Say What? All Means Everybody?

I'm reminded today of the trek with Dorothy down the yellow brick road, looking for one body organ or another.  Today's trek should require all men (which today includes blacks, women, legal Hispanics, legal Asians, gays, etc., etc., etc.) to be in search of real hearts and real brains.


Say what?  All men are created equal?  Not those people  --  those women, those blacks, those gays and lesbians.  Can you hear this in your Conservative Christian response to the Supreme Court decision this past week?  Well, that's what you are doing.  You are acting as though the Declaration of Independence should apply only to white men.  I thought we'd come a long way baby.  I guess not.  It should not apply to women?  They were just property of the white male when the Declaration was written.  It shouldn't apply to blacks?  Most of them were slaves when it was written.  It shouldn't apply to gays and lesbians because they are different from us?  I think they make us afraid of ourselves.


". . .We hold these truths to the self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. . ."


Yes, folks, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United
states, as implemented in this day and age, do protect the rights of all Americans regardless of sex, age, race, creed, or sexual orientation.  And boy do we all have to fight the pompous and self-righteous for every right.


The Supreme Court of the United States did the job it was created to do by our founding fathers.  It interpreted our laws in reference to the Constitution to see if it were, indeed, "constitutional".  And the members of the panel demonstrated that they can think (have working brains) and they have hearts.  They were capable of exercising a compassion which would have made Jesus proud.  You remember Him?  "Judge not lest ye be not judged."  Or, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."  Or even, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God, the things that are God's."


Yes, folks, all means everybody now.  Everybody has a right to the pursuit of happiness not just the people who do it your way.  In the end, we will all have to let God be the judge, the rightful judge of us all.  Until then, not a one of us knows exactly where He stands on any topic.  I'm reminded of George Burns acting as God and saying that the pastor had run out of God's words a long time ago.  We can only hope to understand a small portion of God's methods, much less his beliefs and thoughts. 


You see, I'm not a really learned Bible scholar, but I can't see exactly where God spoke the word marriage . . . or defined the word marriage . . . or gave us his example of a "true" marriage ceremony.  Marriage rules and regulations evolved from mores which man created.  They varied from country to country, people to people and clan to clan.  It was not written in stone.  The rules He wanted us to follow were written in stone with the finger of God and carried down the mountain.


I think there are an awful lot of us that need to get over ourselves. 

Not Our Grandsons

In Loving Memory of My Grandson
Scott Joseph Romano
November 21, 1986 to June 23, 2010
and
To All the American Men and Women Who Lost Their Lives in Afghanistan and Iraq
and especially to
The 22 Veterans per day who take their own lives because they were sent to war and back
without adequate psychological preparation.




In a recent television interview, a correspondent asked an Iraqi soldier what he wanted to see happen in the war with ISIS (ISIL).  His immediate response was that he wanted the United States to fight the war.  Well, how generous of him to want my grandsons to risk their lives for his country.  He is such a noble hero.


So, what is a hero?  According to various and sundry U. S. military officers  -- and John Wayne  --  a hero is someone who is afraid, but fights anyway.  Well where the h e double hockey sticks are the Iraqi heroes? 


We saw a similar attitude during the Arab spring.  Representatives of various countries were jumping off proverbial cliffs and whining for the United States to come and save them. 


The United States government, the United States military and the United States grandsons are not the saviors of the universe.  However many times I write this and however many times my words fall on the deaf ears of Republican Congressmen and our military leaders, the facts remain the same.


We are wasting our resources and, most especially, our grandson's lives on people so barbaric that they cannot even comprehend the wonderful gifts of freedom and democracy that we have offered them.  We no longer have the funding.  We no longer have the responsibility.  We do not have the political atmosphere.  You may not throw away the lives of our children or our children's children on any more lost causes. 


If Iraqis lack the will to stand up for themselves and to fight their own battles, how dare you expect our children to do it for them?


And may the soldier who said he will kill both ISIS and U. S. soldiers meet his personal demise the next time he raises his gun. 


If my own country won't protect the lives of our sons from such situations as this, you are not nearly done hearing from me.


How about putting a real face on this?

The Election Cycle Has The Blahs

For some months now, it seems nobody can get very excited about the next presidential election.  There are a lot of Republican "also rans" as well as some "ran too soons".  There are a couple of stronger candidates who have not gotten their rhythm yet.  But no one Republican quite stands out in the crowd.


I suggested a few weeks back that Hillary Clinton go ahead and throw her hat in the ring.  (Like she pays any attention to me).  I thought that might whoop up the excitement a bit.  But, it was such an anticlimax that it hardly made a hitch in the cycle.  Her new competition will at least give her someone to practice her debates with and may "give her a run for her money."


The latest development  --  The Donald is in the race  --  may actually turn up the interest level.  Never let it be said that Donald Trump doesn't offer entertainment value.  And who knows?  We elected a movie star once upon a time.  There are those who think he made a fairly decent President.


We'll have to wait and see.

Why?

Why, indeed, God?


As a recording of the Reverend Martin Luther King plays to end the CBS Evening News tonight, June 18, 2015, the camera pans groups of people praying, demonstrating, grieving.  Alone facing the cameras with her back to a group of people collected in grief, a young woman holds a sign.  It's message?  A simple WHY?


Rev. King's words were recorded after the death of four little girls at church.  Their repetition was after the death of nine women and men in our latest shooting, also at church.


I know there is much that we will leave this life without understanding, but I sure could use an answer from the Almighty as to why violence is allowed to take the lives of people who are worshiping Him and the pastors and missionaries who are serving Him.  One would think that these individuals would have the best security He could offer.


Yes.  Why, God, why?

Why Ask A Military Man?

Now, I'm not casting aspersions on the men in our armed forces.  I'm just sayin' --  why ask a general, past or present, if he thinks we should be engaged in hand to hand combat anywhere?  That's like asking him if he needs to breathe.


Most little boys (and some girls) had a handful of toy soldiers at some point in their lives.  But career military men study strategy  . . .  probably have maps of various terrains  . . .  probably move little helmeted men all over the surface . . .  possibly even play Battleship.  Well, maybe some of the less concrete don't need the props, but you can bet they almost salivate at the prospect of really going to war and getting a chance to implement their ideas and plans.  And the best, biggest dreamers are sure success is just around the corner, especially if everyone will let them do it their way.


Now, everybody, including reporters, know that warriors war, and that any one of them can whoop up excuses or justifications for doing so.  Thank you Lord for the saner heads that put on the brakes and even lock them in place. 


What exactly does everyone think the United States will do for money and equipment if China or North Korea or Germany or Japan ever attack our shores as happened in World War II?  After we've pissed it all away fighting Muslims who don't value human life, including their own, where will we get the cash to rearm ourselves?


Then there is the fact that Iraq, Afghanistan, etc., don't really ever have to fight their own wars because other countries are so hell bent on fighting them for them.  Why is it people forget good parenting skills and techniques when dealing with international affairs?  If doing everything for them makes children too dependent, why on earth do we want to make other countries dependent on us.  Sometimes it's better to teach the skills and walk away and let them work it out.  We absolutely should not go back if they are too scared to risk their own lives to save their own people.


Do you dudes really think that China is going to loan us money to fight a war against them?  Duh!


Mr.. McCain, Mr. Graham, etc., etc., etc., quit sparring for war.  Quit threatening boots on the ground over "fraidey" cats who won't fight their own wars.  Start storing up resources and paying off loans so we can fight off a big one on our own turf should we ever have to do so.  And don't forget to protect us from terror at home, or possible aliens from another world.


Think, think, think, what you propose.  These areas are a threat to our security?  Not nearly so much as the warmongers in the military and Congress are.

Flushing America Down The Drain

Spend, spend, spend.  Flush, flush, flush.  How many times since the start of this blog have you seen the suggestion that the United States of America quit passing out our money (and also our war supplies) by the fistfuls, at least long enough for us to stabilize our own economy?  How many times have you read that we are helping people who do not like us and do not want our form of democracy or democracy at all?  Do you remember Karzai, who took our money with one fist and then turned to accept the money of our enemies with the other?  People will take money from various sources, but money does not buy commitment.  Money does not buy democracy abroad  --  especially for individuals who do not want our lifestyle.


It is tempting these days to tell hawks  --  especially John McCain types who want to interfere everywhere  --  to shut their pie holes.  Why can they not understand that we should not fight another country's battles for them, especially when their own military men are prone to throw down their weapons and run away at the slightest threat?  Yes, they did it again in a recent ISIS or ISIL surge.  We are flushing "good money after bad", even attempting to teach them to fight, if they are going to react with cowardice right and left. 


It seems that never in American history have so many congressmen been harping on spending less while they simultaneously chomp at the bit to get boots on the ground in many areas.


Under the current administration, our country has shown some wisdom about the American role in foreign wars.  And, God forbid, we actually have been delegating some responsibility. 


Middle Eastern cultures are used to war.  They might not even have an inkling how to live in peace.  If we remove their dictators, do we ever ask, "what then," anymore?  Learned people predicted many years ago that it might be unwise to remove certain dictators.  They thought the culture of the countries might just fall apart.  Were they right?  Well, it seems possible.


There are those, of course, who think that by funding these wars we are protecting our own freedom.  That's a real stretch in some cases.


The bottom line on these wars is they drain our resources and it seems for naught.  We need to stop supporting everyone's causes at least long enough to get our own economy in order.  It isn't improving infrastructure we need to stop  --  or helping our own poor  --  or educating our own children.  It is constantly pissing away our money on forcing our own goals on others and financing everyone's economies but our own that must cease.

Who Is Actually At Fault?

Time, April 20, 2015, features fourteen individuals, apparent ages from 12-68, who have been shot by police officers or neighborhood watch volunteers since the beginning of 2012.  As all these victims were people of color, a universal cry of racism is heard nationwide.  (Perhaps we should see stats about whites and other races killed in similar situations).  But who is really at fault?  The officer, racist or not, who engages in the violence?  The suspect who engages in a scuffle?  Or the national system that offers only vague guidelines as to when to chase and when to engage in violence?  Is all of the above too cliché an answer?


Certainly, walking home from a convenience store, carrying a bottle of tea, a cell phone and candy is not probable cause for anything.  Certainly, the volunteer neighborhood watch individual who disregarded a dispatcher's orders to stand down and let the police take over, wasn't without guilt.  But, then, the system that permits anyone  --  volunteer or paid officer  --  to unleash his weapon and shoot to kill for little or no cause, is a serious, serious problem.  And, a similar problem exists in terms of police chases, as well.


The first order of business that nationwide law enforcement should address is when to pursue  --  on foot or in a vehicle.  A foot chase after a suspect fleeing the scene of a crime, offers little danger to bystanders as long as weapons are not drawn.  That is probably the best and quickest way to apprehend them, too.  But once the pursuit is engaged, officers need some guidelines.  Do we pursue and just surround?  Do we chase and tackle?  Do we run with weapons drawn?  So, you need to know the nature of the crime.  A purse snatch?  Weapons not needed unless the suspect is armed.  Rape?  Homicide?  With appropriate attention to bystanders, weapons are not only permissible but needed.


Now, a car chase is a disaster waiting to happen.  It is my belief that car chases should be forbidden for anything less than rape, abduction, homicide and terrorism.  The risk to the innocent is just too huge to warrant or permit them for anything else.  Period!  No arguments considered!  The end!  Not for stolen cars.  Not for robbery.  Not for B & E.  Nothing that is not a threat to the body and/or of death.  Car chases cause more vehicular damage and threat to life than homicides in any one given area.


By the same token, purse snatching, unpaid parking tickets, B & E's, unpaid child support, fist fights, selling illegal cigarettes, etc., walking home from a convenience store, playing with toy guns, walking in streets, unarmed theft or robbery, do not warrant guns drawn or any other form of violence.  Guns in most instances are overkill.  Give these officers national guidelines, not catch phrases they can us as excuses for losing their self control, much less for racist behaviors.  And neighborhood watch individuals should never be armed on duty even if they have a license to carry.