent Majority was irrelevant."

I do believe those things.  The problem was that I used "facts" provided by a person who had carried himself for a quarter of a century as a "Native American" when in fact he is just as White as I am.  Not only that, but this man, Ward Churchill, stated his mission was to get rights restored and reparations made to the remaining Native American population, given that EVERY SINGLE TREATY our government made with Native American nations has been dishonored by US - the United States.  Now it is TRUE that the United States nullified its treaties (whether formally or "de facto") with the various Indian nations.  But Ward Churchill went beyond good scholarship by making up some facts and/or the numbers associated with those facts. 

Above all, Churchill is simply NOT CREDIBLE because he manufactured his Native American identity.  A little research will show that he was made an "honorary" member of one tribe, but that was ceremonial in nature, and in no way "made" him a Native American.  So Ward Churchill and his writings can no longer be considered credible, which is tragic, since he had raised awareness of both the maltreatment of Native Americans by our government, and the war crimes committed overseas by our government.  But, I unfortunately cited Churchill's book as a credible source of said atrocities.  So I am now having a crow sandwich for dinner.

Ward Churchill did a great dis-service to the Native American cause, and to Americans in general, and I have done a dis-service to all my readers.  I find that I am nearly a decade behind in learning of Churchill's lies, which he spread through apparently credible, academic means.  Had I done my homework, I would not have cited Churchill's book or relied on any of his "factual" information.  So I apologize for my own error in not looking further into this man's background.

God Bless America

(while I eat my crow dinner)    

"One - Upping" The Orlando Massacre

Even as the nation (as a whole) is reeling in the aftermath of the Orlando ISLAMIC TERRORIST attack and murders, several more peaceful Muslims have committed more murders and attempted murders around the nation, including a TERRORIST shooting and hostage-taking that is happening right now at a Wal-Mart in Amarillo, Texas.  Someone has astutely observed today that "we are at war!" 

After the murders in Orlando, then after all the expressions of shock and sympathy, an interesting discussion has emerged.  Even as shocked, angered, and grieving people around the nation were trying to take in this latest attack, to comprehend the deaths and the sadness of the survivors and loved ones, news commentators began calling the Orlando murders the "largest mass killing" in this nation's history.  Indeed, the number of dead has overshadowed the loss of life at Ft. Hood, Texas, at Virginia Tech, at the Boston Marathon, and even all the way back to the killing of over thirty people who were dining at a Luby's Restaurant in Killeen, Texas.  I suppose this sort of comparison somehow begins a sort of recovery process.

Unbelievably, to me anyway, suddenly "posts" began appearing on Facebook, and probably on other "social media" as well, "correcting" the newscasters and us "ordinary persons" as well by informing us that the worst mass murder in American History occurred at Wounded Knee in 1890, when United States cavalry troopers began murdering Lakota Indians who had just been disarmed by the same troopers.  The story I have heard all my life about this "massacre" is that over 200 Lakota Indians were killed, and that was that.  But a little more study indicates that during the process of disarming the Lakota, and BEFORE anyone had been injured, a Lakota shot and killed a cavalry trooper.  OF COURSE the troopers returned fire.  It was suddenly a life or death matter for all involved.

When the shooting was over not only were several Lakota dead, but so were more than twenty US soldiers.  Yes, after the firefight, most of the remaining Lakota were murdered, although it would be a stretch (at least in the minds of the surviving soldiers that day) to say that the murders were in "cold blood."  I would venture that in fact the soldiers were "hot blooded" and were seeking revenge for their just-killed colleagues.  Nonetheless, this was a very dark incident that certainly marred America, and certainly it was still a criminal and inhumane slaughter.  I get it, and I agree.

But...

What I have seen on the Internet in the past two days has been disgusting as well.  It seems that people are doing their darnedest to try and "one up" the Wounded Knee Massacre by listing other "massacres" that have occurred in the United States since almost as soon as the ink on the United States Constitution was dry.  Please get a grip, people!  Yes, those things occurred and yes, those things are disgraceful since they were perpetrated as state policy by the "most peace-loving nation in the world."  But now, in just hours after the terror and killing in Orlando, and now other localities as well, now we should be coming together in support of each other, in support of our fellow Americans who have been killed by a group of people that seems bent on destroying this nation as we know it.

By the way, the various massacres have been studied, documented, lamented, decried, denounced, and commentated since the middle of the nineteenth century.  The massacres cannot be denied and we, as a nation, have grown to the point that we do not want to deny them, but to make sure that such things never happen again, at least not as a part of national policy.  If you want to read a well-written and documented study of such things, I direct you toward Ward Churchill's On The Justice of Roosting Chickens.

Of course those terrible things occurred in America, perpetrated by Americans.  But just now I think it would be far more productive and helpful if Americans stopped trying to "one up" the Orlando murders and instead start trying to support each other and help each other begin the healing process.  And the healing process will be a long one.  First, of course is the shock and sorrow.  But later, as some of the shock and surprise begins to fade, a sense of fear and helplessness may set in.  I have already talked with people who literally are afraid to go anywhere, because Islamic terrorists may show up ANYWHERE and begin shooting at ANY TIME.  And really, this has always been the case.  Government agencies and laws may help protect us, but in reality anyone of us could become the target of a terrorist at any time.  This is reality!

Given the reality that we live in now, I believe we need to draw together, support and love each other, and join each other in being vigilant as we go about our daily activities.  And no, we should NOT go about our lives in fear.  We live in what is still a great nation.  We enjoy what is still a great amount of freedom.  We have much to be thankful for.  And we have some work to do.  First and foremost, we need to go on with our lives, do the things we usually do.  IF WE DO NOT CARRY ON, THE TERRORISTS HAVE WON and there is no point in going any further.

But if we have not succumbed to this "terror," another thing we must do is to resolve to support our fellow countrymen in the face of any new attacks, and there can be no doubt that new attacks will occur.  We also, as a nation, must come to grips with a past that is spotted with many events, including massacres, that we are not proud of.  Then, instead of denying that those things happened, we must take steps as a nation to insure that those things do not happen again. 

May God be with those who have lost friends and loved ones, and....

God Bless America

On Muhammad Ali And Dodging The Draft

This has been a week of vacation for me, the first in quite some time.  I am happy to say that I did not get a single call from work, so I believe things must have gone smoothly while I was out of the office.  This vacation was the most restful one I have had in recent memory, but also was a time of contemplation - both of my personal life and of the times we in which we are currently living.  And I spent some time contemplating the past as well, and thinking of the days and years ahead.  This vacation was not full of "fun" events, although I did do a few fun things, but it was a vacation in which I took quite a bit of time to reflect on life, the world, wrong versus right, the "silent majority" and its irrelevance, and my own "rights" and "wrongs" (as I see these) as well.  I even thought about Muhammad Ali the "Greatest," and about Cassius Clay, the "draft dodger."  And I thought about a brief but profound experience I had in a small West Texas town shortly after the terrible events of September 11, 2001.  What a range of random thought!

One of the first random thoughts I had (besides Thank God It's Friday and my vacation has just officially started) was that of sorrow and sympathy for Muhammad Ali's family as the nation learned that Ali had passed away.  He was immediately honored by hundreds of journalists across America, and also just immediately DISHONORED by many other journalists, bloggers, and users of Internet-based "social media" because he was a "draft dodger" and had refused to fight for America in South Vietnam.

This national discussion about Muhammad Ali took me back in time to my elementary school years, oh so long ago!  But I remembered that my fourth grade teacher, an older lady, was an avid fan of a boxer named Cassius Clay.  This was in the early 1970's and a boxer named Muhammad Ali had taken the boxing world by storm!  But my teacher explained that Muhammad Ali "was really" Cassius Clay, one of the most famous American "draft dodgers" of all time.  My teacher did not make it clear exactly how this draft dodger could box in the United States and not get arrested.  Not only that, but my teacher did not really seem to care that he was a draft dodger because she was so impressed with his boxing ability.  She did explain to me that "Cassius Clay" had been an Olympic gold medalist for the United States prior to his professional career and his run-in with the Houston Draft Board.  And, for the next forty-something years, right up to the day Muhammad Ali left this life, I had always thought of him as "really being" Cassius Clay, the "draft dodger."  I wonder how many millions of Americans were also of this mistaken impression?  I wonder even MORE why I never did my own research to learn more about "The Greatest" American boxer of all time.  For this error in judgment, I apologize to Ali's family and his memory.

Friday afternoon (June 3rd) after I left work, I happened to open Facebook, and of course it was full of expressions of sorrow and sympathy for Muhammad Ali's family, and full of reminisces of Ali's many victories in the boxing ring.  But the impromptu Facebook memorial of Ali was dotted with comments from people calling Ali a draft dodger and calling Americans who served in Vietnam the real heroes of Ali's time.  I am not disputing the fact that many Americans served their country honorably during the Vietnam era and that there were many draft dodgers as well, but something about Muhammad Ali's persona, his character, caused me to wonder if I really believed he was a "draft dodger," this man who was not afraid to face anyone, even Joe Frasier, in the boxing ring.  So, as they say, I did some "fact-checking."  Here is what I learned after only a few minutes of research.

This article belongs to the Houston Chronicle, which created the article from compiled files...I am using this article only on the "fair use" basis and take no credit for this article or its contents whatsoever:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/48-years-ago-today-Muhammad-Ali-refused-the-5435356.php

The Houston Chronicle article (based on original news stories) concerning Muhammad Ali, using his own statements and the information from various legal dockets, makes it clear that Ali was not a draft "dodger" in any sense of that word.  He did not participate in civil disorder across the nation when at this time many young men burned their draft cards (and many sought safe haven in Canada) nor did he make any attempt to hide from the police or courts.  Instead, he walked like a man into court where he was tried and convicted of refusing to be inducted at the local draft board center in Houston, Texas.  Ali was fined $10,000 and sentenced to five years in prison.  His lawyers immediately filed an appeal that, after several years, eventually made it to the United States Supreme Court.  At that highest venue, the Justices OVERTURNED his conviction, citing his THREE attempts to have his draft status changed to that of conscientious objector, which the military denied all three times.  The Supreme Court further ruled that the military was vague in their reasoning as to exactly WHY Muhammad Ali could not serve his country in the status of conscientious objector.

Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) Ali was stripped of his 1967 heavyweight title and also lost his boxing license, meaning that he could not participate in boxing events in the United States.  It is quite possible that Muhammad Ali lost several million dollars in potential winnings during this time.  But Ali stuck to his principles as a man, a Black man, and as a practicing Muslim.  Ali himself explained his reasoning and his principles in the story below.  Again, this is a copyrighted article to which I claim absolutely NO credit whatever, but claim fair usage only:

http://alphahistory.com/vietnamwar/muhammad-ali-refuses-to-fight-1967/

Muhammad Ali had converted to the Muslim religion in the mid-1960's and therefore was opposed to serving as a soldier in the Vietnam War (oops...I meant "police action" or "conflict"), and given the status of Black people in America at the time, there was little wonder that Ali believed this way.  But more than that, he was willing to not only go to jail for his beliefs, but even to lose millions of dollars in the process.  I am not saying here that I agree with Muhammad Ali in everything he said and believed, but I am stating here my opinion and belief that Ali was in fact NOT a draft dodger.  He never fled the United States, nor did he make any effort to elude "justice" by hiding with friends or relatives somewhere in the rural South or in the faceless anonymity of the large cities in the North or East.  I believe that because Muhammad Ali was no longer allowed to box in the United States, he was suddenly out of the public view, and this perhaps led to the "draft dodger" status that haunted him right up to the day he died.  But Muhammad Ali did not dodge the draft; instead, he FACED IT HEAD ON, and he refused to be forced to fight in what he believed to be a racial war.  In fact, Ali was exonerated by the Supreme Court of the United States.  If Muhammad Ali had the fortitude to do this, then I will have the fortitude to say here that I was one of the many people calling him a draft dodger, and now I am one of what I hope will be a growing number of people who know - and will admit openly - that Muhammad Ali was not a draft dodger.  In fact, he was brave enough to stand and point out that the Vietnam "Conflict" was not a "just war" when compared to, for instance, World War II, where nations stood together to defeat the Third Reich.

One of Muhammad Ali's rather valid points about the "draft" was that the burden for fighting the Vietnam "Conflict" fell mostly on poor, uneducated people, and of that group a disproportionate number were Black men.  This point is borne out when we look at just a couple of famous persons, some who currently spout patriotism and "God and Country" ad nauseam, but who were in fact "draft dodgers."  And this is, by the way, only a small, small, small sample of those who "legally" dodged the draft.

Donald Trump -  yes, that's right.  He is one of the foremost dodgers of the Vietnam era.  Mr. Trump claimed college deferment during his college career.  But after college, and while still in danger of being drafted, Donald Trump got a permanent medical exemption.  His feet were supposedly not up to spec for draft purposes, but this was only determined in a SECOND visit to the doctor.  Not able to serve in the actual combat services, neither did Trump even suggest he might serve our nation as a "conscientious objector."

Rush Limbaugh - a most patriotic American.  Nonetheless Rush Limbaugh took as many student deferments as he could while in college.  After graduation Limbaugh got permanent exemption from the draft after doctors determined that he was subject to anal cysts.  No, I am not joking!  Again, Rush made no attempt to serve the nation in a non-combative role during the Vietnam era.

Bill Clinton - since he served two terms as President of the United States, obviously his draft-dodging ways did not hurt him politically.  But Bill made a rather sneaky deal to get out of the draft circle by agreeing to serve a certain amount of time in the ROTC.  Although Clinton did "join" the ROTC, he did not complete his committal with that organization.  As soon as he was "exempted" from further draft "danger" he never darkened the doors of his local ROTC chapter again. 

George W. Bush - legally dodged the draft by joining the Air Force Reserve.  Bush II actually flew a couple "missions" with the Air Force Reserve, but there is quite a bit of controversy (missing records, mainly) as to whether Bush completed his service commitments.

Dick Cheney - in my opinion the worst and most hypocritical draft dodger in all of American History!  Cheney received a total of five draft deferments, four because he was a student, and the permanent one because he was a father.  So what, Dick!  Many soldiers of that time were fathers, some never living to see their unborn children.

What is so utterly disgusting and hypocritical about Cheney is that he was SO WILLING to sacrifice American men and women in the endless and pointless fighting in the Middle East after September 11, but he himself could just never quite get up the nerve to enlist during the Vietnam "Conflict."  In the later Middle East wars, Cheney and others of his ilk never came up with winning game plans as far as securing victory, or even decent ceasefires and truces.  Not only was Cheney so willing to sacrifice young Americans in Libya, Iraq, Kuwait, and maybe other hot spots as well, he was willing to oversee the killing of millions of non-combatant citizens of nations with whom we were not even legally at war! Oh I know President Bush I and II were operating under the "War Powers Act" but that "Act" allowed only a limited time to accomplish specific objectives.  Now, in 2016, we are still "at war" and Cheney still has never put himself or any of his loved ones in harm's way, but he expects our brave men and women to expend themselves daily in an undeclared war that has no end in sight.  Even after TWO Obama "Administrations" our men and women are still fighting and dying in the Middle East.  But Dick Cheney sits comfortably on the boards of several super-corporations...and again, never will he enter harm's way in the service of this nation.

So, I learned that Muhammad Ali, whatever else he was or was not, was certainly not a draft dodger, while so many of our "leaders" were in fact draft dodgers who should have gone to trial just as Ali did.  Incidentally, isn't it ironic that draft dodger Cheney has now thrown his support behind draft dodger Donald Trump in the upcoming election.  Honor and heroism do indeed belong to Muhammad Ali, and not to ANY of the men mentioned above.  No, Muhammad Ali did not fight in Vietnam, but he fought a very important battle at home, and in so doing, he demonstrated what the "silent majority" (of which I am a life-long member) were NOT WILLING to do.  We, and our fathers before us, were not willing to stand up and call the Vietnam War an illegal act, nor were we willing to refuse to sacrifice our children in this undeclared and illegal war, and (literally) not to mention the MILLIONS of natives of these lands that were killed at the whim of our leaders.  Granted, I was a child in the Vietnam era, but in both the Gulf Wars and the ongoing occupations of those faraway lands that continues to this very hour, I have dutifully "held my peace."  I have watched this slaughter go on for well over two decades and basically SAID NOTHING or DID NOTHING to call out our "leaders" to answer for these crimes.  Muhammad Ali would not, and did not, hesitate to do this very thing. 

So Muhammad Ali, in whatever way your faith has taught you, I say to you go now and rest in peace, your work here on earth is done.