Our Clear And Transparent President And The Coming Syrian "Intervention"

Through the rather tense weekend we (the United States) sat in some degree of suspense as we wondered when we would see those dreaded words on the breaking news, “US Forces Attack Syria.”  President Obama was set to go ahead with this attack, but in a surprise move, delayed the attack until he gains Congressional approval.  This decision was truly a puzzler, coming from the President who needs no one’s approval for his actions, nor has he ever looked to the Constitution in regards to the legalities of the actions he has taken.  But now he suddenly needs Congressional “approval.”

Oddly enough, even while Obama was pressing his need for a Congressional “green light” on the Syrian “intervention,” Secretary of State Kerry told us that “the strikes will proceed even without Congressional approval.”  So why the charade of the dutiful President asking Congress to endorse his third war?  If the very divided Congress should vote for NO intervention, it would surely leave the President discredited, and would leave him acting illegally, as well, should he proceed against the wish of Congress.

Adding to the President’s woes is an intelligence memo generated by United States sources that make it plain the President knew at least three days before the event that a chemical weapons attack on Damascus was imminent.  It seems that President Obama’s “on again, off again” transparency went clear just at the wrong moment.  I cannot fathom what Mr. Obama’s true reason for attacking Syria might be, but it is “transparent” that he did not intervene BEFORE the chemical attack.  Was he waiting for a justifiable cause to attack Syria?  After all, the civil war there has raged for over two years, with the death toll having surpassed the one hundred thousand mark, yet in all that, the US did not intervene. 

It seems as though the number of people killed does not invite intervention, but rather the method.  One official today said that Al Assad “has joined the ranks of Hussein and Hitler.”  I agree that chemical warfare is certainly inhumane in its indiscriminate killing of all it comes in contact with, soldiers and civilians alike.  Now the hard question: If, as the intelligence document clearly states, Obama was informed of the imminent use of chemical warfare against the Syrian population, why did he not order an immediate intervention…a surgical strike, if you will…against the chemical weapons plant or against the military unit that was about to deploy the weapon.

You might say “There is no way President Obama could have known WHO would deploy the weapon.”  That may or may not be the case.  One memo was released.  How many memos, how much “known information” was not?  But I will play fair here.  Let us assume Mr. Obama knew only that a chemical weapon would be deployed in Syria within the next three days.  President Obama DID NOTHING!  He could have demanded that President Al Assad directly order the strike to stand down.  He could have made a public plea to the people of Damascus to prepare for the worst.  He could have asked President Putin of Russia, or the Chinese government, to intervene, since they are Syrian allies.  But he did nothing at all.  Maybe none of these things would have prevented the attack, but we will always know that our President Obama DID NOTHING.

Having done nothing about the chemical weapons attack BEFORE it happened, President Obama now wants to attack the nation of Syria, which in no way is a threat to the United States, nor has it ever violated United States airspace.  Can we say that about OUR military?  The President and his staff cannot even agree who actually deployed this terrible weapon, nor can the governments of Turkey or France, both of whom investigated the chemical attack.  Neither can the United Nations, which announced that it was only concerned with determining that chemical warfare was used, NOT WHO DEPLOYED the weapon.  In other words, no one knows whether the Syrian military or some rebel faction deployed the chemical weapon.  The truth is that no one can be sure that the CIA, the NSA, or some other alphabet agency from the United States, Russia, Libya, or even (dare I say it) Israel fired the weapon “in the name of” the Syrian government.

It is in all this confusion, uncertainty, and outright lies that President Obama wants to launch a new war against Syria.  Of course he will remain safely in the White House while our young men and women go to war to defend those who already hate what America stands for.  It is one thing to be willing to die for the freedom and liberty of those who are too weak to fight for themselves, but our soldiers, sailors, and airmen will be fighting for a people who want to enforce a fundamental Muslim rule on everyone.  And they (at least quite a goodly portion of them) already hate America.  So our men and women would not be fighting for freedom, but instead for the strongest Muslim faction.  After the official government is defeated, the incoming faction will not install a “democracy,” nor do they want a democracy.  No, they just want the Al Assad administration OUT.  And then they would want the helpful Americans OUT, too.  Then Syria would just go back to “business as usual,” Muslim faction fighting Muslim faction.

I think herein lies the answer to the mystery of why President Obama did not stop or TRY to stop the chemical attack.  He wants the current Syrian leader OUT.  I believe he has a definite idea about who he wants IN, but that is just my own humble opinion.  The memorandum makes it clear that intervention was held back for some reason, whatever that reason may be.  But NOW the President wants to intervene.  It is a noble thing to want to rid the world of those leaders who would resort to chemical warfare.  It is not noble to ALLOW that very thing to occur to justify an otherwise unjustifiable war against a nation that, though not friendly to US, is not a threat by any means.  I hope that cooler heads will prevail in Congress.  I believe that will be the case, but I believe also that Obama will press this war with or without Congressional approval.  I pray for the people of Syria, and I pray for our own men and women who will pay with their blood for President Obama’s arrogance and folly.

God Bless America

 

 

 

 

Impeachment Is A Slam Dunk....Removal, Not So Much

I believe President Obama crossed the line from President to common criminal acting under the color of office when he had two unindicted and untried American citizens murdered-by-drone as they drove through Pakistan (never mind the violation of another nation's sovereignty by US, that is old news by now).  Depending on which news service articles one read about this incident, there were either only three killed, or there were at least SIXTEEN killed.  Mind you, such an attack perpetrated on the United States by another nation would result in swift and terrible retribution being wreaked on the offending nation, but I digress.

The point is that President Obama denied "due process" to these two Americans, not only deeming them guilty of "supporting terrorism" without trial,  but commanding the military to execute them immediately and without any chance to appeal their "cases."  This alone is an impeachable offense, but President Obama's continuing assault on the Constitution, and our rights, has garnered other impeachable offenses...although Congress has been much the ally in Obama's shredding of the Constitution (a trait Obama carried on from the Bush II Administration).  Particularly the Senate follows the President's wishes, bleating along behind him in DC, but then, in many cases, blaming all the foul legislation being forced upon us on someone else.  Nonetheless, according to some sources close to the House of Representatives, the votes to sustain the impeachment are there, and pretty much the impeachment would be a slam dunk.  Not so much in the Senate.....

With the Senate fawning behind this President like a bunch of teenage girls chasing a boy crush, no matter what they might say at home, there is a good deal of doubt that an impeachment verdict from the House would be followed by a Removal in the Senate.  Failure for the Removal verdict to pass in the Senate would then be hawked through all the land by President Obama as a "ringing vindication" of his Presidency.  With the failure of the Removal Vote would also come an even greater hesitancy for Congress to buck the President in any way; in other words, the Congressional "check and balance" over the Executive Branch would effectively be nullified.

I have no doubt that there is more than enough legal cause to proceed with President Obama's impeachment, but I also believe that, no matter how compelling the evidence, the Senate would not have the...um...the character and integrity to remove the impeached President from his office.  There are several senators and representatives who are discussing, among themselves, the possibility of impeaching President Obama.  The problem is that the senators are fairly certain at this point that the Removal Vote would fail in the Senate.  I believe that to be the case as well, and I further believe that these senators and representatives should wait to move for impeachment until more senators are outraged enough to take this radical action.  At this point there are still too many Democrat senators who would rather eat scorpions and swallow nails than do the right thing and get this man out of that Highest Office, which he so richly does not deserve.

Cellular Phones And The Emergency Room

We have all heard of distracted driving, and these days we usually think of the distraction being the cellular phone, whether one is talking, dialing, or texting.  We have all seen vehicles swerving across traffic lanes, or simply driving ten or fifteen miles under the speed limit, while the drivers are busily engaged on their cell phones.  If we are honest, most of us will have to admit that we ourselves have been that "distracted driver."  But the driver distracted by his or her cell phone is old news, even though that road hazard still permeates our streets and highways.  But there is another use of the cell phone, maybe less dangerous, but still very annoying to this blogger.  That is the use of cell phones in the Emergency Room, both by patients and their "next of kin."

Several times on each tour of duty I observe vehicles drive into the Emergency Drop-Off lane at nerve-wracking speeds, then screeching to a halt in front of the hospital as if someone in the car were having a heart attack or having a baby right there in the front seat!  But then a strange thing happens...Nothing.  Sometimes no one gets out of the vehicle, sometimes driver and/or passengers get out of the car.  If people get out of the car, they walk to the front passenger door (usually, sometimes a back door) and open the door.  The person still seated in the vehicle, presumably either sick or injured, makes no effort to get out of the vehicle at first.  Believe it or not, the "emergency patient" sits in the car for another five or ten minutes, talking to first one person, then making another call and talking to someone else.  I can only hope at least one of the calls is to a qualified medical authority.  Finally, after all the calls are done, the patient gets out of the car and casually strolls into the Emergency Room, his or her concerned relatives still acting as if the person's demise were imminent.   When the "sick" person finally ambles to the Triage Desk, he or she is usually already engaged in yet another conversation, hardly able to pull the phone away from his or her cheek long enough to answer the admission tech's questions.

On other occasions, again several times each shift, I see the situation unfold nearly exactly as described above, except in this scenario it is the patient's relative or friend who just CANNOT put down that cell phone.  A vehicle roars into the driveway, the patient throws his or her door open, but then the driver or other person who is "helping" the patient tries to do it all with ONE hand, as if the world might end if the conversation were interrupted. Sometimes the person in this situation attempts to push a transport chair with one hand, and then to assist a truly sick or injured person to wheelchair, again without dropping the telephone.

Finally, the last use of the cell phone, computer, tablet, or other device that not only irritates me, but contributes to general confusion at the Emergency Room, is when parents or others in charge of young children cannot finish that call, conclude their texting, or pull themselves away from their video games long enough to care for their children.  An Emergency Room is a busy place.  When children are allowed to run around the waiting room, free of any supervision, the Emergency Room becomes a nightmare for the medical and administrative staff, security personnel, and for the patients and visitors.  Almost every shift sees this situation arise one or more times.  This may just be the irritation talking, but it seems like the disturbance the unattended children create is proportionate to the degree they are ignored by the "parents."  It is unfortunate that parents feel that it is more important to nurture their cell phones and other devices than it is to nurture and supervise their children.

I cannot say that this post is anything other than my rant, and therefore I appreciate very much your indulgence in letting me "vent." But I hope, too, that if you ever find yourself in a situation in which you bring someone to your local Emergency Room, or maybe you are the patient, you do not let the telephone interfere with getting into the Emergency Room quickly and efficiently.  And especially if you have children, I hope you will not let the phone interfere with your responsibility as a parent. 

Once again, thanks for letting me vent.



 

My Walk With A Hawk

Yesterday after much procrastination and thinking of many OTHER things I could be doing, I finally forced myself to put on my shorts and jogging shoes and head outdoors.  I have to say I would have done it much sooner and with less self-prodding had I known what was in store for me in the great out-of-doors.

Several days ago I measured out a running path, actually two paths, one being a straight half mile, the other a figure eight mile and one tenth around the neighborhood.  On this day I opted for the straight half mile, with the intention to walk to the half-mile mark then RUN the half-mile back.  I honestly intended to run the half-mile back, but as it happened my feet would just not cooperate, conspiring with my legs instead to keep me at a fast walk.

As I began the walk back toward my house, a movement overhead caught my attention. I looked up to see a hawk of some type flying just a couple of hundred feet high and to the east of my path.  I am always impressed by birds of prey and so I began to watch the hawk.  I noticed after a few moments that the hawk, which was gliding on some steady wind tide, appeared to be keeping pace with me.  Whatever stream of air the hawk had found was so strong and steady that the hawk did not flap its wings to stay aloft. 

I decided to slow down (not that I was walking very fast in the first place) and I expected to see the hawk begin to outdistance me.  Instead, the hawk kept at about the same distance from me as before.  So then I decided to walk faster.  Yes, the hawk, with a single flap of its wings, increased its speed just enough to stay in the same relative position to me as it had been when I was walking slower.  This was strange, and sort of pleasing too, in some way.  I mean, one of those beautiful and powerful birds had taken notice of me.  Okay, I do not really know what the hawk was "thinking," but that is what I THOUGHT the hawk was thinking. 

So I continued with the last quarter mile of my walk at my regular (over-the-hill) pace and the hawk continued its flight over me.  When I reached my turn back toward the house, the hawk, as if on some unknown cue, turned away.  With one great push of its wings, the hawk caught another air stream and sailed away to take up patrol over a distant field.  I walked the last hundred yards without the hawk's company.  By the time I reached my front door the hawk was out of sight, but the magic of the moment stayed with me for hours.

I know we are all busy and have many things to do, but it will give you pleasure to occasionally slow down, look around, and enjoy the natural world around you.  Nature, and its creatures, are there to be seen, even in the busiest of cities and at the busiest of times.  The time you "lose" when slowing down to take in the natural beauty of our world will surely be returned ten-fold in pleasure and wonder.

National Dreamcicle Day(?)

I learned today via the miracle of the Internet that today is in fact National Dreamcicle Day.  What a great day!  Although not my favorite treat (Klondike Bar is of course my favorite) dreamcicles are still way up high on the list.  So I cannot tell you the joy I felt to learn that there was a day dedicated to those wonderful orange and cream flavored joys on a stick.  I look at dreamcicles as the more mature versions of the push-up pop, that was also dreamcicle-flavored.  I know most of you remember those treats, one of the joys of being young, although my parents did not share my enthusiasm.  You see, I wanted to make my dreamcicle last, so I only took a lick ever so often.  It was not my fault that those wonderful push-up pops would melt so quickly between Gatesville and Levita, or that the orange was so hard for Dad to remove from that old Valiant's upholstery.  But I digress...

Anyway, like I said, I learned with great joy that today is National Dreamcicle Day.  Did you know that there is at least one website that is dedicated to confirming whether a "national holiday" is really a national holiday.  On this website, the author points out that he has not located "documentation" to prove that today REALLY IS National Dreamcicle Day.  He points that no congressional records indicate this to be a "recognized" holiday, nor are there any state proclamations to that effect.  So he does not believe we should actually call this a national holiday.  How ridiculous!  Who needs Congress to tell us National Dreamcicle Day is celebrated on August 14th.  As we know, Congress cannot even agree on a budget...how would they agree on a National Dreamcicle Day?

No, it not the fact that Congress has not officially declared August 14th to be National Dreamcicle Day that has upset me.  Not at all.  What has upset me is that though I learned via the  miracle of the Internet that today is National Dreamcicle Day, I did not learn this yummilicious fact until AFTER I had already removed my plainclothes security uniform, my duty boots, and even my spent T-shirt and black socks.  I was sitting there in my Underoos!!  It was already after 8:30 PM, and as much as I liked (and wanted) a dreamcicle, which by the way, would be a "guilt free" treat since I now KNEW it was National Dreamcicle Day (Congress-approved or not!), I was not going to put on outside clothes again tonight.   The taste of dreamcicle is massaging my brain at this very moment.

No, I will not put on my clothes again this late at night for a Dreamcicle Day celebration.  Now, if it was national Klondike Bar Day....who KNOWS what I might do for a Klondike Bar....

If you have read many of my blogs you know that I fairly often rant about the USA PATRIOT Act.  The true purpose of my many rantings concerning this law, I am hoping on another level that someone who reads my blog might actually take some action.  Unfortunately, the action you and I can take is pretty much limited to voicing our opinions to our political representatives.  If you are from Texas, there is a good chance that you have found yourself at odds with, and surprised by, the votes of our Senators and Congressmen.  For instance, in spite all the emails, letters, and phone calls to Senators Hutchison and Cornyn, in spite grassroots resistance, both of our Senators voted FOR this law that all but nullified our Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the Constitution of the United States.  According to the Constitution itself, these rights are inalienable, as they were not granted by any government, but by our Creator.

To be factually accurate, Senator Cornyn only voted to extend USA PATRIOT, voting in tandem with Senator Hutchison.  In one of the oddest "bed partnerships" ever formed (my opinion) US Congressman Ron Paul and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson, both "extremists," one on the far right, one the ultra-left, voted with each other AGAINST USA PATRIOT and against extending it. At opposite ends of the political spectrum, both Paul and Jackson saw the evil and the total unconstitutionality of this terrible law, no matter how "good" the intentions of its writers were. I personally do not believe they were good.  Nonetheless, that is not the point of this blog today.

The point of today's little rant is that now the good Senator Cornyn is making headlines for himself by calling to task Obama staffers regarding the great surprise that the National Security Agency, an agency that spies on US citizens who are suspected of being terrorists, abetting terrorists, or simply READING about terrorists, is turning over NON-terror related crime intelligence to the Justice Department for use in arresting and prosecuting "common criminals."  Since the NSA basically CANNOT ILLEGALLY obtain evidence, it appears that whatever this agency finds is not "fruit of the poisoned tree" as the lawyers say.  I am not for criminals getting away with anything, and I cannot stand it when they are released due to "technicalities." But even less can I tolerate the trampling of the Constitution by the very government which it empowers (and LIMITS.)

So Senator Cornyn is now suddenly outraged that the NSA, an anti-terrorist, anti-espionage, NON-CRIMINAL law enforcement agency, is further abusing its already abusive power by turning over non-terror related criminal evidence and intelligence to the Justice Department, where I suppose that agency either acts on the information or passes it on to other federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies.  Senator Cornyn has so valiantly called Obama-aides "on the Congressional carpet" so to speak.  This development smacks of political profiteering on the part of Mr. Cornyn.  He is now a defender of the people, a pillar against the ongoing attack on our Constitution.  Yet he twice voted to extend USA PATRIOT.

As hypocritical as Senator Cornyn's motives appear, yet I welcome his attacks on USA PATRIOT and the unencumbered power handed over to the NSA, the DIA, the FBI, and other alphabet groups by this law.  I only wish Mr. Cornyn, Kay Bailey Hutchison, and other Senators and Congressmen had had the guts and the integrity to raise these questions during the months following the September 11th Attacks.  Because of all the hysteria and the calls for support of President Bush and company, I know that it would have been difficult to have the character to vote against the odious bill that subsequently became law.  Almost as disgusting as the bill itself was the admission by so many of national representatives that they had no idea of the contents of USA PATRIOT.  And it is true that there was very little time between the terrorist attacks and the vote on USA PATRIOT, but there WAS TIME.  Each Senator and Congressman has staff to do most or all of their "heavy" reading.  Therefore the assertion that politicians "had to" vote for USA PATRIOT, having idea what it contained, is just a confirmation that they were not willing to their jobs.  We rewarded this lack of initiative by returning most of these incompetent representatives back to their offices.

But...Senator Cornyn, as well as all other Congressmen have had more than enough time to read USA PATRIOT in its THREE THOUSAND PAGE entirety in the DECADE that has passed since that day in September, 2001.  Yet Mr. Cornyn failed to vote against this law TWICE.  So, Mr. Cornyn, your concern for our rights NOW, six years after YOU extended USA PATRIOT, rings so very hollow, and smacks of self-servitude.  Nonetheless, I support you now in your effort to collar this big dog that is so out of control.  Unfortunately, I believe you, Mr. Cornyn, have waited a decade too long to rein in the runaway National Security Council, unless you can pull off a miracle, and pull together a Congressional majority who feel the same way you do.  I sincerely wish you every success in this effort, Senator Cornyn.

John Chapter 8: No One Could Cast A Stone, Then Or Now

The Gospel of St. John, Chapter Eight, begins with what is one of the more familiar stories of Jesus told in the New Testament.  I have to say that this story, and the truth it tells, have touched me more in the past few months than at any time in my life.  Yet nothing in the story has changed...it is that I now think it just might apply to me.  Imagine that!

Now, I (as have most of us) have been familiar with this story - a true story, by the way - since I was a small child.  What happened is that early one morning the "scribes and Pharisees" dragged a woman before Jesus.  This particular woman was caught in adultery, "in the very act!" says verse 4.  The scribes and the Pharisees, of course, knew Jesus well enough by now to know that He would probably have mercy on this woman, and they were right; but, they were not prepared for what Jesus did when they threw the woman at His feet.  Before I get to that, however, I would like to point out a tidbit that escaped my attention every time I heard or read these scriptures.

You see, Jesus was teaching people at the time all this commotion began.  BUT...He was not just teaching people at a river bank or at someone's home.  He was in the very Temple of Jerusalem, and I am sure it was no accident that the scribes and Pharisees chose this most public location to confront Jesus.  In fact, it would not be a real stretch to believe that these men knew well the woman they had caught in adultery, knew that she frequently engaged in adultery, and even knew when and where to find her.  I would not be too surprised if some of these men had personal experience with this woman. So, instead of bringing this woman to the Lord in a more private setting, they quite intentionally exposed her adultery in the Temple.

After explaining to the Good Shepherd that they had caught the woman in adultery (um...where was the MAN, by the way?) the scribes and Pharisees then (stupidly) challenged Our Lord by stating to Him what He knew already; that the Law of Moses called for the adulterer to be stoned.  As I remember, the Law of Moses made no differentiation between the two adulterers, male and female.   BOTH were to be stoned.  Nonetheless, the scribes and Pharisees, knowing that Jesus would surely not call for the woman to be stoned, intended to use this incident as a way to both discredit the Good Shepherd and to gain evidence to stone Him as a false prophet.  I can only imagine their surprise at what the Lord did next.

Instead of answering the men, Jesus bent down and began writing with his finger in the dirt.  How strange?  I wonder if some of the men thought Jesus had lost his reason for the moment. Jesus continued writing, and the scribes and Pharisees continued to ask Him what He would have done with this adulterous woman.  Verse 7 tells us that Jesus "straightened up," then said, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”  Jesus bent down again and continued writing. We all know that one by one the accusers walked away.  But here is another point I have missed many times as I read those scriptures.  The OLDEST man there walked away FIRST.  Why?

I am not certain why the oldest man left the group first.  It may have been because he was the wisest man there, or maybe it was that, plus something much deeper.  It may have been that this older man had gotten a look at the words Jesus wrote in the dust.  You see, many scholars and preachers believe that Jesus, who is God on Earth, knew all these men's names, and all their sins.  Our Lord knew that each and every man there had sinned at least ONCE in his life.  And, many believe, the Good Shepherd wrote each man's name there in the dust, along with maybe just one, or maybe just a few, of the sins each had committed.  If this is the case, it may well have been that Jesus wrote down the elder's name first, and some long lost and, he thought, hidden sin, a sin not known to those younger men he had no doubt mentored in the ways of the Pharisee.  But nothing is hidden from the Good Shepherd, neither then nor today.  The old man, pricked in his heart, according to Verse 9, left the group first, followed in turn by the next eldest person, all the way down to the youngest new recruit to the sect.

In just a few minutes there was not a single scribe or Pharisee in sight.  In one of the most beautiful moments in the New Testament, the Good Shepherd shines His love and mercy on this humiliated woman.  I know the Bible does not tell us this, but in my mind, even as a child, I have always pictured the Good Shepherd reaching down to this woman who lay in shame in the dust, taking her hand in His own, and raising her to her feet to stand beside Him.  I do not know if St. John recorded every word Jesus and the woman said to each other, but I believe this must have been a tender, yet miraculous moment in her life, and an inspirational message for you and me.  Yes, I believe the Lord lifted this woman, took her hand in His, and touched her heart with His words and His spirit.  He told her then to go,  yes, to go in peace, and to sin no more.  Some say this woman followed Jesus from then on, some even believe the woman to be Mary of Magdalene.  The Bible does not tell us and it really does not matter.  She was a woman, judged by sinners, and lifted up by the Lord.

Then I am roused out of my reverie, and forced to think back on my own life.  I know that I have been judgmental in many ways over the years, just as the "scribes and the Pharisees" were in their day. I think back over my life, and I have to wonder how many times there was some person along the way who was caught by people, or just by life, in some disgrace or unfortunate circumstance, some person condemned by others, by sinners, who just needed someone to take him or her by the hand, to lift the person so that he or she could stand up again. How many times was I that "scribe" or that "Pharisee" who outwardly served the Lord, but when another was down, joined with the other sinners in condemning this person and dragging this person's life out for others to see and to put down.  How much better it would have been to stretch out my hand, lift this person up, and stand with this person before others, to help bear this person's burdens without judgment.

So I read St. John's words again today, and I resolved to no longer be a self-appointed judge of people who are struggling in some way, as most of us are, and do.  Today I will begin looking for that opportunity to lift up someone who has fallen, to help this person to stand again, not that I am the Good Shepherd, but that I can follow His lead and stand side by side with those whom I once looked down on, I can lift that person to stand shoulder to shoulder with me...because I know my name and my sins were written in the dust that day over 2000 years ago, just as surely was were those of the "scribes and Pharisees."

God Bless You