Contempt of Cop: Concealed Carry Division

In an article the good folks at Pajamas Media were kind enough to publish on July 16, I addressed the issue of police officers around the nation arresting and even beating citizens for lawfully photographing them as they go about their official, public duties. The following two paragraphs are from that article and apply directly to the subject of this post as well.

“Contempt of cop” is a play on words of the common legal term “contempt of court.” The latter refers to a judge holding someone responsible for conduct — usually in the courtroom — that is disrespectful or disruptive, that reflects blatant contempt for the law, the judge and his lawful authority. The former is similar. It refers to a cop’s reaction to the same kind of behavior by a citizen in their presence. In the best sense of the term, an officer’s attention will be attracted by someone who goes out of their way to irrationally and unnecessarily antagonize a police officer in a public setting. In such circumstances, it would be foolish for a police officer to allow that person to go unpunished lest their behavior encourage others to insult, even attack other officers.

Contempt of cop also applies to the worst instincts some police officers develop. In those cases, officers become “badge-heavy,” they begin to take matters personally. They become hypersensitive to any insult, real or imagined. They don’t consider the elements of the law, they take offense, act first and make up the rest later. Such officers are unpredictable and dangerous, not only to the public, but to their fellow officers who know that the bad will of the public is cumulative. Abuse the citizenry enough, and the officers who suffer for it — and some will suffer — will often be professionals, men and women of good will undeserving of their fates.

To this I would add one other simple fact of American policing: any and every rational officer must assume that any and every person with whom they have contact could be carrying a concealed weapon. This was so even in the years before most states allowed concealed carry, and since only Illinois does not allow it in any way, it remains an even sounder practice—even in Illinois. Most officers know that they will be speaking with people who are legally armed at any time. They also know that these people are thoroughly vetted by the state and are among the most law- abiding people in society. Every rational officer knows that they have less to fear from these people than almost any other class of citizens, and should have no surprise or anger when they do come into contact with them.

On June 8, 2011 in Canton, Ohio Officer Daniel Harless of the Canton Police Department was involved in one of the most egregious examples of Contempt of Cop I've ever seen. Go here for that article and video, and here for a related article. It was compounded in July by lawyer and Canton City Council President Allen Shulman who obviously has little respect for the Constitution, and less for anyone living outside Canton who dares to express an opinion. The links in this paragraph will take you to the police dash-cam footage of Officer Harless, and to the audio of Mr. Shulman's comments. Both speak, in many ways, for themselves.

The police video begins with Officer Harless stopping, in what is apparently a high-crime neighborhood, to investigate a parked car and three people. There is nothing obviously wrong with the officer's approach or his demeanor in speaking with the three people, one of who, apparently a known prostitute, is standing to the rear of the right side of the parked car. As he approaches, he orders the two people in the car to stay in the car. For the next five minutes he begins to threaten to jail everyone, yet there is no apparent violation of any law. He does not approach or directly speak to the driver until about 6:05 into the 17+ minute video. That's when the contempt of cop occurs, but not in the way a reasonable person might imagine.

Ordering the driver—William Bartlett--out of the car, Off. Harless begins aggressively questioning him (Bartlett immediately tried to tell Harless he was carrying a concealed weapon but Harless shut him off) and almost immediately accuses him of lying, despite there being no obvious evidence or indicator of deception. Within seconds, Bartlett tells Off. Harless that he has a concealed carry permit, and raises both of his hands. Harless immediately loses his temper and begins screaming at him. He grabs his right side—which Bartlett immediately tells him is his handgun, removes it, and another officer rushes over and handcuffs Bartlett, who is completely inoffensive, saying "yes sir" and "no sir" throughout the video despite being vilely insulted and repeatedly threatened by the officer.

Bartlett has clearly committed contempt of cop, apparently because he did not immediately inform Harless of his concealed carry status as required by Ohio law. Remember that Bartlett was obeying the orders of the officer to stay in his car, and that he did inform him within seconds of his first opportunity to speak with the officer. This obviously means nothing to the officer who is raging angry and screaming, calling Bartlett "stupid," and "an idiot," among other insults. Among the officer's early, screaming utterances:

"I could blast you right in the mouth!"

"I'm so close to caving in your goddamned head!"

"Talkin' to me with a fuckin' gun!"

"People like you don't deserve to move through fuckin' public; stupid idiot!"

Off. Harless aggressively grabs Bartlett by his handcuffs—officers know that this is painful and intimidating—and roughly jerks him back to his patrol car. It appears, from the sounds and from what is being said, that he is not gentle in putting Bartlett in the back of his patrol car, where he continues to loudly berate him.

At about 11:00 into the video, the dispatcher can be heard telling Harless that Bartlett has a concealed carry license. Harless did run his license plate earlier. It is not known why the dispatcher did not tell him this earlier.

Bartlett is still very polite, obviously afraid of Harless, who escalates to threatening to kill him, saying that he could have pulled out his "Glock 40" and shot him ten times. There was, of course, absolutely no justification for the use of deadly force. In fact, there was no justification for arresting Bartlett, but Harless continued:

"And he [referring to his fellow officer] would have been a nice witness as I executed you because you're stupid!"

For a time, Harless speaks to his fellow officer who appears to be trying to calm Harless down, and obviously remembers what Harless does not: they're being recorded. During the course of the incident, that officer does only what he must, being very quiet and engaging in no unprofessional conduct, and is careful not to turn his face toward the camera. Harless continues to loudly and angrily insult Bartlett, swearing broadly. Toward the end of the tape, he returns to Bartlett, threatens to charge him with felonies, and continues his tirade, threatening to harass him without cause whenever he sees him in the future:

"I'm going to pull that car over, tow it, and you’re going to jail every time."

This is one of the most badge-heavy officers I've ever had the misfortune to see. His actions and emotional state are far out of proportion to the situation. He allowed a completely non-threatening situation involving a very polite and cooperative citizen who was doing nothing more than exercising a fundamental Constitutional right and doing his best to obey Ohio law—which he did at the earliest reasonable opportunity—to send him into a dangerous and towering rage. He took personally what no officer should take personally.

Until Officer Harless lost control of himself, he was obviously behaving reasonably and professionally. It might have even been within the reasonable boundaries of professional discretion to handcuff Bartlett for the purpose of searching him for additional weapons, and perhaps even seating him in a patrol car only long enough to be sure that there were no outstanding warrants. If there were none, the reasonable thing to do would have been to explain, sincerely apologize and release him. However he compounded his grossly unprofessional behavior by arresting Bartlett, charging him with failing to tell him about his concealed carry permit, and with parking on the street. Clearly, he acted first and made up the charges later.

Many across the nation have called for the firing of Officer Harless. Based only on this incident, that would probably be excessive. If, however, Off. Harless has a history of such behavior firing might be warranted. If not, any responsible police supervisor or administrator should take great care to be certain that Off. Harless will never again behave so irrationally--for very obvious reasons--before allowing him to have contact with the public. The only good thing that can be said about his behavior in this incident is that he did not step over the line of overtly and brutally assaulting Bartlett—or worse. Even so, a false arrest is, in fact, an assault, as I suspect Off. Harless and the Canton PD will soon—to their dismay—discover. Anyone viewing the video might be forgiven for thinking that he was frequently very close to stepping over that line.

There is one additional issue that the Canton Chief of Police—or any police executive--should consider. With this video in the public domain, Off. Harless will be forever uniquely vulnerable to charges of harassment and abuse of his authority. Every police officer knows that some citizens, and unscrupulous attorneys, will lie about their actions, falsely accusing them of all manner of misconduct. Off. Harless has done something quite remarkable: created the presumption that he is out of control and abusive. Sadly, he has also tainted every professional police officer.

I should address two issues that Daniel Zimmerman at "The Truth About Guns" (the first link) slightly misstated. The brief search of the car depicted in the video was not obviously illegal. Officers do have the power to search vehicles under such circumstances for their protection, subject to some specific limitations. I was concerned that the officers did not remove the driver before conducting the search, as not only does the law allow this, but leaving anyone in a car you're searching is, to say the least, foolish and dangerous. In fact, had they removed the driver, he would almost certainly have informed them earlier that he was armed, though it's far from certain that Off. Harless would have reacted less explosively.

The other issue is that of Miranda. Simply being arrested is not a trigger for the reading of Miranda. Miranda applies only in cases of "custodial interrogation," which means that the person is under arrest and officers are questioning them with the goal of obtaining incriminating evidence. Even if officers don't mirandize under those situations, it means only that incriminating statements will usually be excluded from court. Miranda is not an automatic get out of jail free card.

Canton Police Chief Dean McKimm seems to be on the right track. He has suspended Harless, who has worked for the Canton PD for 14 years, and an investigation is being completed. Chief McKimm said:

“I think it’s important for citizens to understand that the behavior demonstrated on the video is wholly unacceptable, and it violates many of our rules, our regulations and standards we demand of our officers."

He also said:

“The city administration, in conjunction with the police department, recognizes the seriousness of this matter."

While the administration of the City of Canton may well recognize the seriousness of the issue, there appears to be considerable doubt in that regard about Canton City Council President Allen Shulman, who will almost certainly not be nominated for Chamber of Commerce business and tourism promotion awards for the foreseeable future. Those listening to his statement will likely hear what I heard: self-righteous indignation and arrogant condescension.

Mr. Schulman seems particularly incensed about three things:

(1) That anyone dare criticize Canton City government or any of its branches for its apparent slowness in dealing with this case.

(2) That anyone not a resident of Canton level any criticism or indeed, even venture an opinion.

(3) That any unwashed bumpkin be allowed to carry a concealed weapon, which as every civilized, enlightened being—such as Allen Schulman—knows will inevitably lead to chaos and mayhem.

But Mr. Schulman--who is a Democrat--is not against guns, no. He said:

"For those people who are going to say I am against guns, I am not against handguns, I’m not against people that hunt with weapons, but we all should believe in common sense, reasonable gun control laws that don’t allow this kind of thing to happen at 1:30 in the morning in a crime-ridden neighborhood with prostitution and drugs while we sit every week and listen to our citizens say, ‘we want to be protected.’

Well, we are being protected. And I know the police department and the safety director and the mayor will investigate this thoroughly. And that’s one of the benefits of having a video that allows our citizens some transparency as to what happens in these stops. But these laws are completely insane."

Let's set aside, for the moment, the fact that everywhere concealed carry has been in effect—and that's most of America—violent crime has decreased and the kinds of shootouts and mayhem anti-gun advocates have predicted have simply failed to materialize. Concealed carry licensees are among the most law-abiding, responsible people in America. Considering that in order to received their licenses they must spend considerable time and money and be thoroughly vetted by the state, this is hardly surprising. What is surprising is that Mr. Schulman--attorney Schulman--is apparently unaware of this commonly known reality.

Consider too attorney Schulman's apparent inability to process logic. If given a choice about the best and most rational time and place in which to carry a concealed handgun, and those choices were: (A) In a crime-ridden neighborhood with prostitution and drugs at 1:30 in the morning, or (B) In a completely safe neighborhood at 1:30 in the afternoon, who would not choose "A"? Apparently Mr. Schulman would not. Mr. Schulman believes that the laws that allow honest citizens to carry concealed weapons "are completely insane." He also believes that the people of Canton, OH are "being protected." Again, Lawyer Schulman apparently does not know that the police have no legal duty or obligation to protect any individual citizen (US Supreme Court: Castlerock v. Gonzales), or perhaps he simply doesn't want the citizens of Canton to know that.

Given the opportunity to speak for the City of Canton, Mr. Schulman does not address the actual issues, he does not reassure the citizenry that they have nothing to fear from their police force, but takes the opportunity to berate citizens who dared to contact an elected official to express their concerns, and engaged in an anti-Constitution, anti-gun tirade. I suspect that a great many Americans would believe that it is Mr. Schulman's thinking and those who mirror that way of thinking that is "completely insane." I also suspect that enough citizens of Canton, OH might share my suspicion to see that Mr. Schulman is denied further opportunities to embarrass their fair city at the next electoral opportunity.

I will, by the way, as a public service, and no doubt, to greatly annoy Mr. Schulman, send him a link to this article. Should he respond, I'll be happy to print his response in its entirety.

There are a number of lessons inherent in this sorry situation. It remains to be seen whether they are taken to heart. They are:

(1) Such notification laws are of no practical use. Not only do they not protect police officers, but they allow out of control officers like Daniel Harless protected means of harassing the law abiding. Any competent officer should assume that anyone with whom they interact could be armed. In addition, computer records should indicate any citizen with a state issued license.

(2) In cases like this where it is more than obvious that the officers involved exceeded their lawful authority, all charges against those they mistreated should be immediately dropped by the prosecutor involved. That has apparently not yet been done in this case. There is no excuse for causing innocent citizens falsely arrested to go through the trouble and expense of having to go before a judge—even for arraignment—for the charges to be dropped.

(3) Politicians should follow Abraham Lincoln's advice: "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt."

...And I'm Back

We spent a beautiful and too-short week in western North Carolina, fishing, swimming, hiking and picnicking with my extended family. I think that if we get the chance, my wife and I will probably retire to the Brevard area. It's over 103 here at home, and was never hotter than the mid 80s there all week.

Besides that, the Davidson, French Broad, and Horsepasture Rivers seem to have too many trout. Someone needs to help manage the ecology, preferably someone who knows how to roll cast and grill trout.

Associated Press Covers Gunwalker, in Detail

And rather fairly at that, though I think they may be a bit too inclined to give the ATF the benefit of the doubt, instead of being more suspect of the motivations of the Obama Administration officials at the heart of the scandal and most of the bloggers and investigators that have propelled this story are.

The fact remains that the various DOJ, DHS, and Treasury agencies and operatives that have had a hand in this scandal are all very much in cover-up mode, hoping that they can survive the Congressional investigations and leaks to investigators that keep shifting the blame higher in the Obama Administration.

It may take multiple impeachments and criminal trials, but we'll get to the bottom of this.

MIKE ADDS: Many Americans don't know that the Associated Press, like Reuters, is a "wire service." The term comes from the old days when news was disseminated by dedicated land-lines, or wires. Now, of course, it's done via the Internet.

Even news outlets like the New York Times can no longer afford to maintain news bureaus around the globe, however, organizations like the AP can pay local writers and photographers associated with them to submit stories and photographs, which the AP markets via subscription to local, regional and even national news organizations. This allows your local newspaper to feature stories it could not otherwise obtain.

The problem with this system is that if the AP is biased—and it often is—or if the AP gets it wrong, every subscriber around the world is biased or gets it wrong and everyone reading those stories is misinformed. Is the AP always biased? Of course not, but when it is, that bias is invariably toward the left, the progressive, socialist side of the political aisle.

As Bob has noted, Ms. Arrillaga's story is well done and quite informative, particularly for those who haven't been keeping up on Gunwalker unlike CY readers, but it suffers from several of the problems I've mentioned (after the break).

Ms. Arrillaga accurately recounts the genesis of the case and the disgust of honorable ATF agents like John Dobson who were ordered to allow criminals to buy thousands of guns and send them across the border with no way to track them or to determine who would receive them or how they would be used. She writes:

"It was supposed to be the big case — the one that went beyond the buyers, the drug cartels' equivalent of pawns in a game of chess. Taking them out alone doesn't assure victory.

Fast and Furious had far loftier goals: To go after those directing gun buys on behalf of the cartels. Maybe bring down an entire trafficking cell. Or even cripple a cartel itself.

To try and capture a few kings.

A different kind of strategy was developed and put in motion. It went like this: Instead of working to interdict the many guns that were bought, ATF agents allowed weapons to move through the trafficking network in an attempt to identify additional conspirators and, ideally, build a bigger, stronger case."

Those with experience in law enforcement should already be seeing the inherent absurdity. She continues:

"It was a risky proposition for a typically risk-adverse agency, a strategy in which the consequences may not have been entirely thought through. But this puzzle had many more pieces that came together to complete the final picture: Gun laws that make curbing arms trafficking challenging. Several unsuccessful prosecutions. A government faced with a deadly, and growing, problem — and the need for a solution, no matter the hurdles.

By the time Fast and Furious was launched in the fall of 2009, gun violence in Mexico was clearly out of control. Daily news reports described bloody shootouts as drug cartels battled for power, and worry had increased about cross-border violence in the many burgs straddling the U.S.-Mexico boundary.

Mexico looked to the United States to both blame and beg for help. Its own stiff gun laws had long driven criminals north of the border to expand their armories, but better efforts to trace crime guns recovered in Mexico underscored the enormity of the problem.

By 2009, the ATF was reporting that some 90 percent of the weapons Mexican authorities recovered and submitted for tracing originated in the United States, and pressure was increasing from Mexican officials for the United States to address the issue. Even before he was sworn in, Barack Obama vowed to Mexican President Felipe Calderon that the United States would step up efforts to stop the trafficking of weapons south.

The question was how to do it."

Ms. Arrillaga does lay out the potential motivations of higher-ups in the ATF and DOJ quite well. However, she not only misses the point—their real motivations--but stops far short of explaining why their ideas were, at their very foundation, idiotic. The only way to "capture a few kings" would be to follow illegally purchased gun from the point of their illegal purchase until they actually found their way into the hands of the heads of drug cartels in Mexico. Any rational ATF agent could have told those coming up with such a scheme—if they actually thought it through to any degree—that it would not and could not work. In fact, rational agents tried to do just that.

The heads of cartels weren't sending people on shopping trips for personal weapons. No cartel head said "Jose, I would like a new Glock 17. Please send someone to Bob's Gun Emporium in Phoenix to pick one up for me." They would almost certainly never lay eyes on these weapons, which were for the use of their soldiers, people at the lowest levels of their criminal enterprises. At best, they would always be many levels removed from actual involvement. Prosecution would require the arrest of lower-ranking criminals within their organizations and "flipping" them, convincing them to testify against people higher up the chain who gave them orders to break the law. When we consider that these people would know that testifying against their bosses would lead not only to their deaths but the horrible deaths by rape and torture of all the members of their families, it's easy to understand the lunacy of this approach.

Compounding the problem is the fact that Mexican cartel bosses are wanted for far more serious crimes than illegally procuring guns in America: crimes such as extortion, kidnapping, bribery, uncountable numbers of drug crimes, conspiracies and murders too numerous to count. Mexican law enforcement--at every level--is compromised by criminals. Even if this was not so, Mexican cooperation with American law enforcement is unreliable at best and is often hostile. The Mexican government is not exactly consistently cooperative when it comes to extradition of criminal suspects, particularly those who have bought off much of the government.

Even so, all of this is not the biggest hurdle to success. ATF and DOJ leaders wouldn't even tell their own agents in Mexico about the case. If the ATF hid the details—even the very existence--of the case from its own people, how could the ATF possibly work with Mexican authorities in all of the ways necessary to eventually build criminal cases against the heads of cartels?

The biggest problem, a problem that Ms. Arrillaga avoids, is that this was never a real law enforcement operation. Even if we discount the Obama Administration's terminal schizophrenia in trying to determine whether such things are threats to national security or common crimes which should be prosecuted in the criminal courts, any competent reporter should be able to smell the real motive behind Gunwalker. However, it would appear that Ms. Arrillaga is a standard AP/legacy media reporter.

By this I mean that such people do not sit down to meetings every morning and brainstorm ways to damage conservatives. Well, actually, some of them do, as we learned in the Journolist scandal, but for the most part this just doesn't happen. It's not necessary because in most news shops, there is not a single conservative or independent. Everyone shares the same assumptions, beliefs and motivations. Ms. Arrillaga, for example, uncritically repeats the Obama Administration's 90% lie. Her obviously anti-gun beliefs underlie her writing and undermine her ability to dig deeply enough to unearth the real genesis of Gunwalker. If you are predisposed to believe that gun ownership itself is a societal evil, you're particularly unlikely to question such lies.

The Obama Administration was not content to manipulate the already substantial carnage in Mexico and on our southern border to lobby for greater gun control, though they certainly tried. The lie that 90% of the guns seized in Mexico by Mexican law enforcement authorities were purchased in the US has always been a part of effort. Some have more recently revised the lie downward to 70%. There seems little doubt that the Administration was determined to force the violence and public outcry over it to escalate in ways that would predictably lead to the deaths of more Mexicans and Americans to build support for additional gun controls that could not be obtained through the legislative process due to an almost complete lack of public support. Such an irredeemably evil policy could only have been formulated at the highest levels of government. Ms. Arrillaga does not develop the well-known involvement of the FBI, Homeland Security, IRS and even the State Department in this debacle. She does not mention the testimony of ATF managers that has, only this week, placed direct knowledge of the case in the White House for the first time. We have long known about the direct involvement of Justice Department officials of the highest rank, but she does not develop this in any significant sense.

The media often professes great respect for the Constitution, particularly the First Amendment, and is often outraged by alleged violations of the law by governmental officials (particularly when they are Republicans). Ms. Arrillaga provides a case in point:

"… several cases had been tossed over lack of evidence. Most notable was one of the last big cases the Phoenix ATF investigated before Fast and Furious — the widely publicized probe of gun shop owner George Iknadosian, who was accused of knowingly selling hundreds of guns to straw buyers.

In March 2009, a judge threw out the case against Iknadosian, noting that the weapons were purchased legally and there was no proof that they ultimately wound up in the hands of unlawful possessors. It was a hard pill to swallow, and the lead agent on that case, ATF special agent Hope MacAllister, would go on to become the lead case agent for Fast and Furious."

Examining Ms. Arrillaga's prose on its face, there is no "there" there. The federal law regarding straw purchases of firearms requires the government to prove the person purchasing a firearm was doing it with the knowledge that the gun was actually being purchased for someone who could not legally purchase the gun themselves. That is the crime, and it is the government's obligation to prove its elements. This is the nature of our criminal justice system: the presumption of innocence. If I legally buy a gun, and several months later, sell it to a friend, not knowing that he is not legally authorized to buy a gun himself, I have not violated the law. I have not made a straw purchase, and no rational federal prosecutor should try to bring a case against me. They can certainly prosecute my friend who knew that he was not allowed to own firearms, but I am blameless.

According to Ms. Arrillaga's story, the guns were legally purchased and there was no evidence that they were ever given to people who could not legally possess them. If this is the case—and Ms. Arrillaga represents that it is—what could possibly have possessed any federal prosecutor to bring charges in the first place? There was no crime! Yet Ms. Arrillaga writes the story as though the Judge involved threw out a worthy case on a technicality, writing: "it was a bitter pill to swallow." Indeed it was, but the pill was bitter because, as Ms. Arrillaga represented it, the government had no case to begin with.

How could Ms. Arrillaga have missed this? Again, if you believe that the mere possession of firearms is inherently bad, that it marks those who possess them as stupid, unsophisticated, even inherently dangerous, and if you believe that government should restrict civilian ownership and use of firearms in any way possible, it becomes easy to ignore any elements of a story that get in the way of that narrative. Gun dealers sell guns. This is bad. The government charged a gun dealer with a crime involving guns, so he should have been convicted.

Ms. Arrillaga does well explain why ATF field agents found the plans of their superiors horrifying, yet suggests that many were excited to be involved in such a cutting edge, "creative" case. She does expose, step by step, how the agents became disenchanted and how, with the death of Border Patrol Officer Brian Terry, the whistleblowing began. Yet, she still can't figure out what is going on:

"That the goal was laudable, no one disputes. But in the aftermath of Fast and Furious, the ATF and Justice Department are rethinking old investigative techniques vs. new, whether the end justifies the means, and how to better weigh risks vs. benefits.

The Justice Department has since clarified its policy regarding gun investigations, prohibiting operations "which include guns crossing the border." The policy adds that if there is knowledge that guns are about to enter Mexico, "immediate action" should be taken to get the weapons — even if it jeopardizes an investigation. Also, gun shops in Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona are now required to alert the ATF to purchases of two or more high-powered rifles in a five-day span to help agents spot suspicious buying patterns."

The goal was not laudable. It was farcical, impossible. No rational law enforcement agency could have possibly believed that it could have worked. The only possible explanation—that the Obama Administration manipulated and materially worsened the violence in Mexico and along the border at the entirely foreseeable escalated cost in lives in pursuit of gun control policies—entirely escapes Ms. Arrillaga who speaks instead of the clarification of DOJ policies, such as actually seizing guns about to illegally enter Mexico, policies which have theoretically always been in place and which are ATF SOP (standard operating procedure). She also uncritically parrots a new Obama mandate requiring FFL licensees in the border region to tell the ATF about the purchase of two or more rifles within five days.

Ms. Arrillaga ignores the brutal irony inherent in this. The ATF was aware of the illegal purchases of thousands of weapons, often hundreds in a single transaction. Agents not only watched such sales being made in person, they actually set up video feeds so ATF and DOJ bureaucrats in Washington could watch straw purchases being made in real time, vicariously living the excitement. Her anti-gun preconceptions prevent her from putting two and two together and asking the questions which logically result. She wrote that the ATF was aware of the illegal sale of thousands of guns, sales worried gun dealers reported to the ATF before and as they were happening. She wrote that the ATF, over and over again, told them to make those sales. She wrote that after the sales were made, ATF agents were ordered to simply let the guns walk. She wrote that hundreds, even thousands of these guns are still unaccounted for.

Why then wouldn't she wonder why a policy requiring gun dealers to do, on a much smaller scale what they have already been doing for years, not only makes no sense, but is obviously nothing more than part of a desperate attempt to obscure real incompetence and criminality on the part of the highest levels of the Obama Administration? Can't she at least see that such a policy is simply another meaningless gun control gesture that can have no effect on real criminals? Like most of her legacy media colleagues, her preconceptions prevent her from seeing the glaringly obvious reality apparent to those who understand that it is not inanimate objects that perpetrate evil, but people.

Ms. Arrillaga has indeed done a service of information, and her article is not blatantly anti-gun, yet the anti-gun, anti-freedom assumptions of too much of the legacy media are clearly present. Ms. Arrillaga has inadvertently informed the public of the fact that those assumptions prevent reporters from actually getting at the real story, substituting instead the predictable anti-gun narrative. I suspect that Ms. Arrillaga is an honest, hard working reporter who cannot imagine that she is biased, and who simply cannot see what she is missing. If you were surrounded by people who shared your assumptions, beliefs and political goals, you'd probably be in the same boat.

Ms. Arrillaga's article is ultimately a case of caveat emptor—let the buyer beware—in reading wire service journalism.

The Literature Corner: 1-800...

This Literature Corner for this week is a tale of the sometimes dysfunctional relationship between patrol officers and dispatchers, and a case of divine, comic inspiration.

07-30-11:1-800…

I was finishing up the last set of bench press reps in the weight room before beginning another patrol shift when that annoying commercial popped up on the TV again. It was the hearing aid commercial with the tag line “call 1-800-MIRACLE EAR.” I winced as the announcer droned the tag line for at least the 20th time in 30 seconds. I groaned the bar up and into place and shut the TV down. No one minded.

Early on it was obvious that it was going to be a really annoying shift. The Dispatch Center was training new dispatchers again—still--and it was as though they--and the cops on the street--were in alternate universes. Tempers were flaring and the only thing keeping the beleaguered cops from hustling into Dispatch with murder on their minds was that it was a day shift and it wasn’t too busy, so we didn’t have to rely too much upon Dispatch.

Dispatchers are literally the lifeline for cops and the public, particularly for police forces without mobile data terminals (MDTs--computers). Good dispatchers have a sense of what’s happening out there in the real world and can anticipate what an officer might need next. They can do more than one thing at once, can prioritize calls, are calm, efficient and professional and are a joy to work with. Poor dispatchers can’t do any of those things well, and some not at all. They range from annoying to actually dangerous.

Because dispatch pay is even worse than police pay (hard to imagine but true), and because the work is very stressful, people don’t tend to stay in the job for very long. And as with most of the rest of the world, the best dispatchers are chased out by the mediocre. Only the truly horrendous tend to ever be fired, and usually only after their inability causes injury or it becomes painfully obvious--so obvious that it can’t be ignored--that it will, and soon.

A slow dispatcher can blow cases, even put officers at risk. Sometimes, dispatching issues are literally life and death. Police lore is full of true stories of dispatchers receiving panicked calls from citizens whose homes were being burglarized, only to have the dispatchers forget or assign a low call priority, leaving victims to fend for themselves. Sometimes the victims are beaten, raped, even murdered. Talk about your basic public relations nightmare!

Tom Turnwait wasn’t having a good day. Tom was a former Marine and a funny guy. A relatively new cop, Tom pretty much took things in stride. But for some reason, the dispatcher was extraordinarily slow in responding to every request Tom made. We all noticed it, but because dispatchers were hired and fired by another local governmental entity, we had no real control over them. The result was often citizens calling in and reporting police officers pulled over at the roadside, their faces bright red, their eyes bulging out and clouds of steam jetting from their ears, just like in the cartoons.

Tom finally had enough when he made a traffic stop.

“Dispatch; Car 8,” Tom said. No answer.

“Dispatch; Car 8,” Tom repeated calmly. STILL no answer.

“Dispatch; CAR 8,” Tom said again, aggravation creeping into his voice. No matter what they were doing, every cop in town was now listening more closely to the exchange.

“DISPATCH; CAR 8!” Tom was really annoyed, and with justification. He had pulled over a traffic violator and it would be unsafe for him to leave his car and approach theirs without Dispatch copying down his location and the plate number of the violator. If Tom got shot, we’d have no idea where he was or who might have shot him. But if he waited too long, the violator would probably get out of their car and approach him. Not a good thing. Cops need to control their environment, and timing is a large part of that control.

“Car 8; Car 10,” I said. “Go ahead, I’ll cover you.”

“Thanks Car 10,” Tom said, obviously relieved but still pretty upset. He gave me the location and license plate information and I copied it down on the notepad I kept on the top of the visor above my head. Because every other cop was convinced that the dispatcher didn’t have a clue and wouldn’t get one anytime soon, they would also copy it down in case Tom yelled for help or didn’t check in within a few minutes. In case of trouble, Dispatch sure couldn’t tell us where he was. In a few minutes, Tom tried again.

“Dispatch; Car 8; registration check,” Tom said, his voice back to normal. No answer.

“DISPATCH; CAR 8; REGISTRATION CHECK!” Tom was really hot. Finally, they caught on.

“Uh, go ahead Car 8...”

Tom read the license plate number, speaking very slowly and distinctly. By now,
every cop in town was paying close attention to the exchange. Most were shaking their heads in disgust. Tom finished reading the plate number.

“Uh, could you repeat that Car 8?” The dispatcher said.

Tom repeated it clearly, slowly, chewing each consonant and vowel, “2 Adam Boy, 3-6-9.” Strangely, his voice was normal again.

“Car 8, was that 2 Adam Boy 2-6-7?”

“2 Adam Boy 3-6-9,” Tom said, his voice absolutely calm, steady and crystal clear.

“2 Adam Dog, 2-6-5?” Repeated the clueless dispatcher.

“2 Aaaadummm Boeeee thuh-reeeee sicksssssssss nnniiiiiiuuuuuunnnnnnn,” Tom said, exaggerating each sound.

“Car 8, could you repeat that?” The hapless dispatcher said. I was staring at my radio speaker in amazement. That’s when Tom received a burst of divine inspiration.

“Dispatch; Car 8; ready to copy a phone number?” Tom asked, supernaturally calm.

“Go ahead Car 8.” Amazing; they got it!

Absolutely deadpan, Tom said: “1-800-Miracle Ear.”

“Uh, could you repeat that Car 8?”

All across town, bewildered citizens were treated to the spectacle of policemen abruptly pulling to the curb and literally laughing until they cried. The shift supervisor ordered Tom to meet him at the station, but he didn’t give him too much trouble. After all, it was divinely inspired. How do you blame a guy for that? Tom was our hero for weeks.

Practical Problem Solving: The S&W M&P 22-15

I'm fond of my AR-15. I don't mean that I sleep with it under my pillow or gaze longingly at its photograph on my desk at work. I appreciate well-designed and manufactured devices, whether firearms, musical instruments or computers. I find useful and functional design to be remarkable.

The charming little weapon in the first photograph is my S&W M&P (Military & Police) 22-15 Standard model rifle. Its suggested retail price is $499.00. You'll also notice several accessories mounted on this side of the rifle.

Here's the opposite side, and those of you familiar with AR-15s will recognize that the 22-15 is a faithful reproduction in virtually every respect.

Here's the rifle with its hinged receiver open. Again, notice that it breaks down for cleaning exactly as the AR-15 family.

Here's the bolt group of the 22-15, which bears only a superficial resemblance to the AR-15. I'll explain all of that shortly.

Before we go on, here’s a list of accessories I'll mention in this article:

(1) S&W 22-15 Standard Rifle. $499. 25 rnd mags $20.04: Go here.

(2) 1000 rnds of Fiocchi .223 $410. Lucky Gunner: Go here.

(3) Tasco Red Dot 38mm tube, $36.99: Go here.

(4) #11 Eye and #13 Objective—Butler Creek Flips Ups, app. $9.00 each. Go here.

(5) Magpul MOE commercial spec. stock. $59.95. Go here.

(6) SureFire G2 Nitrolon flashlight $55.00: Go here.

(7) Daniel Defense Sling Mount: $30.00: Go here.

The AR-15 family, the brainchild of Eugene Stoner, is indeed remarkable. Accurate, reliable, light weight, ergonomically brilliant, and when accomplished by many manufacturers, a thing of beauty, AR-15s are truly worthy of a bit of platonic admiration. There's just one problem…no, I'm not talking about the caliber. Yes, I know that in combat the .5.56mm is a bit anemic. Yes, I'd prefer a more powerful cartridge if I was in combat, but on the other hand, you can't have too much ammunition, and you can carry a lot more 5.56mm than anything in a larger caliber. There is no free lunch, and this post isn't about that ongoing argument anyway.

Back to the one problem: .223 ammunition (.223 is the civilian caliber designation while the military prefers the metric designation) is pretty expensive. Luckygunner.com currently offers 1000 rounds of Fiocchi .223 (with reloadable brass) for $410. That's reasonably cheap as .223 ammunition goes. You can, of course, reload, and if you do it enough, you can actually save money compared with even cheap factory .223. I used to reload and enjoyed it, but the problem is it's relatively time consuming, and as I've grown older, I've discovered that time is more valuable than I once imagined, particularly when the savings to be had from reloading are no longer as great as they once were for common rifle and handgun calibers. As many older people discover, I have a bit more disposable income than when I was younger, and as long as I can afford to pay a bit more for the ammo, I’d prefer to have the free time.

Shooting an AR-15 is just about as much fun as you can have with firearms. They're light, reliable, have very low recoil, are ridiculously accurate, and they simply feel right. They also look very cool, and even though some shooters are far too mature to admit such considerations, have you ever noticed how many of them have photographs of themselves proudly displaying various firearms? Hmmm.

A thousand rounds sounds like quite a bit, but you'd be surprised, particularly if you're planning on frequent practice, how quickly you can run through that amount of ammunition, particularly if you are participating in a professional one or two day class. Shooting is not only a physical skill, but a mental skill as well, and if you don't practice—regularly—its perishable. So we arrive at the problem: It is good (repeat after me: It is good; it is good) to own and shoot an AR-15, but it's also expensive.

One solution is one of the several .22LR adapter kits on the market. These normally consist of a bolt and bolt carrier group that slip into the upper receiver of an AR-15, replacing the normal bolt and bolt carrier. The AR-15 is a gas operated rifle, but such adapters (and the S&W 22-15) are simple blow-back actions and don't use the AR gas system. The kits also include a .22LR magazine (usually only one) that fits in the AR magazine well and uses its magazine release button. Such kits normally retail for about $130.00.

Any well-engineered kit will work reasonably well, but they have several drawbacks. The foremost drawback is that most magazines are limited to ten rounds and are quite expensive, often running as high as $100.00. Some kits have magazines of 25-30 rounds, but are often less than reliable in these larger sizes. In addition, I've found that magazines are often hard to find. The other factor is dirt: .22LR ammunition is quite dirty, and while it will shoot with good accuracy in standard AR-15 barrels, it can leave quite a bit of lead in the barrel and loads of powder gunk throughout the receiver, far more than shooting a great deal more .223 ammunition will cause.

I'm not a clean freak, but I do believe that a clean gun is a happy gun, and I like my guns to be very happy in their work. No, I don't talk to them; my cat certainly, my plants—maybe, but my guns, no. I don't mind cleaning guns, it's a part of appreciating fine machinery and fully understanding your weapons, and the AR-15 is easy to take down, clean and reassemble, but I don't like cleaning them longer and more often than necessary.

By now you've probably realized that the solution to this dilemma is the S&W 22-15. There are indeed similar weapons by other manufacturers, but Smith really got this one right. Smith and I have had a rather rocky relationship. They have always made fine revolvers, but many of their weapons, particularly their earlier semi-automatic pistols, just weren’t up to their promise. In recent years, S&W has, happily, reversed that trend in a great many ways, and the 22-15 is a fine example.

Before I get into the details of the Smith, let's explore the rationale for buying one. The standard model of the gun retails for $499, but can be found for considerably less with a bit of careful shopping. When you consider that many adapter kits with one spare magazine run for $200 and more, the difference is not so great, considering that 1000 rounds of .22LR can be had for less than $40.00. Compared to $410 for 1000 rounds of .223, you can nearly buy the Smith for the savings inherent in the first 1000 rounds. And it has been positively established by experiments with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN—as a side effect of looking for the Higgs Boson—that it really is scientifically impossible to have too many guns (or too much ammunition), but you always suspected that, didn't you? Ain't science grand?

Of course, the greatest benefit of the Smith is that it is, in virtually every way, identical to an AR carbine. The position and feel of all of the controls—bolt release, safety, trigger, magazine release, take down pin, cocking handle—is identical to that of a full-sized AR, with the exception that the travel of the cocking handle is much shorter than that of a real AR as the .22LR cartridge is much shorter. The two primary differences are that the Smith is about a pound lighter than a comparable AR, and that recoil—already very light in an AR—is all but nonexistent in the Smith.

The Smith is made primarily of polymer, and only those parts that need to be steel are made of steel and finished in what appears to be the same kind of dull black, mil-tech finish common on ARs. The forearm is a non-removable plastic with four standard sized, full-length accessory rails. The lower and upper receiver (which also has a full-length accessory rail) are also polymer.

The standard model comes with easily removable—by means of large knurled nuts--front and rear "iron" sights and no flash hider, an accessory available (nstalled) from the factory for an additional $20.00. In fact, a wide variety of accessories and finishes are available from the factory for extra cost, or you can do as I did and accessorize from the aftermarket.

Accuracy is easily on a par—within the range parameters of the .22LR cartridge—with the AR family. I chose an inexpensive yet well made Tasco red dot sight as being similar to the more expensive sights on my ARs. Unlike more expensive models with multiple, multi-colored reticles and other bells and whistles, the Tasco provides a simple, easy to see red dot. Windage and elevation click adjustments are audible and have a solid, positive feel. There is much to be said for simplicity. Turn the single rheostat control—11 separate brightness settings--to the brightness level appropriate to light conditions, and you're ready to go. You can certainly spend more than the price of the weapon on optics if you like, but when I sighted the Tasco in, I was able to shoot a 3-round group slightly under one inch from 50 yards, supported from sandbags on a bench with middling quality ammunition. Most expensive .22LR bolt-action rifles do no better, and the Smith has a standard feeling AR mil-spec. trigger rather than a ultra-light target trigger. In fact, the Smith's lock work resembles the AR mechanism, with the exception that Smith's hammer is plastic. Even so, it sounds and feels just like an AR. The Smith's barrel is not a heavy, target barrel, but it is more substantial than most .22 rifles.

One of the things I most appreciate about the Smith is its 25 round magazines which resemble standard AR 30 round magazines. These magazines cost only $20.04 direct from Smith, and are quite reliable. I've found that the key to reliability is to load no more than 23 rounds, and to load them by pulling down on the follower buttons on each side of the magazine, allowing each round to drop into the magazine rather than pushing it into the magazine under spring tension. This allows the cartridges to orient themselves in a sort of left/right/left manner and allows the nose of the top cartridge to protrude at an upward angle from the magazine lips. If the top cartridge is not in this attitude, you'll definitely experience a feedway malfunction. By the way, ten round magazines--useful for sighting in from a bench—are also available and inexpensive. I did initially have one 25 round magazine that would not feed reliably. I sent it back to Smith and received one that worked properly within a week.

You should also be sure to use a proper stance, holding the weapon firmly into the shoulder pocket. Failing to do this will often result in a failure to go into battery from a short stroking bolt, which didn't have a solid platform against which to recoil. There is no forward assist plunger on the right side of the weapon (that's a good thing with the .22LR which is a rimfire cartridge), but malfunction drills are identical to those employed with the AR. One should charge and manipulate the weapon smartly as delicate or tentative motions will tend to encourage malfunctions, but save your Incredible Hulk impressions for other weapons; the Smith is mostly made of plastic, after all, so butt-stroking others is pretty much right out, as the British would say.

As I mentioned earlier, the Smith employs a straight blowback action. The action spring rides above the bolt on a guide rod, which rides in two rails embedded at angles in its sides and attached to a plastic base behind the bolt. The recoil spring housing of the AR, in which rides the recoil spring and buffer, is non-functional on the Smith, and the plastic tube is present only as the mount for the telescoping stock. Unlike the AR, it is integrally molded as a piece with the lower receiver and cannot be removed, but it does accept properly dimensioned aftermarket stocks, like the Magpul unit I have, which is also available directly from the S&W factory. I chose this stock simply because it's the stock I use on my ARs, so why not be consistent? I also like its solid construction and unobtrusive but non-slip buttplate. Having the release mechanism protected by the body of the stock is also helpful, as I've had standard AR stocks collapse at inopportune times when hung up on gear and other objects.

I protect the Tasco sight with Butler Creek flip up scope covers, which at about $9.00 each are inexpensive and work very well. You should note that you can buy most—if not all—of the accessories I list here from sources other than those I've provided, possibly at reduced prices. However, I've generally found these sources to offer reliably good service.

I also mount a flashlight because I do the same with my ARs. We live in varying degrees of darkness half the time, yet few shooters practice shooting in low and no light situations. For less than $100, I've found that the SureFire G2 Nitrolon (polymer) flashlight and the VLTOR scout mount position the flashlight perfectly for on/off manipulation by the left hand thumb. Yes, you can purchase squeeze pads, but why add wires and additional expense and complexity when you have a perfectly good thumb just hanging around on the left side of the forearm anyway? The Scout Mount weighs almost nothing and adjusts the position of the flashlight, and clamps to the accessory rail, with a single thumbscrew.

The final accessory is a Daniel Defense accessory rail mount for one of their neat plunger-type sling mounts. Push a button to insert the solid, ballbearing plunger, and push the same button to release it. This works particularly well with single point slings, which I favor, rotates 360° and makes no noise. The only difference between the Smith and AR is that I use a Daniel Defense mount that clamps onto the recoil spring tube just behind the lower receiver on my ARs, which positions it perfectly for a single point sling, allowing the rifle to hang well on the body. I don't believe that particular mount is a good idea with the Smith as it could easily overstress or crush the plastic tube. The problem is that this forces you to attach the sling mount at the rear of the accessory rail, in front of the lower receiver, placing the center of gravity in about the middle of the gun, allowing the barrel to flip upward. The simple solution is to buy—or make if you can sew—a simple ¾" wide nylon strap with Velcro closures that wraps around the stock tube and the single point sling to keep the gun in a barrel down orientation.

My only real complaint about the Smith is its owner's manual. Most of it is obviously written with avoiding lawsuits foremost in mind. You know the type that might say something like this for a toaster: "Do not insert wet badgers connected to you by exposed copper wiring into the toaster slots." Can't you just imagine what the testimony was in that lawsuit? Lawyer: "And do you recognize this charred badger Mr. Jones?"

The Smith manual implies that if you're foolish enough to actually fire the gun, you or others could get hurt and its absolutely not the manufacturer's fault because they warned you! What is conspicuously missing from my manual is disassembly and reassembly instructions for the bolt/bolt carrier for cleaning. As I bought a rifle from one of the earliest production runs, this may have been subsequently corrected.

To take down the bolt, simply pull the recoil spring back slightly from its resting place on the black plastic base, and holding the back of the base steady, push the guide rod (the bolt will move too) slightly to the rear. There is a slot machined in the end of the guide rod, which will easily slide up and out of its holder on the top of the black plastic base if you push it back just a little. Simply slide the bolt off the rails and reassemble in reverse order. A little lubrication on the rails and guide rod are all that should normally be necessary (apart from a thin film of oil on metal parts for rust prevention, of course).

Cleaning the rifle is easy, but one should have plenty of Q-tips for small or hard to reach places, particularly around the breach face and its fixed, protruding ejector. It's important to be careful with the rifle when the upper receiver is open. This is so even with ARs, which have aluminum receivers. The single forward hinge point is vulnerable to damage with the receivers are open, and this is particularly true with the plastic Smith.

Oh yes, one additional warning: The accessory rails are plastic, so when attaching accessories, particularly scopes, keep in mind that torque specs applicable to metal rails might crush plastic rails. You'll need to figure it out by hand, again, saving the Incredible Hulk impressions for other weapons.

The Smith and Wesson M&P 22-15 is an excellent and inexpensive way to practice completely transferrable AR skills. Its light weight and miniscule recoil also makes it an excellent training weapon for any shooter, but particularly women and children who can shoot hundreds of rounds for little money.

Debbie Downer Desperately Demagogues as Democratic Descent Deepens

If you don't have a President or a Party or a plan, maybe this is the best she can do:

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Wednesday that House Republicans are trying to impose "dictatorship" through their tactics in the debt-ceiling negotiations. She said the GOP rhetoric could "spark panic and chaos," which she called "potentially devastating" to the economy.

The chair telephoned POLITICO to express "significant disappointment in where … Republicans have allowed this debate to degenerate."

Reality must be painful for the reality-based community. Democratic leadership, in the form of the President, is increasingly pathetic, offering no concrete solution of any sort to our budget problems. All Obama has done is whine and stomp his feet that he is unwilling to cut any of the trillions in spending he and his fellow Democrats have added in recent years, while insisting on raising taxes, a move certain to plunge us into a full depression.

Debbie Downer and Harry Reid have likewise offered no leadership or viable budgets, and instead merely snipe at the plans Republicans have offered.

The American people can see that it is the Republican Party, and only the Republican Party, that is offering budget plans. The Democrats are offering nothing but vitriol.

The American people are not blind, as much as the Democrats and media wish they were, and they will respond accordingly in 2012, if not sooner.

Details of the Obama Budget

Quick Takes, July 28, 2011

ITEM: It's Happened Again. Go here for a summary. "It" is another mass shooting by a single man, apparently a 32 year old described by the Norwegian police as a Christian fundamentalist, right-wing extremist. Of course, in a nation that is essentially Socialist, "right wing" almost certainly has different connotations than in America. But what is clear is that using a "machine-pistol" he killed approximately 90 people on an island accessible only by boat. By strict definition, a "machine-pistol" is a fully automatic weapon in pistol caliber—highly unlikely in Norway--but there are no confirmed additional details available.

At this point, one lesson is abundantly clear: This kind of murderous rampage is possible only in gun-free zones, which pretty much describes Norway. Many Norwegians own guns, but virtually no one is allowed to carry guns, and for the most part, the police don't either. From media reports, the shooter killed, unrestrained, for 60-90 minutes before the police could respond. Don't expect the media to understand this. They will almost certainly, as usual, use this as an opportunity to lobby for greater citizen disarmament. I've no doubt the Obama Administration will do the same. One capable innocent with a handgun could have stopped this. One. John at Powerline (here) concurs.

ITEM: Our National Debt in 1:24: Go here to view a very powerful video submitted for the PowerLine Prize. It says what needs to be said very well indeed. Go here for another fine effort.

ITEM: How Not To Be Unemployed: This is the title of an article by Susannah Breslin at Forbes (here). Good advice from a woman who knows. By all means, read it all.

ITEM: Don't Tax You, Don't Tax Me; Tax That Corporate Jet Behind The Tree! Hold on there, Buckaroo! That's not what you'd be saying if you were billionaire and Obama supporter Warren Buffett. Go here for a brief and informative story and video on the real issues relating to the latest iteration of Mr. Obama's never-ending class warfare.

ITEM: If I Were Him, I Wouldn't Worry About An Invitation To The Next White House Command Performance. Go here for an interesting story about Vegas gazillionaire Steve Wynn. It seems that Mr. Wynn thinks—gasp—that Mr. Obama is very bad for American business and that the economy won't improve until Mr. Obama is gone. How could anyone think this, particularly when Mr. Obama himself tells us that things are so good, 80% of Americans are just dying to have their taxes raised?

ITEM: Thirty Million Americans Live In Poverty: What, exactly, does that mean? Go here for an interesting story at PowerLine that outlines the facts. One thing is certain: The poorest Americans are certainly the envy of far, far more than 30 million of the residents of the rest of this small, blue planet. By all means, read the whole thing.

ITEM: Oh! It Blew Up In Her Face! Ka-Blooey! Go here for a brief and delicious video of MSNBC talking head Contessa Brewer interviewing Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL). Arguing economics, she arrogantly demanded to know if Rep. Brooks had a degree in economics. Turns out he actually does—with honors. Ka-Blooey!

ITEM: It Takes A Licking And Keeps On—Calling and Receiving? Go here to see what happens when you drop your iPhone 13,500 feet onto a rooftop. Amazing. NOTE: We're professionals; don't try this at home.

ITEM: How Can You Tell When Barack Obama Is Lying? Go here for Michelle Malkin's list of victims of evil insurance companies, insurance companies that will be brought to heel by the wonders of ObamaCare! Except, the people Mr. Obama awarded much-coveted victim status really aren't victims at all. But that means that the answer to the question is: His lips are moving. Indeed.

ITEM: It's That Right Wing Fox News Again! So, did News Corp., parent company of Fox new follow the lead of the rest of the media? Did the employees of News Corp. donate to Democrats by a margin of eight or nine to one over Republicans? Not so much. It's actually 51% Republicans and 49% Democrats. You'll never guess which political figure got the most boodle. Yeah, you will. Looks like "fair and balanced" isn't just hype. Go here for the story.

ITEM: The Party's Over: At 5:556 EDT, July 21, 2011 the Space Shuttle Atlantis landed, ending America's ability to fly into low orbit for the foreseeable future, and arguably ending America's manned space program. Our only means of flying men into space is now the use of Russian capsules employing 1970s technology. But cheer up! NASA Chief Charles Bolden has a new mission direct from Mr. Obama: Helping Muslims to feel good about the scientific accomplishments of their ancient ancestors. I guess if we want to boldly go where no man has gone before, we'll have to rely on Star Trek.

ITEM: Finally! Conclusive Proof of Global Warming! That's right gentle readers. Go here to Hot Air, which is reporting on the NYT's recent indisputable, settle-it-once-and-for-all proof of anthropogenic (man-caused) global warming. The proof? Oh! Sorry! It's like, you know, I mean, really hot--in July. Quit laughing! I mean reeeeallllly hot! Sweating and everything! Stop that! It's not funny! Now that they've cleared that up, I await stunning and conclusive proof that the oceans are wet and that it tends to be dark at midnight.

ITEM: Just Like The Flintstones, They'll Have a Gay Old Time! In QTs from last week, we reported on the National Institutes of Health spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to study medical issues of enormous practical importance such as how the penis size of gay men relates to, well, their satisfaction (I always thought you couldn't get no satisfaction…). Now we discover (here) that the NIH has spent another $300,000 to deal with another medical conundrum that's right up there with seeking a cure for cancer: Why do gay men have sex and use drugs at professionally produced gay dance parties? I don't know. It sort of seems like the NIH is more than normally interested in gay sex. And now that you mention it, what's a "normal" interest in gay sex in the first place, particularly if you're not gay? How can we get some satisfaction about this? Discuss.

ITEM: Louis Renault Award, National Destruction Division: Go here for a brief reminder of the EPA's regulatory war on productivity, jobs, the economy, and national survival. Particularly, I was shocked, shocked! to learn that the EPA is about to put into effect rules that seem specifically targeted at destroying electric generating capacity in Texas, the most productive, free, and economically dynamic state in the union these days, and a solidly red state. Surely the Obama Administration would never engage in thuggish retribution? Surely the Obama Administration would never do anything to harm the economic viability of one of the few states helping to keep America from economic doom? Of course the Obama Administration would do that, and quit calling me Shirley!

ITEM: First Class Temperament—Not! Go here for a revealing story about the new Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel and his less than calm response to a reasonable question by a female reporter. Remember, gentle readers, Emanuel was often touted as the sole rational, calm and reasonable voice in the Obama White House. This man is running one of America's largest cities. We're in the very best of hands.

ITEM: 2012 Election Preview: Presidential Press Secretary Jay Carney provided a look (go here) into what will almost certainly be Mr. Obama's campaign rhetoric in 2012: "The economy is vastly improved from what it was when Barack Obama was sworn into office as president." Right. Ignore that man behind the curtain; Neville Chamberlain secured peace in our time; scientists don't want drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and Janet Napolitano says things on the southern border are better than ever! A mind is a terrible thing to waste, Jay.

ITEM: U.S. Taxpayers Take A Bath! Or: "Mr. President! The taxpayers are revolting!" "They certainly are." When Barack Obama took over Chrysler and GM, we owned a Dodge Caliber. It was a decent car, but sensing that Mr. Obama would do as well running the auto industry as everything else he touches, we decided to support the only U.S. manufacturer who did not succumb to the siren song of Socialism and have been happy Ford owners since. But now the Treasury Department has announced that it sold the taxpayer's remaining 98,000 shares of Chrysler stock—at a $1.3 billion dollar loss. Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad said, essentially, well, yeah, but we dumped our investment at a loss six years earlier than we expected, so you know, it's like all good and stuff! What good news! Go here for the entire disaster. I don't know--$1.3 billion still seems like quite a bit of money to me. You?

ITEM: And Now It's Time For—Guess That Date! Yes gentle readers, in what year was this headline featured? "U.S. Budget Deficit Hits Record $438 Billion For Year?" Was it (A) 1934, (B) 1963, (C) 1972, or (D) 1981? It's (E) None of the above. The year was 2008. Isn't it amazing how just over two years of Barack Obama has so devalued the apparent worth of hundreds of billions of dollars that $438 billion doesn't sound like much anymore? Go here for an enlightening bit of perspective, courtesy of the invaluable Mark Steyn.

ITEM: Politically Incorrect: Have you found yourself annoyed by the tired, cowardly character assassination that passes for being brave and politically incorrect when uttered by leftists, leftists such as the distinctly unfunny and just plain mean comedian Bill Maher? Well, Steven Crowder shares your pain and has produced a great little video (here) illustrating just what being politically incorrect means. If you're not familiar with Crowder and his work, you've missed one of the brightest and genuinely funniest comedians extant. Take the time to see this one.

ITEM: God—And Ronald McDonald—Have Delicious Senses of Irony. Go here for the story. What story? With the First Couple doing their best to destroy the economy and turn children into skeletal model-waifs, which company is thriving despite their best efforts? C'mon, I gave you a major hint!

ITEM: "Note That There's A Restaurant Called Hooters But None Called Testicles." So says Advice Goddess Amy Alkon (here). If you haven't read Alkon, this is a good chance to make her acquaintance, so to speak. Direct, rational, funny, smart: what more could you want in a woman, or an advice goddess, for that matter? My favorite English parallel: "If you can be quizzical, why can't you be testicle?"

ITEM: Beauty: Popular music has produced a few truly magnificent singers. Among them are Karen Carpenter—who sadly died far too young—and Alison Krauss, like Carpenter a consummate musician with an achingly expressive, beautiful voice and the ability to find the soul of a song, to truly sing the music instead of the notes and rhythms. July 23rd was her birthday and Powerline (here) has a brief story and a video you really want to see. If you've not heard Krauss, you're missing real beauty. Take the chance to experience it.

ITEM: No One Is That Stupid—Right? Imagine a federal cemetery, a cemetery serving as an official final resting place for our military dead. Imagine that the director of that cemetery is preventing any mention of God from being used in services in that cemetery. Insane, right? Can't be happening, right? Apparently, it is. Go here for the story of one Arleen Ocasio, director of the cemetery in Houston, TX (of all places), and the testimony of state lawmaker John Culberson (you knew he had to be a Republican, didn't you) who went "undercover" to see for himself after Obama Administration officials denied that it was happening. According to Culberson, it is indeed happening. See what you think. Secure breakable objects first.

ITEM: A Cuteness Overdose That Just Keeps On Giving: Go here to Zoo Borns for photos of the cutest beasties--born in zoos all over the place—you've ever seen. This is the kind of site you should bookmark and visit whenever you feel the need for one of those "Awwwwwww!" moments. Winnie-The-Pooh cute.

ITEM: Let’s Go There And Figure Out How They Do It! So say the officials of many states who are sojourning to—Texas! That’s right. The Lone Star State has, from 2001-2010 created 732,000 jobs, more than any other state. Arizona, in second place, had only 92,000. California recently sent a high-level delegation and apparently don't speak Texan, because they're still circling the toilet bowl on the way down. How did these Texans do it? Go here to find out.

ITEM: Mr. Obama gave a speech the other night on the Debt Ceiling debacle. Class warfare, false choices, lies, it's everybody else's fault, all talk, no plan, you know, the usual. Go here, if you care.

ITEM: What? How Is This Possible? And in a related story, the White House Press Corps (that's "core," not "corpse") actually took Obama Press Mouthpiece Jay Carney to task and dared to demand to know why Mr. Obama has no debt ceiling plan! Mr. Carney's response? Mr. Obama don' need no stinkin' plan! He gave a good speech once—or something. Well, as long as you put it that way… Go here to see the most transparent administration in American history in action.

ITEM: Shovel Ready? Yeah. Not so much. Go here to PowerLine for a cute video on the true nature of the Obama stimulus that even Mr. Obama admitted was never shovel ready, although, they did give cocaine to monkeys. I can't think of a better use for taxpayer funds, can you? Perhaps measuring gay penises or something like that. Or maybe gay monkey penises…that would be better! Discuss.

ITEM: We're In The Very Best Of Hands: Go here to see a video of a Congressman questioning ATF higher-ups about Operation Fast and Furious. See the higher-ups pretend to be unable to understand or answer simple questions. See how well our tax dollars are being used to destroy our rights and kill law enforcement officers in two nations. Makes you proud to be a citizen of the world.

ITEM: The Clinton Legacy. Remember those glory years for the Democrats: The Clinton years of amazing economic success driven by Democrat policy? Yeah. Me neither, but a great many Democrats and of course, the Lamestream Media remembers it fondly. But as Mr. Reagan was fond of saying, it's not so much that what the Dems know is wrong, but that so much of what they know just isn't so. And so it is with this myth. Go here for the facts by the invaluable Mona Charen. If you haven't read Charen, this is a fine introduction.

ITEM: The Joys of Austerity: Mr. Obama has announced he has a plan to save $4 trillion dollars! Well, he's announced it, but he actually, sort of, really, has no plan at all, actually. But because he's Barack Obama, his word is reality, except when it isn’t, which is actually all of the time, particularly when it comes to spending. To get a very readable and worthy take on our upcoming fiscal reality, go here to read the mandatory Mark Steyn.

ITEM: Yummy Goodness and Political Philosophy: Our very own Brigid has managed to combine wonderful writing and photography on the most essential of the food groups: bacon--and politics. Go here for a rare treat.

ITEM: Middle East Overview: Take a few minutes to navigate over to The Mellow Jihadist, which is not, by the way, an Islamist Looney site, to read a post with many interesting links. It's sort of a quick recent history of what's up thereabouts written by a former military officer who knows whereof he speaks. Interesting indeed.

ITEM: Be Prepared! Who knew that there were at least five different types—of sluts? Of sluts. Viewer Warning: This short article contains a photograph of an attractive female posterior and of a female making an obscene gesture. Oh yes, and the kind of language you find in such disreputable places as your local cinema, and, well, life. I mention this because I know how sensitive, sheltered and gentile CY readers are. Go here to "the Frisky" for the vital story. Hey, with all of the horrendous stuff we end up reporting, I think we can all use a bit of frippery, or friskiness. Sorry: no extra credit for inventing your own kinds of sluts—or for gay penis jokes.

And with that observation, I must thank you once again for stopping by and urge you to visit us again next Thursday at Quick Takes! May you have such a ridiculously lovely week that your enemies melt down in frustration!

Quick Charge To The Rescue!

Several of the biggest obstacles to the wide-spread proliferation of all-electric vehicles—which circa July, 2011 means the Nissan Leaf--are these simple facts:

(1) Battery technology limits range to a maximum of about 50 miles which virtually requires drivers to adopt unrealistic techniques, such as carrying only a driver, little or no cargo, using no accessories—such as air conditioning, radio, turn signals, headlights—that drain electrical power, and accelerating and driving very slowly. Absent such methods, less range is a certainty.

(2) Charging times are excessive. A full charge takes as long as 12 hours, and virtually never less than eight with a fast charger which costs $2000.00, not including installation. And charging times are variable. It's not always exactly eight hours, but virtually never less.

(3) Cold weather reduces battery range to a fraction of its already small capacity. Adding such things as battery heaters may help overnight in the owner's garage, but such heaters require even more electricity, and unless the driver can plug in the heater wherever he parks the vehicle, it is of little use.

(4) There is currently almost no public charging infrastructure and no commonly accepted means of paying for (or generating) the power that will be used.

(6) EVs cost significantly more than conventional vehicles in their size class and are far less flexible.

(7) The resale value of EVs on the used car market is unknown, but unlikely to be good. Even new EVs are attractive only to a very small niche market.

(8) Even if a significant nation-wide charging infrastructure sprung up overnight, all of the other issues would still exist. If you run out of power, you have a very large and expensive wheeled paperweight on your hands for at least eight hours—if a quick charging station is handy. Oh sure, you could take a faster, partial charge—say four hours--and end up out of power somewhere less convenient…

But now comes AAA to the rescue with quick charge trucks! According to Chuck Squatriglia at Autopia (here):

"AAA is rolling out North America’s first fleet of quick-charge trucks that will rescue dead electric vehicles and get them back on the road."

One Paul Scott, who is a founder of "Plug-In America" which (surprise!) is an EV advocacy group, is enthusiastic:

“As an EV advocate-turned EV salesman, I applaud the AAA for taking the lead offering this service to EV drivers. Many people have asked me what would happen if they were to run out of juice on the freeway and now I have a very good answer: They get juiced up by AAA.”

Mirable dictu (wonderful to tell)! So AAA shows up, ultra-fast charges the depleted batteries of a distraught EV driver, and everyone leaves with smiles! Not quite:

"The service will be available to AAA members and provide Level 2 (220 volt) and Level 3 (440 volt direct current) quick-charging service, depending upon the vehicle. Although Level 3 charging can “fill” a depleted battery in as little as 30 minutes, not all EVs have the capacity for it. There are a couple of reasons for this, not the least of which is there is not yet a global standard for the plug."

Can I call AAA for this service in Buffalo Tongue, Nebraska? Not quite:

"AAA says it will deploy one truck in each of six metro areas later this summer: Portland, Oregon; Seattle; the San Francisco Bay Area; Los Angeles; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Tampa, Florida."

So, if you happen to live in one of those six cities, AAA will be there to have you on the road "in as little as 30 minutes!" Not quite:

"Don’t expect a full charge if you get yourself stranded. You’ll get 15 minutes with the truck. That’s not much, especially if you’re using Level 2, but AAA says it’s enough to send you three to 15 miles up the road to your garage or a public charging station."

So, if I happen to live in one of those cities—if I don't, too bad, so sad--and my battery runs out of juice I can call AAA, which will send out its single truck (which is, by the way, gasoline powered—the horror! I think that's called "irony.") which process would take--from my call to their arrival--oh, let's say 45 minutes just for fun, and if my car will accept a super fast charge to fully recharge my battery (which, by the way, does not exist—more on this in a moment), I'll be on my way within an hour! Except that AAA will only give me enough charge to limp another mile or three—if I'm lucky, except if it's cold, in which case it will be less. How much less? Who knows? Call me cynical, but this doesn't exactly sound like a great advance in service and EV practicality after all. But then again, I'm probably just some green technology-hating fuddy-duddy incapable of understanding how to win the future.

Please, gentle readers, if I'm wrong, provide the necessary links to illuminate me, but the current state of EV battery technology does not allow complete fast charging in 30 minutes or anything close. As I noted earlier, "fast" charging is a matter of four to six hours at best, not 30 minutes, and that's only with expensive fast charging equipment.

While advocates of EVs will no doubt see this as a great advance, it's rather like calling AAA when you run out of gas and finding them willing to provide only four ounces of fuel, and only in six cities. Very few people would consider that to be a real service, particularly considering the likely cost, and the fact that the people providing the service will need to burn fossil fuels to deliver next to no range.

I guess I'm just getting cantankerous in my old age, but I can't quite find the kind of enthusiasm some folks have for what the evidence indicates is a not-ready-for-prime-time technology. AAA's service is interesting, but even for EV owners, it will be of minimal utility, and no doubt AAA is hedging its bets that many years from now EVs will not dominate the market. In fact, they'll probably never be—at best—more than a tiny portion of it. I suspect that's a smart bet indeed.

Letter From The Teacher #11: Sex Education?

Anytown High School, Any State, USA

To: Mrs. Whitehouse
From: Mr. English Teacher
Re: Sex Education?

Dear Mrs. Whitehouse:

Thanks for your e-mail about your son Steve's literature critique. His final draft was a great improvement. I only showed him what he needed to do; he did all the real work, and it paid off very well.

I was also glad that you sent me this link about the Massachusetts middle school forcing 7th graders to take a sex survey without parental knowledge or permission. As you requested, I checked with our middle school and our central office. We are not planning anything remotely like that, and we have never done anything remotely like that. In fact, in the Anytown Independent School District, all such things require parental permission, in advance. If you have any additional questions about that issue, I recommend that you speak with April Summers, who handles that portion of the curriculum for us. I'm sure she can answer any questions you might have.

As to your question about my opinion of sex ed. for high school students, I'm honored that you would ask, but please understand that my answer is probably not going to perfectly match the official position of the Anytown ISD, whatever that position is. I speak only for myself, which is probably just fine by the Anytown ISD anyway!

I suppose I'll be taking bits and pieces from both of the commonly known sides of the issue, but I'm probably going to be talking more about human nature and process than precisely what should and should not be taught. I hope that will answer your question as completely as possible, or at the least, provide a bit of insight.

A great many people suggest that there is no need for adults to teach kids anything about sex. They seem to believe that kids already know far more than they did at that age, and likely more than they do as adults! The truth is, most kids know only enough to know at what they should snicker. Like a great many adults, they really don't know much, and what they do know is just enough to get them into real trouble.

I'll give you two quick examples. Last year, while the kids were working on a writing assignment quite unrelated to sex, one of my brighter girls, a pretty and popular girl, a girl most of the other kids would automatically assume knew a great deal about sex—and everything else—looked up from her paper and asked: "Mr. English Teacher, do Muslims have belly buttons?" I have no idea why that thought popped into her head, but the rest of the class immediately perked up to see what I would say. Only one or two were trying to suppress laughter; the rest really weren't sure of the answer. Before I could speak, the single Muslim boy in the class stood up, grinned at me (I nodded permission), he turned toward the girl, lifted his shirt, exclaimed "Muslim bellybutton!" and showed her his bellybutton. Ten minutes later, I was finally able to get them back on track—it was, by the way, the best laugh we had that week--and the redness was finally beginning to fade from the face of the poor girl who asked the question.

The second example started innocently enough. We were working on a favorite assignment of mine I call a dictionary poem. I give the kids a sheet with ten groups of ten numbered lines. They have to open a dictionary to ten pages at random and choose ten words from the opened pages and write them in the blanks. When they're done, they use those words, and those words only to write a poem. It's great fun, and it forces the kids to really think about words in unfamiliar ways. The kids find all sorts of interesting words and realize that dictionaries are actually pretty interesting.

In this case, a very smart, popular and social girl suddenly spoke up and asked: "Mr. English Teacher, what's an areola?" About five of the kids started to snicker—they'd heard the word and had some inkling it had something to do with breasts and therefore, with sex, or something. In these cases, the kids will model their reactions on yours, so it's important to calmly deal with such questions. So I explained that the word has several meanings, but that most commonly it referred to the area, usually circular, surrounding something, such as the nipple in men and women. Several more kids were snickering now, and she was immediately embarrassed and blurted out that she always thought that the whole thing was the nipple. That did it; the whole class cracked up and suddenly became much more interested in looking for similarly interesting words. I simply clarified that the nipple was the smaller part that protruded in the center of the areola, and after another five minutes, the laughter died down, but the kids were showing new fervor in searching their dictionaries! Whatever works.

The point is that many would think that contemporary teenagers know far more than we did as teenagers, but in truth, they're nearly as uninformed as most of us were. Only after they were given a graphic example and an explanation, did the kids put two and two together and realize that all human beings had to have belly buttons. Only after the embarrassed young lady talked about areolas in a way that they'd never forget, followed by a simple explanation (many of them immediately looked up the word too) did they actually know what a word they'd heard and somehow exclusively associated with sex meant.

Should we be teaching high school kids about human sexuality? It's not an easy question. Human beings are hard wired—to use computer terminology—for reproduction. They're driven, particularly young men, to pursue that biological imperative. It's a powerful drive. At the same time, human beings, apart from all other animals, have the ability to make conscious, moral choices. We know that kids will inevitably be driven to experiment, yet there is no question that abstinence is by far the smartest thing for them to observe. So I suspect that it's reasonable to provide a certain amount of the right software, delivered in the right way.

Let me provide one more example that might help to suggest at least a process, if not a solution. A few years back, we were discussing a novel, and during that discussion, a particularly thoughtful, but shy, young lady raised her hand and asked a question. She was a very good student, and rarely participated in class discussions due to her shyness. Coincidently, I noticed earlier that week that she appeared to have a boyfriend, as I later learned, her first.

In any case, during that discussion of theme, characterization and the elements of novels, she raised her hand and asked "Mr. English Teacher, do you like sex?" The half of the class that knew me grinned, waiting for my reply, and the rest simply stared in shock, waiting for whatever calamity they were sure would befall them.

I could have ignored her or told her that it was an inappropriate question, but instead I gave a slight grin and asked: "is this a trick question?" That broke up the class and allowed me to acknowledge, quietly that I was, in fact, relatively fond of sex, but that it was a very complex subject and not easily understood. I guessed, correctly as it turned out, that she was struggling with what to do about the possibility of sex, but instead of asking whether she should have sex, she asked my opinion. My answer let her relax and she asked what I meant.

At that point, again, I could have simply said that it was a better topic for another time, but when you have every kid in a class listening that intently to your next word, it's not to be wasted. I explained that the most important part of human sexuality was not the physical element, but the emotional, the spiritual element. I explained that it is the intellectual intimacy, the absolute trust, the willingness to give fully of yourself that is far more satisfying that a few minutes of mere physical pleasure. It is that which is lasting, only that which sustains us for a lifetime, that reveals the great joys of being human. I closed by pointing out that only when one is older, wiser, when one is independent—essentially a responsible adult--able to give what is necessary to another in every way is that kind of bonding and true love possible. Until then, sex is very often harmful, damaging and painful. It's simply best to work hard at becoming that responsible adult, which means not engaging in sex at its weakest and least fulfilling

That took all of five minutes from the novel. The kids seriously thought about what I said. I can't guarantee that half of the class didn't engage in sex at its weakest and least fulfilling that very night, but at least they thought about it, and as teachers, we know that we can never know exactly who we influence and how deeply. I do know that it was the right message and five minutes pretty well spent. The novel was waiting when I finished.

Should we teach kids, whose parents agree beforehand, about the issues of human sexuality with which we all have to deal? Sure, but it can't be a how-to class. And we can't be so simplistic as to teach little more than "just say no" in a variety of different ways. As with everything else we teach, our goal should always be to help kids become smarter, stronger, wiser, and more capable adults, adults who are honorable, self-sacrificing human beings determined to treat others with sincerity and honor.

I hope that's a helpful answer. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

Yours,

Mr. English Teacher

FBI Allowed Felons to Buy Gunwalker Weapons?

It sure looks like it.

Of course, it wouldn't be the first time the Feds have turned a blind eye to felons buying guns, or even gun companies.

If they can use a criminal to make a case (as they did with Fast and Furious) or because they can use him as a criminal informant (as they did Lee Franklin Booth), then they certainly will.

Norwegian Lessons

By now, most are aware of the murderous rampage in Norway. The killer—who would want his name to be prominently mentioned—is a 32-year-old Norwegian. From what is currently known, he set off a bomb made of fertilizer and fuel oil in Oslo, killing seven, and approximately an hour later, took a boat to Utoya Island, a retreat center accessible only by helicopter or boat. Dressed in a police uniform, he called many of the youngsters on the island at a summer retreat to him and opened fire, eventually killing 86 and wounding—at the bombing and on the island--more than 90. His rampage was stopped when he was shot—he survived--by a police SWAT team, but it took approximately 90 minutes from the first shot until the police were able to find transportation and travel to the island.

His weapons have been variously described as a "machine pistol," an "automatic weapon and a pistol," and various other imprecise, uninformed media formulations. There was immediate speculation that the attack was another Jihadist outrage, which these days is far from an unreasonable assumption, but it seems that this attack was most similar to that in Tucson: the act of an evil man, acting alone in response to whatever demons pursued him.

The first question that usually comes to mind—or at least to the minds of the media—is: why? Why did this person do what he did? Is he a member of a favored victim group? Were his grievances—if they align with the favored socialist/statist narrative—legitimate, even understandable, or was he a "right wing extremist?" If so, not only is he to blame but any who might share any portion of his assumed political beliefs is also to blame, and yes, Sarah Palin has already been implicated.

The first question that usually comes to the minds of many politicians is: how can I use this to my advantage? This is particularly true of those who seek to increase the power of the state and suppress the freedom of individuals, men like Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel who endeavor to never allow a crisis to go to waste—when it can be cynically exploited for political gain.

If I was truly cynical—and I am, for Lily Tomlin was right when she said that no matter how cynical you get, you can't keep up—I'd be tempted to observe that the Obama Administration would immediately try to export illegally purchased American firearms to Norway, or that it would be discovered that they already had. Stranger things have indeed happened, have they not?

But for the time being, as we wait to learn the actual, as opposed to assumed, facts, our time would be best served by considering what can be learned from this latest massacre. I'll provide only three primary lessons, though there are surely more.

(1) Gun free zones are deadly. In this case, the entire nation of Norway is essentially a citizen disarmament zone. Even though many Norwegians own firearms, even the police do not routinely carry handguns. Utoya island was very much like American schools: isolated, vulnerable, and completely unarmed. In school attacks, and in the attack on Utoya Island, the final body count will depend on the lack of marksmanship and the humanity of the killer(s), who will be stopped only by the intervention of armed police. Even in America, it takes far longer for the police to respond to such attacks than most people realize. When seconds count, it will take the police tens of minutes to arrive and longer to react. On Utoya Island, the killer—exploiting a dream Socialist gun-free zone--had approximately 90 minutes to roam the island at will, killing at a truly leisurely pace.

In America and Norway, the Left is delighted to "send messages" and to express what they imagine to be moral superiority by declaring certain places to be "gun-free." They see such posturing as an important and meaningful accomplishment in and of itself. They are incapable of seeing, or accepting, that criminals care nothing for the laws they establish, and that while preparing for the mass murder of children, gun-free zone signs are not only not a deterrent, but a guarantee that they will be able to kill without impediment. In a very real sense, the murders on Utoya Island are the ultimate expression of the gun-free zone.

(2) Evil exists. The left sees all things through a political lens. All motivations, all meaning may be found in political ideology. Socialist/Statist/Leftist ideology is infallible, so it can never be mistaken. It can never be wrong. Any problems along the way must be attributable to the existence of Conservatism, which keeps Socialism from working properly, or to the fact that not enough time has passed for a given Socialist policy to work properly, or as in the case of gun control issues, insufficient Socialism has been applied. Not until all firearms are in the loving hands of the state can the state protect individual citizens, despite the fact that the state has no obligation—or intention—to protect individual citizens.

Because all is political, morality—to the small degree that leftists recognize its existence, exists only in service to the preferred political narrative. Concepts such as good and evil have no meaning unless they are politically useful, such as evil being applied to those who oppose righteous Socialist policy, which is inherently good.

This mindset inevitably leads to the search for motivations, causes acceptable to the Socialist political narrative. In the case of the Norwegian killer, much of the media has already branded him a "right-wing Christian Fundamentalist." To the Leftist media, no greater insult, no more damning sign of politically incorrect guilt, is possible. Yet even this epithet denies the existence of evil. To the Left, evil resides in the fact that the killer is right wing, Christian, and even worse, a "fundamentalist," whatever that might mean in this context. In a nation as far left as Norway, even those with slightly left of center political views might be considered irredeemable rightists.

One need not be a Christian to believe in evil, for evil is manifested most meaningfully in acts, not words. The most revealing evidence of evil in despotism is not in the despot's writings and pronouncements, but in the millions of innocents they slaughter. On Utoya Island, the killer dressed as a policeman, and knowing that kids would not be alarmed by an armed policeman, called them to gather around him and betrayed their trust in the loving state by shooting them. He spent 90 minutes, taking his time, calmly walking about the island and shooting everyone he could find, killing 86 and wounding a great many more. He reloaded multiple times. If this was not evil, evil has no meaning.

No motivation need be sought. No political arguments need be made. No one need be blamed except the killer himself and the author of all evil. Evil exists to destroy and cares nothing for politics except to whatever degree politics and those who live by them may be twisted to enable destruction of God's greatest gift: life.

(3) One indisputable fact remains: If a single, capable innocent on that island was armed, the killer could have been stopped and nearly two hundred children would not have been wounded or killed. Life could have been preserved and evil defeated. Evil cannot be appeased or reasoned with; it must be confronted and destroyed.

This was not possible because of what Socialists would surely consider one of their greatest accomplishments, an achievement they would see as indisputable evidence of more advanced evolution, of more enlightened humanity: the more or less complete disarmament of an entire nation, including its police.

The media and Norwegian and American politicians sharing the same political and social views will be unable and unwilling to recognize or accept this final, simple truth. They will argue instead for even more disarmament of the law-abiding and innocent, and the suppression of political ideas with which they disagree, even in a country that has no First or Second Amendments, for all must be made to serve the narrative.

We often rhetorically and cynically observe that someone is going to have to die before something is done. Ninety-three are dead and the Left is incapable of learning the painfully obvious, necessary lessons. The best the left can do, the best it will ever be able to do, is to call the killer a right-wing fundamentalist Christian—which to them says nearly everything--and blame Sarah Palin, which says the rest.

The Obama Zone

Let's take a journey, a journey into a dimension of self-delusion and inattention, a dimension of false hope and unwanted change. We're taking a trip to: The Obama Zone!

Consider these excerpts from a piece by Mike Allen at Politico via Jim Geraghty at National Review (via me):

"FLY ON THE WALL: Fifty of the most prized donors in national politics, including several hedge-fund billionaires who are among the richest people in the world, schlepped to a Manhattan office or hovered around speakerphones Tuesday afternoon [July 19, 2011] as their host, venture capitalist Ken Langone (pronounced LAN-goan), a co-founder of The Home Depot, implored New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to reconsider and seek the GOP presidential nomination…"

"Langone backed Rudy Giuliani in 2008, and his guests came from both parties, although most were moderate Republicans. Most are uncommitted in the presidential race. Participants who rank on the Forbes list of richest Americans included Bernie Marcus, Paul Tudor Jones (hedge funds; $3.3 billion), Stan Druckenmiller (hedge funds; $2.5 billion) and Bernie Marcus (Home Depot; $1.9 billion). Several of them said: I’m Republican but I voted for President Obama, because I couldn’t live with Sarah Palin. Many said they were severely disappointed in the president. The biggest complaint was what several called “class warfare.” They said they didn’t understand what they had done to deserve that: If you want to have a conversation about taxation, have a conversation. But a president shouldn’t attack his constituents — he’s not the president of some people, he’s president of all the people…"

Can you can sing, without error in note or lyric, the theme from Gilligan's Island? If, like me, you can, then you remember Thurston Howe III and his wife, Lovey. Howe III was billed as "the millionaire" ("and his wife") in the opening ditty. Now, of course, millions are little more than pocket change. Like Dr. Evil awakening after decades and trying to extort a million dollars, it seems innocent and quaint in our world of debts so large their adjectives defy the imagination. What does a trillion of anything look like anyway?

But on Gilligan's Island and in America today, the very rich are very different. They must be very different—almost alien--for how else can Allen's report make the slightest sense? I don't mean that they always wear ascots, yachting caps and blazers and talk as though their jaws are wired shut like Thurston Howe III. I'm talking about altered perceptions; very altered perceptions.

People who were paying attention during the 2008 campaign must have been aware of:

(1) Mr. Obama's ranking as the most liberal senator in the U.S. Senate, to the left even of Bernie Sanders, the only self-identified Socialist in the Congress. In a Congress controlled by Democrats, leaning further left than any in recent memory that was quite an accomplishment.

(2) Mr. Obama's inadvertent bit of honesty in telling Joe The Plumber that he thought "spreading the wealth around" was a good thing.

(3) Mr. Obama's fervent desire to ensure that energy prices should "necessarily skyrocket."

(4) Mr. Obama's threat to bankrupt the coal industry.

(5) This charming off-the-teleprompter rant: "We can’t drive our SUVs and, you know, eat as much as we want and keep our homes on, you know, 72 degrees at all times, whether we’re living in the desert or we’re living in the tundra and then just expect every other country is going to say OK, you know, you guys go ahead keep on using 25 percent of the world’s energy, even though you only account for 3 percent of the population, and we’ll be fine. Don’t worry about us. That’s not leadership."

(6) Mr. Obama's close association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, proponent of Black Liberation Theology the foundation of which is militant Marxism.

(7) The fact that Mr. Obama had no business or real world experience at all.

(8) A wide variety of comments and indicators revealing Mr. Obama's compulsion to tax, particularly the wealthy.

(9) The use, by Mr. Obama and his surrogates, of Socialist terms like "social justice," and "redistributive change."

(10) Mr. Obama's often stated promise to "fundamentally change America."

I could extend the list virtually to infinity, but the question remains: how could these people have been surprised by anything Barack Obama has done? I have to believe that most of them are not old money. They made their money in the real world, paying bills, making payroll, working with actual people, God and gun clinging people who live in Flyover Country. They understand that without the free enterprise system and democracy, they would immediately find themselves the victims of the redistributive change and social justice built into Mr. Obama's DNA. So how did they overlook in 2008 what is now so obvious in 2011? Unlike Thurston Howe III, they don't have the excuse of being marooned on a desert island for years.

And I'm afraid the referees have ruled the Sarah Palin excuse out of bounds. Apart from Bush 43, virtually every President has treated the Vice Presidency as though it was, in the words of FDR's VP, Texan John Nance Garner: "not worth a bucket of warm spit."

It never occurred to these people that Mr. Obama would not be business-friendly? They were unaware that Marxism and Socialism are all about class warfare and inherently hostile to democracy, capitalism and America? Did they think that when Mr. Obama repeatedly and fervently promised to fundamentally change America that he was talking about changing the color of blue jeans? Presumably these people are intelligent, or did people simply give them billions because they had kind faces?

Perhaps, having been slapped in their respective well-heeled faces by hope and change, they are now firmly living in the real world, in our normal, capitalistic, democratic, American dimension. And in that world, three things don't change: death, taxes and Barack Obama's socialistic designs on America. Hopefully, this time they'll put their money where reality is.

What Can A Man Of Barack Obama's Experience Accomplish? Part II

What Can A Man of Barack Obama's Experience Accomplish? Part II.

Links To Referenced Stories/Videos In This Article:

(1) For an article about Mr. Obama's only executive experience, go here.

(2) For a video of Jack Cashill explaining why Mr. Obama did not write his first book, go here.

Mr. Obama's only executive experience was his years (1995-1999) as head—appointed by unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers—of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, an organization set up to disburse tens of millions ostensibly to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged Chicago children. Despite blowing through a truly huge sum (more than $100 million in only four years), Mr. Obama accomplished—according to the study of the aftermath by the Annenberg Foundation—absolutely nothing but wasting more than $100 million dollars of other people's money. It is not known if Mr. Obama knew that this was vital training for his future, but he obviously did not want anyone to know about his only executive experience, and despite the fact that the press did know about it during the 2008 campaign, it was not reported. Apparently pants creases and leg tingles override fiscal irresponsibility far more than was previously understood.

Mr. Obama has identified himself as a "constitutional law professor" at the University of Chicago, but he was actually listed as a "senior lecturer" during his brief tenure. The best evidence indidcates that the school was ordered to find Mr. Obama office space and to give him a class to teach. In academia, "professor" is the highest academic rank, normally awarded only to tenured teachers after many years of experience and many successful publications. Mr. Obama has none of these qualifications, and never went through the necessary process of being awarded professor rank.

Despite earning academic credentials in the law, there is no evidence that Mr. Obama worked for any appreciable period of time as a practicing attorney. He may be reasonably called a lawyer by virtue of having a law degree, but he apparently never kept offices, met a payroll, hung out a shingle, or even worked as a regularly salaried attorney for government. Instead, most of his post-Harvard days were occupied with his "work," as a community organizer.

In his own autobiographical writings, Mr. Obama admitted that he could not explain to even his closest friends what a community organizer actually did. The job apparently was self-appointed and had no salary or benefits, yet we know that it consisted, in part, of teaching "leadership training seminars" for ACORN—photographs exist of him doing just that, and ACORN leaders acknowledged it—despite his statements that he did no such thing (normal folks call this "lying"). Like much of the rest of his past, whatever accomplishments Mr. Obama made in organizing communities—whatever that might be--remain ephemeral.

There is considerable evidence, particularly that provided by Jack Cashill, that Mr. Obama did not write his books. In fact, given a substantial advance to write his first book—a remarkable accomplishment for a minor political figure and a first time author with no experience at all--Mr. Obama could produce nothing, yet was allowed to keep the advance. It is also known that he gave all the materials of his unfinished book to Bill Ayers, and lo and behold, the book is very much in the style of Ayers, whose writings—unlike those of Mr. Obama—are available for comparison. Yet we are expected to believe that a man who produced no academic or legal writing, no known writing at all, was capable, suddenly, of producing two hot-selling autobiographies. As a teacher of writing, I can affirm that the chance of such a thing occurring is vanishingly small. Writing, like any other human skill, takes talent and many years of effort and practice, which prior to the publication of his books Mr. Obama apparently never demonstrated. The ability to haltingly read from a teleprompter and the ability to write a book are two very different things.

Mr. Obama's election to the Illinois Senate was made possible when he knocked his mentor and primary opponent off the ballot. In that role he distinguished himself as one of the most liberal members of a very liberal body. His US Senate campaign was a case of déjà vu in that his primary Republican opponent bowed out of the race after sealed court documents relating to his divorce were mysteriously released to the press. Elected to the US Senate by the only state that still refuses to allow its citizens any means of carrying concealed weapons, Mr. Obama spent two years primarily running for president, yet still managed to be ranked as the most leftist member of the US Senate, to the left even of the Senate's only declared Socialist. His record of accomplishment in both bodies—scores of "present" votes aside--is essentially nonexistent.

It was during the 2008 campaign that Americans were introduced to what is arguably the most insupportably inflated ego in American history. All politicians need healthy egos. Mr. Obama makes the worst of them look like models of humility and mental health.

When he won the Democrat nomination, he modestly announced that history would record that event as the moment that the seas began to retreat and the planet began to heal. Most people would not be capable of thinking of themselves in such grandiose terms, and fewer would dare to say such a thing. Clearly, Mr. Obama is not restrained by the ethical concerns of mere men.

For a short time, until wiser heads prevailed, he began to speak behind a pseudo-presidential Great Seal of Obama. His campaign posters adopted the style and tone of Communist-era propaganda, becoming, for Americans unaware of the murderous history of Communism (or perhaps very aware), as iconographic as a Che poster. Upon election, he established the "office" and seal of the President-Elect of the United States, despite the fact that the Constitution, to say nothing of precedent, establishes no such office. His studied rejection of the Constitution revealed by these—and more-- exercises in self-glorification were merely warnings of things to come.

Real leaders never have to remind anyone of their rank or position. They know that those who feel compelled to do that are not leaders. For real leaders, it's simply not necessary. For Mr. Obama, it has been constantly necessary. In fact, he not only began his term in office as a non-leader, he and his spokespeople now seem particularly proud of his newly discovered concept of "leading from behind," which is demonstrative of even less leadership than not leading at all. For the real world—as opposed to Obama World—leading from behind is perhaps the most self-contradictory statement known to man. Real leaders would think anyone espousing such utter nonsense a fool.

One several occasions, Mr. Obama told Congressmen and Senators "I won." In a congressional meeting, he told Senator John McCain that the election was over, obviously making that point that since he won, there was no need for discussion; his way was the only way. This man of superior temperament often appear to be ready to blow sky high. He seems to be genuinely stumped and frustrated when others do not immediately accept anything he says as revealed truth and genius.

On notable occasions, he has invited guests to his speeches, such as the Supreme Court and Rep. Paul Ryan, seated them prominently, and then lied about their positions and actions and publically berated them. Such behavior demonstrates an extraordinary smallness of spirit, a lack of common courtesy and manners, and a streak of petty meanness. Embracing all Americans requires sincere respect for them and their views. Mr. Obama shows only contempt for those who do not slavishly praise his every utterance.

Mr. Obama's mistreatment and serial insults of our most staunch allies, such as Britain and Israel, and his betrayal of the Eastern Europeans have become the stuff of legend, as has his appeasement of and weakness toward our most virulent enemies. He even hesitated for a day in authorizing our military to take out Osama Bin Laden, a day turned into two days by adverse weather, time that could have blown the mission. Some presidents grow in office. They learn that their most cherished beliefs must be altered in the face of reality. Not Barack Obama, who seems to believe that reality must bend to accommodate him.

Mr. Obama seems able to respond to crisis only be means of speech making, which means teleprompter reading. Despite being lauded as an incredibly inspiring and gifted speaker he is at best, average. As a teacher of college speech, I would allow him no more than a C. His speeches are full of straw men and false choices. They are consistently characterized by misrepresentations and even blatant lies. His rhythms are halting, determined by his ability to read from the teleprompter screens as his head constantly turns right-left-right-left, causing odd and unnatural pauses in the middle of phrases and clauses. His pitch and volume consistently drop off the tabletop at the ends of sentences, causing the loss of final consonants. Rather than employing logic and compelling argument, he employs insults and ridicule of any who disagree with him. Such serial failings are not characteristic of an exceptional speaker.

Worse still is that his speeches are, as Texans would say: "All hat, no cattle." There are no specifics, no real proposals, nothing that would indicate precisely what he intends to do. There are only broad platitudes, partisan exhortations, appeals to high-sounding aspirations and vague values. Mr. Obama seems to believe that the American people want nothing so much as to hear yet another speech from him. He actually seems to think that when he speaks, reality changes to comport with his desires, or perhaps that reality is his desires. Fortunately, many Americans are beginning to catch on. They realize that if they've heard one Obama speech, they've heard them all, and they're equally uninformed.

And so we arrive at the present, at the debt ceiling negotiations, after Mr. Obama has increased the national debt to 25% of GDP, exceeding the height reached during WWII. The only budget proposal Mr. Obama has submitted had only one feature: boundless spending far into the future. It was so unrealistic, so out of bounds with even the free-spending, unlimited taxation ways of Congressional democrats that not a single one voted to support it; not one. Yet Mr. Obama wants what he wants and expects that he can talk Americans into giving it to him. After all, everyone has always given him whatever he wanted in the past. They have always praised him as being beyond the understanding and abilities of mere mortals. Why should things be different today?

Things are different because, to paraphrase Margaret Thatcher's canny observation on the ultimate problem of Socialism, we have run out of other people's money. Margaret Thatcher, a real leader, understood such things. Mr. Obama, who leads from behind, cannot and will not.

What more should we expect of a man with no apparent past, with no experience holding down a responsible job, only one miserably failed executive experience, no legislative accomplishment, and whose only solution to any crisis is rhetoric? What can we expect of a man whose only firm principles seem to be unremitting class envy and warfare, hatred of America, reflexive appeasement of her enemies and contempt for her allies, disdain for the Constitution, and an unshakable commitment to control the lives of Americans to the maximum extent imaginable, and to raise any and every tax possible while spending more money than exists?

For such a man, there is no compromise large enough, no tax large enough, nor any expenditure large enough. One might almost be tempted to think that when Barack Obama said that he was going to "fundamentally change" America, he really meant that he intended to destroy it. That is likely the only thing a man of his experience is truly capable of doing.

Literature Corner: You're a F****** Hero!

For this edition of the Literature Corner, we present a tale of booze, possible rape, and, well, booze. We also introduce readers to the gritty reality of the legal system where no good deed goes unpunished, the guilty often get away with it and the real victims are the public.

Language Warning: Police officers often pick up some of the habits and language of the street. After I left police work, I had to watch myself lest some of the more colorful expressions accidentally leak out into the English classroom. But it makes no sense to have cops talking like 19th century British librarians, so I've compromised a bit. I suspect you'll survive it.

072311: You're A F****** Hero!

Commendations are odd things in law enforcement. In many ways, they serve the same purpose as medals in the military: they’re supposed to encourage and reward exceptional performance and devotion to duty, even heroism. Hand them out to the average and they lose their value. Some big police organizations hand out actual metal medals, but for many, a written commendation serves the same purpose.

I’ve seen a few justifiably awarded commendations, but many are handed out for dubious heroism. There was the case of the officer who was commended for finding a lost infant. In reality, he literally grabbed the kid out of the arms of the officer who actually found her and rushed to the parent’s front door to play the hero. The street guys knew he did that kind of thing all the time. The brass thought he was grand. Then there was the case of the officer who got a commendation just because he was doing a pretty decent job in general (the chief really liked him)!

The weather was odd--not quite one thing or another. It was near 0° and very humid. The wind chill was at least 15° below, but the humidity, oddly, made it feel much warmer. When the occasional gusts of wind passed, a frigid mist immediately followed. It was the kind of deceptive weather that sometimes kills unwary drunks. So I was patrolling the downtown alleys looking for people who couldn’t or wouldn’t look out for themselves.

On the midnight shift, the downtown patrol district was always busy, mostly due to drunks, idiots and idiot drunks. The district was smaller in area than all of the other districts, but had a higher concentration of bars, restaurants, 24 hour quick shops and other night life attractions than just about anyplace in town. Throw in the Civic Center, several major and minor motels, quite a bit of low rent housing and the river that ran through the heart of town, and things were always interesting.

It was about 0130--the bars closed at 0200--and my much-abused van creaked with annoyance as I drove up the steep ramp from the street into the alley behind the Oasis Lounge in the heart of downtown. Civilian police agencies are much like the military. Both have a strict rank structure. Both have a love of uniforms and shiny goodies to hang on them, and both have a kind of irrational, institutional rigidity. The higher cops climb on the rank ladder, the greater love they tend to have for uniforms and shiny baubles. Rigid
hierarchies tend to have reasons for what they do, but sometimes the reasons make no sense. Forcing people to unwaveringly follow rules no matter the circumstance is foolish and sometimes dangerous.

And so it was that the officer who patrolled the downtown district was stuck driving a full sized van. But not just any van, a van with expanded metal grating over the windows--inside--to keep angry drunks from smashing the glass. Why a full sized van? The primary, rigidly hierarchical reason was that it was easier to toss large numbers of drunks into a full sized van than a more maneuverable mini van. This made a sort of sense, even if no one could remember ever carrying more than two or three drunks at a time. The secondary, and institutionally the more important, reason was that it had always been done that way.

What did not make any sense was that the expanded metal wasn’t easily removable. To clean the inside of the windows, it was necessary to remove handfuls of huge sheet metal screws only to try to replace them in the holes in the thin body sheet metal that had long ago been stripped. It didn’t make sense to even try to clean the windows, which got dirtier and dirtier. Not only that, the grating really cut down on the driver’s ability to see. The brilliance of putting the least maneuverable vehicle possible, with the worst driver visibility and a plethora of blind spots, in the highest traffic area in town was a disgusting, dangerous irony to the cops who had to drive the ugly beast, but sheer beauty to administrators who saw the vehicle as a rolling police billboard. And besides, it had always been done that way! Nobody remembered exactly why.

As the suspension of the van finally settled down, I crept down the alley, taking the time to really see, not just to look. As the rear of the Oasis Lounge appeared I noticed two people at the back wall of the bar, near the closed door. They were moving very slowly and were oblivious to me, so I stopped and watched. It’s always smart to observe animals in their natural habitat for a time before interacting with them.

"What the...?" I thought. "Nah, they can’t be..." but they were. She was on her back on the frozen ground, her pants and underwear down around her ankles. He was just rising and was clumsily trying to tuck various personal items back into his ragged and filthy jeans. I hopped out of the van and walked slowly toward them, watching carefully for any sign of weapons or hostility. There were two possibilities: these folks were exploring the joys of true love in an arctic environment, or I had stumbled onto a rape just after the festivities ceased. I called for backup--just in case it wasn’t true, icy love.

I recognized them. He was Willy Williams, 50-something and a stone alcoholic. He probably hadn’t seen a dentist in the last 30 years, and his teeth--not to mention his breath--eloquently testified to that fact. He hadn’t shaved in weeks, and he was badly underdressed for the weather with only jeans, a t-shirt and a pull over sweatshirt. All of these items were, of course, ragged and dirty, covered with stains of, well, stains of just about anything. I was glad that it was so cold; at least I couldn’t smell him--much. How did I know how Willy smelled? He hung out at the Oasis--he was one of my regular customers.

She was Louise Haggerty, also a dedicated alcoholic. She was about Willy’s age and had been divorced and remarried--at least twice--to another alcoholic who was nowhere in sight. Louise might have been pretty once, but not for a long time. For all she knew, muscle tone was a song by the Village People. Her skin hung on her saggy frame like a wet washcloth. Street cops often get the opportunity to see people naked, but the overwhelming majority are best left unseen. Doctors are right; most people look a lot better with their clothes on.

Louise and Willy were homeless in the sense that neither of them had a place of their own, but they always managed to find somewhere to sleep and hang out when they weren’t at the Oasis, which was whenever it was open. That’s how it was with most of the technically “homeless.”

Seeing the two of them together, particularly in this situation, worried me. I’d never seen them hanging together, and I had no reason to think they were an item. Rape was looking more and more likely, if for no reason other than both of their pants were still somewhere between their ankles and waists. They were Olympic class drunk.

“Willy; what’s up?” I asked, standing just out of arm’s reach. People aren't always as drunk as they look at first glance.

“Unnngh, snort,” Willy replied without looking up. He was working very hard to pull up and fasten his jeans and it was taking all of his seriously limited concentration and coordination. He wasn’t making it; I wasn’t about to help. A long streamer of drool ran over his limp lower lip and oozed onto his sleeve.

“Willy! What’s going on? What are you and Louise doing?” Willy looked upward in my general direction. His half closed eyes weren’t about to focus on me. “Police, Willy. I’m the Police. What’d you do; what happened to Louise?”

Willy stared over my left shoulder and grinned like the village idiot. “Weez? I don’ do no ding dawk--Weez? Smuffin’ smark. . .” Willy replied and returned his attention to his zipper, which was obviously technology far beyond his present abilities.

For a moment I wasn’t sure if he was just playing drunk, or if he was actually as drunk as he seemed, but he suddenly hacked and snorted, his eyes rolled back in his head--just like in slapstick comedies--and Willy went face down in the gravel before I could catch him.

My backup arrived just in time to see Willy bounce and lay still. I told her we might have a rape and had her watch Willy, who wasn’t moving, but was drooling like mad. I ordered an ambulance. I walked over to Louise, who was just barely conscious. Her eyes were unfocused and glassy, and she would occasionally grunt and jerkily move her forearms and fingers, apparently trying to reach her pants. She didn’t have a prayer.

“Louise? Louise! Police. I’m the Police. What happened? Are you OK? What did Willy do?” I asked. She didn’t respond at all. She was even more drunk than Willy--if that was possible.

“Hey Sue,” I called to my backup. “Would you…?” I nodded toward Louise and her pants.

“Oh man,” Sue said, shaking her head in disgust as she pulled on some latex gloves.

“I’ll keep an eye on Willy,” I said, smiling lamely. Unless safety is an issue, male officers do their best to avoid touching women. Whenever female officers are available they do the honors, so Sue knew what she had to do. We were both used to dealing with all kinds of human messes, but you never enjoy it.

Sue wrestled the panties and pants into place. Louise just kept grunting and jerking a little this way and that. She was completely out of it.

“Gross! You owe me one,” Sue exclaimed, dubiously regarding the palms of her gloves.

“My pleasure,” I replied.

“It sure isn't mine. What’s the story again?” Sue asked, gingerly removing and wadding up the gloves.

“Not much. I pulled up just as he was getting to his feet. She hasn’t moved and he went gravel diving just as you showed up.”

“Either of them say anything?” Sue asked.

“Nah. They’re really drunk, even for them. I’m worried about Louise. Her alcohol level might be toxic. I think I’ll go get some blankets out of the van…” and I was interrupted by the rattling rumble of the diesel powered ambulance turning into the alley. Seconds later, they pulled up and we directed them as they backed up toward Willy and Louise, the back up alarm blaring. Those things are really annoying. I suppose that’s the point.

Candy, the paramedic driving the rig, climbed down and smiled. “What’s up? Dispatch said something about a rape victim?”

Cops and paramedics generally have good relationships. They all know each other and each other’s reputations. They know their jobs and how to help each other, when necessary, and when to back away.

I explained what I’d seen. “Willy went face down before I could catch him, and we’re going to have to do a rape kit on Louise no matter what. We need to transport them both to the ER in any case. We’ll get Willy checked out and take him to Detox later. We’ll have you do the kit on Louise and see what happens after that; OK?”

“No prob. Give us a hand getting these two on gurneys, will you?”

We quickly loaded them up. I was a little worried about frostbite. I had no idea how long the two of them had been outside and they weren’t talking. I mentioned it to Candy.

Sue called the crime scene guys. She’d stick around until they arrived. I hopped into the warm ambulance. Willy was strapped down and Steve, the other paramedic, was cleaning up several scrapes on his face. He was still out cold.

“What do you think?” Steve asked. “I’d guess he’s a 3-8.” Steve was guessing that Willy was nearly four times the legal intoxication limit for driving.

“Nah. 4-3, easy,” I replied.

“We’ll see.” Steve laughed and wiped up a streamer of drool oozing from the left side of Willy’s mouth. The hospital did blood alcohol levels on everyone who might have been drinking, which caused Emergency Room BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) betting pools--a quarter a guess, winner take all.

“Hey, look at this,” Candy said, motioning for me. Candy gently touched her latex gloved fingertip to Louise’s open, unfocused eyeball. Amazing. Human beings have a built- in protective eye reflex. Move anything too close and the reflex takes over, blinking, moving the head, anything to avoid damage. But Louise’s nervous system was so suppressed even that reflex wasn’t working. That was something you didn’t see every day.

“4-5?” Steve asked.

“5-4,” I replied. Steve shook his head and laughed. Candy was too busy working on Louise to pay much attention.

At around 5-0--sometimes less--alcohol can be fatal. To the average person, the occasional drinker, that amount of alcohol in the blood can kill, first time, every time. But highly trained experienced alcoholics at the peak of their conditioning can handle it--usually. After all, if your normal, everyday blood alcohol content is at least three times the legal limit, a 5-0 is just a deeper than usual buzz. They’d both live, and anyway, the booze had damaged their brains decades ago. Still, this level of intoxication wasn’t helping the few brain cells they had left.

I had problems: I needed to interview both of them. One problem was that even if Willy confessed to rape, his BAC was going to be so high that any competent defense attorney would argue that he had no idea which planet he was on, let alone what he was confessing to. On the other hand, if I didn’t talk to him soon, when he sobered up, he might honestly have no memory at all of what happened; blackouts are common in Willy’s drinking league. To interview him, I would have to Mirandize him. After all, he was in my custody--no way was he going home--and I was going to ask him questions aimed at getting him to confess to a felony. Even if he waived his rights (surprisingly, most folks do), any defense attorney would argue that he was so drunk he couldn’t knowingly and intelligently waive them, and he’d probably be right.

Most people badly misunderstand Miranda. TV and movies imply that if a police officer fails to read some moron his “rights” (under the 1968 U.S. Supreme Court Miranda v Arizona decision) the bad guy walks. The truth is that officers have to read Miranda to bad guys only when the bad guy is in custody, and the officer wants to use whatever the bad guy says against him in court. It’s called “custodial interrogation.” That was the case with Willy. If a bad guy refuses to talk or lawyers up, that’s the end of that conversation. If the magic two criteria apply and an officer doesn’t Mirandize, all that happens is that the bad guy’s confession can’t be used in court. If there is other evidence they can still be convicted. If all the evidence the police have is the bad guy’s statement, they’ll have problems anyway.

My other problem was Louise. She was so drunk that she might not be able to speak at all. She might not be capable of knowingly consenting to anything, and anything she did tell me would be suspect. Would she remember anything when she was semi-sober sometime in the next couple of days? Would she even care? Sadly, so many drunks like Louise have almost no sense of self worth. They figure that whatever happens to them is just the way of things. They deserve it; they got it; who cares? They don’t.

Louise could mumble and grunt, but she couldn’t string together a coherent sentence. I was able to get her to nod “yes” when I asked about the rape kit--who knows to what she thought she was nodding? So the ER nurses went to work while I talked to Willy.

Willy might have been major league drunk, but he had been playing the cops and bad guys game for a long, long time. He only answered a few general questions, admitted nothing, and lawyered up. Willy wasn’t really hurt from gravel diving, so we took him to Detox where he’d be forced to sober up.

A few hours later, Louise was transferred to Detox too. They’d make her take a shower (drunks hate that--I’m not sure why; sensory overload maybe?) and they’d wash and dry her clothing, even give her new clothing if the old stuff fell apart as it often does, and give her a clean, warm bed and some good, solid food instead of her usual all-liquid diet.

After the shift, I wrote the report and handed it in. I was working on a burglary report when my shift supervisor, Sgt. Edwards, came in smiling, my report in hand.

“I read your report about Louise and Willy. You’re a f****** hero!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks,” I mumbled, my face buried in a mountain of paperwork.

“I’m not kiddin’,” Edwards said. “If you hadn’t been patrolling that alley, Louise would have frozen to death. You’re a f******hero! I’m gonna write you a commendation!” Edwards was happy. He had only recently been promoted and was still trying to impress the troops. That wouldn’t last long.

The next morning, a couple detectives talked with Louise. She was still drunk, but sober enough to deny that anything happened. Who knows why? Maybe she honestly didn’t remember. Maybe she thought she was in love with Willy. Maybe she was trying to get back at her old man. Or maybe it really was consensual--as consensual as any agreement between two popsicle-like nearly dead-drunks can be. No witness/victim, no rape. The evidence in the rape kit could only confirm that they had sexual contact, not that it wasn’t voluntary. They didn’t even bother to talk to Willy. Even if by some miracle he did confess, no witness/victim, no rape.

It sounds callous, but the reality of court, unlike TV or movie reality, is that some people are bad witnesses, and juries don’t like or believe bad witnesses. This is particularly true when the defendant is facing serious time for a serious crime. Most jurors are decent people and want to be sure they’re not sending someone up without good reason. Even if she had been raped, Louise would have been a lousy witness. Most likely, she would have forgotten all about the court date, gotten drunk and failed to show up. That’s common too. Then you end up having to arrest your victim for failing to appear in court. Juries just love victims--nicely decked out in neatly pressed prison orange jumpsuits--that have to be arrested to get their buns into court.

I did get the commendation, but I’m still not sure finding two should-have-been-dead drunks in an alley qualifies as f****** heroism.

Gone Fishin'

I'm taking my family on a long-deserved vacation to the mountains of western North Carolina for a week, starting Saturday morning. Hopefully, that involves some trout and smallmouth fishing in the area lakes and streams. I don't know if the place we're going even has an internet connection, so I may very well not be online for the duration of the trip.

I'm leaving you in the best of hands, and I'll see you in a week.

Oh Hell, Hillary: State Department Allegedly Sold Military Weapons to Zetas Cartel

If this is true, it makes Gunwalker look like child's play, and would seem to make it very unlikely that this wasn't part of an Administration-wide conspiracy.

Forget impeachment. This is gas chamber-worthy.

Terror in Oslo: Religion of Pedophilia and Infantile Rage Strikes Again

There was a massive car bomb that shattered the facades of buildings around the Norwegian Prime Minister's office, and there are now unconfirmed reports of a gunman dressed as a police officer shooting up a youth camp outside the capitol, and other possible unexploded bombs in the city of Oslo.

The BBC is providing on-going coverage of what appears to be not just one, but a possible series of terror attacks.

And the obligatory Islamic tie-in:

The blast comes as Norway grapples with a homegrown terror plot linked to al-Qaida. Two suspects are in jail awaiting charges.

Last week, a Norwegian prosecutor filed terror charges against an Iraqi-born cleric for threatening Norwegian politicians with death if he is deported from the Scandinavian country. The indictment centered on statements that Mullah Krekar -- the founder of the Kurdish Islamist group Ansar al-Islam -- made to various news media, including American network NBC.

We can't outlaw a peaceful religion, but we sure as Hell can outlaw violent cults.

It's time we started working on making that happen.

Update: The claims of responsibility from the terror group have turned out to be bogus. It's a sick person in a sick cult who takes credit for something like this.

Details are sketchy, but it appears that the attacker is a native Norwegian and is responsible for both the bombing in Oslo and the shootings at the youth camp.

He is in police custody.

Update: The body count has skyrocketed to at least 84 on the island, and 91 overall.

Norwegian national broadcaster NRK identified the shooter as 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, and he is apparently an anti-Muslim right-wing extremist and Christian Fundamentalist. He is Norway's McVeigh.

Let the title of this article of this blog post be a warning not to jump to conclusions, even when the crime fits the M.O. and one terrorist group or another within the Islamic Death Cult claims responsibility.

The key difference to remember--while American liberals gloat over the wrong assumptions we made based upon initial claims--is that when so-called Christians embark on crimes of this nature, they are expressly violating one of the key tenants of our faith. When Muslims commit mass murder, they are typically following key tenants of their faith.

Big difference.

Regardless of the politically focused sideshow, my heartfelt sympathies extend to the families affected by this madman. Please send them your prayers.

Wheeled Freedom

There is only one date on a child's calender, and that is the first day of summer, that taste of hope and freedom long awaited.

My hometown has changed some in the last 30 years, becoming a bedroom community for a much larger city 50 minutes away, the population growing. When I go back I often wander around the places I played as a child, finding only bits and pieces that are still the same. I get to one neighborhood and see a kids bike and remember a mountain.

My hometown was at the base of Western mountains that I would not ascend for many years, our house in the slow rise up to the base, a valley of safe adventure. As kids we were not allowed up into the steep hills, the roads there much too treacherous for bike and car to share. But oh, we would ride everywhere else. We'd play spy vs. spy, soldiers and cowboys, chasing each other all over the streets which had sprouted up around our place. I loved to ride my bike. One can't help but be drawn in by the composition of the rhythm of leg and wheel, taking freedom from the movement, understanding without regret that it is only your effort that is making you fly. The harder you work, the further you'll go, determination outpacing antiquated spokes and wobbly tires, watching the world come into view and then passing away again.

The streets attested to the power of this drive, kids racing like kamikazes up and down driveways, over curbs, with the requisite occasional crash and burn. We wore our bandaged knees like medals, for running home crying to Mommy would brand you a coward as quick as any action of your life. You held in your pain, and closeted it with the secrets you only told your best friend.

From the streets, we'd head to the wood that rose like Oz from areas that had been cleared to put in the homes of the baby boomer generation. The bikes would be abandoned at the edge of our play. Crime didn't exist out here, at least not the kind that would take some poor kids bike. They were abandoned, piled up like kindling wood, with nothing but footprints leading out into the trees. There we continue the games out in the wild, screaming our lungs out with a war cry, chasing shadows as far as our legs could carry us. From the woods, the cry of a predatory bird, challenging us. We'd stay out all day, a handful of cookies, some raisins, stuffed into pockets, and consumed, smashed, gritty and sweet.

It was in those expeditions, in an open track of land hidden by trees that we found it. Our very own mountain. In a transitory, enchanted moment we held our breath and slowly approached, the sun shining down as we approached with delighted awe that stirred like bees. It was a tall form of dirt and rocks, adventure as high up as we could climb. There were no adults to tell us to go home, no signs about trespassing. We left out bikes and made our way to the top, climbing over stone and scraggly plants, reaching the top where we stopped to stare. There, off in the distance, though we couldn't see our house, we could see our future, air rushing past us there in that new discovery, that still, fierce potency that satisfies hunger not yet known as desire.

We called it Taylor's Mountain.

We're not sure where the name came from. Perhaps the first kid that successfully got his bike to the top and rode it down without breaking a limb. I'm not even sure how long it had been there, but we liked to believe we discovered it and soon laid claim to it. That mountain was anticipated glory and we'd gather at its base after breakfast and move up and outward, a posse of potential. In its assault we ripped more than one pair of knees out of a pair of jeans, which our mothers would patch, not replace. We exposed our bellies to the sun, offered up skinned elbows to the skies, gaining confidence in our movements, in ourselves, breathing deeply, nourishing ourselves on the scent of fresh pine as we laid out artful battle plans worthy of Sun Tzu.

We had no curfew, we played until the light waned and our stomachs told us it was near to supper time, and then we'd go home to the second best part of summer vacation, the family barbecue. Whether it was perfect, burnt or dried out, it was just good, because it was made on the grill. It was made by Dad and we got to eat it outside if we wanted. I guess it was that willing suspension of disbelief that you have as a child, that no matter what happens, your Dad will somehow ensure the end result is just fine, that dinner will be saved from the flame, and all would be well in your world.

How well I remember those days, when the air is burning hot, the whiff of lighter fluid in the air, the dark nuggets of briquettes, overhead a badminton bird flying over, the only sign of motion in the still summer air. Laughter as my brothers and cousins play. Shadows on the grass as we ran and played under branches from which smoke drifted like a soft touch. Shadows that got to those trees before I did, then faltered, so I could stomp them into the grass under my bare feet.

That summer we found Taylor's Mountain was one that stands out. Not in the sense of the nostalgic, which holds with it some sense of time passing, a litany of hours of my time, my life, passing before my eyes in quiet dreams. It stands out as if it stands with me, here in these last few weeks where time slipped through my fingers like water, its loss felt on my hands in its very dissipation.

It stood out, as this month has stood out for me. A time in which loss and discovering were intertwined, when time and years really didn't matter, only the throb of life still beating within me, capable of hope.

For there was more than smoke in the air that summer of Taylor's Mountain, something I was too young to understand, but I could sense. There was a war, and one of the boys in my family was there. A country I had never heard of. I didn't understand the details. I only sensed those urgent conversations in the kitchen amongst the adults as they prepared the food for the fire.

I knew my Dad had been to war and that he came home safe. Yet why were the women so worried? But I had watched enough reruns of Combat and old John Wayne movies to know more than I should. What I didn't know, I asked, though I did not get the answers I sought. Sometimes you have to work out your own answers, taking a small piece of puzzle and turning it and turning it, til you see where it fits. Although it was 20 years before I learned the true scientific methods of investigation, I read, I gathered up every little newspaper clipping I saw, I watched the news surreptitiously out of my eye while playing with my toys. When a war movie was on TV, I'd watch the adults' faces out of the corner of my eye to see if something showed through, fear, worry, skepticism, waiting for a "that's not the way it was, it wasn't that dangerous, see, I came home!" But no one said anything. All that was in the room was the sound of gunfire and rockets on the TV, and a clock ticking in a long undiminished parade of time we pretended not to hear.

All we could do was continue on with our family traditions, our faith. By day we'd ride to our mountain and conduct the warfare of youth, with plastic guns and pine cone grenades and sound effects that burst up out from our lungs, not some video game. We may have played life and death but those afternoons were filled with time, so solid we could have picked it up from the ground to place in our pocket with other treasures. Time so solid we could part it like a curtain, stepping into a dimension of imagination there on that tall, rock hewn mass of earth, stepping onto mass that upheld us. We laughed on that mountain and we bled, from an assortment of childhood cuts and scrapes worn like badges of honor.

That hopeful play burst out of something within our own minds, no batteries required, shouting forth as we charged the next hill with plastic weapons and the occasional toy soldiers. To us, with the agile minds of children, it was all real. We scurried between small valleys and miniature cliffs. An empty Styrofoam cup with a string became a communication system, a dead tree trunk became a tunnel, a scoop of dirt became a foxhole. Overhead all we could see was the drowsy bowl of the summer sky, filled with possibility and tinged with smoke from battlefield fires that only we could see. The sound of the barrage was both remote and near, our childlike voices providing the sound effects, a vibration in the earth sensed with our minds, rather than felt, as our battalions moved onward, taking more ground.

I was the recon team, moving fast, making no noise, not crying no matter what. Head down, in leaves that smelled of old newspaper, I tried not to think about Frank and when he'd return from duty, when he'd pick me up and swing me around, laughing. I only tried to be a stronger soldier, better truer, to keep my men safe, even as they had declared a ceasefire in the discovering of a particularly large frog.

Time, dense and strong, would stop on those afternoons, suspended as we only registered the sound of fake gunfire, the dog's bark, the artillery fire of a lawnmower. Then, only then, faint and insistent, the call to home, the rumble of stomachs long past lunch.

There were days that due to hard rains we didn't get to the mountain for a few days, the barbecue covered. When we quietly gathered in the house around the table for meatloaf or pot roast. Nights when I'd politely ask to be excused as soon as I was done, so I could go back outside, to where I wanted to be, despite the rain, a mist that had dampened that nights attempt to cook out. I'd walk on down to the pond, stopping to stare down into the water, down where I could see almost to the bottom, the last rays of sunlight playing like orange fire on the surface. There on the surface, a leaf. After a long time in water, the tissues of the leaf decay, leaving only the fiber, swirling in the surface like soft bones, light from the last of the days sunlight playing on them like flame.

Nights when I'd think of a mountain, of a tall form of a young soldier, wishing he was here, to gather me up with a smile and make everything all right again.

And so that summer passed, the badminton set forgotten for lawn darts, one less place at the table. And with my growing, came knowing. I think we spent so many nights out at the picnic table thinking that if we were out back and someone in uniform we didn't know came to the front door, we would not have to answer it.

For that season we had our new mountain playground and we had the barbecue, a communion of family shared with bread and lighter fluid. I would sit in quiet, as we all would, in prayer, for a plank of salmon laid on a bed of bacon and grilled, for unintentionally extra crispy beef, for extra pickles, for another day of safety for those we loved. As we said Grace, I turned towards the coals, looking deep and hard so they wouldn't see a tear, watching the blackness turning to red and light and fire. Then my Dad would look at me, put his hand under my chin and say "it's going to be OK, we have hamburgers that I didn't burn.", and I would smile, knowing what he was trying to say.

There in that end of a day of play, in that simple meal, in those rituals we could maintain, there was solace. We couldn't change the outcome of what was happening worlds away but we could hold on to each other, in play, in prayer, in squabbles over the last cheese slice. We couldn't change fate, but we could fight with it, in the form of dirt and rocks, and wind and speed. In the form of a cantankerous piece of controlled fire, with tools, and tongs and curses and sweat. We could at least conquer the day and put dinner on the table. Dinner together as family.

It was one of those sticky days in late August,when the thought of another day of play was tickling my conscious like a pilfered cookie. From my room I could hear the siren call of those last bronze days of summer, moving like music, flowing like honey in bright sunlight that danced against my window. It was time to seize the day, as school was starting very soon. For now though, there would be Bear Claws studded with almonds, for cousin Frank was home from combat safely and the whole house was celebrating. My Mom would be up, and there would be laughter and the sun. Oh, the sun. Bright, trembling with the remnants of heat, laying in open fields. The air lush with the smell of turning trees, blowing for a hundred yards against the vagrant air of summer vacation. It was an invitation no kid worth his salt could resist.

But Taylor's Mountain was not there. Over the weekend, while we traveled, it had been torn apart by construction equipment. For Taylor's Mountain really wasn't a mountain, in anything other than the eyes of children it was a humongous pile of dirt and rock left some previous summers by a developer, only to have the subdivision plans go dormant in a time of war. But the economy was picking up, and the grounds of our play would be sacrified for space for homes for those returning. Taylor's Mountain was gone, but it was still within us, a form that uplifted us that summer, as we scrabbled over it, acting out our worries and our fantasies under the summer sun.

It's not what we've lost that matters, but what we find, each day of adventure we are granted. Days where you look at something you'd never noticed before, compelled into creative consideration you haven't quite grasped the gift of yet, face to face with something correponding to your measure for wonder. Mountains hurdled, hearts opened, worries vanquished in the embrace of wind and speed.
- Brigid

Uh-Oh: DOJ Inspector General Launches Investigation into Fast and Furious Whistleblower Retaliation

The latest victim? ATF Agent John Dodson, who was apparently set up to be smeared by Department of Justice officials loyal the the Obama regime and capo Eric Holder.

It really seems that the Obama Administration is staffed with such vindictive people that they simply cannot help themselves, and will lash back at critics, no matter how illegal that retaliation is.

I'm glad the acting IG is doing what she can to rein in rampant and apparently pervasive agency corruption among political appointees in leadership positions at Justice, but she simply does not have the authority she needs as an acting AG to effect an effective investigation.

Congress must force the appointment of a special independent prosecutor to investigate the widespread illegality surrounding the Gunwalker operations.

The Joy of Lasers: Part 2

In the first article of this two-part series, we explored the rationale for lasers for rifles, particularly those with a high sight line relative to the axis of the bore. With handguns, and at handgun ranges, the rationale for a laser to eliminate the sighting problem inherent in the nature of such rifles doesn't apply, but there are still compelling reasons why lasers make substantial sense for handguns.

The handgun in the first two photographs is a Glock 26 in 9mm, commonly known as a "Baby Glock." It owes its existence to the Clinton Gun Ban and its limitation of magazine capacity to 10 rounds.

Glock—and eventually other manufacturers—decided that if they were limited to 10 rounds for a decade (but only on newly manufactured magazines—there were always plenty of standard capacity magazines available) they might as well design much smaller handguns with that capacity and the Baby Glock was the first of the breed. Glock makes the baby in a variety of calibers, but the 9mm was the firstborn.

This photograph shows the front of the LaserLyte RL-1 Glock rear sight laser unit. Notice the laser on the right and the battery compartment on the left.

Here is the rear view of the sight, with the white outline virtually identical to the standard Glock rear sight, and the activation and feature selection button on the rear of the battery compartment.
As you can see, the entire unit is quite compact and rugged. But before getting too deeply into this particular unit and my reasons for choosing it, let's review what's available on the market.

Manufacturer Websites:

LaserLyte: This URL will take you directly to the Glock version of the sight.

LaserMax: Go here for LaserMax's line of effective and reasonably priced sights.

Crimson Trace: Go here for Crimson Trace's innovative sights.

Viridian: Go here for Viridian's line of exclusively green lasers. They tend to be quite large and expensive.

Insight: Go here for Insight's line of tactical weapon lights and lasers. They tend to focus on the military and police markets with more specialized and expensive designs.

TYPES OF HANDGUN LASERS: Laser sights for handguns come in three primary types:

(1) Rail-mounted sights which commonly clamp onto rails machined or molded into the frame forward of the trigger guard. Some come as a unit with an integral flashlight. Many of these types of sights work equally well with any rail-equipped rifle, such as the package featured in the first of this two part series. Some of these sights can be quite small, while others are large enough—though still small—to allow other rail-mountable accessories such as flashlights to clamp onto them.

(2) Grip-mounted sights such as those pioneered by Crimson Trace. These sights are built into grips that completely replace the grips—revolver or semi-automatic—designed for the weapon. Most position their small laser units on the right side of the frame, just above the first finger as the hand grips the weapon. Batteries and activation switches are built into the grips.

(3) Guide Rod lasers which entirely replace the guide rod/recoil spring assemblies of semi-automatic pistols. These sights leave the exterior of the pistol (they obviously do not work for revolvers) unaltered. The primary disadvantage of these units is that they are not finely adjustable for accuracy. Once installed, if your laser dot ends up 1.5" to the left of the center of your bore at 15 yards, you'll have to remember to adjust that distance with Kentucky windage when using the laser. Unless your guide rod assembly is indexed so as to fit into your weapon in only one way, the next time you install the unit, you could be 1.5" off in another direction.

There are a number of slight variations within these primary categories, and there are also some lasers designed to exploit the specific design features of individual handguns such as Ruger's LCP 380 pocket pistol. A number of manufacturers are even beginning to offer handguns with integral lasers directly from the factory, such as the Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .380. The advantage of this approach is that Smith can market a very smoothly designed, non-snag pocket pistol for only $399.00. I've not had the chance to test one, but it appears to be a genuinely ingenious design and a smart idea.

RATIONALE: Effective handgun range, for all but specialized hunting or target weapons and/or expert shooters, is usually considered to be 25 yards and less. That may not sound like much, but it's 75 feet, a quarter of the length of a football field, a considerable distance. Particularly with handguns, as distance increases, shooting with consistent accuracy becomes more difficult and takes longer.

As I mentioned in the first installment, lasers—with proper practice—can help to make the essential tasks of fast and accurate shooting easier. Lasers, with any type of firearm, do not for a moment relieve the shooter of the necessity of employing proper stance, grip, presentation and trigger squeeze. Failing in the application of any of these essentials, particularly trigger squeeze, will throw off shots regardless of the type of sight used. However laser sights do offer two enormous advantages: They help compensate for vision deficiencies when we no longer have perfect, 20-year-old fighter pilot vision, and particularly with handguns, can allow on-target shots when it's not possible to properly align, indeed, even to see, standard sights.

It’s relatively well known that most gunfights with handguns take place at very close, reach-out-and-touch each other ranges. In such circumstances, people virtually never remember seeing their sights, and often empty their weapons at each other and entirely miss. This is true for the police as well as civilians. One way that lasers can help is that from a proper ready position, the shooter need not bring the weapon up entirely to the plane of vision. The weapon—still being properly gripped and presented—can be below the sight line as the shooter need only see the laser dot on the target which will be aligned with the bore of the handgun. This allows the shooter, even when transitioning from ready to bringing the weapon on line, to see more of the target, providing greater tactical awareness.

Should you find yourself off balance, perhaps even on the ground for whatever reason, if you can place the laser dot on the target and properly squeeze the trigger, you need not see the "normal" sights at all. Of course, one should always employ all of the fundamentals, unless it's impossible but you still desperately need to shoot. As distance increases, this becomes more difficult, but at normal handgun ranges, it is a viable possibility for desperate situations.

As I mentioned in the first installment, green lasers are generally more visible under the entire range of environmental conditions than red lasers, but they are also considerably more expensive, often costing twice as much or more than their red brethren. At normal handgun ranges, this difference is greatly lessened, and in dim light conditions, and particularly at night, it's essentially a non-issue.

Do keep in mind that while lasers are particularly visible at night, we always have an absolute obligation to be certain of our targets. Simply because you can place a laser dot on a target doesn't mean you can legally shoot it. A high quality "tactical" flashlight is a necessity for night shooting with or without a laser sight. Positive target identification is never optional.

The final advantage of lasers I'll mention is in training. Handguns are simply more difficult to shoot accurately at just about any range than rifles, whose much longer sight radius, solid contact with more of the body, and shorter and lighter triggers make the fundamentals of shooting easier to accomplish. To teach proper trigger control, an old revolver shooter's trick (taught to me by an old revolver shooter) was to balance a coin on the front sight (on its flat side, not the edge; that would be a real Zen trick!) while practicing dry firing. When you could drop the hammer on as many empty chambers as you pleased without dislodging the coin, you were able to smoothly and consistently pull the trigger without disturbing the sights, which is not a simple matter with revolvers. A laser dot provides a real-time image of exactly what the shooter is doing wrong and right in terms of the trigger. It can also diagnose faulty stance, grip and presentations.

LASERS AND ME: I bought my first Glock 26 when the first one arrived in my local gun store shortly after the Clinton Gun Ban took effect. I carried it with its original sights for many years, and always found it to be a very concealable, accurate and utterly reliable handgun. But as I grew older and my close range vision began to weaken, the front sight grew more blurry. Glasses helped, but they have their own difficulties. All of the skills I worked so hard to attain and maintain served me well, but why work so hard unnecessarily?

My first laser was the Crimson Trace model for Glocks. It's an ingenious design that wraps around the backstrap of the G26 and is secured to the weapon by replacing the pin at the backstrap, which runs completely through the frame, with a slightly longer pin. It does make the grip more bulky with swells on each side to contain the two batteries, and the laser itself sitting above the hand on the right side of the weapon.

The laser dot was relatively large and quite clear, and I found the unit to be completely reliable. However, I did experience some difficulties. When I first turned it on, I noticed that the dot seemed to be at about half strength. I returned it to the factory and they had it back, in perfect working order, within a bit more than a week. Once sighted in, it remained rock steady—for several years—but more about that shortly.

For me, the best feature of the unit was its rear activation button on the center-back of the backstrap. Gripping the G26 correctly would activate the laser, and I could, by simply slightly relaxing my grip, turn the laser off. Squeeze, and it was back on. That's tactically handy. The problem is that some people's hands simply don't work with this type of switch and its placement in much the same way that some people have a hard time with the grip safety of the Colt 1911.

But there is no free lunch, and I noticed several problems with the sight. When putting my trigger finger in register (extended straight, in contact with the frame and out of the trigger guard), I tend to prefer to elevate it slightly and place its tip in contact with the slide. Doing this obscured the laser, forcing me to readjust my grip. The position of the laser also interfered with some holsters, particularly inside-the-waistband types which a weapon like the G26 might often inhabit.

The most annoying issue was that when racking the slide with a proper grip—left hand cupping the top of the slide, thumb toward the shooter's face—the laser unit got in the way of the tips of my fingers, forcing me to slightly rotate my wrist to avoid hitting the sight. It wasn't enough to convince me that it would be a potentially dangerous issue, but it was annoying and required some adaptation. Still, I could and did adapt to these comparatively minor issues.

When LaserLyte came out with rear sight lasers, I was intrigued. The design seemed to potentially address everything I found unsatisfactory with my Crimson Trace sight. My mind was made up when after somewhat more than two years, I noticed that the mounting system of my CT sight no longer held the unit rigidly to the polymer frame of the weapon. Enough play had worked into the unit so that when I gripped it firmly—and correctly—the point of impact would shift laterally. I suspect that this was a design issue as the unit and the Glock's frame are polymer. The frame of the Glock didn't change, but the laser unit was retained by a thin pin with relatively little purchase on each side of the frame, and I suspect time and daily use simply enlarged the pin holes enough to cause the effect I experienced. A tiny variation in a sight at the weapon is more than enough to cause a substantial variation at the target, which only gets worse as distance increases.

So when my wife and I recently decided to upgrade our Generation I Glocks for Generation III G26s, we got the LaserLyte sights too. Each sight comes with everything necessary to remove the standard sights and install the laser sight, but we had our local dealer do it with his more expensive sight tools.

The sight is really quite small, and is solidly made of steel rather than plastic or aluminum. Like all lasers of its size, the adjustment wrench is very small and easily lost (plan ahead), but the adjustment mechanism is precise and once set, doesn't drift, or at least not in the 500 or so rounds I've fired through the gun since getting the sights installed.

It is a 5 milliwatt laser-the most powerful the law allows—and the dot is of comparable size and brightness to every other red laser sight I've seen or tested. It retails for $199.95 (Hey! it costs less then $200, honey!) and is powered by four small 37 watch batteries which slip into the battery compartment on the left by means of a knurled screwcap. According to LaserLyte, the batteries are good for five+ hours in constant-on mode and 10 hours in pulse mode. My Crimson Trace sight was rated for three hours (it only had constant-on mode) and was still going strong despite daily use after 2.5 years when I traded it in.

The sight has several neat features, which include what is essentially a electrically powered rear night sight with the appropriate green Tritium-like glow. With a Tritium (the radioactive element common in analog watch faces) front sight (available separately from various manufacturers, you have a complete night sight set as well as a laser. Hit the activation button on the back of the battery compartment, which activates positively and is easy to do with either thumb, once and the green night sight comes on. It can be adjusted to constant-on or pulsing configuration. However, it is really only usable in near-dark or dark conditions, precisely like a night sight relying on radioactive elements. However, unlike such sights, there is no half-life and full function can always be restored with a battery change.

Press the button twice and the laser is activated, again with a choice of constant-on or pulsing function. I recommend the pulsing configuration as it not only doubles battery life but is substantially easier to see under the full range of conditions. Pressing the button a third time shuts the unit off. There is also an automatic shut off feature that engages after five minutes regardless of whether you are in night sight or laser mode. After five minutes a tiny red LED in the back of the laser unit will pulse for one minute to let you know that you're on borrowed time. Pressing the button again within that minute will reset the countdown.

While I've had the unit a relatively short time, it does address all of the issues to which I had to adapt with the Crimson Trace unit. There is no alteration of the grip, I can place my trigger finger in register as I please, the sight does not interfere with any holster I own or might consider owning, and I can manipulate the slide with the proper grip.
The only issue I've noticed is that using the built in "iron" sights is taking me a bit of time to adapt as my eyes tend to be drawn to the two Mickey Mouse-like ears at the upper edges of the rear sight if I don't focus as well as I should. I've no doubt I'll be able to rewire my brain to deal with this, which is an issue of some importance. Some people ask: "Well lasers are nice, but what happens when you run out of battery power." You simply revert to the iron sights. You need to practice with both.

I should clear up any misconception about Crimson Trace sights. They make quality products and I was generally pleased with my sight. With any consumer product, there is no such thing as absolute perfection applicable to all. My wife's sight—identical to mine—did not show the same wear problem, but she does not carry as often as do I nor is her grip as strong. I suspect that the CT sights that are more solidly mounted, such as their Colt 1911 models and others, would never suffer from the problem I observed.

If you're considering the LaserLyte sight—and they have models for many popular semi-automatic handguns—you need to be aware that the newest model of the sight—which I have—is different in function from the initial production runs. In fact, circa mid-July, 2011, even the specifications on LaserLyte's web-site reflect the old system which had no night-site and was constant-on with the first button push, pulse with the second, and off with the third. I spoke with LaserLyte before writing the article and they assured me that they are going to update things in the near future.

One additional compelling reason for laser sights is that smaller, pocket pistol-type handguns such as the Ruger LCP generally have very small and mediocre sights. Virtually none are adjustable because most are little more than molded or machined slots and grooves in the top of the slide. Granted, such weapons are not designed for great accuracy at long range, but a laser can bring a degree of precision not otherwise possible with such weapons.

Laser sights are certainly worthy of your consideration, and I've found the LaserLyte sight to be an excellent choice.

Politico Reporter Changes Venues, Works for Same Cause

He's just the latest of many reporters that have quit "journalism" in recent years to officially work for the same folks they've actually been working for the entire time:

A Politico reporter who often penned stories about Sarah Palin and other Republicans has quit journalism to work with the Democratic Party in Arizona, sources tell The Daily Caller.

That reporter, Andy Barr, has covered national politics for the publication since 2008. Barr leaving to help elect Democrats will likely fan the flames of critics who say Politico has a liberal bias.

It's not exactly clear what his new job duties are. Barr wouldn't say, but told FishbowlDC, which first reported that Barr was leaving, that he left Politico on "very good terms." That report said Barr, who is from Phoenix, is taking a "political job," but didn’t say where he is going.

The media would do the country a tremendous service if they could be relied upon to report upon stories objectively. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of reporters and editors in the media business have a strong leftward personal political slant, and that affects their reporting as well. It has just become more overt in recent years.

Of all the news outlets, it is unsurprisingly Rupert Murdock's News Corp that is the most politically balanced, with only a slight edge in donations to Democrats over Republicans (51%-49%). The balance carries over to news reporting in News Corp, which is why they are more trusted and viewed than many of their rabidly liberal counterparts.

How is Keith Olbermann these days, anyway?

Quick Takes, July 21, 2011

ITEM: Iran Has Already Tested Long Range, Nuclear-Capable Missiles? Oh goody. Go here for the story. Unfortunately, it’s true, and it’s likely that Iran is closer to nuclear capability than our emasculated, politicized intelligence apparatus imagines. They will use nucs against Israel and us when they have them, and Mr. Obama is busy threatening to take away our elder’s social security checks and is focused like a laser on raising taxes. We live in a very dangerous world, a world made more dangerous by the incompetence of our own president who ignores those who represent the most credible threat to our nation.

ITEM: Adventures In Time Travel: Go here for a fascinating but brief story about Cornell scientists who have actually altered time. It was for only 110 nanoseconds, but it's real. The line between reality and science fiction becomes more blurred all the time.

ITEM: Full Faith and Credit: Go here for a brief article by Mark Steyn. An excerpt:

"We are sending a consistent message to the world that the political structures of the United States do not allow for meaningful course correction. That does far more damage to the “full faith and credit” of America than failing to hike the debt ceiling."

Read the entire article to get the full context. It's now clearer than ever that our representatives in DC really do think we're stupid.

ITEM: Miss Me Yet? Joy Nordlinger has a nice essay about Nobels awarded as political weapons (here). He notes, in part:

"These days, you hardly ever hear a good word about Bush 43. The Left has always hated him, of course, and the Right habitually snorts at him. I have a feeling that Bush’s time will come. And that the haters and the snorters will look pretty small."

With Barack Obama in the White House, they already do Mr. Nordlinger, they already do.

ITEM: Perry Is In? It appears, according to Hot Air (go here), that he may enter the Presidential race. We have commented in past QTs about the very obvious shortcomings of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. In fact, it will be worth your time to visit an interesting article by Clayton Cramer (here) on why Mr. Romney will almost certainly be a losing nominee. As Mr. Perry is my Governor, a few thoughts: (1) I'm always a little worried about anyone who, if they fall down, is at risk of shattering their hair. (2) He's likely to be the most genuinely conservative (electable) candidate Republicans will have this year. (3) He has a real record of solid governance and economic accomplishment. (4) He's nothing at all like Barack Obama. (5) He actually shot an attacking coyote with a concealed handgun while out running (name any other politician who has actually carried and fired a gun so effectively, and even though Dick Cheney did shoot a lawyer, that doesn't count). (6) This year, all of that is pretty darned important.

ITEM: I Was Wrong. A refreshing thing to hear and a character revealing and building thing to say, particularly when you're Cynthia Tucker, a columnist with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a black columnist who previously editorialized in favor of racial jerrymandering to further black causes, a liberal columnist. Go here to read her essay embracing democracy. Congratulations to Ms. Tucker, not for being "white," and not for embracing conservative ideals, but democratic ideals that will help Blacks, not consign them to being eternally adolescent wards of the Democrat Party.

ITEM: Well, I Can't Think Of A Better Use For Taxpayer Money! Let's say you're a federal National Institutes of Health bureaucrat with just loads of grant money to hand out for worthy projects (Deficit? We don' got no stinkin' deficit!). You find an intriguing grant proposal, one for research, which if successful, will answer one of mankind's most vexing and pressing public health questions, so of course you funnel $889,769 (in 2006) into the research. What was the research? What effect a gay man's penis size has on his sex life and general well-being. I'm not kidding. Go here for the story. It ought to get a rise out of you. I am soooo ashamed of myself...

ITEM: A Child Molester Facing Years in Jail Walks Into A Bar And Says…There is actually no punch line to this one, except that the child molester gets to view the video he made of his victim as part of his defense. This is an issue outraging many in the Pacific Northwest. Go here to PACNW Righty for the story and comment. If we want the presumption of innocence for ourselves…

ITEM: The Government Love You So Much Your Children Are Ours! Go here to Fox News for an interesting discussion about the proposal in the July American Medical Association Journal by Dr. David Ludwig advocating that obese children be taken from their parents and forced to meet government weight standards. Hey, if they can tell you which light bulbs to buy and force you to buy the insurance they approve, why not? It’s for the good of the children!

ITEM: Everything Old Is New Again! It has often bandied about that Barack Obama is, if anything, even worse than Jimmy Carter, whose photograph you will find if you look in the dictionary under "truly wretched and incompetent president." On the anniversary of Mr. Carter's famous and fatuous "malaise" speech (I actually heard it when he gave it! I'm still recovering; I have these nightmares…) The bright and beautiful Laura Ingraham put together a montage of Mr. Carter's comments interspersed with Mr. Obama's. Talk about separated at birth! Actually, it's rather scary. Mr. Carter's photo in the dictionary is not destined for a long life, I'm afraid. Go here to Michelle Malkin for the audio.

ITEM: Goods Versus Rights: Go here to the Weekly Standard for an intriguing essay by Noemie Emery about the difference between calling having free health care a right, and having the money to pay for that good (as in a consumer good). Her conclusion? The welfare state as we have known it is quite dead. Some people are just refusing to view the body. Good stuff.

ITEM: Hey, Have You Noticed…? Department: Hey have you noticed how much gasoline prices have come down since Mr. Obama saved us all by releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Yeah. Me neither. Aren't you glad he had the brilliance and foresight to do that? Yeah. Me neither. Discuss.

ITEM: Louis Renault Award of the Week, Lamestream Media Edition: According to Presidential mouthpiece Jay Carney, the media is being excluded from debt-ceiling meeting because they dared to ask questions of President Obama. Apparently The One was annoyed with their manner of asking questions. Go here for the story. I’m shocked, shocked! Actually, you have to wonder if the mental midgets of the press will ever awaken to the reality that Barack Obama considers them, at best, to be useful idiots. Dear Press: Barack Obama is not America’s friend, and he is certainly not your friend.

ITEM: Don’t Tax You, Don’t Tax Me; Tax That Cat Behind The Tree! That’s the old saying, isn’t it? Well, it certainly is in San Diego which is now proposing a cat “registration” fee, so of course, its not really a tax, except you have to pay it to the government. How would you enforce that sort of thing? Kitty SWAT teams making no-knock raids and shooting citizens whose cats stared menacingly at them? As goes California, so goes the nation? Not unless we all want to descend into economic and moral oblivion. Go here to see our feline future.

ITEM: It’s Official: When his lips are moving, he really is lying. At his call-their-bluff, takin’-it-to-the-people speech on July 15, Mr. Obama said that 80% of the American people are “sold” on his “balanced” approach. That’s right: 80% of the public not only wants higher taxes, they’re virtually begging for them. Go here for the story and video. Funny, I don’t recall getting a polling call on that topic…

ITEM: The Wages of Rhetoric: In the Age of Obama, talk has never been cheaper. Mr. Obama is infamous for saying that he supports X or Y and then either doing nothing at all to support X or Y or doing everything possible to destroy X or Y. Well, now Mr. Obama is absolutely ready to make big cuts in entitlements. Well, except ObamaCare, the biggest entitlement of all time, of course. Go here for an explication of that, and other Obama lunacies by the estimable Charles Krauthammer.

ITEM: I Absolutely Did Not Say That I Did The Auto Company Bailout For The Unions—except maybe I did, but I didn’t really mean it, and it was a sort of joke, if I said it, which I’m not sure I didn’t, and anyway, this is all a distraction. Go here for the story. Last week in QTs we wrote of Ron Bloom, the White House auto company bailout honcho who once said that he did the auto bailouts for the unions, then vehemently denied it in testimony before Congress. Now it seems he’s backpedaling. I’m shocked, shocked! Where’s Louis Renault when you need him?

ITEM: We’re AAA! Maybe not so much. America stands on the precipice of losing its AAA bond rating, which would make it much more expensive for the nation to borrow money and would almost certainly send consumer and bank interest rates into the skyrocketing energy territory so beloved of Mr. Obama and his Socialistic Energy Secretary Chu. Go here for the Wall Street Journal story on exactly why we could lose the favorable rating we’ve enjoyed since 1917. Nobody looks good, but Obama and the Democrats are leading the political lemmings right off the fiscal cliff, band playing and flags flying.

ITEM: But Smart Diplomacy Is So, So…Smart! When your foreign policy consists of billions of cubic feet of noxious rhetoric, serial insults of your allies and base spaniel fawning appeasement of your most deadly and determined enemies, it’s rather hard to apply the adjective “smart” to anything you’ve done. Go here for a brief New Republic piece about the wages of Mr. Obama’s foreign policy fecklessness. We will be lucky to survive him.

ITEM: Blast From The Not So Distant Past: Go here for a great story—in the NYT of all places—from Gretchen Morgenson about GM's blatant public lie about paying off its government loans. Some will remember that it turns out they took money from one government account and used that to pay off the loan about which they crowed. Did you know, by the way, that we still own $2.1 billion of preferred G.M. stock and 61% of its common equity? By all means, read the whole thing.

ITEM: Feel Good Story Of The Week. Go here for the Fox News video of an Iraq War veteran who caught a burglar in his home and held him at gunpoint for police. If you ever wanted to find a poster person for responsible, calm use of firearms by a citizen, this is the guy. Special Bonus: He makes the point that his home state, Illinois, won't allow citizens to protect themselves, but Indiana, where he now lives, does.

ITEM: Thank God For the Police In Midway, GA. Go here for another Fox News video about three young girls in Midway, GA who opened a front yard lemonade stand and were shut down by the police for not having a business license.

Note to The Police in Midway, GA (and elsewhere): You have discretion. Even though you were legitimately enforcing the law, it's hard to imagine anything that would make you look more like dim-witted bullies than symbolically beating up on a few little girls selling lemonade in their front yard. Kicking puppies on the front steps of a church, maybe, but this one should be a no brainer. Way to shoot yourselves in the foot guys!

ITEM: What The Hell Is He Talking About? Department: In his Saturday radio speech, Mr. Obama spoke, as he so often does, about the rich "paying their fair share." Let's see if I have this straight: Nearly 50% of Americans pay no income tax at all, and the top 5% of wage earners pay nearly 60% of all income taxes. Is that right? Why yes, it is. So from whom, exactly, is Mr. Obama going to get an additional "fair share," and at what rate will they have to be taxed? Would 500% do it? Isn't it true that even if we taxed every millionaire and billionaire in the US at 100%, the revenues generated wouldn't come close to covering even one year of the national debt at Obama levels of increase? Why yes, it is. So what the hell is he talking about? Discuss.

ITEM: Run For Your Life! It's Global Warming! Well, not for the last 15 years anyway. Remember one of the Climategate E-mails wherein the deceptive scientists involved were quite annoyed that they had no explanation at all for why there had been no increase in warming in the last 15 years? Remember the hilarity that ensued when they said that this lack of an explanation put at risk the entire AGW racket? Ha ha ha! I certainly do. Go here for the story and re-live the humor.

ITEM: How To Sell Through Sex: Go here to the Daily Mail (love those Brits!) for a fascinating article on how men and women see sexy ads differently. I know you're not surprised that they do see things differently (if you are, we need to have a chat after class; I'm worried about your continuing survival), but you'll be surprised about the specifics. Neat article; neat photographs, neat graphics. Who said all they care about over there are fish and chips?

ITEM: Helping the Troops: Go here for an interesting NIMH video about how to be helpful to our returning combat veterans. It's about five minutes of your time that may make a difference for one of our truly best and brightest (they're not in DC—unless they're in uniform, that is).

ITEM: It'll Replace The Gasoline Engine! Is it the Chevy Volt? The Nissan Leaf? Nah. As a matter of fact, there is no technology that is even close to being as efficient, convenient and affordable as the internal combustion engine. However, one possibility is using a flywheel in a sort of gas/flywheel hybrid. It has some promise, but as with electric cars, there is no free lunch. Read this article to see what I mean. Don't sell your stock in Exxon-Mobile just yet.

ITEM: Arguing For Death Panels: Remember when Sarah Palin talked about government death panels under ObamaCare and was roundly criticized—until it was passed so that Nancy Pelosi could find out what was in it, and there is a death panel under ObamaCare? Remember the apologies Sarah Palin received? Me neither. Remember New York Times token conservative David Brooks? You know, the guy who thought that Barack Obama would be a magnificent president because his pants had spiffy creases? I'm not making that up. Well, Mr. Brooks has an essay in the Times basically arguing that when you get old and sick, why, life just isn't worth living, so you should give the right to kill you to government so that you aren't burdened with your life, because rationing is good because health care is expensive and old people are inconvenient and icky and all. The invaluable Jennifer Rubin (here) opens a can of pants crease remover on Brooks. There is a link to Brooks' article in hers. Should a guy who thinks he can read presidential success in pants creases even be allowed to write in public?

ITEM: Reckless Endangerment: That's the name of a new book by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner on why we're in such a financial mess. Go here for a solid article by Rex Murphy of Canada's National Post, which profiles the book and names names. Barney Frank, by the way, is a primary villain. I know: You're shocked, shocked? Where's Louis Renault when you really need him?

ITEM: Here's How You Do It. Any Questions? Go here to Power Line for a great, brief video of Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) on Face the Nation. The execrable Robert Schieffer tries to open a can of Democrat talking points on Rubio, who deftly replies with logic and rational thought. Schieffer, of course, has no idea how to respond. I know what you're thinking: Leftist partisanship? Surely not on CBS, the home of Rathergate! Yes, leftist partisanship, and quit calling me Shirley.

ITEM: Louis Renault Award, Global Warming Division: So, Global Warming isn't really science? I'm shocked, shocked! Yeah. Right. Go here for a fascinating explanation of precisely why it fails to be—you know—science and is instead a sort of carnival barker's pseudo-religious something or other. The article contains real science stuff such as you shouldn't ignore contrary data and projections from unverified sources, and untested computer models aren't actual knowledge. I know: crazed right wing thinking, right? Gad, I hope so. It begins with "Philosophical Basis for Challenging the IPCC."

ITEM: Chevy Volt? Forget That: Gimme A Flying Car! Go here for a fascinating story about an actual, practical flying car that may be driving—and flying above—American highways within a year. This is the real thing, gentle readers. Major league cool, but I wouldn't put the family car up for sale just yet.

ITEM: Louis Renault Award Of The Day, MSNBC Division: Rachel Maddow, misleading the public? I'm shocked, shocked! Yeah, not so much. Go here to discover how Ms. Maddow recently misrepresented the Texas Voter ID law while combining the self-evident (to her) evil of actually forcing people who want to vote to identify themselves with the evil of people who hold concealed carry licenses. Is there no evil to which these Republicans will not stoop? Not in Maddow World. Good thing it doesn't actually exist.

ITEM: The Economy: Democrats and Strippers Hardest Hit! Go here for a fascinating interview by Susannah Breslin about the business of stripping and the economy. Did you know that 9/11 hit the stripping industry very hard? The story has links to several other worthwhile Breslin articles.

ITEM: So The Vacation Cottage is up to $50,000 Per Week? Book That Sucker! And you too could say that if you were Barack Obama, who, according to Hot Air (here) ABC, and other news outlets, will be vacationing at pricey Blue Heron Cottage on Martha's Vinyard this coming week. A guy deserves a bit of vacation now and then, but gad, talk about awful timing and choices! I seem to recall a past president who gave up golf because it might look frivolous when the nation was at war, and whose vacations consisted of a bit of infrequent time on his ranch in the international garden spot of Crawford, TX. Can't quite seem to recall his name, but I know he gets blamed for everything…

ITEM: It's The Cops! And this time, they're behaving like pros. What is all the more remarkable is that a citizen openly carrying a gun is involved. I know that some people might get the impression that we here at CY are anti-police. The truth is, we're anti incompetent and abusive police, which are—thank goodness--a small percentage of all officers. Go here to see a video of one of the real good guys.

ITEM: Paco To The Rescue! Go here for a great video about Paco the Chihuahua who chased off two armed robbers, preventing them from taking more than a small amount of cash from his owner. If Paco can do it, how can anyone claim with a straight face that we should submit to criminals and give them what they want?

And with that great little story, I must thank you for stopping by, say a fond farewell and invite you, once again, to return next Thursday for another edition of Quick Takes! Woof! Get 'em Paco! Aiieeeee!

UnFunny Former Comedian Distorts Study for "Gotcha" Moment in Senate

The only thing you can count on for certain is death, taxes, and for Think Progress to distort anything it can get its hands on, as evidenced once again in this story, where they claim Senator Stewart Smalley "destroyed" Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery in testimony, by proving that Minnery dishonestly used a Health and Human Services study.

The thing, is, as James Joyner points out, is that Smalley--er, Al Franken--is the one who was playing fast and loose with reality.

... from the period 2001-2003 and the first few months of 2004, every single "nuclear family" studied consisted of opposite sex couples. For the remainder of the survey, married same-sex couples in Massachusetts with children qualified as "nuclear families." Massachusetts has 6.5 million people; the other 49 states and the District of Columbia contribute an additional 301 million people. And, I'm led to believe, many people in Massachusetts still chose to marry people of the opposite sex.

In short, the number of same-sex couples qualifying as "nuclear families" in the study in question amount to a rounding error. And Al Franken, who's a pretty smart fellow, damned well knows that.

What's particularly infuriating is that he's using the power of his office and of the subpoena to humiliate a citizen for his own amusement and, presumably, those of his supporters.

The community-based reality howl over this and pat themselves on the back as if they've accomplished something here, when all they've done is further reinforce the stereotype that they're arrogant, petty and untrustworthy.

I'm not sure that is something I'd be bragging about if I was them.

Fair and Balanced With Political Donations, Too

Unlike, say, every other media company on the planet.

Political donations by News Corp., its employees and their families were evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with President Obama the all-time leading recipient, according to a report from the Sunlight Foundation.

The transparency watchdog noted Tuesday that Democrats received 51 percent of contributions while Republicans received 49 percent, despite the firm's highly publicized links to the GOP, such as a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association in August.

The donation balance seems to also carry over to legitimately balanced coverage of news events, which no doubt explains the popularity of their print and broadcast news outlets.

Wow: Ninth Circus Says Call for Obama's Assassination is Free Speech

I consider myself a free speech advocate as much as the next guy, but I never felt comfortable with calls for assassination being considered protected speech, and trust me, I've seen a lot of it... just on signs at lefty protests during the Bush years.

The ultra-liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals disagrees:

A divided panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that conviction Tuesday, saying Bagdasarian's comments were "particularly repugnant" because they endorsed violence but that a reasonable person wouldn't have taken them as a genuine threat.

The observation that Obama "will have a 50 cal in the head soon" and a call to "shoot the [racist slur]" weren't violations of the law under which Bagdasarian was convicted because the statute doesn't criminalize "predictions or exhortations to others to injure or kill the president," said the majority opinion written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt.

"When our law punishes words, we must examine the surrounding circumstances to discern the significance of those words' utterance, but must not distort or embellish their plain meaning so that the law may reach them," said the 2-1 ruling in which Chief Judge Alex Kozinski joined but Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw dissented.

The court seems to be saying that the message Walter Bagdasarian communicated wasn't a legitimate threat, and there was therefore not a crime, since a reasonable person should not have inferred that he had the means, motive and opportunity to carry out the threat or equip others to do so.

Am I reading that right?

I guess we can expect to see "Assassinate X with a Y" tee shirts popping up on web sites now.

Wonderful.

What Can A Man of Barack Obama's Experience Accomplish?

The stakes are enormous, even unprecedented, and the facts are clear: Our national debt has reached ruinous, astronomical levels and climbs higher every day. Mr. Obama has spent four trillion dollars in just over two years. The number is so large—and increasing daily--that it has almost no meaning for most Americans, yet Mr. Obama wants to spend much, much more. Virtually no one outside Paul Krugman thinks our current path of spending America into oblivion is remotely rational or sustainable, and even he is beginning to have the tiniest doubts. Moody’s is poised to lower America’s AAA bond rating, which would make it far more expensive to borrow and would almost certainly set off a round or murderous, Carteresque inflation, and that's the best case scenario. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security must be reformed. If ObamaCare is ever fully implemented, it will be sufficient, by itself, to bankrupt the nation, to say nothing about giving the government de facto power to mandate whatever it wants. Our revenues are sufficient to meet our needs, but our spending is completely out of control. If we don’t stop spending far more money than we could ever possibly have, America will go bankrupt, plunging the world into an economic apocalypse.

On one hand we have the Congressional Republicans, many obviously uncomfortable in stepping out of their business as usual comfort zones, but forced by circumstances and reality to actually stand up for no additional taxes and real spending cuts. Yet even so, they’re willing to give up more than two trillion dollars in additional spending, money we don’t have, money we will have to borrow. By any reasonable interpretation of “compromise,” more than two trillion dollars is quite a compromise.

On the other hand we have Barack Obama, President of the United States. Mr. Obama knows the state of the economy. He knows the state of the debt, yet he wants to spend more money than even the most craven politician prior to the advent of The One was capable of imagining. And to do this, he wants to raise taxes to unheard of levels. What is little known is that through ObamaCare and other devices, he has already imposed enormous new taxes that will by themselves drag down an economy seriously weakened by years of wild spending abandon by Democrats. Yes, Republicans helped, but the pubic knows who the real spending addicts are and soundly spanked the Democrats in 2010. Mr. Obama speaks of “a balanced approach,” yet his idea of balance is that the Republicans not only give him everything he wants, they must praise his patience and willingness to compromise—by graciously accepting whatever he demands--as well.

As Fox News reported on July 14 (here), Mr. Obama angrily and petulantly walked out of a recent negotiating session when mere Congressmen and Senators dared oppose his majesty.

“"I've reached my limit. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this," Mr. Obama angrily exclaimed before storming out of the session.

Thus did Mr. Obama, who promised to unite Americans, who portrayed himself as the great healer, the man who would once again make America loved and respected, demonstrate his superior temperament and boundless intellect. Yet even before that ostentatious display of juvenile temper, Mr. Obama, representing the party that pretends to champion the poor and the elderly, threatened to cut off the social security payments of the poor and the elderly in August if he did not get his way. That'll show 'em who's boss.

Why would the President of the United States behave so…irresponsibly? What, after all, can a man of Barack Obama's experience accomplish?

In one sense, actual experience is irrelevant. The legacy media slavishly supports, even worships Mr. Obama. Even when he recently cut off White House Press Pool access (here) to debt ceiling negotiations because he was angered that the press wasn't appropriately respectful, they took the scolding of Press Secretary Jay Carney and wrote the usual puff pieces blaming everyone but Barack Obama, as usual, following the lead of the man who obviously abhors them.

There is no doubt that the press has supported and defended Mr. Obama like the useful idiots he certainly considers them to be. There is also no doubt that they will continue to support the man in whom they have placed all their hopes, the demi-god they worship. Google "Obama Halo" and you'll find innumerable examples of Mr. Obama given a halo, and not by one press outlet, not by a handful, but by too many to count. Such mindless, incurious fealty is very valuable to any politician, and particularly those with monumental delusions of grandeur.

Placing a halo around the head of a political figure may, to the media, be very symbolic, seemingly making them special, important, even deities. Perhaps they even believe that the God and gun clingers of Flyover Country would embrace such imagery, and therefore take to heart their word. The truth, of course, is that Christians find such mindless trivialization of the holy to be insulting, even blasphemous.

The most egregious and insulting example of this kind of false idol worship is the Easter 2010 New York Times image of the White House at the base of a cross, with Barack Obama, obviously speaking (giving a sermon?) superimposed in profile over the cross. It would be hard to imagine an image that Christians would find more abhorrent and disgusting.

As far as is known, Mr. Obama has not commissioned such images, but anyone with any knowledge of photography viewing these images understands that many are obviously posed, and posing requires the cooperation of the subject of the photography. Is it possible that the most brilliant man ever to occupy the Oval Office had no idea what all those photographers were doing? Has he never seen their photographs? It is also noteworthy that Mr. Obama has never—to my knowledge—made a public plea that such crude attempts at Newsweek-like deification cease. There is, in fact, reason to believe that Mr. Obama sees himself as more than man.

There is considerable reason to believe that the press, the press that called Obama a god, that was awe-struck by his superhuman ability to swat a fly, that felt tingles run up their legs at the mere thought of The One, and thought that he would be an excellent president because of the crease in his pants leg will be every bit as taken with him in 2012 as they were in 2008, perhaps more.

Stephen Marche, writing in a July 12, 2011 Esquire article, proclaimed Mr. Obama's narrative to be ancient, literary, the story of a modern Odysseus or Gilgamesh, a man of historic import and accomplishment.

According to Marche, Mr. Obama is more than man: he is myth. He is a legendary literary hero for the ages, and Marche lays out a list of characteristics of literary greatness to better illustrate his timeless narrative and glory. It is almost impossible to fully explain the delusional, drooling man-love Marche displays. However, it is frighteningly familiar to those who understand history and Communism. It is the cult of personality worship enforced in totalitarian nations like North Korea and Cuba. You really need to read it yourself. But here's a representational excerpt:

"We can finally see who he is, we can finally understand the reality: In 2011, it is possible to be a levelheaded, warmhearted, cold-blooded killer who can crack a joke and write a book for his daughters. It is possible to be many things at once. And even more miraculous, it is possible for that man to be the president of the United States. Barack Obama is developing into what Hegel called a "world-historical soul," an embodiment of the spirit of the times. He is what we hope we can be.

We love Obama — even those who claim to despise him — because deep in our hearts and all over our lives, we're the same way — both inside and outside our jobs, our races, our cities, our countries, ourselves. With great artists, often the most irritating feature of their work is the source of their talent. Obama's gift is the same as his curse: He's somehow managed to be like the rest of us, only infinitely more so."

Such psychosis cannot be parodied. If we endeavor only to be honest, we most certainly do not hope to be what Mr. Obama is. Fortunately, for those who are willing to acknowledge that Barack Obama is a mere mortal, there is compelling evidence that he is far more mortal and fallible than most.

Consider this: If anyone wished to discover the salient facts of your life, how hard would it be to find them? Would it not be easy to discover where you lived, where you went to school, your grades, where you worked? Wouldn't a relatively simple search turn up friends, neighbors, co-workers who would know a great deal about you? If you attended college, and particularly graduate school, wouldn't it be easy to find fellow students who could recount anecdotes about your time with them in innumerable classes? If you were a professional in a profession that required publication, wouldn't there be evidence of your writings, of your beliefs and values?

For normal people, all of this, and more would be easily found for in our paths, we leave behind innumerable records, records we're not even aware are being kept. I have little doubt that a search could reveal where I went to school in the third grade and my grades for that year. It would reveal where I lived and when, and my college classmates could certainly tell a story or two about me, and my grades in college could easily be found. But little or none of this is true about Barack Obama.

Normally, such anomalies, such missing stretches of time, the chronicle of existence, would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull to a professional, competent press, but they have been remarkably uninterested in the background of The One, and with good reason. They don't want to find what they know they would find. They don't want to have to report that the President of the United States is the least qualified, least capable, most fraudulent, and most narcissistic and arrogant man ever to occupy the Oval Office.

Mr. Obama's college years are shrouded in mystery. His grades are unavailable. There seems to be no one who remembers him from his undergraduate years, at least not with the kind of memories one would expect of someone who shared the college experience with a superior being in the process of becoming. Perhaps this is because in his two autobiographies (as I recall, Benjamin Franklin satisfied himself with one) Mr. Obama notes that he consciously hung out with the radical—far, far left—elements in college, which is not exactly prime material for a presidential campaign bio.

At Harvard, Mr. Obama was awarded the presidency of the Law Review on the strength of his performance as Barack Obama, yet apparently produced no legal scholarship. At the least, none of it, or any of his work in college or graduate school at Harvard, has ever been revealed. Those who remember him recall that he occasionally stopped by the offices of the Law Review to allow others the thrill and inspiration of his presence, but apparently did no actual work. In a pattern that would eventually become practice, he led from so far behind that there remains not a trace of his leadership. There are no tales of his budding legal genius, no indicators of great promise to come in trial competitions or debates, none of the indicators and milestones one would expect of virtually anyone taking Mr. Obama's educational path. Odd for a man acclaimed by the press as one of the greatest orators in American history, a declamatory genius to rival Abraham Lincoln, with whom Mr. Obama has often compared himself.

Part II of this article will be posted on Saturday, July 23. It begins with Mr. Obama's only executive experience, his years heading the Chicago Annenberg challenge. It was a complete failure.

BREAKING: Brian Ross Treated as Biased Hacks Should Be Treated

The arrogant little carp was man-handled by security today as he tried to badger Rep. Michelle Bachmann after an event in South Carolina.

I've long documented the dishonesty of Ross, both in terms of agenda-driven bias and factual ignorance. He is very driven, which is a plus for an investigative reporter, but considering his propensity for hackish, agenda-driven reporting, I wouldn't let him anywhere near my candidate either.

DOJ Pressured Gun Dealers to Supply Guns to Cartels

Hope and change and death:

...the dealer was worried about a spike in sales to those reselling the guns to the cartels: a handful of buyers bought 212 guns in a few days.

"According to witnesses, that meeting was for the purpose of convincing the gun dealer to continue selling to the suspects and continue providing information to the ATF despite misgivings caused by the high volume of purchases," Issa and Grassley said in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

ATF correspondence released three months ago suggested gun dealers began balking in April 2010, not December 2009.

Prosecutors painted a different picture of the meeting in a January 2011 memo turned over to lawmakers. It said the dealer was concerned about endangering himself or violating the law. He was told he did not have to participate in the sting.

But the gun dealer was also told that information he did give about large firearms sales was "very important and useful to ongoing ATF investigations," said the memo, obtained by Reuters, suggesting he was pressured to continue in the sting.

Something's Fishy With This Story

The Daily Caller is running with a hit piece by Jonathan Strong, sensationally claiming that Michelle Bachmann suffers from debilitating migraines and that she engages in "heavy pill use."

And that's just in the headline.

I'm going to get out in front of this one and call "Bullshit."

I am one the few..we lucky few... that has been afforded the opportunity to experience cluster headaches.

They are every bit as much fun as the photo implies, and are worse than migraines (I've had those too, infrequently), and according to women who have experienced both, cluster headaches are worse than childbirth, and allegedly the worse pain a human being can experience. They get the nickname "suicide headaches" for a reason.

I say this only to establish that I know firsthand how debilitating the severest forms of headaches can be, and that leads me to strongly doubt that Bachmann could hold her present job—much less get through the frenzy of the early primaries—without having to cancel numerous appearances and interviews if her headaches were as frequent and intense as the article claims.

I'll be very interested to see how or even if she responds.

Mike Follows-Up:

Michelle Bachman has now engaged in a massive cover-up by telling what appears to be the actual truth (here): She occasionally gets migraine headaches and has prescription medication which effectively deals with them. This would seem to be the kind of media idiocy eruption that has been so common with Sarah Palin who is often accused--in hysterical terms--of saying something accurate and rational.

Migraine headaches can indeed be painful and annoying, but they are--obviously--treatable, and unlike some conditions such as epilepsy, do not prevent people from driving or even piloting aircraft. So if the government does not consider Michelle Bachman unfit to drive a car or pilot aircraft, perhaps she could be allowed to be a practicing attorney, hold public office (hasn't she already done this stuff?), or even--dare I say it?--become President of the United States? After all, a good number of Democrat politicians of the female persuasion are demonstrably bull goose loony, and Mr. Strong doesn't seem worried about them.

Of course, I could be wrong. Mr. Strong, any day, could come up with compelling evidence that various other Republican candidates have hangnails, post nasal drip, indigestion, once expectorated in front of women and children, masticate three times a day, or practice serial monogamy. You don't suppose Mr. Strong will provide the same kind of information about Democrat candidates, do you? Nah. Didn't think so. Considering what Ms. Bachman has accomplished at a relatively young age, most people might find this revelation to be evidence of strong character and determination rather than an impediment to doing what she has already proved herself capable of doing.

Bob was right: this is a fish story, but instead of being about the trophy fish that got away, this one is about the press trying to convince us they've caught a whale while displaying a minnow.

I'm Working On It!

Story here.

Absolute. Moral. Authority.

For the media, the agony of the families of the dead only matters when the President is a Republican.

Not so many years ago, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd asserted that "the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute."

The sentiment of "absolute moral authority" for anti-war parents of soldiers lost in battle was embraced, amplified, and echoed by the Times, the Washington Post, and the overwhelming majority of print and broadcast media pundits while those parents served as useful political props for the media and progressive politicians. When the left took over both houses of Congress and the White House — and the mother they used as a bludgeon turned out to be a hate-spewing, conspiracy-mongering anti-Semite — the media quietly let the "absolute moral authority" card slip out of their hand.

[murdered ICE Agent Jaime] Zapata's father is a Vietnam combat veteran with two Purple Hearts, and his siblings work in law enforcement. The family isn't demanding to see the president, or delivering ditch-side sermons to a fawning media. All they want is answers.

Where is the media to bestow them with absolute moral authority and to champion their cause?

My latest, at Pajamas Media.

Letter From The Teacher #10: What Do Teachers Know?

Anytown High School, Any State, USA

To: Bob, My Most Esteemed Colleague
From: Mr. English Teacher
Re: What Teachers Know

Dear Bob:

Hey there! Thanks for covering that after school hall duty for me yesterday. I really needed to spend the time with that parent. I owe you one.

Earlier today I ran across an interesting old book: What Do Our 17 Year Olds Know. It's something of a critique of education, actually. As you can imagine, the authors pretty much think our 17 year olds don't know much and of course, it's our fault. They're not, by any means, entirely off base, but it stimulated my thinking (I know: very dangerous!), so I thought I'd come up with a list of what high school English teachers know. I'd appreciate it if you'd look it over when you have a minute and see what you think.

High School English Teachers Know:

* That centralized planning is utopian and foolish. It must, of necessity ignore human nature, so it is destined to fail before the ink is dry on the paper. For instance, "No Child Left Behind" mandates that every child in America be reading and writing and doing math on grade level by 2014. Any teacher could have told them how insane that idea is. People are born equal in the sight of God and under the Constitution, but not in intellect and ability. Some kids, no matter how many federal laws are enacted, will never be able to perform on grade level, at least in part because they have, for decades, been promoted based not on performance and acquisition of knowledge, but for social and political purposes.

* That virtually nobody asks or listens to teachers when formulating policies and mandates teachers will have to try to implement. This is so because they think teachers know nothing about education, or because they fear that they do. Perhaps both.

* That many mandates in how to best teach reading or writing are nothing more than fads dressed up in superficially impressive packaging, and that they will have to pretend to embrace them while doing what they know actually works until the people who staked their professional reputations on the latest fad have moved on to lay waste to greener fields, or until the next great fad promising to revolutionize education comes around.

* That human beings learn in 2011 exactly as they learned in 201 BC. Times change, but people don't. People learn through intellectual curiosity, paying attention, effective practice over time, and through teachers who know not only the material, but how to most effectively impart that material. This is why the Socratic Method still works beautifully. This is why those who study martial arts study the same techniques taught in the same way for millennia. Technology does not transform human nature and the way we learn, it merely makes some of the process of learning and teaching more convenient.

* That without a calm, disciplined classroom, little learning will take place.

* That students owe their teachers deference; respect is another matter and is earned—every day.

* That the best teachers are masters of detail. It is the little things—and the ability to pay attention to them--that truly make a difference in human affairs.

* That one of the most important things any teacher can teach is the ability to pay attention, to be fully in the instant. This is very difficult, and will be a life-long pursuit.

* That not everyone can be an effective teacher. In fact, good teachers know that exceptional teachers, like exceptional performers in every field of human endeavor, are rare. They also know that many people lauded as exceptional, aren't.

* That if everyone is above average, average has no meaning. That if everyone is special, no one is special.

* That self-esteem is meaningless and that self-respect is what truly matters. It is earned, through hard work, each and every day.

* That one of the most serious impediments to learning and the future of our nation is that most kids—and probably their parents—are not readers. Those who don't read, not only for learning and information, but simply for pleasure, tend to be deficient in spelling, writing, the ability to reason and speak, vocabulary, the ability to infer and to anticipate, and most importantly, they tend to be deficient in understanding human nature. Nothing but regular and broad reading can so significantly improve the human mind in every way. Nothing but regular reading directly translates into every other academic discipline and into life itself.

* That in very important ways, reading is the very process of education.

* That one of the most important things any teacher can teach is how to understand and interact with other human beings with honesty and sincerity. Education is really the process of understanding human nature.

* That the reason that we still teach Shakespeare 400 years after his death, the reason that his works are still so beloved and always will be, is that he understood human nature so well.

* That teachers should never overestimate a child's knowledge and hunger for more, and they should never underestimate their intellect and ability to learn.

* That education is a life-long process for which each individual is responsible. Twelve years of school merely turn one into a reasonably functional human being capable of more advanced learning and performance. Each individual's degree of attention and dedication to that process in those first twelve years will, in large part, dictate their success in life whether they continue to college or not.

* That when the bell rings, teachers must close their doors, focus their attention, put aside all other concerns and foolish fads, and teach as though nothing is more important than the lesson they have prepared that day.

* That during the school year, they must—if they wish to be truly effective teachers—make their students their first priority.

* That Lord Acton was right: those who will not learn from history truly are doomed to repeat it. We see this most tragically in school lunches and zero tolerance policies.

* That teacher's unions care little for teachers and less for students and their parents. They care only for money and power.

* That few people have less power to effect educational policy than those most intimately involved with it: teachers. What plumber or electrician would put up with this?

* That one of the most essential qualities that any teacher can have is an outrageous sense of humor and irony.

* That another of the most essential qualities any teacher can have is the understanding that teenagers will, upon occasion, act like teenagers, but that they cannot be allowed to behave rudely or stupidly.

* That when teenagers behave like teenagers, teachers must not take it personally.

* That another of the most essential qualities any teacher can have is a genuine love for their work and their students, a love that allows them to come to class every day smiling, happy and looking forward to their time together.

* That they must believe in the vital importance of what they do, and choose their curriculum and methods accordingly. If teachers believe it, and often remind their students how important what they do is, students will believe it too.

* That kids, like animals, know who really cares about them and who is just going through the motions.

* That high school football—and other sports--are entertaining, but have little to do with education.

* That some adults and school board members will see high school sports—particularly football—as education.

* That physical fitness is important, but life is a matter of assigning rational priorities. Sports should never substitute for academic disciplines or make it more difficult to master them.

* That all the best teachers—all than any teacher—can do is to provide the best educational opportunity their knowledge, abilities and assets provided by their school district make possible.

* That some students will choose to take little or no advantage of that educational opportunity.

* That their parents will let them.

* That the best teachers never lose sight of the fact that a large part of their job is convincing students that they are capable of so much more than they can imagine, and of showing them how, step by step, to accomplish it.

* That all of the best and most memorable learning takes place in the presence of smiles and laughter.

* That understanding and recognizing humor is a sure sign of higher level thinking and reasoning. It should be encouraged.

* That they must be determined to have fun in every class, every day, and that they must think of ways to encourage their students to come along for the ride.

* That one of the most important qualities any teacher can have is the ability to organize.

* That the fastest way to end any conversation is to say: "You know, what you just said has fascinating grammatical possibilities."

* That teachers must always take their work seriously, but never themselves.

* That good teachers not only can teach, they can do as well. The ability to do what they teach is, in fact, a large part of the foundation of their teaching abilities.

* That the parents of the kids they really need to meet will almost never come to open houses, and will almost never return letters, e-mails, or phone calls.

* That parents have far more influence on their children than any teacher can ever hope to have.

* That teachers can and should be their student's friends, but their responsible, adult friends who must always be expected to act as responsible adults. Teachers cannot be student's middle-aged homeys.

* That no teacher can ever know exactly how they have influenced their students. They must always act so as to influence them for the good.

Well, there you go. What do you think? I suppose this is sort of my philosophy of education. Remember how they used to always ask for your philosophy of education in college? Remember how we faked it, feeding back their ideas? Experience really is the best teacher. I know now that I didn't really have much of a clue back then. I suppose some might say I have less now! What do they know? They're only teachers!

Thanks again for covering for me. Let me know when I can reciprocate.

Yours,

Mr. Fellow English Teacher

The Chickens Are Coming Home... To Roost

The target of a scapegoating attempt by the Obama Administration, acting ATF Director Ken Melson fires back:

rnal "smoking gun" report that acknowledges the role of top officials in the program that allowed guns to flow illegally into Mexico, according to the head of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Kenneth Melson, the ATF acting director, earlier this month also told congressional investigators examining the role of top officials in the ill-fated program that affidavits in support of wiretaps used in the operation are inconsistent with what Justice Department officials have said publicly.

Melson told the investigators that when he raised his concerns with the Justice Department about "institutional problems" with the Fast and Furious operation, department officials resisted his desire to share his thoughts with Congress.

"It was very frustrating to all of us," Melson told congressional investigators over the Fourth of July holiday, "and it appears thoroughly to us that the department is really trying to figure out a way to push the information away from their political appointees at the department."

The more I dig into this story here and at Pajamas Media, the more it seems improbable that Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano were not aware of Gunwalker.

"Gunwalker" itself seems like an even better name for the scandal than it once did, as the plot is both different from the Bush-era Gunrunner program, and can denote more that just Operation Fast and Furious in Arizona, including Operation Castaway in Florida, the two suspected gun-running operations in Texas, and any similar operations that may have been run concurrently in other operational areas that are yet to be discovered.

Grassley and Issa are asking the pointed, specific questions of prosecutors that already have the answers and are looking to catch the defendants in a provable lie. Rather obviously, they smell blood.

The top officials of the top law enforcement agencies in our federal government have delegitimized themselves and the reputations of tens of thousands of good officers and agents for what increasingly looks like a malicious, murderous attempt by key appointed officials of the Obama Administration to orchestrate a plot that only makes sense as a justification for gun control.

The people must have their independent prosecutor, and if the evidence supports charges, impeachment in Congress and prosecutions as warranted under the laws of the United States in a federal court. Considering the severity of the crimes, Congress should also consider the rare but legal option of allowing Mexican prosecutors to extradite those that deserve to be charged in Mexican courts.

There must be accountability, or else.

Gunwalker Never Stops

Democrats continue to try to hide it, because the story just keeps getting worse.

I'll be on the air with WPTF this afternoon talking Gunwalker at 2:35, and on again with Cam and Company tonight at 10:20 on Sirius.

O'Keefe Strikes Again

This time, the goal was investigating Medicare fraud in Ohio, and as usual, they were way over the top.

In the video, the men explain to Ohio Medicaid workers that they are Russian immigrants who sell illegal drugs, drive a modified McLaren F1 sports car with a gold-coated engine, and use their underage sisters to perform sexual favors in exchange for drugs.

No Medicaid employee in their right minds would provide services to drug-dealing, child-pimping foreigners with million-dollar cars. Right?

Wrong.

God in the Machine

So I have a clock radio.

It's nothing special, just a mid-range AM/FM device with two alarms, and I keep it tuned to a local AM classical station for my wake-up music.

Well, something changed with that this morning.

Instead of symphonic music, I was awoken to some beautiful Christian contemporary music--soft rock, I guess you would call it--and so I glanced over at my wife.

"Did you change the station?"

"Nope."

The song ended as we snuggled up in bed, and then I heard an unfamiliar voice announce the stations call letters and place on the dial. We were listening to WMHK-FM, 89.7.

Out of Columbia, South Carolina.

206 miles away.

And the signal was clear as a bell.

My radio dial was lying to me, still trying to tell me I was tuned to an AM station on the lower end of the band.

WMHK is a 100,000 watt station that is occasionally heard as far away as Florence, SC (81 miles away) and Charlotte, NC (92 miles away), but we're more than twice that distance, tuned to another station, on another band, and we're getting their signal like their broadcast tower is in our back yard.

I'd love to hear the technical explanation of how this happened, but I'm content with the minor miracle just as it is.

Chevy Volt Update for 07-18-11

Among the predications I’ve made regarding Chevy’s Volt is that its costs, in general, render it ridiculously uneconomical. Not only does its sky-high MSRP of $41,000 ($33,500 with the federal tax credit) place it outside the consideration of most the population which must buy the car in large numbers in order for it to make the slightest profit, the replacement cost of its battery pack, the life of which no one knows, is at least $8000.00 and possibly more. It’s highly likely to be the most expensive part in any dealer’s parts inventory.

For those interested in reading my scribblings on the Volt, merely enter “Chevy Volt” in the site search window on the CY home page and it will pull up every article and mention. Incidentally, I saw my first Volt a few days ago in its native habitat. It was actually being driven and was apparently owned by an actual person. This is significant in that I live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex, an area--due to its high year-round temperatures--ideal for electric vehicles. It’s also an area with a very large and mobile population, a population whose work commute can easily exceed 100 miles a day. I’ve seen one Volt. Not a good sign for Chevy, particularly considering the likelihood that even at $41,000, Chevy is losing money on every Volt it builds.

But now comes interesting news from Green Auto Blog (here) about a Volt belonging to Cars.Com. It seems that Cars.Com’s long-term test Volt (sounds odd—“test Volt”--no?) was in an accident. And it cost $14,187 to repair. That’s right, nearly half its post-federal tax rebate cost.

Why would it cost so much? We all know that auto repair, and particularly body repair costs are very high, but even more so with the Volt. The Volt requires multiple heat exchangers, engine control electronics far more expensive that those in other vehicles, and a variety of other expensive differences that stuck the vehicle in the repair shop for nine weeks—more than two months. I'm sure that such things are far more expensive due to their rarity as well. It simply costs much more to manufacture 10 items than ten thousand.

Those driving the vehicle at the time of the accident are indeed fortunate that the battery pack was not damaged (apparently it wasn’t; there is no mention of this in the article). Lithium-ion batteries contain substances that must be separated at all times. If they are allowed to combine through even a pinhole, fire and even explosion are the rapid and inevitable consequences. In addition, the battery contains a great deal of electrical power such that it is actually dangerous, even potentially deadly, to the occupants of a wounded Volt, or to unwary first responders. This is true even for mechanics without the proper tools, safety equipment and training.

Hmm. If I was an actuary for an insurance company, I suspect I’d be advising my company to greatly increase the price—and greatly increase the deductible--of any Volt policy. Wouldn’t you?

So to recap:

(1) The Volt sells for $41,000, and as much as $65,000, yet Chevy makes no profit at all on the vehicle.

(2) Some dealers are applying for the $7500 tax credit themselves and selling essentially brand new Volts as used vehicles, for as much as $65,000.

(3) The Volt’s weak gasoline engine requires premium fuel and achieves less fuel economy than a great many conventional vehicles with more flexible and powerful engines that burn regular fuel (Fun Fact: Federal regulations prevent the importation of small, clean burning diesel engines that get 50 MPG or more. Such engines are common in European cars).

(4) Now we learn that repair costs for the Volt greatly exceed conventional vehicles in the same general class.

(5) The Volt’s real world electric range in real world driving conditions is apparently about 25 miles. No one knows how long a Volt battery will last or precisely how much it will cost.

(6) As I reported in prior posts, because of the ridiculously high purchase price, even if the Volt managed 200 MPG in a combination of electric/gas-powered driving, it would be virtually impossible for anyone to break even in fuel savings when compared with the cost of even high-end conventionally powered high mileage vehicles. With more realistic mileage figures, it would take about two decades. When one considers that at least one battery replacement would be mandatory in that time frame, breaking even on operating costs would be impossible. When one considers that very few people ever keep a car for its entire lifetime—and that life span is usually far less than even 10 years—breaking even or saving money is absolutely impossible.

But other than that, the Volt is a great car that will change the world, and everybody should buy one. Hey, if the Federal Government can make you buy a specific light bulb and health insurance, why not a specific car? And as long as the FG actually owns a substantial chunk of Chevy, why not the Volt? As Joe Biden would likely say, it’s the patriotic thing to do!

Added Note: A commenter on my last post on the Volt noted that he has ordered one and expects to be very happy with it, considering it to be superior to the BMW he is currently driving.

I thanked him for his comments, and replied :

"I care not what anyone else drives; they're free to buy what pleases them. This is one of the great things about America. What I am concerned about is the choices made by a company in which I am--through no choice of my own--part owner. In that case, I expect that company to build cars that make a profit. The Volt does not and will not, unless the government so regulates and mandates the free enterprise system that it will no longer be free and none of us will have the choice to buy whichever vehicle pleases us. I suspect that the Volt is part of the vanguard of that Socialist revolution.

By all means, buy one if you please and I hope you enjoy it. But my point remains: The Volt makes no economic sense for virtually all of the American public. No car company can remain in business manufacturing a product like that. The question remains: Why is GM manufacturing a car that not only makes no profit, but probably costs it money, and does not have the infrastructure--which is also ridiculously expensive--to make it even remotely viable? It would seem to have nothing to do with free enterprise and individual choice, would it?"

And this is the primary problem with the Volt. GM is far from sustainably profitable, having avoided a normal bankruptcy proceeding that would have allowed it to reorganize and would have allowed it to renegotiate its union contracts so that it could once again be profitable. Preserving union power and cash, was of course, Mr. Obama's main concern. Preserving the rights of shareholders and creditors and supporting the free enterprise system were not.

The result of this is that people who had legitimate financial stakes in the company were stiffed, wealth was not only not created but thrown away, and the American public will almost certainly take a bath to the tune of tens of billions that GM will never pay back. That and we, the taxpayers, still own $2.1 billion of preferred GM stock and 61% of its common equity. As an unwilling stockholder, I'm a bit concerned by a company building a car that makes not a dime of profit, and probably loses money. Shouldn't every owner of GM be concerned about that?

Contempt Of Cop

The good folks at Pajamas Media have been kind enough to post my most recent article on the police and photography (here). As many of you know, police officers around the nation have been harassing, arresting, even beating innocent citizens for the heinous offense of daring to photograph them in the pursuit of their duties. This article explains why, with some notable exceptions, the police have no such authority. Must reading if you plan to have a camera anywhere near a police officer in the future, even on your own property--you'll see what I mean.

Born Free

For this third installment of our Literature Corner, we present a tale of humor in uniform. It has been said that police work is 98% boredom and 2% sheer terror. This is essentially true, but there is also humor to be had. Police officers learn that life is truly stranger than fiction. Mark Twain was correct when he said "Fiction is obliged to stick with possibilities; truth isn't." Most police officers will spend an entire career without having to fire their weapon in the line of duty. Even fewer will find themselves face to face with a vulture in a bedroom. This story, "Born Free," recounts just that tale.

Born Free

It was 0300 and because things had slowed down, I had the rare luxury of being in the office working on a DUI report rather than doing it somewhere in my car when my shift supervisor, Sgt. Steve Kirshner, poked his head in and asked: “what do you know about vultures?”

“Vultures? You mean the fly-around-up-in-the-sky-in-westerns type vultures?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. Kirshner didn’t like kids or animals and he didn’t care that much for adults either.

“A little, I guess. Why do you ask?”

“There’s one caught in a house out west and we gotta go get it out.” Kirschner wasn’t happy about it at all.

“Why isn’t Animal Control handling this?” I asked.

“Called ‘em. They said they have no idea what to do with a vulture,” he replied in frustration, “said they don’t have the right equipment; they wouldn’t come out.”

I started laughing. “Figures. OK, let’s go, but we’ll have to stop and pick up a vulture capture kit.” This was going to be good!

“A vulture capture kit?”

“Yeah. Just stop by the loading dock at Timmon’s Furniture downtown. Head through the alley.” At Timmon’s I quickly fabricated and loaded our kit and we headed west. Kirschner filled in as many details as he knew, and as he did, I laughed until I cried.

It was 0230 and John Williams III couldn’t sleep. He was restless and thirsty, so in his underwear, he stumbled out of bed and padded sleepily into the kitchen, closing his eyes too late against the sudden brilliance of the light bulb inside the fridge. He fumbled for the orange juice, closed the door and was just beginning to take a drink when the glass screen door of the second floor balcony in the living room only 15 feet away shattered with a resounding crash. The intruder, entangled in the curtains, was noisily thrashing about.

Williams, adrenaline suddenly kicking in, his night vision compromised, his chest coated with cold orange juice, grabbed a nearby broom and began to swing it wildly back and forth, yelling obscenities at the top of his lungs: “You **&^%%!!” I’m gonna kick your **&&^^$$3#! ARGGGGHHH!!! HELP! HELP!”

It only took a few moments for the other sleepy but alarmed residents of the Williams household to stumble out of bed and rush to the living room where someone flipped on the lights, stopping Williams in mid-swing/cuss. There was nothing in front of him! Surprised, he frantically looked all around, the broom cocked and ready to deliver a death sweep.

Everyone’s eyes simultaneously locked on the intruder at Williams’ feet. Everyone simultaneously screamed “ AAAAAAH!” The intruder, a terrified vulture who had just managed to disentangle himself from the curtains, immediately responded, “BLEARGGHHHH!” and hacked a partially digested rabbit carcass onto the clean carpet.

Doing what vultures do, the panicked bird tried to fly out of there, but ended up circling the living room. The Williams clan, equally panicked by the huge bird noisily flapping and squawking around the room, convinced that it was about to swoop down and attack, ran in circles, screaming wildly. Eventually, the vulture flew down a hallway,
landed and hopped through the open door of a bedroom. Someone gathered the presence of mind to slam the door shut and made a panicky 911 call.

“I hate *&%%$#** animals!” Kirschner muttered in fine W.C. Fields style, “##*$%&^**$ vulture!”

I wiped away tears. The closer we came to the residence, the more agitated Kirschner became. When we pulled into the driveway, he was sweating and swearing under his breath. It was all I could do to keep from doubling over with laughter. He really didn’t want to go into the house, but as Navy SEAL Dick Marchinko says, “you don’t gotta like it; you just gotta do it.”

One of our patrol cars was already there. “Who’s handling this?” I asked.

“Big Eagle,” Kirschner grumbled, too upset to appreciate the irony.

I almost fell over. Could it be more perfect? Tim Big Eagle handling a vulture call!

We knocked on the door and Big Eagle answered, a big grin on his face. The family was sitting in the living room. They looked absolutely shell shocked. The screen door and the curtains were shredded and an incredibly vile stench permeated the room.

“Wow! What’s the smell?” I asked Big Eagle.

He grinned and told me the whole story including the rabbit hacking. “They already cleaned up the glass--and the rabbit--but it didn’t help the smell much.”

“No kidding,” I replied. “Where’s the vulture?”

“End of the hallway,” Big Eagle gestured, “bedroom on the right.”

I cracked the door and looked in. Sure enough, there he was on the floor against the far wall. His head cocked to one side at the sight of me, and his little beady black vulture eyes peered at me curiously. He looked just like a vulture was supposed to look. He was a big bird, almost three feet high, and handsome in a raggedy, efficient sort of way. I guess it was a he. I wasn’t going to get close enough to check, and I had no idea how to tell the difference anyway. I closed the door and walked back to the living room.

“Well, it’s a vulture all right,” I said deadpan in my best Joe Friday, just-give-me-the-facts, Ma’am, voice. Big Eagle nodded, desperately trying to suppress a grin.

“What are you going to do?” A pretty and very distraught woman in a nightgown asked.

“Not to worry Ma’am,” I said jauntily in my best Lone Ranger tone. “We brought our vulture capture kit. I’ll go get it.” As I went out the front door, I could hear Big Eagle assuring the Williams family that I knew what I was doing, even though he had no idea whether I did or not. When I returned with the kit--a large cardboard box and a flat piece of cardboard big enough to cover the open end of the box--Big Eagle’s face fell. He was certain I didn’t have a clue! The family was astonished. Apparently they were expecting some sort of hi-tech, nuclear powered, laser night vision, Ghost Busters device. After all, didn’t the police handle this sort of thing all the time?

I huddled with Big Eagle and Kirschner. “Okay, we’ll go into the room and shut the door. I’ll put the box over the vulture, we’ll slide the piece of cardboard underneath it, carry him outside and let him go,” I said.

“I ain’t goin’ in there!” Kirschner exclaimed.

“Neither am I,” Big Eagle added, shaking his head emphatically.

I broke up. Big Eagle wasn’t nearly as freaked out as Kirschner, but he wasn’t wild about confronting the vulture either. Kirschner ordered Big Eagle to do it, and we gathered up the kit. Our procession down the hallway consisted of me, then Big Eagle--each of us carrying a part of the capture kit--followed by Kirschner, and the entire family timidly keeping a discrete distance.

“OK Sarge. Close the door when we get in. You just keep an eye on the door and we’ll yell when we’re ready for you to open it,” I said.

Kirschner nodded nervously; “%$##@@*& vulture,” he muttered.

I opened the door. The vulture was still where I last saw him. He wasn’t nearly as agitated as Kirschner and Big Eagle. We slipped into the room and Kirschner closed the door with a bang. Big Eagle grabbed the doorknob and found that Kirschner was holding it shut!

“Why don’t you pick up that blanket on the floor? You might get a chance to toss it over him,” I said. Big Eagle gladly grabbed it, holding it and the piece of flat cardboard defensively in front of him. The bedroom wasn’t very big and there was a large waterbed frame in pieces on the floor. That complicated things. There were only two spots with enough open floor space to allow us to put the box over the vulture and slide the piece of cardboard underneath, and he wasn’t in either of them.

I approached the bird, holding the box in front of me, and he suddenly and noisily flapped up, landing on the other side of the room. Big Eagle let out a gasp and recoiled, and I could hear everyone in the hallway tittering nervously.

“He’s too close to that chair. You lift the waterbed headboard out of the way, and I’ll be able to put the box on him,” I said to Big Eagle. He wasn’t anxious to drop the relative protection of the blanket and cardboard, but he reluctantly complied and took hold of the heavy wooden headboard at my feet. “OK; lift it now,” I said.

When Big Eagle lifted the headboard, the startled vulture flapped into the air again. Big Eagle freaked and dropped the headboard, right on my shins! I yelled in surprise, and Kirschner and the family, thinking that the vulture was eating us, began to yell too. Kirschner renewed his grip on the doorknob. Explosives wouldn’t have dislodged him.

The vulture settled in an open spot by the door. I limped over, cursing under my breath, and gently set the box down, neatly covering him. Big Eagle handed me the flat piece of cardboard and I gently slid it under the box. The vulture cooperated, hopping onto the cardboard sheet. As I suspected, the darkness in the box calmed him and he didn’t move or make a sound.

It took us a little while to convince Kirschner to release the doorknob. Evidently he thought the vulture had eaten us and was mimicking our voices, tricking him into opening the door(!?) so he could eat him too! Finally, he relented and at the sight of the box,
retreated to the living room.

Big Eagle and I carried the box down the hallway, scattering the Williams family, and made our way to the back yard. Big Eagle retreated to a safe distance, and I lifted the box away. The vulture looked over his little vulture shoulder, gave me a baleful, beady-eyed vulture stare and took off. As he slowly gained altitude, his huge wings flapped noisily and loudly, forcefully beating the air. He flew between two trees, brushing the branches, and was gone. I couldn’t help myself. I broke into the first verse of “Born Free:”

Born freeeee!
As free as the wind blows,
As free as the grass grooooowwwws,
Born freee to follow your heart!

Big Eagle looked at me as if I just arrived from Mars. Some people have no sense of irony.

We walked back through the house carrying the capture kit. The family thanked us profusely, and I couldn’t keep from laughing as I acknowledged their thanks and left, glad that the smell was in their home and not mine. It took all my strength not to say, “My job here is done. I’m needed elsewhere now,” like the Lone Ranger (“Who was that masked man?”).

Big Eagle met me later and told me that as I was leaving, laughing myself silly, Williams told him, “That officer sure enjoys his work!”
So I did.

"Watergate with a Body Count" Continues to Fall Apart For the Obama Administration

I have two Gunwalker articles posted at Pajamas Media at the moment, and two more in the wings.

Teh first shows how the media continues to try to protect the Administration, while the second shows the "smoking gun" emails that prove that ATF officials were trying to use Fast and Furious to influence gun policy.

It's getting bad, and going to get worse, folks.

The Joy of Lasers: Part 1

Technology provides us with entertainment and innovations that have become, in many ways, necessities. I am old enough to have learned to type on a manual typewriter, physically flinging the carriage back into battery at the end of each line. In high school, back in the 1400’s, I witnessed and embraced the invention of such wonders as the cassette tape, the touch-tone phone and all-transistor guitar amplifiers. I bought my first home computer, an Apple, in 1986 and have ridden the wave of innovation that flowed from what was then considered the enormous 20 megabyte hard drive of that first machine. So I often take a moment to appreciate the wonder of the technology that drives my iPhone4, which in very real ways puts the world in my pocket.

One innovation that is a boon to shooters, casual and professional, is the laser. Contemporary lasers are small, weigh little, and are relatively inexpensive and very effective. One of the best things about lasers is that they are actually a highly effective solution to real world problems rather than the many ingenious solutions to non-existent problems so common in the firearms world.

Note in this first photograph my pre-ban Colt with a few modern enhancements, the most noteworthy of which is the LaserMax Uni-Max Value Pack for Rifles (go here), which retails for about $189.00 these days. All of the goodies in this post are available direct from the factory. Disclaimer: I am not being paid by LaserMax, nor did they supply this unit to me.

The package consists of four elements: The Uni-Max ES laser itself, which is essentially an off-the-shelf 5mW unit (the most powerful the law allows) which works equally well with handguns and rifles and comes with a crossbolt-type activation switch which works quite well by itself. It also has a built in rail that allows the mounting of any rail compatible accessory—such as a flashlight—directly to the laser. The package also comes with a momentary-type activation switch, which neatly replaces the crossbolt switch and has only a 6” straight cord which is far better than the lengthy coiled cords that come with some switches.

The really neat part of the package is the MantaRail system which is a neat polymer/silicone sheath for the momentary switch which easily clamps onto a standard rifle rail and is as easily removed. This eliminates adhesives and Velcro, neither of which work well in this application, and it comes with two end caps and three polymer cord routing clamps called, amazingly enough, “MantaClamps.”

As you can see, I prefer the simple expedient of two small cable ties that are cheap and easy to remove--via wire cutters--and replace. The sheath also solves another common momentary switch problem: they tend to become quite hot—electrical resistance--if left on very long. The silicon sheath effectively insulates the fingers from any such discomfort. I chose to mount my switch and laser on the right hand side of the handguard, but they can easily be mounted on adjacent rails.

But wait a minute, aren’t lasers really difficult to see at long range and in bright sunlight? Indeed they are, particularly red lasers. Green lasers are generally more visible, but are substantially more expensive ($170.00 more for the same package). So what’s the point? Close Quarters Battle or CQB. Or for the civilian, using a carbine in the home defense role. If you need to take 100 yard shots indoors, you’re probably Al Gore or John Edwards and you don’t like guns, at least not when the little people own them.

One of the primary difficulties with any rifle with a high sight line relative to the bore is that at closer ranges, say 25 yards and less, rounds will impact below the point of aim. With the AR-15 family, this means that with iron sights or with an optical red dot sight zeroed for 100 yards, bullets will strike at point of aim at 100 yards. But move to 25 yards or closer and bullets will strike 3” or more below the point of aim.

So what? Just remember that and adjust your aim upward three inches. Unfortunately that’s not a good idea in CQB. Raising the muzzle to compensate obscures the shooter’s view of what they intend to shoot, and in the heat of battle, remembering the necessity for Kentucky windage is easier discussed than accomplished. When it’s necessary to deliver a precise shot at close range, it’s best to know exactly where that shot is going without additional computation and adjustment, and even better, to be able to have your head up and your eyes on your potential target. That’s where lasers come in.

With an optical sight zeroed for 100 yards and the laser zeroed for 25, it is easy to instantly transition from sight to sight while moving closer to the target. The same mounting and target acquisition motions (presentation) are used for either sight, but with the laser sight at close range, it’s great to be able to simply look directly at the target rather than through a scope. It does take some practice to condition the brain to see and respond to the laser dot rather than an illuminated reticle, and some practice to work out the slightly different muscle memory required, but it’s not difficult.

One of the other advantages of this particular laser is that it can be set for pulse mode, which even with a red laser, produces a much easier to see dot, even in bright sunlight. Indoors, even with bright artificial lighting, the dot is brilliant and easy to see. Many manufacturers market green lasers with the claim that they can be seen at 100 yards, which may be true, but not necessarily for everyone. Perhaps young people with fighter pilot-like vision can instantly pick out a laser dot on any target at 100 yards, but it’s not always an easy or quick task for me. On the other hand, it’s a piece of cake to immediately align a properly sighted in optical sight at that, and greater, ranges.

With the laser, bullet impact is right on, and for most people, accuracy, and particularly speed, are enhanced. The eye is naturally drawn to the pulsing dot, which can substantially decrease the time required to place accurate fire on any target. This does not eliminate the need for proper stance, trigger control, grip and presentation, for if one becomes lazy, they’ll lose time looking for a laser dot that is anywhere other than the target. In other words, you still have to present the weapon as though you were using iron or optical sights. Leave shooting from the hip for the movies.

Using a rifle in the proper ready position with the laser activated provides several advantages. A bad guy noticing—because you have told him—a pulsing laser dot dancing around just below his belt line might be readily encouraged to cease hostilities. With the dot visible and already aligned with the centerline of the target, it is simplicity itself to point in from ready and fire the instant the dot reaches center mass, all the while keeping your attention and both eyes on what is happening in front of you.

The laser with this package is easily adjusted for windage and elevation with the supplied allen wrench, but know that the wrench is very small and easy to lose. Once aligned, the sight tends to stay in alignment. The laser unit weighs very little, is low profile (unlikely to hang up on anything) and quite rugged and is available individually for $149.00. The MantaRail system with the sheath, end caps and three MantaClamps retails for $34.95 and is a great solution for any momentary switch/laser combination from any manufacturer. Once mounted—it’s easy to position and remove—it stays put.

I’m pleased with the quality and utility of this LaserMax sytem and use it on several of my AR systems. I suspect you’ll be equally pleased.

Next Friday: Part 2 of this short series on lasers for handguns.

Gunwalker: Comment of the Day

From Patrick Richardson's Pajamas Media article about a "smoking gun" email that proves the ATF were trying to use "walked" guns to influence policy, a dead-on comment by reader L.E. Liesner:

The federal government [is] using federal agencies to break federal laws so that same federal government can impose more federal laws on the people that did not break the law. If this isn't a direct violation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights nothing ever will [be].

"Don't Call My Bluff"

A real genius, this one.

When Cantor said the two sides were too far apart to get a deal that could pass the House by the Treasury Department’s Aug. 2 deadline — and that he would consider moving a short-term debt-limit increase alongside smaller spending cuts — Obama began to lecture him.

"Eric, don't call my bluff," the president said, warning Cantor that he would take his case "to the American people." He told Cantor that no other president — not Ronald Reagan, the president said — would sit through such negotiations.

First Rule of Bluffing: Don't let the other guy know you are bluffing.

As for taking his case to the people, the people have heard his long-winded, blame-shifting, class-warfare speeches, and like honey badger, we don't care. We know spending must be cut, and that a recession is a horrible time to raise taxes.

It's too bad he can't figure that out.

Quick Takes, July 14, 2011

ITEM: Smart Energy Policy? We have experienced the wonders of “Smart Diplomacy” and the world is in turmoil. Now, we have experienced the equal delights of Smart Energy Policy as the results of Mr. Obama’s release and sale of 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve are now apparent. The results? Zip, zero, nada, zilch, bupkis, dick, and last but not least, squat. Go here for the whole debacle.

ITEM: Global Warming Isn’t Dead, It’s Pinin’ For The Fjords! So now we know. Go here, where we discover that the more one knows about science and the better informed one is, the more likely they are to see global warming as a figurative dead parrot that wouldn’t “voom” if was shot full of lightning because it’s nailed to the perch! Strange: I have a sudden compulsion to sing about being a lumberjack…

ITEM: Time Wounds All Heels: Apparently, even in the land of the unrestrained liberals—CNN—ratings still matter. I know, I know, but MSNBC is another dimension, literally another dimension. Don’t get me started. Eliot Spitzer’s show has been canceled. Go here for the story. I could construct some elaborate snark about this one, but frankly Scarlett, I just don’t give a damn.

ITEM: Why is the British Media So Much Better Than the LameStream Media? Go here for a Telegraph story on, of all things, a Harvard economics professor who thinks that the nation shouldn’t spend money that it doesn’t have because one day, the bill will come due! Amazing! He also believes that economic stimulus idiocy doesn’t work! Good grief, where has this man been?

ITEM: The 800 Pound Gorilla In The Room: As the deficit talks/non-talks grind relentlessly onward—or don’t—few comment on the 800 pound gorilla in the room: Obamacare. Until Americans know with certainty whether this lunatic abomination is going to be implemented or repealed, it makes little difference to talk about fixing the economy or entitlement reform, for it is the largest single entitlement ever imagined by man. Irrespective of other entitlement spending, it will bankrupt the nation, and Mr. Obama wants to roll back corporate jet tax credits. Say, didn’t he have something to do with Obamacare? I seem to remember something about that a year or so ago… Discuss.

ITEM: He’s Drowning! Quick, Throw Him This Anchor! Go here—if you dare—to discover that California politicians are indisputably, actually trying to bankrupt their state. There is simply no other possible explanation. What’s up? The Loongislature has passed a bill that gives labor unions the power to directly appoint half of city and county civil service commissions. That’s right: unions will appoint half of the people with whom they’ll negotiate for their wages and benefits. Unless Gov. Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown vetoes the law, it will automatically become law. These Californians, they’re really space aliens in disguise, aren’t they?

ITEM: Casey Anthony Was Guilty! We Know It Because The Media Suggested It! Maybe not so much. Did she kill her daughter? Perhaps. Is that among the most vile and heart rending crimes imaginable? Of course. Is the criminal justice system imperfect? No Doubt. As those of us who have actually labored in the criminal justice system know, there is no such thing as perfection. In any case, there are almost always unanswered questions and doubts that will never be fully explained. Life is absolutely not like the CSI shows, and in this case, the prosecution could not prove how Caylee died. They could not prove that she had been murdered. Go here for an article by Alan Dershowitz wherein Prof. Deshowitz suggests, convincingly, that the system worked. I tend to agree. You?

ITEM: Why, He’s Just Like Us! Go here for an interesting statement form Presidential Press Secretary Jay Carney who, speaking for the President, noted that Americans don’t talk about the GDP and unemployment numbers. If the Obama Administration really thinks that, and acts on that lunatic assumption, 2012 may be a historic landslide that will shovel-ready Mr. Obama all the way back to wherever he may or may not have been born. But hey, our self-appointed betters are just like us. They feel our pain and understand our meaningless, pathetic, petty little lives. Makes me feel warm inside. You?

ITEM: Oops! During my law enforcement days, we local cops often dealt with the FBI who have always more or less considered themselves God’s gift to law enforcement. To their occasional chagrin, they are reminded that they too must recruit from the human race, as in the case of the abandoned MP5, a 9mm submachine gun, which an FBI agent left sitting on the top of his unmarked car in the local federal building parking lot. A local skateboarder found it and skateboarded down to the police station to turn it in. Yes, it was loaded. Go here for a charming photo of a Seattle police cruiser illegally parked, and with an apparently loaded police AR-15 rifle sitting on the trunk lid while the officers involved did—who knows what.

The police department was not sure if the gun was loaded. Uh, I believe that’s relatively easy to check, and in fact, after ensuring that the safety is on, proper safety protocol for semi-automatic firearms requires removing the magazine and cycling the bolt/slide to eject any chambered round. Only the professionals should have guns. Oops.

ITEM: It’s Soooooo Unexpected! Go here for a Reuters report about the latest catastrophic economic report released—on a Friday—by the government. Unemployment rose—again—to 9.2% and about all those jobs the government claimed to have created in April and May? Never mind! Subtract 44,000 from whatever those totals were. It’s a good thing Americans don’t care about unemployment and all of that complex economic stuff. It’s all so…unexpected.

ITEM: Ruh-Roh, Shaggy! Let’s say that you were once the largest and most powerful automaker in the world, but you allowed unions to increase your labor costs so much that you went bankrupt. But lo and behold, a savior arose in the land of Chicago and bailed the unions out and let you come along for the ride. And now all is goodness, light and profitability. Yeah. Not so much. Go here to discover General Motor’s newest program: Buy a new GM car and get free auto insurance for a year. Uh, but wouldn’t that kind of thing suggest, you know, like desperation rather than profitability? Good question.

ITEM: Economic Doom? Go here to read a handy compilation of the economic reality of Obamanomics in statistics, provided by Stephen Green of Vodakpundit. In a rational world with a responsible, adult media (I know: oxymoron), the reality reflected in these indisputable numbers would tell any president that it’s time to retire to a life of traitorous betrayal of your nation rather than waste millions on a hopeless second presidential campaign. Any bets on reality? Discuss.

ITEM: Um, Shouldn’t He Be Supporting Jobs If He Says He Supports Jobs? Remember Barack Hussein Obama? You know, The One? The man who will lower sea levels and heal the planet? Remember how he has repeatedly said that creating jobs is “job one” for the white House? So why is he trying to destroy entire industries every time he opens his mouth? Go here for an example.

ITEM: Louis Renault Award, Reality Division: (AKA: So, You Actually Thought He Knew Anything About Defense, The Economy, Or, Well, Anything?!) Go here to "The Hill" for an article on Mr. Obama’s recent comments about raiding the defense budget to finance his domestic priorities. It reveals an amazing lack of understanding of, well, just about everything on the President’s part. I’m shocked, shocked! that a man with no experience at basically anything would have no experience at basically anything.

ITEM: Have You Read Amy Alkon? If not, go here to advicegoddess.com for a solid ration of common sense. In this particular article, Alkon take to take one Rebecca Watson who suffered the unimaginable horror of being propositioned—by her own admission in a completely polite manner—in an elevator. As Joseph Conrad, channeled by Elmer Fudd said: “Duh howuh.”

ITEM: Steven Chu Cares About You! Our very own Energy Secretary who has said, among other things, that we must figure out some way to get gasoline prices to rise to European levels ($10 per gallon) is once again demonstrating his selfless, boundless concern for the little people. In support of taking away incandescent light bulbs and forcing everyone to buy bulbs that are actually dangerous and cost a great deal more, Chu recently said (here) “We are taking away a choice that continues to let people waste their own money.” Oh rapture! How could any one man possibly care so much about little old me that he is willing, nay, determined to prevent me from making choices that would waste my own money? How, oh how have I been able to avoid bankruptcy, nay, how have I been able to survive without the benevolence of Steven Chu and the rest of the Obama Administration looking out for my welfare until this point in my wretched life? I’m so grateful, so grateful.

ITEM: #49: With the signature of Governor Scott Walker, Wisconsin has become the 49th state that allows concealed carry in some form. Wisconsin is a “shall issue” state, which means that as long as an applicant for a concealed carry license is not by law disqualified from owning a firearm, the state must issue a license. Some other states, which do, in theory, authorize concealed carry, do quite the opposite in practice. Illinois remains the only state where it is entirely prohibited. Go here for the story.

ITEM: OK. I’m Confused. The White House and Congressional Republicans are fighting over a Debt Ceiling deal. They want to spend trillions more—more or less forever—and the Republicans want to cut spending so we don’t entirely bankrupt the nation sooner rather than later. Oh yes, and the White House wants to greatly increase taxes. It is certain than tax increases will seriously worsen an already serious economic situation. It is certain that spending more will seriously worsen an already serous economic situation. The only way to save the nation is to spend less, a great deal less. So what’s the problem? Who is completely crazy here? Discuss.

ITEM: “I Did this All For the Unions”: said Ron Bloom, President Obama’s Assistant for Manufacturing Policy, is reported to have said in talking about the Administration’s role in the takeover of GM and Chrysler. Testifying before Congress, Bloom flatly denied every saying it. However, Bloom associate Steve Rattner, in a 2010 book, said that he did, but characterized it as a joke. And White House spokesmen are also characterizing it as a joke. The comment was made at a celebration dinner at a restaurant. Rep. Daryl Issa has now written a letter to Bloom asking him to clarify or amend his testimony. I don’t know; I kind of lean toward the proposition that this is exactly the kind of thing that an Obama Administration official and former union honcho would say? You? We’ll see. Go here for the story.

ITEM: Debt Ceiling? More Taxes? A Balanced Approach? All of the talk about negotiating an increase of the debt ceiling makes most folk’s eyes cross. But consider this: The debt ceiling is in place to prevent irresponsible, craven politicians whose only life skill is wasting enormous amounts of other people’s money from wasting so much of other people’s money that they actually bankrupt the country. And our representatives are talking about a two trillion dollar increase—two trillion dollars—as though it is inevitable and the rest is just niggling details. And of course, Mr. Obama demand tax increases. What he isn’t telling you is he has already obtained huge tax increases in Obamacare and elsewhere. Go here for a story by Jennifer Rubin that lays out the numbers. Truly frightening.

ITEM: How Can You Tell When Barack Obama Is Lying? His lips are moving. It’s an old joke, I know, but oh so true in this case. Remember Mr. Obama’s tragic story of evil insurance companies denying promised coverage to his cancer-stricken mother during her final months? It turns out that the story is not as he has represented it. I know: You’re shocked, shocked! Where’s Louis Renault when you need him? Go here for the story from Byron York.

ITEM: Do As I Mandate, Not As I Do! Go here for a story about Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat, of course) who was voted the second meanest person in the House. It seems the Congresswoman hired a staffer with a vision disability and then denied her the accommodations she needed to do her job. Imagine that: A Congresscritter mandating things for the little people and ignoring them herself. Who’da thunk it?

ITEM: Syrian Hopes: One person always worth reading on the Middle East is Claire Berlinski. Not only has she lived in Turkey for many years, she’s a perceptive observer and writer. Syria is one regime that assists Iran in the murder of thousands, and as the Syrian citizenry stands up to demonstrate for freedom, they are being killing by the scores. Mr. Obama, of course, does nothing to assist those who truly seek freedom. Go here for Berlinski’s most recent account. And in the meantime, go here to read about Assad loyalists storming the American Embassy in Damascus. Perhaps if Mr. Obama only reached out with an open hand…?

ITEM: Lights Out! The bill, sponsored by Joe Barton (R-TX) that would have overturned the measure doing away with 100 watt incandescent light bulbs was defeated in the House July 11. For some reason, the vote was held under conditions that would have required a supermajority to pass. The final vote was 233 to 193; 285 were required for passage. Hmm. One might almost be tempted to think that this was nothing but political theater. Go here for the story and remember this whenever you’re forced to buy a CFL bulb or whenever you flip a light switch.

ITEM: I’m Going To Cut Off Grandma! Thus sayeth Barack Obama, threatening to cut off social security checks for seniors if the Republcans don’t give him as much of other people’s money as he wants to spend. Go here for Bob’s and my take on the issue, and go here for the actual figures. As usual, Mr. Obama’s lips were moving again.

ITEM: That Must Have Hurt! Remember when the merry Marxists at NBC produced a montage for the opening of the U.S. Open with children saying the Pledge of Allegiance—with “under God” and “indivisible” edited out? After receiving a letter signed by 108 members of Congress taking them to task, NBC has formally apologized. Apparently having a significant portion of the American public and the Congress ticked at them caused the suits at NBC to hastily rediscover patriotism they didn't know they had. Go here for the story.

ITEM: At the last moment before posting there is news of Mr. Obama’s abrupt and petulant exit from a negotiating session over the Debt Ceiling. Why? Because nothing is more important to him than massive tax increases. Why are they so important? Not so that he can use the revenues to pay down the debt, but to spend even more trillions and put us even more deeply into debt. He knows the House isn’t going to authorize massive tax increases, so this is his only chance to really bring America to its knees, particularly if he isn’t reelected. What’s your opinion? Discuss.

ITEM: Blind Faith: Go here to Fox News for the story of Morgan Trujillo, a 17 year-old Colorado girl thrown from a horse. Morgan suffered a serious head injury that left her unable to help herself. She was rescued by Keith Day, who is blind, who followed her cries for help. This one will restore your faith in humanity.

And on that positive note, I must thank you for stopping by and urge you to return again next Thursday for another edition of Quick Takes!

Smoking Gun: Email Shows ATF Intent to Use Gunwalker Guns to Push Gun Control

Katie Pavlich has the details at Townhall.

This one email clearly and unambiguously shows that Officials within the ATF had the intention of using "walked" guns to push for more gun controls. I'd like to hear from any lawyers in the crowd: is this the stuff that conspiracy charges are made of?

If there are similar emails within ATF, DOJ, and other agencies and departments that were part of the various Gunwalker schemes that are now coming apart at the seems, do we have the making of a RICO case against officials that may have been involved?

Mumbai Bombed on Terrorist's Birthday

Three bombs. Nothing definitive on casualties yet, but initial reports indicate three killed and at least dozens wounded.

Rather obviously, the Religion of Peace/Cult of Death has struck again.

Somewhere Under The Radar: Importing Hamas

We know that President Obama likes to work “under the radar,” or in a manner that conceals his true intentions from the public, a public unlikely to approve of much of what he does. Most recently, Mr. Obama announced his under the radar work on gun control (here) to Sarah Brady of the Brady Campaign. We even learned that Mr. Obama has a White House “point man” on gun control policy, which certainly lends credence to the idea that he is working surreptitiously on gun control policies apart from the disastrous Gunwalker scandal that the Lamestream Media is now laboring to avoid reporting. The latest fruits of his under the radar gun control work were revealed by Presidential Press Secretary Jay Carney at a July 7th presser (here) where he announced that new gun control initiatives would soon be unveiled.

Days later, they were. Here are the highlights (go here for the story):

(1) A national electronic system designed to make background checks for handgun buyers simpler and faster, leaving an electronic paper trail under a law named for James Brady.

(2) A new reporting requirement that federally licensed gun shops report any person who tries to buy two long-arm weapons near the Mexican border over a five-day period.

(3) Tougher sentencing guidelines for straw buyers that Holder’s department pushed through procedural hoops at the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Another virtually unknown under the radar effort is Mr. Obama’s stalwart work to help terrorist immigrate to the United States. What?! President Obama is helping terrorists to immigrate?! Indeed, since January 27, 2009, and of course, it was done by mandate, not law. Here’s the relevant entry from the Federal Register (link here): February 4, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 22):

“Presidential Documents
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
NOTICE: Part II
DOCID: fr04fe09-106
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:

[[Page 6115]]
Presidential Determination No. 2009-15 of January 27, 2009

Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs Related To Gaza
Memorandum for the Secretary of State
By the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 2(c)(1) of the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 (the ``Act''), as amended (22 U.S.C. 2601), I hereby determine, pursuant to section 2(c)(1) of the Act, that it is important to the national interest to furnish assistance under the Act in an amount not to exceed $20.3 million from the United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund for the purpose of meeting unexpected and urgent refugee and migration needs, including by contributions to international, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations and payment of administrative expenses of Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the Department of State, related to humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza.
You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.


(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, January 27, 2009
[FR Doc. E9-2488
Filed 2-3-09; 8:45 am]
Billing code 4710-10-P.”

What does this mean? It’s quite simple; almost as soon as Mr. Obama was sworn in, he allocated $20.3 million dollars to help Palestinians from Gaza immigrate into the United States. He has paid the way—with taxpayer dollars--for God only knows how many Gaza Palestinians to immigrate to America.

But this is about “refugees,” and “humanitarian needs of Palestinian Refugees and Conflict Victims.” Who could object to helping refugees and conflict victims? Anyone with a bit of common sense and a grasp on reality should be objecting.

Despite the media bluster about flotillas trying to deliver “relief supplies” to the horribly oppressed Gaza Palestinians, reality is quite different, and was in January of 2009 as well. Not only are the Israelis daily providing the Palestinians with food water, electrical power, medical care and virtually every other necessity of life, the UN and a wide variety of nations pour billions upon billions into Gaza every year. Oh yes, and the Israelis often intercept arms shipments meant for the “relief” of the oppressed Palestinians. America has also armed and trained their “police.”

The Palestinians are so oppressed that they have been building opulent shopping malls, and lobbing the occasional rocket, mortar round or advanced anti-tank round into Israel for many, many years. Any conflict suffered by the Palestinians in Gaza is entirely of their own making, and when their attacks on Israeli civilians result in Palestinian casualties from Israelis acting in self-defense, they don’t hesitate for a moment to rush their wounded into Israeli hospitals where they receive some of the best care the world has to offer.

Most importantly, Gaza is the home of Hamas, a terrorist organization whose reason for being is Israeli genocide. It gets even better as Hamas has recently joined in a political alliance with Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and is at least as vehemently bloodthirsty in its hopes for Israel as Hamas. Both enjoy considerable support from the largest exporter of Islamic terrorism in the world: Iran. You remember Iran, the country that has accepted Mr. Obama’s outstretched hand—and bitten it off at the elbow while it continues to build nuclear weapons.

This does not, of course, mean that everyone who lives in the Gaza Strip is automatically an Islamist terrorist, but there is no doubt that when you are dealing with a people who name streets and public buildings after suicide bombers and who raise their children to see killing Jews as the greatest pleasure and accomplishment life has to offer, it is highly likely that most people who live there are, at the very least, supportive of Jihadist goals if not willing to actively pursue such goals themselves. It is rather hard for Americans to forget video of Palestinians dancing in the streets in rapturous joy at the news of 9-11, and these are the poor victims of conflict, the refugees Mr. Obama wants to pay to come to America.

This, like so much else, about Mr. Obama is revealing of his beliefs and character. There is more than convincing evidence that he reflexively identifies with and supports America’s enemies, particularly Islamist enemies. In this case, Mr. Obama saw victims and refugees in a part of the world where there are no refugees and the only victims are those created by the Palestinian’s indiscriminate rocket and mortar attacks on innocent Israeli citizens. So of course, Mr. Obama felt the necessity to use taxpayer dollars to facilitate the immigration of people who have sworn to destroy Israel, with the United States running a close second in the Islamist demolition derby.

It may be impossible to tell exactly how many actual Hamas sympathizers or terrorists have immigrated under this program, but it is entirely reasonable to believe that some have, and that even one is far too many. This is part of the legacy of Barack Obama.

Any Beltline politician looking to balance the budget could easily start with this $20.3 million dollar national-suicidal disaster. Come to think of it, I wonder how much money has actually been spent on this terrorist importation initiative? Twenty-plus million is chump change to Mr. Obama; surely he wouldn’t allow himself to be so restrained?

It hardly seems worth the effort, but saving 20 million here, a few billion there--pretty soon it adds up to real money. And it just might help keep terrorist sleeper cells out of America where they have the opportunity to create real victims, with the able assistance of the President of The United States.

Gunwalker Scandal Deepens

Despite what the Obama Administration would like you to believe, it isn't just Fast and Furious and Arizona, and it never was.

Meet Ken Blanco: The Fall Guy

I made mention in my latest Pajamas Media article that the Obama Justice Department is attempting to find a patsy to take the blame for "Fast and Furious."

A well-placed source provided me the name of the individual that has been designated by higher-ups to take the fall, and I reached out to him, hoping that he might decide to reach out as a whistle-blower in his own right, if only out of enlightened self-interest.

Well, he declined to speak (to me at least).

That said, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco has been identified as the Administration's probable fall guy, for several reasons.

The primary reason, as it always is with anything involving Holder and Obama, is politics. Blanco is not the politico that his superiors are, which is strike one. they look out after theri own, and while Blanco is career, he isn't apparently an Obamite. He is apparently a decent human being and competent DAAG, according to the source. That's two strikes against him in an organization as corrupt and politicized as the highest levels of Justice.

Blanco's third strike happens to be the fact that he was the signing authority that authorized the wiretaps for Fast and Furious. There is a looooong way between signing off on wiretaps and authorizing felony gun smuggling to narco-terrorists, however, so it will be interesting to see if DOJ has the gall to actually try to make this stick in the face of rapidly emerging evidence of a wider scandal.

As always, any DOJ, ATF, DHS, FBI or other tipsters that would like to come forward about what officials knew, and when they knew it, are invited to drop me a secure line at gunwalkertips@hushmail.com.

Fear-Monger-in-Chief

Scaring grandmothers wasn't the hope or change we were looking for.

Desperate President Barack Obama is now trying to terrify seniors in order to "win" what he views as some sort of a game about the deficit.

President Obama on Tuesday said he cannot guarantee that retirees will receive their Social Security checks August 3 if Democrats and Republicans in Washington do not reach an agreement on reducing the deficit in the coming weeks.

"I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it," Mr. Obama said in an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley, according to excerpts released by CBS News.

The fact of the matter is that A) Social Security payments have been running at a deficit for years, and; B) the technological infrastructure of the system is so massive, redundant and complex that short of overt hostile military action to literally destroy it, or knocking down the power grid, it is not physically possible for the President and his cronies to stop payments.

It says something about the character of this man—or more precisely, his lack of character—that he seeks to terrify seniors into become a panicked lynch mob to serve his political will.

Mike adds:

Well, it's official: The President Of The United States is a cheap thug. As Bob noted, Social Security is so automated that it is unlikely that it could be stopped, but in the pursuit of partisan political advantage, I have little doubt that if anyone could do it, Barack Obama could. Socialists care only for the abstraction that is "the people." They care nothing at all for individuals who won't willingly support their schemes, preferably with cash. Such people are known as "useful idiots."

Presidential leadership is about making difficult choices and assigning rational priorities. Because Mr. Obama is virtually incapable of making difficult choices, he is content to "lead from behind," as he does with the budget. The debt ceiling--which is in place to keep irresponsible politicians whose only skill is wasting other people's money from literally spending America into oblivion--need not be raised. The alternative is to get spending immediately under control, but this is not a possibility for Mr. Obama. If the kitty is a bit short, his only solution is to rob pensioners? What brilliant, inspired leadership. No doubt our Treasure Secretary, Mr. Geithner, came up with that one. May I suggest a few additional alternatives?

Mr. Obama could--and should--have said:

(1) I can't guarantee that the EPA will be able to continue regulating American business out of existence while destroying jobs.

(2) I can't guarantee that the Department of Education will be able to continue wasting huge amounts of money while over-regulating school districts everywhere.

(3) I can't guarantee that the ATF will be able to continue allowing weapons to flow into the hands of domestic and foreign criminals.

(4) I can't guarantee that all of my unelected, unaccountable czars will be able to continue to subvert American democracy.

(5) I can't guarantee that the huge number of aides I employ in the White House will be able to continue to receive their six figure salaries.

(6) I can't guarantee that my dog, Bo, will be able to continue to fly on separate jets when I vacation.

(7) I can't guarantee that the government will continue to be able to afford the travel and security expenses for my golf outings and vacations.

(8) I can't guarantee that the Department of Energy will be able to continue to suppress energy development while continually suppressing job creation.

(9) I can't guarantee that the National Labor Relations Board will be able to continue to shill for unions while destroying jobs, forcing more jobs overseas, and helping the foreign commercial aircraft industry at the expense of our commercial aircraft industry.

(10) I can't guarantee that the Department of Justice will be able to continue to hire more and more communist lawyers so that criminals of the proper politics and race may be excused from their crimes.

(11) I can't guarantee that the implementation of Obamacare will continue, so I can't guarantee that its provisions will bankrupt America even more rapidly than anyone believed possible.

(12) I can't guarantee that America will continue to finance the UN so that its members can spit in our collective eye.

(13) I can't guarantee that the TSA will be able to continue to strip 95 year-old, terminally ill, wheelchair-bound cancer victims of their Depends, steal the property of airline passengers, or feel up six year old girls.

(14) I can't guarantee that I'm going to raise and spend a billion dollars so that I can be reelected to further crash the economy.

(15) I can't guarantee that America will be able to continue to afford smart diplomacy. [Whoa! That one's OK! That one's OK!]

I'm just a teacher and blogger so I don' know nothin' 'bout birthin' no gov'mint, but it would seem that in terms of priorities, there are thousands of government employees, boards, commissions, agencies and fiefdoms which could vanish from the face of the planet tomorrow without 99.9% of Americans experiencing the slightest inconvenience or harm. I suspect that if Mr. Obama actually wanted to deal with the deficit, actually cutting governmental waste, abuse and duplication, and doing away with anyone and any agency that is actually harming rather than helping the economy might be an excellent place to start. I rather suspect that people receiving social security have nothing to do with it.

If the Republicans don't run with this issue from now until the election and paint Mr. Obama as the class warfare loving, America-hating Socialist he is, they deserve to lose.

Letter From The Teacher #9: Gay History And Literature?

Anytown High School, Any State, USA

To: Mr. and Mrs. Carter
From: Mr. English Teacher
Re: Gay Used To Be Such A Lovely Word

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Carter:

I appreciated your e-mail today very much, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to respond to it. Let me respond directly to your first question: No, the Anytown School District will not require the teaching of Gay history. In fact, our state legislature has not mandated that or anything like it. I’m suspect you’re thinking of California. On July 5th, the California Legislature passed a bill that mandates teaching the accomplishments of gay and lesbian people in the public schools. At the moment, it’s not known whether Governor Jerry Brown will sign the bill, but if he does not sign or veto it, it will automatically become law. You might want to take these links (here and here) to read about it. I doubt that this sort of thing would ever be mandated in our state.

I also appreciate your willingness to share your concerns about your daughter, Melissa. As you know, she has shared her feelings about her attraction to girls with me. From your e-mail, it seems plain that she has told you about our conversations and their content, and I’m glad to know that and glad that you trust me enough to confide in me. It might surprise you to know that this kind of conversation is not unusual, but it’s not common either. I suspect it has something to do with my being an English teacher, perhaps the association with literature and poetry and that sort of thing. In any case, please know that I will keep your—and Melissa’s—confidence as she sorts out her feelings and tries to be, well, a teenager.

Getting back to the first issue, I’m pleased we won’t be teaching “gay” history. The politicization surrounding all of this is most discouraging. “Gay” used to be such a lovely word, with such pleasant denotations and connotations. Now, it tends to provoke conflict.

I suppose I should make the expected disclaimer. I normally don’t do this sort of thing, but you don’t know me well and cannot judge me on what you don’t know. I’ve been a classically trained musician all of my life, and have also been involved in theater and other forms of art as well. I know this is a bit of stereotyping, but in those pursuits, I knew—and know—a substantial number of gays and lesbians. Some I like, some I like very much and others I don’t much care for. That is not because of their sexual orientation, but because I don’t consider them to be very good people, for I judge people on their character and the way they treat others, not sexual orientation, race or any other characteristic.

When Jorge comes into my classroom, I don’t see Jorge the Mexican; I see Jorge, the hard-working, serious student. When Ekaterina comes into my classroom, I don’t see Ekaterina, the Ukranian; I see Ekaterina who loves to sing. I see Ekaterina, the girl with the bright smile who always has a kind word for everyone. When Melissa comes into my classroom, I don’t see Melissa who thinks she might be a lesbian; I see Melissa, the sensitive, bright girl who is working harder than most kids her age to figure out who she is and what she wants. I see a girl for whom I will always make time when she needs it.

It’s interesting: some kids tell me they are gay to see if I’ll be shocked, to see if it will change the way I treat them. I’m not, and it doesn’t. Some carefully hint at it, hoping I’ll bring it up. Others are more frank and open. They want a non-judgmental adult with whom to talk. I treat them all with kindness and honesty. I’m not their spiritual advisor—I leave that to their parents—but I do point out the difficulties inherent in their choices and behavior, just as I point out the difficulties of a great many choices and behaviors teenagers consider and make. Some kids ultimately decide that they really aren’t gay or lesbian, others decide that they are. It’s a good thing that we tend to end up very different people in many ways from who we were in high school, isn’t it?

The fact that we won’t be teaching “gay” history in our school is a good thing for several reasons. I must admit to being uncomfortable with the teaching of “black” history or literature or “women’s” history or literature, or “Hispanic” history or literature, or you name the adjective. I’ve always believed that if a person’s accomplishments are truly significant, if their writing is truly valuable, it should stand on its own merit regardless of their race, gender or sexual orientation.

For instance, when we hear someone say they are a black teacher, there are connotations that suggest that person is far more interested in the political and social implications of being black than in teaching. Being a teacher who happens to be black has completely different implications. The same is true for attaching “gay” or “lesbian” to a profession or academic discipline. The connotation implies an emphasis on the sexual orientation and related political activism of the people involved rather than their abilities and accomplishments. It’s as though their sexual orientation is the cause, or at least an indispensable contributing factor to whatever accomplishments they made. No doubt some would say that being gay or lesbian made their accomplishments all the more remarkable because of whatever prejudice or disfavor they may have suffered.

I know that some people would claim that being gay is, in fact, their identity; it is who and what they are. And I know that some gay or lesbian people have experienced prejudice and unthinking cruelty. That is, of course, deplorable and wrong, but that’s not the point.

Let’s suppose that I have a significant interest in, say, bondage and discipline. If surveys and social scientists can be believed, that’s a reasonably common interest across a great many social, economic, and racial strata. I believe that my interest in and practice of B&D defines me, it speaks to who I fundamentally am, and I practice it with my willing and similarly interested spouse on a regular basis. In fact, it so interests us that we band together with others who view it similarly, and lo and behold, we get the California Legislature to pass a bill mandating the teaching of B&D history in the public schools. Sound like a good idea? Do you suppose that might raise some controversy—anywhere else but California, I mean.

It would, of course, not be a good idea. But most importantly, it would be an unprofessional—in terms of the practice of competent educators--idea. The point is not someone’s sexual orientation or interests, but their accomplishments, their contribution to literature, music, mathematics, science or any other discipline. If we’re going to make good choices about how to use our limited time with kids, we have to make it by considering professional, not incidental criteria.

I also have a degree in music. If I’m teaching the music of Tchaikovsky, inevitably one of my brighter students, having read or heard something about him, will ask if he was gay. I would reply that there is some evidence to suggest that he was, and immediately direct them back to Tchaikovsky’s methods of orchestral scoring. If they persist in trying to find some great significance in his sexual orientation, I’ll ask them if there is such a thing as a gay chord? A Lesbian Picardy third? A particularly gay way to write lyrics? Lesbian scoring for the trombone? They get the point, which is that in virtually every legitimate academic pursuit, whether the person being studied is gay or lesbian is beside the point. Notice that I did not say that it is never a legitimate point.

Another compelling reason to avoid such things is that once you allow the establishment of a separate curriculum for any interest group, you open the flood- gates to all. After all, when any other interest group demands the study of their history or their literature, how do you justify turning them down? Do you claim that a gay curriculum is somehow different, even special? And if you do that, what of the claim that gays aren’t asking for special treatment, only equal treatment? If their claim on curricula is not special, is not compelling and of great, overriding importance, why should it—and not the claims of others--be granted?

Literature, however, is a bit more interesting. There is a growing body of what might be called “gay” literature, which is often about the experience, the trials and tribulations and even the joys of being gay and living the gay life style. I know I’m stereotyping again, but please bear with me. A substantial portion of this literature, because of the choices of the writers, their language, and their descriptions of sexual acts and relationships, is plainly inappropriate for the public schools. Much else is simply a poor choice. In fact, I know of no literature in this genre I would willingly teach.

Why not? Am I anti-gay? You know the answer to that, and so does Melissa. The issues are simply time and value. I have so little time to teach literature to the kids, so I must teach literature that is of unquestionably high value, literature that has stood the test of time—often of centuries and even millennia—and literature that reaches the highest levels of what human beings can hope to accomplish as writers. There are a great many essays, short stories and books that are well written, interesting, even delightful, some of them written by self-identified gays and lesbians. There are millions of them, but very few truly great works, works that provide unparalleled insight into human nature, works that provide the opportunity for anyone who reads and understands them (that’s where I come in) to be a better, more intelligent and capable person for having the experience. That’s my mandate: finding and teaching that kind of literature. That’s why you hired me. That’s what you pay me to do.

Some would of course observe that there have been great works of art done by gay people. I agree, however again we have the important distinction of brilliant works of art done by people who happened to be gay rather than gay works of art. There is a difference, certainly to gays.

If my kids want to read the other, less meaningful works—notice that I did not say meaningless or valueless--good for them. I’m all about encouraging kids to read, and I often suggest works not in our curriculum for our kids based on their interests and other criteria. If a student wants to read about any discipline from a gay, lesbian, black, Hispanic or any other perspective, such literature is readily available and no one—perhaps apart from their parents—is stopping them. That knowledge helps me to rest easily in the professional choices I make. After all, if I don’t teach “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” or “The Maltese Falcon,” or “A Christmas Carol,” most of my students will never experience the wonders of those works, and I have so little time.

By the way, some critics want to ban “Huckleberry Finn” because Jim, Huck’s friend the runaway slave, calls Huck “Honey.” They think that indicates a gay relationship. I bring up this—and other would-be censor’s ideas—whenever we study the work. The kids understand that not only is the book devoid of gay sexuality, there is no sexuality of any kind. It comes as something as a revelation to them that literature can be truly entertaining even without sex! They learn that about movies in my class too. They even learn that art can be fulfilling without explosions, gratuitous violence and car chases or exploding, gratuitously violent car chases. Image that.

So I won’t be teaching gay or lesbian literature or history. I will, with your permission, be glad to listen to Melissa, and to help her make intelligent choices, choices that will tend to make it easier for her to focus on her studies and on growing up. She’s a great girl. She deserves the best, most meaningful and professional curriculum I can provide.

As always, please let me know if I can help in any way, and thanks again for your trust.

Yours,

Mr. English Teacher

Hushmail Tipline Launched for Gunwalker

Some incredibly brave ATF and DOJ employees have come forward to warn the American people about "Operation Fast and Furious," a multi-agency operation in Arizona that resulted in the federal government facilitating arms smuggling to Mexican drug cartels.

There are now unverified allegations that Fast and Furious may have been just one compartmentalized operation of many.

If sources are correct, there was an "Operation Castaway" providing up to 1,000 weapons to MS-13 in Honduras, and a possible third operation, codename unknown, that may have been run out of Houston, Texas, that provided the weapons used to ambush ICE agents in Mexico, killing Jaime Zapata.

As a service for tipsters who want to see those responsible for these operations held to account, we are now opening a secure email tipline, gunwalkertips@hushmail.com.

You can send tips, photos, or forward emails or documents using your own existing email accounts, or get your own secure email address at https://www.hushmail.com/.

You are promised anonymity in exchange for your tips, though we may require verification of specific allegations.

Any evidence collected will be used in future articles here on Confederate Yankee, or at Pajamas Media.

Caught up in Gunwalker, Obama Pushes Gun Control Through Executive Fiat

He can't deliver enough guns to narco-terrorists to change public opinion, so he's just going to start having his Justice Department declaring new rules that will do nothing to stop crime.

In an effort to stem the illicit flow of weapons into Mexico, the Justice Department says gun shops in four Southwest border states will be required to alert the federal government to frequent buyers of high-powered rifles.

The new policy comes amid wide-spread criticism of a failed federal probe called Operation Fast and Furious aimed at dismantling large-scale arms trafficking networks along the Arizona border with Mexico.

Senator Grassley's office provided a rebuttal to this absurd requirement almost as soon as it was made, stating via email:

We've learned from our investigation of Fast and Furious that reporting multiple long gun sales would do nothing to stop the flow of firearms to known straw purchasers because many Federal Firearms Dealers are already voluntarily reporting suspicious transactions. In fact, in just the documents we've obtained, we are aware of 150 multiple long guns sales associated with the ATF’s Fast and Furious case, and despite the fact that nearly all of these sales were reported in real time by cooperating gun dealers, the ATF watched the guns be transported from known straw purchasers to third parties and then let the guns walk away, often across the border.

This makes it pretty clear that the problem isn't lack of burdensome reporting requirements. The administration's continued overreach with regulations continues, and is a distraction from its reckless policy to allow guns to walk into Mexico.

Operation Fast and Furious failed in Mexico. Operation Castaway is just coming to light, proving the Administration's gun smuggling support is far more than an isolated incident, and suggesting that a much larger conspiracy--and I mean that in the legal sense--is afoot within the Obama Administration. Quite frankly, I suspect we're on the cusp of seeing enough evidence to warrant an independent prosecutor, and I would not be surprised if there is enough evidence to warrant a prosecution under the RICO statute.

Nobody died as a result of Watergate, and that was enough to end a Presidency. If supplying a minimum of 3,000 weapons to violent narcotics organizations in two countries isn't enough to put members of the Obama Administration in prison, what is?

Gunwalking In America

Bob continues to turn up the heat in a new article up at Pajamas Media (here) on the fact that Gunwalker firearms are turning up at crime scenes in America. This is, of course, an inevitable consequence of the Obama Administration's lunatic scheme. An article, like all of Bob's work on this case, very much worth your while.

Media Matters Correctly Refutes Media Claims About Gunwalker

I've tried to tell folks not to conflate Gunrunner (the Bush-era program) with Gunwalker, otherwise known as the project level "Operation Fast and Furious."

Few have listened, however, giving Media Matters some fuel to claim that the scandal is not as widespread as some of my peers have claimed.

And they're right.

As of this particular moment in history, there is zero evidence showing that there was any stimulus spending used to fund Gunwalker. Your Executive branch was subsidizing murders with your regular tax dollars instead.

It is patently untrue that Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech about Gunwalker in early 2009. His probable lies about what he knew and when he knew it would have dated from much later in the year.

In light of Operation Castaway, however, it seems possible that the stimulus funds highlighted by Media Matters as going to other ATF offices outside of Arizona may have been laying the groundwork to set up a much wider weapons smuggling ring than was first thought.

We'd long been under the impression that Gunwalker was an isolated event, occurring only in Arizona. We were wrong. Operation Castaway provided 1,000 guns to MS-13 in Honduras using the same technique (if you can call arming terrorists a technique) as Gunwalker. We simply don't know yet if there were other operations being run out of Justice arming other Mexican cartels, or other violent drug gangs in other countries like MS-13 in Honduras. Logic would say at this point that such operations are at the very least plausible, and perhaps probable.

Obama's Justice Department, acting in concert with the State Department and DHS, has facilitated the smuggling of 3,000 weapons to narco-terrorists since late 2009, fomenting civil war in Mexico and threatening to destabilize other countries in Central America.

Quite frankly, our Executive Branch is proving as dangerous as al Qaeda, and just and lawless and uncaring about the lives it destroys.

Watching the Big Spender-In-Chief

I'm watching Obama's presser this morning, watching his attempt to justify raising taxes in a depression. He is ideologically incapable of any meaningful cuts to big-government spending, which is precisely what you expect from a socialist. Of course, he says "balance" and "shared sacrifice" as way of avoiding saying the words "raising taxes."

He has no vision. He is incapable of fresh ideas.

He beats the same drum that big government advocates have pushed for decades. Sadly, I don't think that the Republican leadership is much different, it is simply a matter of scale, and how much they are willing to rob the taxpayers.

Of course, neither party has the political courage to say "no" to the special interest groups or risk losing an election. They are more interested in amassing and retaining power than providing leadership.

If they are not willing to explicitly acknowledge that we have to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, then they are not close to being serious. There will be pain, and people who will suffer. It is just a matter of how many, and how long, and the longer we wait, the worse it is going to be.

And so I am watching our President and nominal leader of the free world once demagoguing Republicans, playing class warfare by attacking "the rich," and trying to portray his own inflexibility and partisanship as some sort of virtue.

I hope that the GOP leadership has the guts to refuse to raise the debt ceiling.

I just don't think they are capable of it.

Chevy Volt Update for 07-11-11

As regular readers know, I’ve been following the misfortunes of the Chevy Volt and its relatives for some time now. Anyone interested in my writings on the Volt should simply enter “Chevy Volt” in the search feature of the CY site. You’ll find every article and mention there.

Of particular interest to you might be my analysis on real world costs of the Volt in an April 26 post (here). In that post, I compared, among other things, the difference in cost between a Volt and a well-equipped 40 MPG Ford Fiesta and found that if the Volt managed a real world MPG average of 120 (electric and gasoline), it would take a minimum of 14 years to make up the difference in initial cost between the vehicles in fuel savings. Actually, it would be more like 19 years, which of course means that for probably 99% of the public, buying a Volt would save nothing at all over a conventional, far more useful vehicle. It would almost certainly leave most owners deeply in the hole overall.

Now come Ed Morrissey at Hot Air with an article titled: “Hey, let’s spend millions to save $116,000!” In that article (here), Morrissey speaks of the Federal Government in San Diego, which is planning to buy 101 Chevy Volts and ten Nissan Leafs for federal employees. Of course, they’ll have to buy and install the necessary charging infrastructure too. I noted the cozy relationship between GE—which builds EV charging stations—and the Obama Administration in my April 21 PJM article on the Volt (here). As the title suggests, the “experiment” is a major boondoggle and will cost the taxpayers a great deal of money while saving nothing at all. It’s a progressive dream two-fer! By all means, revisit my articles and Morrisey’s as well.

What’s new is another New York Times puff piece on the Volt (here) by Joe Nocera. Published on June 25, it has all of the objectivity and insightful analysis we have come to expect from the Gray Lady. Actually, Nocera does make some reasonable assertions, such as this:

“Carlos Ghosn, the flamboyant chief executive of Nissan, has made a different kind of bet, placing his chips — billions of them — on the $32,780 Leaf, which has a 24-kilowatt battery pack that can get 73 miles to the charge. Mr. Ghosn is said to believe that range anxiety is overblown, and that once people become accustomed to an electric car, 73 miles per charge won’t be an issue. Well, maybe in Europe and Japan, but most analysts I spoke to think he’s likely to get his head handed to him in America, and I tend to agree.”

I tend to agree as well, particularly when much of America is nothing at all like the coasts or major cities, and a daily work commute often exceeds 73 miles. Keep in mind that the 73 miles about which Mr. Ghosn is so proud is a maximum obtained under absolutely ideal conditions. Real world mileage is probably closer to 50, and with the kind of driving most people do, likely less.

Mr. Nocera observes that people like to drive only proven technologies—indeed true—but makes a leap of faith:

“Which is also why the Volt is such an appealing alternative — “the right answer for right now,” said Michelle Krebs, a senior analyst with the automotive Web site edmunds.com. It gives people a taste of the electric car experience without sacrificing any of the things we expect in a gas-powered car.”

With its limited range and ridiculously long charging times, the Volt does indeed give “a taste of the electric car experience,” but it most certainly does require many sacrifices. Particularly under electric power, the heater is reportedly very weak, interesting in that the entire car—in battery mode—is also very weak in cold climates. And the gasoline engine provides no better—likely worse—mileage than comparable compacts achieve but also requires premium fuel.

Nocera notes that one of Chevy’s primary goals was a 40-mile range, which the Volt achieves (sort of, maybe, sometimes), however it requires compromises:

“The battery can’t be under the hood because a combustion engine is still there. So G.M. had to eliminate the middle seat in the back to make space for the big T-shaped battery the Volt required. Its small body… had to be made more aerodynamic because that was the only way to hit the 40 mile-per-charge mark.”

Unfortunately, real world experience is yielding all-electric range more like 25 miles because people insist on using such luxuries as headlights, taillights, turn signals, the radio, air-conditioning and any and every other electric function in a car which, in the Volt, quickly and dramatically drains the battery. Engaging in such foolishness as actually carrying passengers or cargo only makes things worse. Nocera did hit the mark with this observation:

“And for a car intended for the mass market, it’s awfully expensive. The Volt retails for around $41,000; from what I hear, that’s pretty much what it costs to build. G.M.’s profits on this first iteration of the Volt, in other words, are essentially zero. Though there is currently a $7,500 tax credit on electric car purchases… it won’t last forever. Consumer Reports has advised readers to avoid the Volt because it costs too much. G.M. badly needs battery technology to keep improving, both so that it can lower the cost of its electric cars, and begin making Volt-like vehicles in other sizes and shapes, including wagons and S.U.V.’s that will attract families. That’s the only way it will finally reach the mass market.”

Indeed. That’s $33,500 for a compact car with the kind of limitations that belie Nocera’s assertion of no sacrifice required. Again, compared with a great many conventional vehicles, the Volt offers no savings whatever in fuel or any other way regardless of how long it is owned. Factor in the $8000-$10,000 cost of a replacement battery (no one really knows how long the original battery will last), and the Volt makes even less economic sense than no economic sense, which is quite an accomplishment for GM as it struggles toward once again becoming a world-leading, profitable company while simultaneously dragging an enormous union chain and anchor.

But I’m afraid Mr. Nocera is missing the technological point. The only reason the Volt is as economical as it is—and it’s not economical at all when purchase price is considered—is its relative lack of mass and its aerodynamic shape. Try to upscale the concept into a station wagon or SUV and battery range will inevitably diminish below 25 miles. In order to have anything approaching reasonable acceleration and driving flexibility, it will have to have a substantially larger and more powerful gas engine which will get even worse mileage, presumably on premium fuel. Add more people and cargo than the current Volt is capable of carrying—which is rather the point of a station wagon or SUV--and every negative factor is increased. Only miraculous, impossible to predict leaps in technology could possibly make even the Volt commercially viable, to say nothing of larger, less aerodynamic vehicles based on the same concept.

Mr. Nocera observes that the Volt has “a better chance of success than anything else on the market.” He also believes that:

“Though the Volt has its share of flaws, it is unquestionably a good car. More to the point, as I discovered when I drove it, the Volt makes sense for the economic and cultural moment we’re in now. The psychological grip it held me in, the smugness I felt as I drove past gas stations, the way it implicitly encouraged me to stick with battery power as much as I could — others are going to feel that as well. Somewhat to my surprise, I actually felt a pang of enviro-guilt when I gave the car back and returned to my gas-guzzling ways. Mr. Farah told me that Volt owners often drove 1,000 miles or more before they needed to buy gasoline. I believe it. It has extremely high word-of-mouth potential.”

Mr. Nocera seems to have forgotten what he wrote only a few paragraphs earlier. The Volt absolutely does not make sense for the current economic moment. He wrote that the MSRP of $41,000 allows GM no profit at all, and as I’ve observed, not only does it have only a 25 mile range, it requires premium fuel and it’s impossible to recoup any savings from its combined electric/gas function compared with common conventional vehicles. But then again, perhaps Mr. Nocera is privy to magical Obamanomics reality of which I am simply too simple to understand.

He did hit on the Volt’s primary appeal: Cultural snobbery. He’s right: it’s all about “the psychological grip,” “…the smugness I felt as I drove past gas stations,” and even “…a pang of enviro-guilt when I gave the car back and returned to my gas-guzzling ways.” Poor Mr. Nocera! Couldn’t he just take Mr. Obama’s advise and get a car that gets better gas mileage? To be fair, some people—people with plenty of money—will no doubt buy the Volt simply for its novelty value or merely as a technological curiosity, but if we’re talking about a practical car for the public for the reasons the public needs a car, the Volt simply doesn’t qualify. Any station wagon or SUV built on the Volt platform with the current level of technology would be—if such a thing was possible—even worse.

Mr. Nocera concludes:

“The second thing it convinced me of is that the electric car is no longer some environmental pipe dream. Several years ago, I drove the Tesla, and though it was a wonderful experience, its high price and limited utility did not give me confidence that electric cars were ready for prime time. The Volt has made a believer out of me. At this moment of maximum uncertainty about how the future will play out, the Volt is comforting in its combination of new technology and old. Eventually, we’ll have batteries that can get 300 miles per charge, and an infrastructure solution that will replace gas stations. Eventually.

In the meantime, we’ve got the Volt. It’s a start.”

Again, I wonder if Mr. Nocera is suffering from short-term memory loss. His own arguments indicate that the Volt is indeed “some environmental pipe dream.” It is not a practical car. It is, at best, making no profit for GM at all. The technology still has not caught up to the hope of a viable electric car, which can fully and satisfactorily replace conventional vehicles, there is no electric car infrastructure and the Volt isn’t comforting to anyone with a grip on reality.

Will we have batteries that can get 300 miles per charge? Considering we’re stretching the current state of technology to manage 40, and considering that cold will drain the power of any battery, that seems like a very optimistic idea in a distinctly hopenchangey (all rhetoric, no substance) way.

As Mr. Nocera said: “In the meantime, we’ve got the Volt.” It’s a start in the same way that the EV-1 and the Edsel were a start. When Mr. Obama is out of office, and when the US government no longer owns part of GM—if GM survives at all—the owners of the corporation, if they are remotely rational, will do away with any product that is not producing a reasonable profit. The Volt will be number one with a bullet on that list.

Steyn On Fast And Furious

If you have not read Mark Steyn, this article in National Review would be an excellent introduction to the work of one of the best writers and most insightful pundits writing today. His book America Alone: The End Of The World As We Know It should be required reading in the classrooms of America and for every American citizen. This National Review article discusses governmental accountability using several examples, but focusing on Fast and Furious.

As you know, Bob has been in the forefront of breaking the Gunwalker story in the blogosphere and on the radio across America, and his pioneering efforts--and the efforts of others--seem to be making a difference. Fox News Sunday discussed the case today, unfortunately only in their "Panel Plus" feature which is available online (here). In that excerpt, Juan Williams, who is often quite reasonable, claimed that 70% of guns used in crime in Mexico were traceable to the US--a claim that has been repeatedly debunked--and tried to portray the scandal as a political vendetta against Eric Holder, largely perpetrated by the NRA. Mara Liaison, the other liberal member of the panel, agreed that it is a genuine scandal but suggested that it was due in part to the fact that there has not been a director of the ATF for 4-5 years, alleging that this was because the NRA didn't approve of anyone nominated by Republicans or Democrats. Sigh.

And in the "How Tone-Deaf Are These Guys Anyway?" department, we learn from Fox News (here) that the Justice Department and White House are working hard on gun control measures that they plan to release in the near future. Perhaps it would help if the Obama Administration stopped preventing federal law enforcement officers from doing their jobs, didn't stonewall and lie to Congress, and stopped giving guns to murderous foreign and domestic criminals? Read this one only if you have taken your blood pressure medication and have secured easily breakable items.

The beat goes on. Don't you go on without reading Steyn.

West: Obama Must Fire Holder, Or He Is Complicit in Fast and Furious

The outspoken Congressman from Florida tells it like it is.

"The president needs to realize that Eric Holder needs to be removed from the Department of Justice," West said after detailing why he thinks Holder should appear before an investigative committee to testify about how the DOJ has handled its response to the Operation Fast and Furious investigation. "Or else I believe President Obama is complicit and he is in approval of the actions of his attorney general."

Gill followed up by asking West if he thought a special prosecutor was needed to investigate Operation Fast and Furious. West said he thought so, adding that the mishandling of the operation is a part of a "trend" he sees forming at the DOJ. West said the way Holder has handled Operation Fast and Furious is reminiscent of how he handled the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation scandal.

The Erik Scott Case, Update 13: A Sad Anniversary

On the morning of July 10, 2010, Erik Scott was shot seven times and killed by three Las Vegas Metro police officers while leaving a Las Vegas Costco store surrounded by other shoppers. Standing at his side as he was shot was his girlfriend, Samantha Sterner. The first officer to shoot Scott, only two seconds after drawing his gun and yelling contradictory commands, William Mosher, had shot two other citizens in the few years he had worked at Metro before killing Scott (one survived). The other two officers, Joshua Stark and Thomas Mendiola, had scant police experience.

This post, Update 13 in our series on the continuing Scott case, is not only a memoriam, but a summary, not only of our coverage to date of the case, but of the public scrutiny focused on Metro since they shot the wrong man, scrutiny that they, to this day, despise. Today is the first anniversary of the shooting of Erik Scott, an anniversary that, unlike most others, is not a cause for celebration and will never be a cause for celebration for the Scott family and for those who knew and loved Erik Scott. But it is our hope that the continuing outrage over Scott’s death and the many beatings, harassments, and deaths of Las Vegas citizens since will be the catalyst for changes that only the most corrupt or uninformed can belittle or ignore.

THE SUMMARY:

September 16, 2010: CY founder Bob Owens publishes our first article on the case at Pajamas Media (NOTE: All of our articles relating to the case, including links to PJM articles, may be found in our Erik Scott Case archive on the right hand side of our website). It was this article that inspired me to begin to research the case. Something just didn’t smell right.

September 21, 2010: My first post on the CY site and my debut in the blogosphere was the first Erik Scott Update and initial analysis of what was known about the case at the time. My police background made me cautious about jumping to conclusions based on fragmentary information, and I was more than willing to give Metro, a Law Enforcement Agency—LEO—with which I was not at all familiar, the benefit of the doubt. On the strength of this article and the public’s response to it, Bob invited me to be his co-blogger, an offer I gratefully accepted.

September 22, 2010: The inquest begins in Las Vegas. Throughout the inquest, no adversarial questioning was allowed. The Scott family was allowed to submit questions in writing to the judge, but few were asked and fewer were meaningfully, completely answered. There were, of course, no follow-up questions.

September 23, 2010: Update 2. Still very much giving the police the benefit of the doubt, I clarified several issues raised by those commenting in response to the first article, and answered many of their questions.

September 26, 2010: Update 3: I reported on the inquest to that point, including the public outrage at the one-sided, obviously unfair testimony attempting to portray Erik Scott as a crazed drug fiend whose drug addled actions caused his death. As I noted at the time, the only standard upon which the actions of the involved officers could legitimately be judged was what they knew or reasonably could have known in the very few minutes as they responded to the Costco, and what they could have observed in the two seconds after Scott was pointed out to them and they began to shoot him. Anything else amounts to post-mortem character assassination, which has yet to cease.

September 27, 1010: Bob noted that one of the witnesses to the shooting supporting the Police/DA theory of the case appeared to have been a donor to the DA’s reelection campaign. And:

Update 3.2: I answered additional commenter questions and suggested proper police procedure, which if followed, would almost certainly have resulted in no injuries to anyone at the Costco that day.

September 28, 2010: The coroner’s inquest exonerates the officers; Bob reports on Sept. 29.

October 02, 2010, Update 4: In this update I tried to mesh the 911 phone call about Erik Scott to Metro police with the available police radio traffic transcript. The result indicated an ever-escalating series of errors, unwarranted assumptions and misconceptions that eventually sent an incredibly large number of police officers to the Costco expecting a shootout with an armed and dangerous man. I also began to formulate a theory of the shooting that would explain how a man who never carried more than one concealed weapon—and had no place to carry a second--could have been carrying two when he was shot.

October 5, 2010: Bob published a story at PJM about the reaction of West Point Alumni and classmates of Erik Scott to his shooting.

Update 5: I intended to essentially put the story to bed with this post, but added to a developing theory and explained in detail that the police had more than sufficient time to resolve the situation non violently, but did not, instead, panicking and behaving unprofessionally, causing Scott’s Death.

October 14, 2010, Update 6: This update reactivated the series and focused on the illegal search and seizure of Scott’s home the evening he was killed under the pseudo-cover of the Public Administrator’s Office. Not only was there no legal or practical reason to search Scott’s home, the Public Administrator’s Office was specifically prevented by state law from searching that home, but did so anyway. Obviously, the police were desperate to find something in that home, and did.

October 23, 2010, Update 7: The theory of the case, which stands to this day, was fully developed and outlined here. It basically proposes that in the seconds after shooting Erik Scott, the officers realized that he had no gun in his hand when he was shot, but only his Blackberry. Despite handcuffing Scott, who was unresponsive and dying or dead, the officers did not search him or secure his handgun—a Kimber .45 in an inside the waistband holster at his back—and it was found by a medic in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The weapon was hastily retrieved and returned to the scene.

The problem was the medic and the ambulance driver. They knew about the weapon and the medic testified to finding it in his report and wrote about it—in very odd and obscure language—in that report. How could Scott have pulled and pointed a gun at the officers, a gun that was later found still holstered under his shirt in the ambulance? The medics did remove Scott’s billfold from his right front pant pocket and gave it to the police before they transported Scott to the hospital.

They found his blue card for a .380 Ruger LCP, a pocket-sized pistol, in his billfold, stained with his blood. They had to find the Ruger, for that would become the pistol the medic found and make it possible for Scott to have pulled and pointed the .45 at the police at the Costco, but where was the Ruger? The police searched Samantha Sterner’s car at the Costco, despite the fact that it had nothing at all to do with the shooting and found nothing. Where was the Ruger?

This pressing need provided the motivation for the search of Scott’s home, completely removed in time and distance from the Costco and having nothing to do with the case. Using the Public Administrator’s office for cover, the police entered the home and seized the Ruger, as well as a number of other random items for additional cover, including a ceremonial West Point saber mounted in a shadow box. Now the police story of Erik Scott carrying two handguns could work. He could still have pointed the .45 at the officers, dropping it, still in its holster to the pavement when he was shot, yet they would look somewhat less incompetent for failing to find a second, much smaller handgun, which was “found” by the medic on the way to the hospital. A medic who would not be asked to identify at the inquest the weapon he found and described in such general terms in his report and testimony that it could have been any kind of handgun.

If this theory is correct—and I have found nothing to render it nonviable to date—the Metro police not only killed Erik Scott without justification, they have engaged in a continuing cover-up.

October 27, 1010, Update 7.2: I reported on the continuing harassment by Metro and Henderson officers of Samantha Sterner and others who were displaying magnetic Erik Scott memorial ribbons on the rear of their vehicles. Sterner was given what were almost certainly multiple “chickenshit” tickets in the span of a few days as a means of intimidating and harassing her. Other citizens experienced similarly abusive treatment at the hands of the police. This was odd behavior indeed for a police force that was portraying itself as professional, above-board, and completely justified in the shooting of Erik Scott.

If I had any slight, lingering reason to give Metro the benefit of the doubt, it was gone by this point.

November 10, 2011: Update 8: This update explained the realities of eyewitness accounts and followed the bizarre travels of the Costco security video hard drive across the United States. One of the most inexplicable facets of the Scott case is that there is apparently no video at all. According to Metro, the Costco video was malfunctioning, there is no patrol car video, no police helicopter video, no media video, and no video, not even of the aftermath, shot by the media or citizens. Despite these claims, a substantial amount of data—type unknown to this day—was recovered from a Costco security camera hard drive. I also wrote about the continuing thuggish harassment of local police of people displaying Erik Scott memorial ribbons on their vehicles.

November 24, 1010: Update 8.2. This update explored the nature of police training and how officers—and entire LEO’s—become corrupt. It also brought up an interesting coincidence: Las Vegas Locking Systems, the company providing video services for Costco and having a substantial role in the bizarre handling of the Costco video, also has a contract to provide video services for the Metro Police. It is also possible that they provided the locksmith that broke into Scott’s home after his death and made possible the probably illegal search and seizure.

January 03, 2011, Update 9: This update reported on the continuing deliberations of the Clark County Commission in trying to fix the problems of the coroner’s inquest process. So bombarded by citizen outrage were the Commissioners, they had no choice but to make changes that would make the process more adversarial and fair and would no longer stack the deck entirely in the favor of Metro. I noted that since 1976, 200 inquests into police killings have resulted in only one non-justified finding and the DA declined to prosecute in even that case.

I also reported on the bizarre behavior of the Police Protective Association, the Metro Police Union, which was threatening, if the process was changed at all, not to cooperate with Metro or the courts in any way, a threat that is being carried out to this day.

I also reported on recent Las Vegas media reports of police training and the fact that Thomas Mendiola, the officer who shot Scott four times in the back, had washed out of his police basic training but was allowed to try again. I also observed that the media reports indicated a police culture that was turning out aggressive and paranoid officers, officers who saw the world as very much us against them.

January 05, 2011, Update 9.2: The Clark County Commission finalized their changes. This update explained why they were likely little more than window dressing, yet the Metro police were still refusing to cooperate.

January 10, 2011: Local Las Vegas Media report that the Scott Family attorney, Ross Goodman of Las Vegas has dropped Costco and store security office Shai Lierley from the lawsuit, however, the suit may be reinstituted any time within the two year statue of limitations under Nevada Law. The primary suit is proceeding in federal court.

February 02, 2011: Bob reports that Thomas Mendiola has been suspended (on January 31) for giving a firearm to a convicted felon.

February 06, 2011, Update 10: In this update I explored the possible reasons for Metro’s treatment of Mendiola. I also reported on two bizarre incidents involving Metro officers, incidents which tend to reflect on the dysfunctional culture of Metro.

In the first incident, a Sgt. fired his handgun, either accidentally or on purpose, at a young man whose only offense was trying to leave an apartment complex where some sort of incident had earlier occurred. The officer’s bullet hit the car door behind which the young man was sitting and he was, miraculously, not hurt. The officer issued a summons for obstructing a police officer to the young man he came within inches of killing for no reason, and the young man reportedly intended to sue.

I also reported about a bizarre road trip taken by two Metro officers who were stopped for speeding by an officer in Arizona—an adjoining state. They were on duty and driving their marked Metro police car at the time.

February 26, 2011: I reported on a local media report which told Las Vegas citizens about the Public Administrator’s Office and their bizarre search and seizure of Erik Scott’s home—four months after I reported it. The report did not actually interview Steve Grodin, the Deputy PA involved, and did not deal with any of the real questions in the involvement of the PAO.

March 27, 2011, Update 10.2: This update spoke about the beating and false arrest of a citizen by Metro officer Derek Colling and the taser death of a citizen by Metro police, a case that is still awaiting an inquest. Both cases are very much indicative of the dangerous culture of the Metro police.

I also wrote about Metro recruitment and training policies and about the fact that Metro officers were still refusing to cooperate with any inquest not stacked in their favor and that Sheriff Gillespie was apparently doing nothing to require them to do their duties.

March 28, 2011: PJM published an Erik Scott update article I wrote, bringing those who had not been closely following the case at CY up to date.

April 02, 2011, Update 10.3: I reported on the attempt by Chris Collins, head of the PPA, with the collusion of the District Attorney’s Office, to pass a law in the legislature that would have given the DA or coroner the power to simply refuse to do an inquest in any police-involved death case. The bill was written in such arcane language that it would have applied only to Metro. Once again I explained why Metro’s refusal to do the common, daily duties expected of any competent officer was outrageous and deceptive. I sent an e-mail to Assemblyman John Hambrick (R-Las Vegas) who was sponsoring the bill, asking for comment.

April 17, 2011, Update 11: To no one’s surprise, Assemblyman Hambrick did not respond to my request for comment. On April 15th, testimony in support of and in opposition to the bill was taken in the Government Affairs Committee. During that testimony PPA head Chris Collins announced that he had nominated William Mosher and Josha Stark for honors as the “Top Cops” of the National Association of Police Organizations, which appears to be essentially a union organization. Collins is the Sgt. At Arms of that organization which did not give Mosher and Stark its highest honors, but did give them “honorable mention” awards. Collins announced that Mosher and Stark were, in essence, heroes for killing Erik Scott. So disgusted by Collins and his arguments were the members of the committee that the bill was killed and at least some legislators expressed their determination to kill it when and if it was refilled in the future as Hambrick suggested it might.

I sent a link to the update to the NAPO, suggesting that they reconsider their decision if for no other reason than that the case is far from over, casting some doubt on the “heroism” of the officers involved, and asking for comment. It will surprise no one to learn that they have not responded.

May 14, 2011: Bob reported the indictment of Thomas Mendiola for knowingly giving a handgun to a convicted felon.

May 15, 2011, Update 11.2: I reported on the disposition of the case of the officer—Derek Colling—who attacked, beat and arrested a man for the crime of videotaping him while standing in his own driveway. The DA dropped all charges and the victim plans to sue, however, to date, Metro appears not to have taken any action against Officer Colling who continues to work as a Metro officer. Like William Mosher, Officer Colling had also shot two Las Vegas citizens in a short span of years before his attack on the man videotaping him. Unlike Mosher, Colling killed both of the people he shot.

In this case, as in the Scott case, there was substantial opportunity for supervisors to identify officer mistakes and to correct them on the spot. In both cases, and a great many other Metro cases, supervisors seem to be interested in doing no such thing.

May 17, 2011, Update 11.3: This post dealt with one very interesting fact: Steve Grodin, Deputy Public Administrator of Clark County, the man who, on behalf of the PA’s Office led the arguably illegal search and seizure of Erik Scott’s home, apparently has substantial police experience. In my initial update about this topic, I assumed that Grodin did not have such experience and therefore would not be likely to have understood the law regarding search and seizure. I even entertained the possibility that Metro used him. That does not appear to be the case. Grodin would certainly have known he was assisting in an illegal search and seizure.

I also sent the link of this Update to Las Vegas media outlets, suggesting that they follow up. None acknowledged receipt of the information, and to my knowledge, none followed up.

May 22, 2011, Update 11.4: In this update, I reported that Thomas Mendiola had actually been fired from Metro in February and that he faced ten years in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted. I also discussed the concept of negligent retention and how it might affect the Scott civil case.

June 11, 2011, Update 12: The week of June 5, Metro finally announced that the officers who drove a marked Metro patrol car while on duty into Arizona would be punished with a weeks suspension without pay. I commented on the extraordinarily long period of time required to handle this simple case of misbehavior and how that reflects on the chaos that is apparently the status quo at Metro.

On June 1, a motion hearing was held before Judge Edward Reed in US District court. The Judge’s ruling was handed down June 8. It essentially left the entire Scott case against Metro and others intact and particularly affirmed the Scott’s right to sue for negligent retention, among other torts.

The civil case is now on track to trial with the all-important discovery process next on the horizon.

June 23, 2011, Update 12.2: I reported that at the moment, 18 Metro officers are in limbo, unable to return to their usual duties until they have inquest hearings. The Metro PPA has filed suit to overturn the new inquest proceedings that allow for adversarial questioning during inquests and a greater role for families before and during the process, which includes the opportunity for greater discovery. Whether Metro, which has a well-deserved reputation for stonewalling discovery requests, will cooperate is another matter. There is also no doubt about the intentions of Metro officers: They have, through their spokesman, made absolutely clear that they will refuse to cooperate in internal investigations, and will refuse to cooperate with the criminal justice system in inquests and possibly other hearings.

July 8, 2011: 8 News Now in Las Vegas reported that the first inquest hearing under the new rules, which was scheduled for July 12, has been postponed. According to the story, the PPA and the DA have agreed to postpone that inquest, and presumable all others, until the court case filed by the PPA is settled.

This is an obvious case where both sides are getting what they want: avoiding any inquests under rules where it is possible Metro could lose and force the DA into a decision about prosecution. It remains to be seen how long they’ll be able to get away with it.

THE CASE AS IT NOW STANDS:

The civil case is going to happen. Those who hoped to delay or derail it through legal maneuvering have been thwarted. Ross Goodman has also made clear that he plans to reinstate the case against Costco, Shai Lierley, and potentially others in the Nevada court system prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. The case is now in the discovery phase where a great deal of information potentially damaging to Metro is likely to be revealed.

It seems certain that the Scott family will not be interested in a settlement. Everything they have said and done to date suggests that their goal is nothing less than the exposure of any and everything Metro did wrong in this case to the greatest possible extent. And surely they realize that substantial change is unlikely in a city, county and police agency like that in Las Vegas unless those in positions of power are made to feel great political pain, such as the pain that accompanies huge damage awards in civil suits, damages of the potential this case may provide.

ERIK SCOTT:

Those who have not been closely following this case may know little of Erik Scott. Many might assume that anyone killed by the police would be likely to be, at the very least, a shady character. Usually, that wouldn’t be an unreasonable assumption. However, in the Scott case, the opposite is true.

Erik Scott was a West Point graduate, respected by his classmates. He was an officer of Armor, a M1 tank platoon leader. His final fitness report by his commanding officer read, in part:

“Lieutenant Scott is one of the best lieutenants in this battalion. As the Battalion’s Personnel Office he has done a tremendous job. He quickly oriented himself with his new duties and worked hard during a period of increased workload due to Army down-sizing. He took personal pride in doing whatever the mission was correctly the first time. He is intelligent, organized and a self-starter that required little if any supervision. Most notable was his decision to accompany the battalion to the National Training Center rather than have the battalion deploy without an Adjutant. This clearly demonstrated Erik’s willingness to care for soldiers and sacrifice his personal time for the betterment of the organization. Although Erik has decided to enter the civilian sector, there is no question he could have a successful Army career. I am sure he will be successful in whatever he does.”

And Erik Scott was indeed successful as a civilian. He earned a MBA from Duke, and lived in Las Vegas for nearly a decade working as a successful real estate agent and a sales representative for advanced cardiac devices. In both fields, he was well respected, even by his competitors.

Highly self-motivated in everything he did, Scott maintained a very high level of physical fitness despite suffering constant and debilitating pain from back injuries incurred in the military and in the civilian world. He had no criminal record, and no known contacts with the Metro police prior to the two-second meeting before they shot him to death.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I have recently been able to acquire more than a thousand pages of Metro documents relating to the Erik Scott case (it’s good to have friends in low places). While I have not had sufficient time to do more than glance at them, nothing I have seen has in any way changed my opinion of Metro or my theory of the case. In fact, I have noticed many acts and omissions that reflect even more poorly on Metro and must surely be making the Goodman Law Firm very much look forward to having Metro witnesses on the stand. I will, in the near future, spend more time with those documents and others and provide information and analysis.

What kind of information and analysis? The Metro report on the Scott case lists, in part, the following personnel involved, apparently in the response and its immediate aftermath:

2 Commanders
1 Captain
2 Lieutenants
5 Sergeants
43 Patrol Officers
4 Cadets (?!)
One Helicopter with two pilots
2 Traffic Personnel
2 K-9 personnel (presumably with two dogs)

That’s more personnel for this single incident (63) than the entire complement of many American police and sheriff’s agencies, and even more were involved in the resulting crime scene investigation and follow-up investigation.

As we contemplate this, the one-year anniversary of Erik Scott’s death, let us offer prayers for him, for his family, and those officers of Metro who are honest and honorable in the hope that they will find the will to speak the truth when it matters. Let us also pray that those who are less than honest will have a change of heart, and if that is not possible, they and the politicians of Las Vegas, Clark County and Nevada will have no choice but to make changes such that innocent citizens need no longer fear their police force.

Above all, let us reflect on the fact that men like Erik Scott are among our best. When he enrolled in West Point, he knew that he could be required to give his life for all that we hold dear, and he ultimately did. It is up to all of us to see that his sacrifice was not in vain and that justice is, finally, done.

The Plan

For the second installment of our Literature Corner, presented for your approval—as Rod Serling often said—is a tale that will be familiar to police officers everywhere. For most police officers, working with the public is a piece of cake. Even working with bad guys is no problem. The real difficulty comes from having to deal with their own, particularly administrators who seem to have no idea of the realities of police work. This true story—names changed to protect the innocent—illustrates the problem.

The Plan

We--fifteen very bored patrol cops--were sitting in one of our periodic training sessions: absolute death for people who are doers, not sitters. Unlike many police departments, ours actually had periodic in-house training, which was the good news. The bad news is that much of it was awful; 30 minutes of actual material stretched to cover eight hours. Cops hate having their time wasted. To keep from crippling our shifts, we repeated the same training over four or five days, pulling different cops off the street each day. I was stuck in the first day’s training session. The session was a bit different from the usual-- not that it was better.

The guy conducting the training was our Chief of Staff. What’s a “Chief of Staff?” Our Chief was absolutely power hungry. He knocked off--politically speaking--the previous chief and seized his job, and he was determined that no one would do the same to him, so he abolished the position of Assistant Chief and anointed a Chief of Staff. The difference was that the COS was a civilian--an academic--not a certified cop, so he couldn’t threaten the Chief. As he couldn’t, by law, assume any law enforcement duties, none of us really had any idea what he did, mostly studies, we assumed. But he sometimes did training, which usually consisted of explaining to us why the Chief’s latest initiative was the most magnificent idea ever conceived by God (that’s what the Chief called himself. I’m not kidding). He was new, seemed like a decent guy, and looked every bit the academic. No one would mistake him for a cop.

That’s when he introduced The Plan. The topic of the day was Fetal Alcohol Syndrome--FAS. FAS is an acronym for a group of nasty birth defects caused when a mother drinks during pregnancy. Particularly if mom is an alcoholic, baby can be severely affected. There are physical and mental manifestations of FAS, and most FAS babies eventually end up in the welfare and criminal justice systems because of their gullibility, inability to hold a job and lack of inhibitions. FAS was a genuine problem in our city which had a large Indian population. Because alcoholism was rampant in the Indian community, FAS was pretty common. To be sure, FAS affected whites too, but most FAS babies ended up being Indian. No question, FAS was expensive and nasty and we dealt with its consequences daily.

We called Indians Indians. I tried being what I thought was culturally sensitive when I first went to work there, but Indians kept giving me a hard time for calling them “Native Americans.” Each time I’d ask them what they wanted to be called, and they said--to a man (and a woman)--”I’m an Indian.” So Indians they were.

Anyway, the COS was really pleased with himself. Apparently part of his job was to come up with brilliant solutions to societal problems that could be solved only by police officers, which means patrol cops for the most part (that’s who the public most often sees).

FAS was certainly a problem, and a potentially public relations (PR) friendly, diverse, culturally sensitive, politically correct (PC) problem too.

The COS latched onto FAS and enlisted some Public Health nurses to provide video and Power Point background information for us. And then, at the moment of maximum tension, when every fiber of our beings was screaming in anticipation and anguish “please tell us what we may do to combat this scourge!”...well, actually at about the point I had to rap the head of the cop next to me to wake him up before he started snoring louder (we finished a midnight shift only two hours earlier), the COS laid it all out for us.

“As you’ve just seen, the only way to deal with FAS is through early identification and prevention, and no one is more likely to come into contact with women at risk for FAS than patrol officers, so we’ve developed this information card which has information about FAS on this side (he displayed it like a smiling, sequin-clad, TV game show model), and contact information for Public Health (the nurses dutifully smiled) on the other side.”

I could see the train wreck coming and was about to speak up, but he was so caught up in the beauty of it all, in the brilliance of the solution he birthed, that he wouldn’t have seen a charging elephant if they’d been in a tanning booth together.

“We’ll distribute these cards to you and whenever you come into contact with a woman at risk for FAS, you should approach her, speak with her, give her a card and encourage her to call Public Health.”

I couldn’t resist: “So what do you want us to say to them, exactly?”

The rest of the cops were perking up a bit, sensing a fight in the making. The COS was just delighted! He thought I was a convert to the one true way in the making, so he announced that he would be delighted to “model” the correct approach. “Model,” is, of course, academicese for “show you what to do.” He enlisted one of the nurses to play the role of the potential FAS mother, and he played the thoughtful, socially conscious, community spirited cop.

“Hello. I’m Officer Friendly Concerned, and I’d like to talk with you about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which is preventable...”

That’s when about half the cops in the room, me included, said in unison “You want me to do what?!” He launched into his “modeling” again until I interrupted him.

“No, no, you don’t understand; we can’t do that.”

“Of course you can...” he said, getting red in the face.

“No, we can’t. It will blow up in our faces.”

He was confused now, and getting a bit hot. He didn’t much like being contradicted by a mere street cop (you had to model for them, for Pete’s sake!), but wasn’t sure what I was saying. “What do you mean?”

“OK, correct me if I’m wrong, but in order to prevent FAS, mom has to stop drinking very early in pregnancy, in fact, it’s best if she doesn’t drink at all when she’s pregnant, right?”

“That’s correct,” he said, and the nurses nodded too.

“So that means that we could be talking to potentially every woman of child bearing age we come across.”

“Of course not,” he intoned, shaking his head at the foolishness of the assertion. “You wouldn’t talk to every woman; you’d have to be discriminating.”

“OK then. So we talk to every woman who looks like she might be pregnant or who we think might become pregnant?”

“Well...” He knew I had him there, but he wasn’t giving up easily, “...you have to use your good judgment. You’ll know who to talk with.”

“Of course. So what happens when a male cop approaches a woman who looks a little pregnant and it turns out she’s not pregnant, just overweight?”

“Well, uh...” the COS stammered. The nurses were nodding in horror at that one.

“And if we ignore women who look a little pregnant and only talk to those who look a bunch pregnant...”

The COS jumped in amid the chuckles of the cops who were having visions of outraged women delivering stinging slaps to their faces. “Absolutely not! In order to prevent FAS, you must stop the alcohol intake very early in pregnancy, even before pregnancy if possible. You must approach women who you reasonably believe to be at high risk for FAS.” By now, even the nurses were seeing the obvious flaws in this grand scheme.

“Right. I understand that. But you’ve just said that our target group is virtually every woman of childbearing age...”

“Well, again,” he broke in, “you have to be discriminating...”

“Exactly! That’s just what we’ll be accused of doing!”

“What do you mean?” He was really getting confused and frustrated.

“OK, let’s be honest here. If we do this, if we are discriminating as you suggest, we’re going to be singling out mostly Indian women, particularly Indian women who look like they might be pregnant--or maybe just overweight--often in bars. They’re going to yell racism so fast and loud hearing protectors won’t help us. It’ll probably make the national news. I can just see you now with some New York news anchor ambushing you on the front steps of the police building, sticking a microphone in your face demanding that you explain why you’re a pregnant woman-insulting, anti-Indian racist. They’ll probably put your name and the title ‘racist hick’ in big, glowing letters under your image.”

“But this is not racist!,” he insisted.

“Yeah, we know that. But they’re going to say it just the same, and no matter what we say, we’re not going to be able to defend ourselves.” All of the cops were playing scenarios in their minds and, seeing the impending disaster, were nodding furiously. “It’s going to be a PR disaster.” I sat back and watched the fireworks as the rest of the cops let the COS have it. He was getting redder and redder and more upset as he heard the cops pour more and more fire into the culturally sensitive target he erected.

“Now wait a minute!” He intoned. “Wouldn’t you rather be accused of doing something positive rather than doing nothing?”

I popped back into the exchange. “Sure we would, but it’s not that simple. This is not the sort of thing you want cops to do, trust me. This is an absolute loser for us, and it won’t do a thing to prevent FAS.”

Well I’d done it. I now officially had the COS ticked off at me, and I’d barely met the guy. He was ticked off at the others too, but because I inadvertently led the charge, he’d never forget it.

He wasn’t convinced, and was still determined to go ahead with his bold and well meaning PR disaster of a plan. Until, that is, he faced three more days of outraged cops explaining why they were the last people who should do that sort of thing, particularly in our community. They all immediately understood why it wouldn’t be a smart thing to do, yet the thought had never occurred to him. That’s the difference between real world experience and academic theory. They aren’t always at opposite ends of the spectrum, but in this case they sure were. The cops were right of course, and even if he didn’t accept that, he realized they’d give the appearance of obeying orders, but wouldn’t actually risk offending any possibly pregnant women. The Plan disappeared and was never mentioned again. No one ever found out what happened to all the cards he bought.

Gunwalker: The Tee Shirt

Sean has them.

And at this point, it's fair to wonder if he brings up the slogan as a joke or a legitimate question.

Joblessness Increases, Stocks Dive, Natives Get Restless

Gotta love the Obamaconomy.

It makes my decision to cash in my stock options and convert them to an investment in bulk ammo look better all the time.

It's a Trap!

I've seen several claims in the past 24 hours that "prove" that Attorney General Eric Holder, or Congress, or the President, or the Pope, knew about Gunwalker/Fast and Furious because of a speech someone made, or because of legislation being proposed or because of a line item in the Stimulus bill.

I would strongly urge caution in these matters.

Please Keep in mind that Gunrunner is a long-term cartel weapons interdiction program that kicked off during the previous administration. there is no indication that Gunrunner has ever been anything but above-board. The program/project framework has long been used in business and government, with the program being the general vision, with individual projects/operations as steps towards realizing that vision.

It looks like this:

Program

Project 1

Project 2

Project 3

etc...

Gunwalker/Fast and Furious was a specific secret operation or project within the much larger framework of Gunrunner. A list of all operations with the Gunrunner program is not publicly available, but I would be stunned if the total number of projects wasn't several dozen, or more, with many or most of them being covert and unknown to the public.

Gunwalker and Gunrunner are not the same thing even though they are related. We have enough evidence coming in—at a pace "fast and furious," one might say—and do not need to make leaps of logic. There is no need to jump the gun or make wild accusations.

Justice will be served.

Bicycling S & M

The silver and yellow contraption illustrated in the first photograph accompanying this article is, in fact, a bicycle. It is of the type known as a "recumbent,” or simply a ‘bent to some riders of such machines. This particular machine belongs to me. The manufacturer, Rans, builds these bikes and light aircraft at their factory in Hays, Kansas. It is their V-Rex LE model and is of a sub-category of recumbents known as a short-wheelbase recumbent.

The second bike, in blue and silver, is my wife’s bike, also made by Rans. It is the Stratus LE model, and is—obviously—a long wheelbase bike. Very serious cyclists will notice that both bikes have racks—bicycling heresy! We ride the bikes to work regularly and have to carry our lunch and other goodies. Besides, the racks weigh almost nothing and provide a handy place to hang a taillight; live with it. Before I go on, here are some links to sites I’ll mention in this post (and some I won’t):

(1) Go here for a New York Times article on how traditional bike seats actually damage portions of the body you don’t want to be damaged (yeow!).

(2) Go here for the Rans website.

(3) Go here for the Lightning website.

(4) Go here for the TerraCycle website. They manufacture the highest quality idlers—wheel/guides for chains, important on recumbents—in the business and have some really neat accessories too.

(5) Go here for Aerospoke Carbon Composite Wheels. Very cool.

The common bicycle, or an “upright” as polite recumbent riders call them (less polite recumbent riders refer to them as “wedgies.” I’m sure you can figure out why.), has been around for centuries, and uses pretty much the same double triangle design as early bikes. Despite their more modern appearance, recumbents have been around for at least a century.

Why don’t we see them in the Tour de France and other bicycle competitions? They’ve been banned for a century primarily because of the 10-15% aerodynamic advantage they have over uprights. There are other reasons that I’ll get into shortly.

With uprights very well developed, capable of substantial speeds, very light, high tech, capable of accepting an incredible range of accessories, and for most riders, relatively inexpensive, why recumbents? After all, even entry level recumbents will cost around $1000 when entry level uprights of the most common types typically go for no more than $400. The V-Rex and Stratus have a MSRP of $1595, and as such, are excellent buys in the recumbent world. Our bikes are substantially more expensive as we’ve chosen to add carbon fiber wheels, racks, flashing taillights, and in my case, upgraded brakes and brake levers, rear derailleur and shifters, and a handlebar and stem that better suit my body and riding style.

Recumbents are more expensive primarily because they are manufactured in far smaller numbers than uprights. There is little or no economy of scale in the recumbent industry. Most are essentially hand built, and demographically, those who buy them tend to be more experienced riders who expect greater quality in the components that make up the bike and understand that they will have to pay for them. At the same time, they will usually ride their bikes much more than the average bike owner, and expect to own them much longer with all of the attention and maintenance that entails. Most recumbents don’t gather much dust in the garage or basement.

My experience well illustrates why a growing number of people prefer recumbents. In my 30s I was a police officer and had always been an athlete. In my first civilian police job, I bought my first serious road bike from a serious shop, a Raleigh, made in England, with only six gears in the cassette (the gear cluster on the rear wheel) and two on the chainwheel (the gear cluster to which the pedals are attached). My V-Rex has 9/3 respectively, which is common for contemporary recumbents. The Raleigh was high tech in its time, and I labored mightily to develop my skills, but was always hindered by the realities of uprights.

I suffered substantial discomfort in the crotch, and on longer rides (exceeding 30 miles), real pain. I often experienced numbness in the crotch and even the penis for hours after rides, and sometimes, days. At that age the second “P’ was the favorite part of my anatomy, and having sprightly responsiveness in those portions of my anatomy was an issue of some urgency (it is only slightly less so today), but part of the esprit de corps of the road cyclist has always been the mastering and overcoming of pain, so I soldiered on, numb as I sometimes was. I also experienced pain and numbness in my hands, arms, back and neck, particularly whenever I “got on the drops,” or gripped the lowest part of handlebars to establish a more aerodynamic posture. I know that some people think such things really don’t matter, but even subtle aerodynamic advantages produce real, sometimes amazing, speed differences in bicycling. The pain was so severe that I could not long maintain that posture, and if I couldn’t, I wasn’t destined for bicycle racing glory. Watching the Tour, you’ll notice that even the world’s most elite cyclists don’t spend a great deal of time on the drops, doing it only when the greatest possible speed is necessary, such as in time-trails, and they all use aero-bars for that.

Still, I bought into the macho image of bicycling, but that didn’t stop me from looking for more comfort as well as greater speed. I eventually bought an American-made Trek with a bonded aluminum frame—very hi-tech at the time--the best components I’d ever imagined, and experimented with a variety of saddles of various configurations and with various kinds of hi-tech paddings that were then coming on the market to address the problems that virtually every serious bike rider experiences. I had gloves with gel-filled palms, shorts with gel-filled inserts, and even aero-bars (they clamp onto handlebars and extend forward, with pads for the rider’s forearms), which allow a rider to get into an aerodynamic tuck with less pain. I had 8 gears in the cassette and three in the chainwheel, so I could go faster and climb steep hills more easily, but still, all of those technical goodies only slightly delayed the onset of pain and numbness. The NYT article at the beginning of this post explains the problems in some detail, and women are affected too.

As my career took even more of my free time, I rode less and realized that I was riding less in part to avoid the pain, which lasted for days after each ride. I wasn’t getting any younger, and that played a part in recovery times.

Then one day I answered a domestic violence call in a well-to-do neighborhood at a lawyer’s home. I ended up under attack by the lawyer and much of his family, and though the bad guys ended up in jail, I ended up with a neck injury, which plagues me to this day. I’m far from an invalid, but when I turn my neck, it usually sounds and feels like a bag full of gravel. I used to think that people who complained about neck and back pain were just not tough enough. I don’t harbor that delusion any longer. As part of my rehabilitation, I tried to ride my bike and discovered that apart from all of the other issues, there was no way I could be on the aero-bars for any length of time, and forget the drops; my neck simply would not tolerate it. I had a choice: quit riding altogether or find another type of bike that would not aggravate my neck.

My first recumbent, carefully researched, and the first recumbent ever ordered (specially ordered in my case) by my local bike shop was the legendary Lightning P-38. Light, fast, and ridiculously comfortable, I discovered that once again I could ride 30 miles or more and step off the bike tired, but without pain, in fact, feeling pretty darned good. In fact, I just hopped on the bike and did a 24 mile ride on winding mountain roads the first time I rode it. Not a good idea for most people, but my local dealer had never sold or rode a recumbent, and I had never owned one, so what did I know? Like Nike used to say, I just did it.

It was not until I rode my P-38 for the first time that I realized how much of the strength of our upper bodies, arms and hands we use in riding any upright. No wonder I ended up so sore all over all those years. The key to recumbent riding is to completely relax your upper body from the waist to the tips of the fingers. Gently rest your hands on the handlebars—no death-gripping the bars--and particularly, work to completely relax the shoulders. The minute you adopt upright techniques, you’ll find yourself all over the road and once again building up tension and soreness. You’ll also discover that recumbents use slightly different muscles and use them in different ways than uprights.

The P-38 was a revelation! It accelerated effortlessly and handled like the F-16 of the bicycle world. Think about turning and you were already halfway through the turn.

In various organized centuries (100 kilometer or mile rides), I learned about recumbent realities. The best upright riders can out-accelerate you when climbing hills. They can stand on their pedals, rising off the saddle, and use their body weight to help drive them up hills. You’ll see tour riders doing that in the mountain sections. Recumbent riders can’t do that, but they can press against their seats with their lower backs, use one hand to help press down on one thigh (alternate, of course), and develop very smooth pedaling techniques. Even in my old age (57), I routinely pass a great many younger upright riders when hill climbing. On flat sections, the recumbent aerodynamic advantage---you’re always in an aero-tuck—means that I can keep up with much younger and inherently faster riders. It is on the downhills that the recumbent aero advantage becomes really obvious. Start a recumbent and upright downhill at the same time without pedaling and the recumbent will simply run away from the upright. The aero advantage is that real and obvious. If you want to amaze and annoy upright riders, really pedal when going downhill and you’ll pull away from them like a missile coming off the rails of a jet fighter. With a recumbent, you can also pedal and accelerate through corners with sharp lean angles. Do that on an upright and you’ll whack your inside pedal on the pavement and actually lever your rear wheel off the ground and it’s hamburger city.

The P-38 and V-Rex are short wheelbase bikes. The advantages of that design are great maneuverability, shorter overall length and easier portability on commonly available bike racks. Such designs usually require a smaller diameter front tire such as the proprietary 16” on the P-38 and a 20” on the V-Rex. Smaller diameter wheels are easier to accelerate, and this is quite obvious. The first few times I accelerated from a stop on the P-38 I laughed out loud out of surprise and delight.

Small front wheels also keep the chainwheel and pedals from being too high above the seat and keep the seat height—above the pavement—lower. That’s important. Some people have a problem with foot numbness if their feet are higher than their butt on a recumbent, and if the seat height is too high, it makes the bike unsellable to people with shorter legs as they tend to topple over when they have to stop unless they stand completely upright. If the bike fits, you only have to drop one foot and lean slightly to that side. Interestingly, despite having a very low seat height, the design of the P-38’s seat—which is ridiculously light and comfortable--almost requires longer lower legs.

My wife went for a long wheelbase bike because she is one of those people who experiences foot numbness, and long wheelbase recumbents tend to position their chainwheels below the bike’s seat. While she can handle the seat height of a short wheelbase bike, she prefers a lower seat height, both of which the Stratus provides. Because a long wheelbase bike must have more frame material than a short wheelbase bike, it will virtually always weigh a little more.

One long-wheelbase problem is finding a rack that will easily fit. I had to alter my rack with longer metal arms, but I have the tools to do that sort of thing. That’s not the only transport option, of course, but something to keep in mind. To fit both of our bikes on the rack, we have to remove the seats, but the Rans design makes seat removal, adjustment and replacement quick and easy, which is not true of every other make and model.

I loved my P-38 and rode it 14 years. My only real complaint was that I could not get a carbon fiber front wheel because of the odd wheel size (I prefer Aerospoke wheels). That, and the only tire I could buy was the mediocre quality Moulton model stocked by Lightning for many years. They now have a much better Bridgestone tire. I’m no longer a 6’, 155 lb, nothing but legs and lungs kind of guy like I was in high school, and when you’re heavier, you tend to need to have your spoked wheels regularly re-trued. That’s true to a somewhat lesser degree for any rider. With composite wheels, that’s not an issue. They are a bit heavier than the lightest spoked wheels, but I’m far past the age when a few grams, ounces, or even pounds, make any real difference. Yes, I am aware of weight in components, but I don’t obsess over it.

Last year, the P-38 was getting a bit long in the tooth. It was still a great bike, but before long, I was going to have to get some new components, components that would be costly on an old frame with only eight gears on the cassette (contemporary road bikes have nine). Back to research and I discovered Rans and the V-Rex. It’s a bit heavier than the P-38, but with the 20” front wheel, I could have composite wheels front and back and much greater choice in front tires. It’s easily as comfortable as the P-38, handles 98% as quickly and well, and while not quite as fast, is more than fast enough. I used to tell upright riders who inquired about the P-38 that the bike was a lot faster than I was. That’s still true of the V-Rex.

Another factor was cost. A new P-38 runs about $3200, and the V-Rex, only $1600. True, with the accessories and upgraded components I added, the V-Rex ended up costing nearly that much, but it has features I very much wanted that the P-38 lacks. Still, if I was a young speedster in need of a recumbent, the P-38 would be my first choice, or if I had money coming out my ears, I’d spring for Lightning’s carbon fiber-framed recumbent which is obscenely light and fast. I have no doubt that a great many riders would be very happy with the V-Rex as it comes from the factory. Even if you are a young speedster, Rans makes the V-Rex with a titanium frame—very light—and provides a “hot-rod” kit of replacement components that shaves even more weight from a stock V-Rex. Rans makes a wide variety of recumbents in many price points, and I find something satisfying about buying from a solid America company. Rans also has a great accessory catalog with just about anything a savvy recumbent rider might want. There are several other fine manufacturers of recumbents, which you can easily find through a web search.

Oh yes, two other reasons why bike race organizers don't want recumbents: These folks tend to be very traditional, and the international cycling organizations are dominated by the Europeans. Also, Imagine the difference in endurance and day-to-day strength and ability to perform between upright riders whose teams have to hire masseurs, compared to riders of recumbents. In no time, for at least some races--depending on terrain--everybody would be riding recumbents. That would be harmful to the upright bike industry and related interests.

Clipless pedals are pretty much a recumbent necessity, as your feet will tend to slip off the pedals without them. Remember: Your feet aren’t directly over the pedals on a recumbent with your weight bearing down on them. For most riders I recommend the Shimano (the Japanese company that leads the market in bike components) SPD mountain bike standard. With mountain bike shoes, the clips—male part-- are recessed in the soles of the shoes and allow you to walk more or less normally when off the bike. With the Look-type or other road bike pedals and shoes, you end up clomping around like a skittish pony. Check out the two types in a bike shop and you’ll see what I mean. Serious road riders wouldn’t give a second look at mountain bike gear, but a lot of them are weenies anyway (just kidding—sort of). It’s wise to have the shop loosen the pedal spring strength a bit and to practice starting and stopping, particularly at slow speeds, in a large parking lot before venturing out into the wide, wild world of traffic. That will keep you from coming to a stop, forgetting you’re clipped in, and flopping on your side. On a recumbent, you don’t have nearly as far to fall, so such things tend to be embarrassing rather than damaging. You can get straps and toe clips, but they do the same thing that clipless pedals do, just not nearly as efficiently or well. They are, however, cheaper.

Keep one other fact in mind: You’ll likely have to travel to try or buy a recumbent. Most bike shops don’t stock them and wouldn’t know where to order them even if they were inclined to order them. Even the shops that do stock recumbents tend not to have many on their showroom floor. Check the manufacturer website for their dealer locator lists and be sure to call ahead.

Recumbents are obviously more expensive than comparable (if such a thing is possible) uprights, but there is little economy in a much cheaper upright that you don’t ride for all of the reasons I’ve listed here. Being able to climb into rather than onto your bike—there is a reason that recumbent riders refer to their “cockpit”—with the knowledge that you will not be in pain during or after the ride and will be able to concentrate on a solid workout, or simply an enjoyable jaunt, is priceless.

Unless you’re really into pain in the crotch area and elsewhere, in which case I have no idea why you’re reading this website instead of one more specific to your needs, recumbents are an elegant and fun option.

Shovel Ready

The ATF ran Gunwalker, with the knowledge and support of the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, the FBI, the IRS, and the DEA, with the knowledge of four six directors and probable involvement of the at least two cabinet level appointees.

I guess this is what Obama meant by "shovel-ready."

Another Fast and Furious?

Oh my word.

No Hiding Now

Someone tell me: do they have nice golf facilities at Leavenworth?

"It is one thing to argue that the ends justify the means in an attempt to defend a policy that puts building a big case ahead of stopping known criminals from getting guns. Yet it is a much more serious matter to conceal from Congress the possible involvement of other agencies in identifying and maybe even working with the same criminals that Operation Fast and Furious was trying to identify."

That's the key to this mess -- and the reason that Operation Fast and Furious might turn out to be the biggest Washington scandal since Iran-Contra.

As Issa and Grassley note in their letter, had the other agencies shared information -- theoretically the goal of the post-9/11 revamp of the intelligence and law-enforcement agencies -- "then ATF might have known that gun trafficking 'higher-ups' had already been identified."

So if the identities of the Mexican criminals were known to the feds, what was the point of Project Gunrunner -- and why is Holder so desperately trying to stonewall by withholding hundreds of documents from Congress?

Law-abiding gun owners and dealers think they already know. With the Obama administration wedded to the fiction that 90 percent of the guns Mexican cartels use originate here -- they don't -- many suspect that "Fast and Furious" was a backdoor attempt to smear domestic gun aficionados as part of its stealth efforts on gun control by executive fiat.

"I just want you to know that we're working on it," Obama was quoted as saying to gun-control advocate Sarah Brady in March. "We have to go through a few processes, but under the radar."

Unfortunately for the administration, this one's out in the open now.

If it is confirmed that the worst suspicions are true—that the Obama Administration supplied weapons to narco-terrorists, in order to undermine U.S gun laws—there will not be a stonewall big enough for them to hide behind, and both impeachment and jail time must not be just possible, but probable for those involved. They are, after all, accessories before the fact who aided and abetted the murders of two U.S. federal agents, and an estimated 150 law enforcement officers and soldiers, and an unknown number of civilians, in Mexico.

If evidence can prove that domestic policy was the ultimate goal of Gunwalker, impeachment should be the least of the Administration's worries, and the Republican-led House of Representatives needs issue legislation making the extradition of government officials involved in international crimes easier, so that those responsible for this debacle may face justice for the crimes they committed.

Passing such a law would have an immediate and chilling effect on any following administration, be it Republican or Democrat, that felt that committing crimes in allied countries was the proper way to sway domestic opinion.

Broun: LOWER the Debt Ceiling

Today, I introduced a unique bill that goes in a completely different direction than everything else we’ve been hearing out of Washington. It would force politicians to start practicing what they’ve been preaching by lowering the debt ceiling from $14.3 trillion back down to $13 trillion. Admittedly, this is not your run-of-the-mill kind of law, but it would make it imperative for Congress to think outside of the box and come up with ways to pay off a portion of our debt while drastically cutting back spending. Since 1996, the national debt has increased by an inexcusable $8.79 trillion. I firmly believe that this calls for emergency measures to reduce the debt.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are equally responsible for the government's past fiscal irresponsibility. Sadly, whenever Congress has been given a chance to make a real impact on the budget, our spending habits, and our nation's livelihood, Democrats and Republicans alike have caved.

Moreover, in this time of crisis, liberals are pushing for a $2 trillion increase in our debt ceiling. And their only answer for our financial fiasco is to cut nothing and raise taxes on everything — which would simply give Washington more money to burn through. Even more disturbingly, under the president's budget proposal, the debt would double to $26.3 trillion by 2021, and he has no intention or plan to pay it down.

Sadly, this proposal, from Georgia Republican Rep. Paul Broun, is a non-starter due to inertia within both the Democratic and Republican parties. Both groups are wedded to big government, and the constant expansion of that government. They are equally intent on rocking the boat as little as possible to avoid making hard decisions, thinking that by going with the failing status quo they can protect their petty fiefdoms a bit longer, perhaps managing to get elected once or twice more and enrich themselves personally before or near-term economic collapse.

I suspect that there are less than a handful of legislators on Capitol Hill that really hold the nation's best interests at heart. When the collapse comes—and it will—I hope I live long enough in the ensuing carnage to see some of these bastards held to account by their constituents.

There's a Punchline In Here Somewhere

While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) law dismantling collective bargaining rights has harmed teachers, nurses, and other civil servants, it's helping a different group in Wisconsinites — inmates. Prisoners are now taking up jobs that used to be held by unionized workers in some parts of the state.

As the Madison Capital Times reports, "Besides losing their right to negotiate over the percentage of their paycheck that will go toward health care and retirement, unions also lost the ability to claim work as a 'union-only' job, opening the door for private workers and evidently even inmates to step in and take their place." Inmates are not paid for their work, but may receive time off of their sentences.

The law went into effect last week, and Racine County is already using inmates to do landscaping, painting, and another basic maintenance around the county that was previously done by county workers. The union had successfully sued to stop the country from using prison labor for these jobs last year, but with Walker’s new law, they have no recourse.

Union thugs have been replaced by convicts.

I guess I'm a mean old conservative, but I'm thrilled by the prospect of convicts having to give something back to the society that has to deal with both their crimes, and bear the costs of their incarceration.

It's a bonus that the convicts are replacing unionized workers, saving the citizens monies to paid to those that I rather strongly suspect have been overcompensated for their labor—"landscaping, painting, and another basic maintenance"—which sounds like jobs that should have been done by high school students on summer break for minimum wage in the first place.

Quick Takes, July 7, 2011

ITEM: The Muslim—Sisterhood? Imagine that an aide of one of our most important cabinet officials was a member of a family with strong ties to Islamic extremists. Would this concern you? Remember Anthony Weiner? Remember his poor wife, Huma Abedin? She’s the deputy chief of staff for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and as such, has direct access to all manner of our most important secrets. Go here to Pajamas Media to discover that she has apparently never been vetted, and why, in the Muslim world, guilt by association cannot be routinely dismissed as it would in American society.

ITEM: Just Ignore The Bastards! That’s what’s being discussed in the Obama Administration: just ignore the debt ceiling and spend as much as Mr. Obama wants. After all, he’s “The One” and he won. Why not? Go here to discover what the Constitution—you know, that annoying, outdated, anachronism that stands in the way of true Socialist progress—has to say on the topic. As Boo-Boo Bear would have said: “Mr. Public isn’t gonna like this Baracki!” Neither is the Constitution.

ITEM: Life Is Full of Irony: Last 4th of July, Chris Logan attended a golf tournament and was nailed on the temple by a golf ball. His visit to the emergency room led to the discovery of a cancerous tumor on his thyroid and his eventual cure. A year later, he met the golfer that, in a very ironic way, saved his life. Go here for the story.

ITEM: There’s Nothing Exceptional About America: I know because our President has said so to foreigners, particularly to foreigners. Tell it to Edvard Tchivzchel, who in 1991 was on a tour of the US with the Soviet State Orchestra. Surprisingly, his wife and son were allowed to tour with him. Despite being constantly watched, he was able to defect and his family and he became US citizens in 1999. He now conducts the Greenville Symphony Orchestra. Go here for the story of a man who has no doubt about the exceptional nature of America.

ITEM: And In the Never-Ending Wisconsin Soap Opera: Ann Coulter, in her new book “Demonic,” argues that it is virtually always liberals rather than progressives who are violent, who resort to force and brutality to impose their political views, views that cannot stand on their own merits. Another Ann, Ann Althouse, makes a similar argument here. Should not the courts privately resolve any differences they have, out of public view? Indeed. However, Wisconsin seems an alternate universe these days. Read the whole thing.

ITEM: Who Is Responsible For All The Financial Wreckage? Go here for a Washington Post Column by George Will for a concise explanation of what led—in large part—to our massive mortgage debacle and all of the related consequences.

ITEM: So America Is Not An Exceptional Nation? So says our very own President. Go here to read a gratifying article on our newest citizens. They have no doubt about the value of being Americans and about her place in the world. Rather a shame our President doesn’t share their views. Wasn’t he supposed to be the smartest man who ever lived or something? Be ready to shed a honest tear of pride—for them and for America, not for Mr. Obama.

ITEM: Brain Drain At NASA? With the final space shuttle flight scheduled for Friday, the New York Times (here) tells us that the “A” team of scientists may be heading for the exits and more fulfilling work elsewhere, doing, you know, like actual space and science stuff. Of course, NASA head Charles Bolden tells us “We’re capturing the brainpower,” and “We’re not adrift.” “And the vision is not gone. And we have a plan. We have a very sound plan.” Hmmm. I know this is the NYT, but why isn’t Mr. Bolden’s plan listed in the article? Isn’t this the same head of NASA who not long ago told us that President Obama’s new primary mission for NASA was making Muslims feel good about the scientific accomplishment of their ancient ancestors? Why yes, I believe he is. Read the whole thing.

Our future in space now seems to be in the hands of Burt Rutan. We could do much worse. As a matter of fact, we are doing much worse under Mr. Obama. Take the “Burt Rutan” link; absolutely take this NASA-related Rutan link, and google him too. Rutan is the most important aeronautical and space pioneer/genius about whom you’ve never heard.

Did you know that one of his designs has already flown in space? Three times?

ITEM: British Class: You’re the Prime Minister of England addressing US Marines at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan on the Fourth of July. How do you avoid stepping in it up to the knee? How do you actually show some real class without insulting your hosts? Go here to find out.

ITEM: Mitt Romney Steps In It Up To The Knee: Mitt Romney is the presumed front-runner for the Republic Nomination in 2012. Mitt Romney keeps saying things that make Republicans wonder if he actually is a Republican, like essentially agreeing in word and deed with Mr. Obama on some of the biggest issues of our time. Go here for his bizarre confusion on whether Mr. Obama caused our economic crisis, made it worse, didn’t cause it or make it worse, or maybe things were caused or something, but aren’t really worse after all, and possibly, Mr. Romney is a three headed space alien who is here to kidnap women, because Mars needs women! Read the brief article and its conclusion. If the most compelling argument for voting for Mr. Romney is because he’s likely not to be worse than Mr. Obama, the evidence for that proposition is fading more rapidly every time Mr. Romney opens his mouth.

UPDATE: Go here for a brief NYT article. Apparently Mr. Romney now thinks that President Obama has made the recession worse—or something—for the moment anyway. This is the best Republicans can do? Oh well. At least he looks presidential, you know, the tasteful swatches of gray around the temples, the young, vital, open-necked dress shirt look and all...

ITEM: An Unhappy Fourth of July: Go here for a Washington Post article by Robert J. Samuelson. He applies labels to conservatives and liberals that I suspect will find disfavor with most. His analysis is not completely without merit, but see what you think.

ITEM: Nominations For Best Example of Irony For July, 2011 Are Now Officially closed. Man rides his motorcycle without a helmet with 550 others to protest a mandatory helmet law…you can see what’s coming, can’t you? Go here for the story.

ITEM: When You’ve Lost Evan Thomas: Remember Evan Thomas, the Editor of Newsweek, the self described “journal of elite liberal opinion,” which is so elite it was recently sold for an entire dollar? Remember that he called Barack Obama a “god?” Apparently his faith is faltering. Go here for the shocking—to Mr. Obama and those who still regard him a deity—story.

ITEM: It’s All For The Kids, Really! At the NEA convention (here) we learn of a budget shortfall of from $14 to 17 million dollars for the coming year for the teacher’s union. More than 39,000 active members have jumped ship. The NEA has a bold plan to reduce costs by $4.8 million dollars: lay off “about 20” staffers. Uh, that’s $240,000 per staffer. It’s all for the kids. The NEA says so. Be sure to read the article, but take your blood pressure meds first.

ITEM: What The Frack Is Going On In New York State? Did I read this correctly; Democrat Governor Anthony Cuomo is lifting New York State’s ban on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to expand energy development, in…New York State? Could impending economic doom actually have the effect of whacking some Dems with the reality stick? And perhaps the biggest and most disturbing question is: what is a New York Dem. doing with evangelical hair? Go here for the hair and the story.

ITEM: Mr. Obama Talks: By now, you’ve read many dissertations on Mr. Obama’s recent deficit teleprompter reading (here). Two things to consider: (1) He remains the very Marxist dictionary definition of the class warrior, and (2) he has no intention of trying to stop spending America to destruction. Many don’t realize that the tax break on corporate jet travel he now wants to remove was established in his own stimulus bill! Of course, no one read that either. In a classless society, is it a good thing for the President of The United States to constantly try to stir up class envy and hatred? Once upon a time, being envious of the accomplishments and possessions of others was a sign of poor upbringing and weak character. I submit that among rational Americans, it still is. Discuss.

ITEM: Adventures In Leading From Behind, #10,382: Go here to Hot Air for a story by J.E. Dyer on the dangerous farce that is the latest “Gaza Flotilla.” Particularly damning is Dyer’s spot-on assessment of Mr. Obama’s fecklessness in the defense of Israel, the freedom of the seas, the suppression of pirates, and, well, you name it. Can you say: “let’s all urinate on our faithful, democratic ally Israel, kiddies? I knew that you could!”

ITEM: Claire Berlinski and Common Sense: Go here for a brief essay by the bright and beautiful Claire Berlinski about air travel safety. If you haven’t read Berlinski before, this is a good introduction. Good points. Rational thinking. Not fond of the TSA. CY likes!

ITEM: Who’da Thunk It? In Michigan, more and more women are getting concealed carry permits. What would possess otherwise reasonable, gentle, nurturing people to do such a thing? Urban decay, skyrocketing crime rates, rape, robbery, the usual stuff. I wonder if the Lamestream Media would find this to be “unexpected” too. Discuss. Go here for the story and be sure to take the link to the original article. Women with guns; works for me!

ITEM: Common Discussion Department: You know how you’re often sitting around with the boys, relaxing, talking, and knocking back a few, and that same question, always, I mean always, comes up: “what were the five best inventions of the founding fathers?” Yeah? Happens to me all the time too! Go here to find the answer. A link to information about Nikola Tesla is an added feature.

ITEM: Sunday In The Park With Boobs: I’m not kidding, that’s the URL to this article. Here at Quick Takes, we like to “expose” you to the unusual, the interesting, the “titillating” (I am soooo ashamed of myself. Heh-heh). Did you know that it is apparently legal to go topless in NYC? For women to go topless in NYC? Well, apparently it is, and there are pictures—and an entertaining story written by one Jamie Peck, a "prominent" pioneer in the "forefront" of the NYC “fresh air and sunlight might make them grow bigger” movement. Warning: For some reason, this one took a great deal of time for my browser to load. Sub-warning: Oh yes, there are nekkid breasts. Pretty, well-aired and sunlit natural ones. I can’t imagine why this story would be so popular. Discuss.

ITEM: Louis Renault Award Of the Week, Economic Disaster Division: Jeffrey H. Anderson’s article at the Weekly Standard (here) begins thus:

“When the Obama administration releases a report on the Friday before a long weekend, it’s clearly not trying to draw attention to the report’s contents. Sure enough, the “Seventh Quarterly Report” on the economic impact of the “stimulus,” released on Friday, July 1, provides further evidence that President Obama’s economic “stimulus” did very little, if anything, to stimulate the economy, and a whole lot to stimulate the debt.”

No! I’m shocked, shocked! to hear of this! Surely it can’t be true! Yes it is. Read the whole thing and don’t call me Shirley. Oh yes, and be sure to secure easily breakable items first.

ITEM: Can Congress Mandate Weight Watcher’s Membership For Obese Americans Under the Commerce Clause? On ABC (here), George Will asks this question. Watch liberals be what liberals are and say what liberals say. Our Congressional overlords certainly know the answer. Warning: Christiane Amanpour is in this clip!

ITEM: It’s In The Water, Isn’t It? That Has To Be It! Go here for more news from Wisconsin, the birthplace of progressivism, that superior, peaceful, tolerant and diverse philosophy for superior beings. See the tweet of Graeme Zielinski, Communications Director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Zielinski is not the only one. Do these people have any idea how idiotic they look? Discuss.

ITEM: It’s That Easy? How, oh how to be an award-winning blogger? This is a question we often ask ourselves here at CY. OK, OK, so we’ve never actually asked ourselves that question, but the lovely, bright and entertaining Susannah Breslin (here) tells us how to do it. Her first suggestion: Write about sex. It’s that easy? I somehow think most folks would rather have Susannah write about that than me. Probably even my wife. Take the link to her most-read post. Yes, it’s about sex. Maybe I should start reading romance novels for pointers…

Editor’s Note: See “Sunday In The Park With Boobs” above. Who knows? It might boost readership...or something...

Author’s Note: What am I writing? I am my own editor!

Editor’s Note: Shut up.

ITEM: When In the Course of Human Events: Astute readers will recognize this as the beginning of the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Go here to the blog of the stunningly bright and lovely Michelle Malkin for its full text. The point? Substitute “Barack Obama” for “present King of Great Britain” and see how frighteningly well it fits. It will be good for you to read it again anyway. What’s that? You’ve never read it? I rest my case. Everyone needs to read it, and read it again. It’s that important.

ITEM: Has There Ever, Ever Been a More Embarrassing Vice President In American History? No. Dan Quail wasn’t at all what the Media portrayed him to be. Go here for a brief story by Doug Powers at Michelle Malkin. Does the fact that we have become utterly numbed by such foolishness and unwarranted arrogance and bravado worry anyone else? Discuss.

ITEM: Tax Them Darned Corporate Jets! Go here for a concise article by Michael Barone who explains who really cares about corporate jets, and reminds us of the fact that real Americans actually build, maintain, pilot and otherwise earn their living in the private aircraft industry. Yes, if we tax corporate jets, not only will the revenues amount to pocket change over decades, we’ll throw highly trained Americans out of work! It’s a Socialist dream two-fer!

ITEM: Again? Regular readers know of our coverage of the bizarre and unprofessional behavior of the police in the Erik Scott and Jose Guerena cases. Go here for the story of another police-caused death that speaks to a sickness in American law enforcement that has, and will cost lives.

ITEM: He Said WHAT?! Speaking Tuesday about his Thursday invitation for Congressional leaders to meet to work out the looming debt ceiling debacle (here), Mr. Obama said that the required “balanced approach,” would require considering “spending in the tax code.” “Spending(?!) in the tax code?!” Even for a man used to the rhetorical mutilation of reality, that’s a world-class oxymoron. Correct me if I’m wrong, gentle readers, but isn’t the tax code all about vacuuming money up in massive quantities? And isn’t budget legislation, such as the kind the Democrats illegally refuse to produce, about spending? You know, I’m almost convinced that Obama fellow is really talking about tax increases.

ITEM: It’s Lysistrata All Over Again! In Barbacoas, Columbia, the townswomen have decided to withhold their feminine charms from the men folk until they build a road the village needs. The men have responded by staging a hunger strike. A hunger strike?! So now they’ll be starving for food and love? I think the women have the better tactics in this one. Go here for the story.

NOTE: “Lysistrata” is one of the few plays by Aristophanes that survives today. First performed in 411 BC, Lysistrata convinces the women of Greece to join her in withholding sex until the men of Greece stop the Peloponnesian War. It’s a comedy. I suspect the men wouldn’t have been as amused as the women, then and now.

And on that “you go girls” note, I must thank for you stopping by, wish you a fond farewell, and once again invite you to return again next Thursday for another edition of Quick Takes!

C.Y. Bloggers Blowing Open Gunwalker

Yeah, I'm going to toot our horns a little bit.

Mike and I have a total of three Gunwalker-related stories that have broken today on Pajamas Media, and that doesn't include the Hans A. von Spakovsky's article about acting ATF director Ken Melson's Monday surprise testimony to Congressional investigators on Monday.

So, have at it:

The Future of Obama's Stealth Gun Control (by Mike)

The Assault Weapons Ban: How Silly Was It? (Part One) (by Bob)

Email Confirms ‘Gunwalker’ Known Throughout Justice Department (by Bob)

The MSM is welcome to keep trying to bury this story. We'll keep running down every source and angle, and we'll see who comes out on top.

Melson Implicates DOJ in Gunrunner

Once again, the Obama Administration has been outmaneuvered.

Acting Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Director Kenneth Melson, in surprise July 4th testimony to chief House investigator Rep. Darrell Issa's panel, corroborated shocking suggestions that the Fast & Furious gun running scam on the U.S.-Mexico border included more federal agencies—and tax dollars—than previously revealed. What's more, he suggested that top Justice officials muzzled ATF as it sought to clean up the episode after two of the guns in the scam were linked to the December killing in Arizona of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

In a five-page letter to Attorney General Eric Holder following Melson's testimony, Issa, chair of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee and Senate Justice Committee ranking member Sen. Charles Grassley, called for greater cooperation in Issa's probe of Fast & Furious. And they warned Holder not to fire Melson and make him "the fall guy in an attempt to prevent further congressional oversight."

"The evidence we have gathered raises the disturbing possibility that the Justice Department not only allowed criminals to smuggle weapons but that taxpayer dollars from other agencies may have financed those engaging in such activities. While this is preliminary information, we must find out if there is any truth to it. According to Acting Director Melson, he became aware of this startling possibility only after the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and the indictments of the straw purchasers, which we now know were substantially delayed by the U.S. Attorney's Office and Main Justice," the duo wrote.

I made the Iran-Contra comparison several weeks ago. It now sounds like I was far more right than I had any reason to expect.

There were felonies committed here by Obama Administration officials, and if i don't miss my guess, I suspect things are only going to get worse.

Obama Continues to Ignore Iran's Arming and Training of Shiite Militias as American Soldiers Die

American soldiers in Iraq are being attacked and killed with increasing sophisticated weapons provided by Iran, and the Obama Administration does nothing:

James F. Jeffrey, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said Tuesday that fresh forensic testing on weapons used in the latest deadly attacks in the country bolsters assertions by U.S. officials that Iran is supporting Iraqi insurgents with new weapons and training.

"We're not talking about a smoking pistol. There is no doubt this is Iranian," Jeffrey said in an interview.

"We're seeing more lethal weapons, more accurate weapons, more longer-range weapons," Jeffrey added. "And we're seeing more sophisticated mobile and other deployment options, and we’re seeing better-trained people."

In some cases, insurgents made no effort to remove from the weapons identification numbers suggesting that they came from Iran, "which in itself is troubling," Jeffrey said.

Training is being provided by the Revolutionary Guards, which supports Shia terrorism worldwide.

A stern response in the form of a series of "accidents" at Iranian Revolutionary Guards bases or among IRG commanders might get Iranian attention, and if carefully targeted, could decapitate the leadership authorizing the attacks without overt war. It would be fighting Iran on its own terms, in the kind of guerilla warfare fighting Americans have excelled at since Major Benjamin Church led the first American ranger units in King Philips War a hundred years before we were an inkling of a nation.

We know how to defeat Iran at their own game. We simply need the political will to engage in this kind of conflict and win.

Of course, there doesn't seem to be the political will to counter Iran, and perhaps the President simply can't muster the outrage to attack kindred spirits.

We are, after all, talking about an Administration that has done nearly the same thing in arming Mexican narco-terrorists via the Department of Justice's Gunwalker program.

Adventures in Smart Diplomacy, #2,783

THE SCENE: Conference Room at the Cairo Hilton, November, 2011.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “I want to welcome all of the delegates to this first, historic, outreach session of dialogue between the United States and the various member chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood throughout the region…”

Egyptian MB Delegate: “We will destroy the Great Satan!” (Loud shouts, chants and applause)

Palestinian MB Delegate: “And the Little Satan too!” (More loud shouts, chants and applause)

HC: “…and I bring greetings from our President, Barack Hussein Obama, who…”

EMBD: “Apostate!”

Syrian MB Delegate: “Apostate!”

PMBD: “Death to America!”

Libyan MB Delegate (hesitatingly to PMBD): “Death to Israel too?”

PMBD: “Death to Israel too!”

All Delegates: “Death to Israel, Death to Israel!

HC: “Gentlemen please! We want to extend an open hand to you, so that we can engage in mutual respectful dialogue that will result in non-violent support for democratic principles of universal human righ…”

EMBD: “You must submit!”

HC: “Pardon me?”

EMBD: “You must submit to Sharia!”

HC: “It is important that we respect minority rights and fully include women in…”

PMBD: “Submit!”

LMBD (to PMBD): “Do we say that we will kill them all now?”

PMBD: “Yes! We will kill you all!” (Loud shouts, chants and applause)

SMBD (Whispered to EMBD): “What do the Iranians think?”

EMBD (Whispered to SMBD): “Death to America.”

SMBD (Whispered to EMBD): “What’s that? Death to Angola?”

EMBD (Whispered to SMBD): “No, no. Death to America, America the Great Satan…”

SMBD: “Oh! Right! (Louder) Death to America, America the Great Satan!”

HC: “But we only want outreach and mutual understanding and respect for universal principles of human rights, and…”

All Delegates (sing-song): Death to America, Death to America, nanner, nanner nan-ner…”

Two recent articles should worry rational Americans, for it has been announced (here) that Hillary Clinton is now “welcoming dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood.” A recent Pajamas Media article (here) contains very disturbing allegations regarding Hillary Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Huma Abedin. It seems that Abedin, an Egyptian Muslim, is a member of a family intimately involved in the Muslim Brotherhood, and that she has never been properly vetted for her position.

Informed readers will recall that Abedin is the wife of former Democrat Congressman of New York, Anthony Weiner, he of “Weinergate” infamy. Much ink has been spilled bemoaning her disgrace at the hands--and other parts--of her husband. What is not widely known is that Weiner is Jewish and Abedin, Muslim. Let us consider why we should be concerned, as Hillary Clinton, and presumably the rest of the Obama Administration, is not.

The Muslim Brotherhood is arguably the oldest, most influential and most extreme Muslim organization in the modern world. Founded in 1935 in Egypt, its most modern jihadist incarnation began in 1952 when Sayed Qtub, arguably the modern father of the Jihadist movement, returned to Egypt. He had been studying, of all things, American Literature at the University of Northern Colorado. The behavior of American women he saw in movies and in society in general—remember, we’re talking about the early 1950’s—convinced him that western society and Christianity were depraved and turned him irrevocably toward Jihad. His writings had a major influence on Jihadist thinking, an influence still being powerfully felt.

With branches in at least 70 countries (Hamas is the Palestinian branch), including America, the MB is very influential to Muslims around the world. Fatwas—religious edicts—issued by MB mullahs (priests or pastors) are taken very seriously in the Muslim world. A 2004 Fatwa by MB Shiekh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, for example, proclaiming the religious duty of Muslims to abduct and kill Americans in Iraq was widely observed and cost many lives.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s motto is: “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.” Americans tend to analyze such things through the lens of America’s tradition of tolerance of all faiths and of the separation of church and state. Observant Muslims do not think of themselves as Egyptians or Yemenis—for example--who happen to be Muslim, but as Muslims first and foremost. Their nationality and loyalty to any nation tends to be far down on their list, after being Muslim, family, tribe, clan, and other concerns, if it registers for them at all. When Muslim Brotherhood members speak of jihad and “dying in the way of Allah,” they are not engaging in pandering or politically correct rhetoric but expressing their duty and willingness to die killing anyone they consider the enemy of Islam.

It is, for Americans, a bizarre paradox that American Muslims, people who identify themselves as loyal Americans who happen to practice Islam, people who would not take up the call of Jihad, are different from Jihadist Muslims, from Muslims who support the MB. In fact, these American Muslims are seen as apostates, fit only for death, by their more radical co-religionists. In fact, Muslims not taking the path of Jihad are not truly observing the dictates of their religion, not the other way around.

By turning his back on long-time American ally Hosni Mubarak, President Obama set into motion a chain of events, which will inevitably result in MB control over Egypt. In fact, the MB had been outlawed in Egypt since 1954 until it was recognized as a legitimate Egyptian political party in June of 2011. And now, our Secretary of State wants to palaver with the Muslim Brotherhood because the MB will almost certainly have powerful influence, if not absolute control, of the Egyptian state after the September, 2011 elections.

Consider that the MB certainly considers all Americans to be infidels, fit only for slavery, conversion to Islam and Sharia, or death. This is not political rhetoric read from a teleprompter, but the life and belief and passion of all observant Muslims who follow MB philosophy. They particularly consider women to be nothing more than chattel, the possessions of men. For Muslim males who are not posturing for the sake of keeping up a deception for gullible westerners, Hillary Clinton is nothing more than a blatant insult, a symbol of all that is corrupt and morally bankrupt in western society. Dialogue with her? They would murder her if they could for what she represents. Approach her as an equal, with mutual respect and understanding to achieve Democracy? The very idea is absolutely foreign to everything they believe and are.

Prominent MB thinkers have already been speaking of completely Islamicizing Egypt, and calling her archeological treasures such as the pyramids and statuary “idols.” This is significant in that Islam brooks no depictions of Muhammed, Allah, or photographs, statues or similar images, considering it to be idolatry. They would gladly do to Egypt’s priceless treasures what the Taliban did to Afghanistan’s priceless and irreplaceable Buddhist statuary: destroy it as contrary to the Koran.

Do they honor Barack Hussein Obama? After all, he has a Muslim middle name of historical, religious significance. He was born of a Muslim father and attended Muslim school in Indonesia as a child. On the contrary, because he has publicly identified himself as Christian, the MB certainly considers him an apostate. There is only one fate for apostates in Islam: Death. Islam does not smile kindly on those who decide to embrace another faith. Remember: In Islam there is no separation of church and state, no tolerance for other faiths. Of course, for the time being, the MB will pretend respect. Another teaching of the Koran is lying to Infidels.

What of Huma Abedin? Yes, she is a modern, apparently westernized Egyptian who has, of all things, married a Jew. The problem is that her family has strong MB ties and is active in support of MB goals even today. Americans again have difficulty understanding what this means. It is not uncommon for Americans to have family members of another faith, or who might hold extremist beliefs of one kind or another. We do not automatically believe in guilt by association. Where Muslims are concerned, particularly Muslims of the MB, we must seriously consider the possibility.

No self-respecting MB follower would embrace the marriage of a child by a Jew. The MB has never expressed support for Israel’s continued existence, or for the long and happy life of any Jew. That no prominent MB spokesman has publicly denounced Abedin’s wedding to Weiner is significant. Such a prominent and symbolic union would not go unnoticed, for MB Muslims do not marry non-Muslims.

If Abedin has not been properly vetted, this is a very serious matter indeed, for Abedin certainly has access to some of American’s most closely held secrets. Even if that was not true, she would be able to provide vital intelligence, even unwittingly, about the intentions, beliefs, needs and weaknesses of America’s leaders (those not already blindingly obvious) to those who would see us all dead. Could the lack of objection to her marriage to a Jew reflect her usefulness to MB objectives? At the very least, the Obama Administration should provide convincing proof of Adedin’s comprehensive national security vetting. If it does not exist, what is she doing as the deputy COS of the Secretary of State, regardless of her background?

And so the Obama Administration, having sabotaged the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, having ignored a genuinely democratic popular uprising in Iran, having allowed America’s allies—imperfect allies in an imperfect region, but allies nonetheless—to be deposed, is ready to hold a dialogue with the fruits of their fecklessness. They are anxious to politely chat with those who would, if they could get away with it, gladly murder them.

Can they be that dense? Is it possible that the self-imagined and press-anointed most brilliant man in the world—Barack Obama—and the self-imagined and press-anointed most brilliant woman in the world—Hillary Clinton—don’t understand the true nature of the Muslim Brotherhood and the global Islamist movement which threatens the very existence of western civilization and modernity? Or do they actually believe that they are so smart, so good, such superior examples of humanity that the brilliant force of their personalities will cause all obstacles to their progressive goals to fall down before their majesty? The Muslim Brotherhood is surely not impressed.

I lived through the Carter Administration and never imagined that I would see a President who would best Mr. Carter for sheer incompetence and damage to America and the world. Mr. Obama has already won that dubious prize, and in his desire to dialogue with those whose idea of dialogue is a dull, rusty knife applied slowly to the throat, he will set a new standard for all time, a standard that I pray will never again be attained. We’ll be lucky enough to survive him.

“Smart Diplomacy” indeed.

Economic Reality Strikes Teamsters Shop; L.A. Times Columnist/Sockpuppet Hardest Hit

Michael Hiltzik has his diapers in a bunch because BMW made the business decision to layoff a parts distribution warehouse full of union workers making $25/hr with health benefits. The company will instead rely upon outside logistics contractors for their parts depot work.

It's brutal, and people who lose their jobs don't often happen to find a new one soon. Companies and people alike are barely scrapping by, and all of us are trying to save money where we can. That is our economic reality.

Many Americans—particularly those on the left—can't seem to grasp that you cannot legislate prosperity. You can demand that companies provide salary "x" or benefit "y" through law or collective bargaining, but at the end of the day, you are faced with the harsh economic truth that government isn't nimble enough to react to market forces, and unions exist to benefit their executives, not the rank and file. This leads to scenarios where people are paid more than what their actual skill-set is worth, and that creates the opportunity for more efficient vendors to move into a market segment and make all companies involved more profitable.

On the personal, human level, these sorts of decisions are incredibly painful. Having gone through the dot-com crash of the early 2000s, layoffs and personal bankruptcy as a result, I know that as well as anyone.

But even were things were bad for me, I knew that when the market is allowed to correct itself it lifts the entire economy, and that leads to prosperity across the board for everyone. Unions and big government retard that growth opportunity, make things stagnant, and ensures eventual, inevitable failures.

Hiltzik's writing is emotional and touching and certainly captures the human drama of what these individual families are now having to face. It is too bad he couldn't use that same talent to explore why the layoffs at this plant means jobs for others in the parts business elsewhere, or how the money BMW will save here will be used to create opportunities and jobs elsewhere throughout the company, and lead to a stronger company overall.

An Interesting Bit of Gunwalker Speculation

There really isn't enough meat on this to even call it a theory, but it is an interesting inkling of an idea that Mad Saint Jack has come up with regarding President Obama's decision to skip the opportunity to use a recess appointment to give anti-gun Chicago ATF Agent Andrew Traver the top job in the agency.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in a shootout with Mexican criminals armed with Gunwalker AK-pattern rifles on December 14.

If documentation exists—and that would be hugely speculative and extreemly unlikely—showing that the White House or senior Department of Justice management passed on the opportunity to appoint Traver as a result of Terry's murder, then all bets are off regarding the damage to the Presidency and the Attorney General.

This bears watching.

Letter From The Teacher #8: The Two R's

Letter From The Teacher #8: The Two R’s

Anytown High School, Any State, USA

To: Mrs. Hansen
From: Mr. English Teacher
Re: The Two R’s

Dear Mrs. Hansen:

Thanks for your phone call earlier today. I’m sorry that I couldn’t devote the time to it that I would have preferred, but as you know, you caught me between classes. Thanks for letting me answer your questions via e-mail.

I’m afraid I have no idea where your son Tom got the idea that one of our students was suspended for reading the Bible. I checked with our principals and they assure me that no such thing happened. In fact, I’m sure that no such thing ever would happen, certainly not at Anytown HS, and probably not at most American schools.

We often hear that the Supreme Court, decades ago, “took prayer out of the schools.” People tend to take that assertion at face value and some even blame it for whatever problem they think is current in the schools and in society at large. The truth is quite different.

It has been said, and quite accurately I think, that as long as there is algebra, there will always be prayer in school. I write that with some degree of humor, because I was born without the math gene. I aced all of my required college math courses, but that was because I am a good student and know how to study and retain information, at least as long as necessary to pass a given test. I’m good at practical, every day math, but that’s where my abilities and interests end. While I enjoy reading (more on this later) books about science and even math, I am not one of those people who can gaze at an equation and immediately see the secrets of the universe before my wondering eyes. I’m glad that such people exist, but I’m certainly not one of them.

The larger point is that no court, no human authority, can remove the deepest longings of the human soul. In a narrow sense, it is inappropriate—as a result of court decisions—for school authorities to require students to pray, or to make them sit quietly while they pray to or over them. Teachers can't be preachers and that's a good thing. But kids can pray as often as they like. Of course, they can’t be disruptive about it. They can’t leap up in the middle of class and call down the wrath of God on their evil English teacher. They can’t roll out their prayer rug, kneel facing Mecca, and begin ritual prayers in the middle of calculus class (though that might be one of the best places to do it if they could! It certainly would be for me.). But if they wish to pray quietly, as scripture teaches, not making a public show of their prayers, not in any way disrupting class, good for them. Anytown HS certainly has no rule against that, and I’m not aware of any school that does, or could, for that matter. How would you enforce something like that? And in any case, such a rule would not survive a court challenge; the law is that clear.

I know that some schools and states try to get around the Constitution by having a “moment of silence.” That’s the law in our state. We both know it’s a well-intentioned subterfuge for trying to encourage kids to pray. I’m a bit uncomfortable with that. During those times, schools can require the kids to be silent, but of course, no one can require anyone to pray. How would you check? Could you read their minds? Actually, having the kids think I can read their minds isn’t a bad idea at all! A forced or rote prayer really isn’t much of a prayer. I’m not happy with the idea of trying to get around the Constitution, in this or anything else. It doesn’t set a good example for the kids. I know that some people would argue that because it’s about something as important as faith, it’s OK, perhaps even a duty, to ignore the Constitution, but if we establish that precedent, who is to say that other people’s reasons for ignoring it, sincerely held, are less compelling or valid? Besides, most people don’t feel the need to pray at a specific, set time every day, nor are their prayers always of the same, brief duration.

I know what you might be thinking: is this guy some kind of atheist or something? I normally don’t talk about my faith with kids or their parents. I don’t want anyone to feel pressured by what I might say, and I want them to judge me on my work, my dedication to teaching, and by my character and the way I treat them. If I say that I’m a Methodist, some percentage of the class will nod approvingly, for they too are Methodists. The others will nod knowingly and think, “Ah! So he’s one of THEM!” I’d rather be judged on my interactions with others than on which building I might spend time in on a given Sunday. But just so you know, I am a Christian, and I’m serious about it. I just believe that it’s your job to see to your kid’s spiritual well being, not mine in my role as their teacher. I’ll teach them to be good citizens, and to behave as Christ teaches, because it’s the right thing to do, and because everyone who behaves that way is going to be a good, civilized person, but I’m no one’s minister. My time with the kids is very limited, so I’ll stick to teaching English and all that accompanies it.

Kids can read the Bible in school. We have no rule about that, and while I know that some schools behave stupidly regarding Bible reading, any rule they might write prohibiting the reading of the Bible—or any holy text for that matter—also would not survive a court challenge. Again, kids can’t pull out their Bible and begin reading it during a lecture, or while they’re supposed to be reading other materials or working on an assignment. However, if they are done with their assignments, or if they are on their own time, bless their hearts, they’re free to read the Bible--or any other appropriate literature--if they choose.

It may surprise you to know that we often make reference to the Bible in English classes. The Bible and all of its stories are so much a part of our society, of our common culture, that it would be foolish—virtually professional malpractice--to ignore it while discussing proper behavior, human nature, literature and history. The Bible’s influence on authors, statesmen, and many others is undeniable, and good literature is full of Biblical allusions, which must be clearly explained to the kids. It is perfectly appropriate to discuss the Bible in a comparative literature class, and some schools—ours included—even have a semester-long class where the Bible is intensively studied. Of course, in talking about such things, I never suggest to kids that a given faith is the one true faith, or anything even remotely like that. Again, that’s not my business. Requiring kids to behave as one would hope that sincere Christians would behave is, and our school rules are written to require precisely that kind of behavior.

That—religion--is the first “R.” The second is reading. As a teacher of English, I am delighted to see kids reading anything! You’re reading the Bible, Bobby? Hallelujah! The Bible isn’t easy reading. It’s complex and subtle, and I’ve had many great conversations with kids explaining allegories and parables and the history of ancient Judea, and human nature and politics, you name it. Even so, one of the biggest problems, the biggest disabilities the current generation has, is that they are generally not readers.

People who don’t read tend not to be good spellers. They tend to have difficulty understanding symbolism, identifying themes, making inferences, understanding human nature and what motivates people to feel and act as they do. They tend not to be good and fluent writers, because they have so little exposure to a variety of styles and methods of writing. Non-readers tend to have limited vocabularies. Non-readers also tend to be limited speakers. And of course, reading is a vital human skill, a skill that requires practice, repeated practice over time. Many think that once basic literacy is obtained, nothing more is required, but even neglected intellectual muscles atrophy.

We must remember that the underlying point of education is building bigger, better brains, literally making the billions of new neural connections over a lifetime that make one more intelligent, capable and flexible in everything they do. Few intellectual pursuits do this better than reading, for reading is the beginning of understanding. It is used in every discipline, even the arts, and it is the foundation that makes possible the building of those bigger, better brains.

I work hard every year to sneakily infuse some of my love of reading in the kids. I do have some success with books like “Of Mice and Men,” “Tuesdays With Morrie,” and “Fahrenheit 451.” I even get them to enjoy “Julius Caesar.” After most of these works, we see the related movie, and lo and behold, many kids will tell me that the book was better than the movie. Heh-heh! They had no idea that was what I was tricking them into thinking all along. I—like Dr. Evil—am an evil English teacher! I simply smile and nod and say: “imagine that!”

My favorite trick is to start reading “Tuesdays With Morrie” to them at the beginning of each year. It’s written in short chapters, so I read one or two at the beginning of each class. At first, they squirm and fidget, but soon, they begin to really pay attention. As I read it—very dramatically—they are dead silent and very focused. When I stop to do other things, they moan miserably, and at the beginning of the next class, it’s just delightful to see the biggest male jocks ask earnestly “are we gonna do Morrie today?” When I get about 2/3 of the way through the book, they’re hooked, and I hand out copies for everyone and require them to finish it. The best part is, most of them are anxious to do just that! Many come back the very next day and confess to finishing it and to crying at the end (I certainly do every time). It’s a bit easier to get them to read after that, but even so, I know that I haven’t transformed most of them into voracious readers, but perhaps, I have slipped reading onto their internal “hey, I could do that!” lists. I wish more parents would do the same. Perhaps if they left interesting books around the house, or gave kids gift cards to book stores, that might help.

Do you see why I am delighted to see kids reading the Bible? Yes, it’s good for them on many levels, but it’s high level, challenging literature too. It builds an advanced vocabulary, it helps them to understand abstractions, it’s a brilliant manual for understanding human nature, and every literary term we’re going to discuss in class can be easily applied. There aren’t many books that do all of that, and much more.

I know that you’ll hear about teachers and principals and schools here and there around the nation who demonstrate what appears to be irrational hostility to the Bible and to faith in general. It’s important when you do to realize that media accounts are often biased or lacking the context necessary to really understand what happened. Still, some educators really don’t know or understand the implications of the law relating to religion and the schools, and that sometimes leads to misunderstandings. I hope I’ve cleared up any misunderstanding as it relates to your questions.

You’re always welcome in our classroom. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you. And by the way: have you read a good book today? Has Tom?

Yours,

Mr. English Teacher

Founding Fathers

Imagine the kind of courage it takes to tell the most powerful nation on earth that they have no dominion over you, that their king is no longer your sovereign, and that you rebel against the only kind of government that most men of your day have ever known.

Brave men did precisely that on this day in 1776.

They committed treason against the king, putting their lives at risk by signing their name on a declaration of independence that would simply be known forever after as the Declaration of Independence.

Thank you, gentlemen, for embarking on that journey into liberty.

The Re-Creation of the New American Man

July 4, 2011 is a day of celebration, and so it will be for most Americans. They will celebrate independence, the independence of the former colonies from Great Britain, the establishment of America as an independent nation, the one exceptional and indispensable nation among all nations. But most of all, they will celebrate the independence of the American spirit, for the creation of America was, in a very real sense, the creation of a new man. Marxists and Socialists are obsessed with creating the new man. Americans—as Americans tend to do—simply ignored government and did it themselves. We need to do it again.

The new American owed allegiance to a voluntary confederation of fellow Americans. He honored no king, no all-powerful nanny state. He expected to prosper on the strength of his own character and the fruits of his own labor. The truth was important to him, and the nation was built on the strength of each man’s word and sealed by handshakes. He indulged in no juvenile cults of personality and chose his leaders—men such as George Washington—based on their character and accomplishments, character and accomplishments that were well known and demonstrated and renewed day by day, just as his character and accomplishments were demonstrated and renewed day by day.

The new American—and many generations to come—lived by simple, basic principles: hard work, honesty, doing what was right, living within their means while working to increase not only their means, but the means of their children. He understood deferring pleasure to a better, more secure day and he understood self-sacrifice. He was willing to help his neighbors because he knew that they lived their lives as he did, and that they were willing to help him for the same reasons. For him, laziness and a lack of industry were debilitating character flaws, not victimhood to be embraced and rewarded.

America was born an exceptional nation by virtue of her people and their creation: The Constitution. They understood all too well what we seem to have forgotten. When we turned our backs on self-sufficiency and hard work, when we became victims instead of doers, when we began to believe that character didn’t really matter, when we came to see the truth as nothing more than slippery rhetoric in the service of individual, selfish agendas, when we stopped being willing to pay our fair share and expected instead to be given our living by others, America started on the road to becoming just another failed socialist state.

And so we elected Barack Obama to atone for the sins of our ancestors, to demonstrate enlightened, contemporary civic virtue. We elected a man who believes that America is exceptional just as the citizens of other nations believe themselves to be exceptional. As he once said, “words, just words,” for if everyone is exceptional, in truth, no one is exceptional. If everyone is above average, average has no meaning. If all are equally worthy, equality has no meaning. The Founders understood that to be equal meant to be created by God, equal in humanity, in intrinsic human worth and dignity, and deserving of equal, unbiased treatment under the law. Mr. Obama and his supporters would have us believe that equality has to do with taking from some and giving to favored others. They buy the juvenile notion that apparent equality of outcome is far more important than equality of opportunity. This is the basis of Marxism, socialism and its fellow travelers.

The causes of our downward spiral are familiar to anyone who has been paying attention. Too many of us have abandoned the principals that make us great, that make us Americans. An instructive example is home ownership.

I am tempted to say that when Democrats in the 1970s began to say that every American should have their own home, they did this with the best of intentions, but the results of this bit of rhetoric surely say otherwise. Every American should own their home. It’s a lovely--if simple-mindedly emotional--sentiment, and that’s where it should have stopped, but socialists see sentiments—emotions—as reality, and they tried to manifest an emotion.

The problem goes back to our founding, to self-sufficiency, to the notion that we must live within our means, individually and as a nation. To the simple principle that we would not only build, but would live in the house we could afford and that when we could afford bigger and better, only then would we attain that house and the house after it. Apartments are a manifestation of that simple virtue. They are recognition that not everyone can afford a house, and our system evolved in recognition of that reality. If one could not afford a house, no bank would loan money that could never be re-paid. Even if one foolish enough to try to buy what they could not afford applied for a home loan, banks would not willingly assist them in destroying themselves and their families.

Rational people know that a mortgage payment is only the beginning, basic cost of home ownership. Maintenance, tools such as lawn mowers, utility bills substantially greater than those of apartment dwellers, insurance, furnishings, and myriad other expenses greatly expand that low, convenient monthly mortgage payment. For this simple reason, generations of fiscally responsible Americans deferred home ownership until they were certain they could actually—what’s that archaic word?—oh yes, until they could actually “afford” it. Even if they could never afford it, most could live in apartments that are the envy of most of the population of the world.

But Democrats knew better. They felt that everyone should have a house. It goes without saying that such trivial factors as being able to afford the mortgage payment, to say nothing of all of the incidental but necessary expenses of home ownership, were of no concern, and lenders were pressured to loan to those they knew would default. This was seen as compassionate, as building a better, more diverse and tolerant America, for who should not own their own house? What kind of cruel Republican would stand in their way? Surely such people were discriminating! Surely they were racists! Compassionate, caring, progressive government knew best, the free market be damned! And the free market was damned; all of us were damned.

Loans were made by lenders who knew they would never be paid, but they were willing to make such loans because they were backed by Fannie Mae, backed on the assumption that the Federal Government would make good those bundled loans when they inevitably defaulted. Many of those banks are no longer in business and other teeter on the edge of insolvency. Some banks resisted the siren song of diversity and compassion and remain strong today, but enough went along, and finally, circa 2008, the bills became due. All of that debt was bundled and packaged, and deferred and rolled over until it became so large that it reached critical mass—as everyone knew it eventually must--and exploded. So many mortgages were in default, mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--and by implication, by the public—that the whole house of cards collapsed and the bailouts and stimulus and the “summer of recovery” (remember that one? Last summer?), where nothing was recovered, began.

The Revolutionary generation could have told us this would happen. In fact, they did. The founders knew that when people discovered that they could vote themselves other people’s money that would be the beginning of the end for America. Circa 2011, about half of Americans pay no income taxes, none at all and many are given tax “rebates” because they do not pay taxes. A tiny percentage of the evil, greedy rich evilly and greedily pay most income taxes, and the rest are paid by an increasingly small middle class of producers, people who still actually produce goods, services and wealth in a manner that our forefathers would recognize and of which they would approve.

We have created an enormous and growing class of consumers, of people who do not for a moment think that they must live within their means, of people who do not expect to work for what they receive, of people who expect government to provide for much—or all—of what they have. And we have elected a man who believes in all of this, and more. Our president wants everyone to attend college on the public dime. The public dime is our tax dollars and whatever money can be begged and borrowed from nations that hate us and would delight in our destruction. As this is being written, Mr. Obama and his advisors are apparently seriously considering merely ignoring the law, ignoring the debt ceiling and spending as much money—money we do not have—as he pleases. His pleasure is unlimited. The Democrats in Congress have broken the law by not producing a budget, and proudly announced their intention to continue breaking that particular law, for they know that any budget they produce would enrage even the enervated American public. Most Congressional Democrats are more than willing to spend us into oblivion. A surprising and disgusting number of Republicans have been, and are, willing to assist them, even now.

The wreckage has become so obvious that all of Mr. Obama’s primary financial advisors have, like rats, deserted the sinking ship of state. All, that is, with the exception of the tax-evading Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who has had to recently sort of deny pervasive rumors of his impending departure. Presumably, Mr. Obama will now bring in the second string team to finish an already losing game.

We know that Socialism doesn’t work. It is the opposite of what Americans once knew and believed. It is anti-democratic and anti-American. Its foundational principles depict men as vassals of the state, as simpletons and weaklings unable to understand their own needs and unable to provide for themselves and their families. This is the very opposite of America. Yet Mr. Obama and the self-appointed better classes embrace it even as it has ruined the rest of the world, even as those sad, failing and failed nations struggle to abandon it. Margaret Thatcher was right. The problem with Socialism is that you always run out of other people’s money. And so we have.

Forget that Obamacare is not yet fully implemented and that if and when it is, it will, by itself, absent any other looming financial debacle (our other bankrupt entitlements), bankrupt the nation. The idea that tens of millions of uninsured Americans could be fully insured and that our costs would be lower and our medical care improved was a blatant lie from the beginning, a lie the new Americans of 1776 would have immediately recognized and rejected, as the majority of contemporary Americans continue to reject it. Consider what revolutionary era Americans would have thought of a president who so casually lied on such a grand scale. That we find it not only unremarkable, that we have come to expect it, clearly illustrates our national dissolution and despair.

But on this 4th of July, as fireworks soar into the night sky, so too may our hopes. All is not lost, not yet anyway. Even if a surprising and disgusting portion of Americans no longer believe that America is the one exceptional and indispensable nation, billions around the world do and they would, if they could, vote in the most sincere manner possible: they would vote with their feet and move here to become what far too many of us, starting with our president, no longer appreciate. They know what it is to be an American. They have no doubt of its distinction and value.

We may yet stave off disaster and decline. Such things are a matter of choice. By embracing the simple truths by which the first Americans lived their lives, we too may restore America to what she should be, to what she must be if mankind is to have true hope rather than the ephemeral hope of teleprompter-driven political rhetoric. It will not be easy, and it will take generations, but once again, we must—as Americans and as America—learn to live within our means and to provide for ourselves. That process has, weakly, already begun. It will truly begin with the removal of Barack Obama from office in 2012. It will continue when Americans once again embrace freedom and remove from office those who would destroy it. It will continue when Americans no longer tolerate those who do not tolerate them, domestically and around the world.

So on this July 4th, celebrate, but never forget that we remain free because of the continuing sacrifice of better men and women than ourselves. If we fail to honor their sacrifice and embrace and live the values that made July 4 more than just another day on the calendar, America will soon dissipate, like a brilliantly exploding firework against the night sky, flaring briefly and brightly, but gone forever. We will end not with a bang, but a whimper. America deserves better. The world deserves better.

Only the recreation of the new American Man, not by the government, not by fiat and mandate, but by Americans themselves, can reverse our disastrous course.

I Couldn't Get Him To Shut Up

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Welcome to the first post in our Literature Corner. I can’t guarantee that we’ll post a story every Saturday, but we will do it as regularly as possible.

The stories about my police experience are true. I have changed the names to avoid embarrassing anyone, and in that spirit, I have occasionally slightly altered a detail or two, but they’re presented almost exactly as they occurred.

The first story is about something very common for police officers: a DUI arrest. Police officers will tell you that a large part of their business is related to the use and abuse of alcohol. Sometimes drunk drivers are pretty funny. More often, they’re stupid, smelly, dangerous and sometimes, deadly. This story is about one of the funny ones that by the grace of God. somehow missed killing himself and a variety of others.

I Couldn’t Get Him To Shut Up

I finally found the guy about 20 minutes after I got the call of a drunk driver. The Dispatcher told me that the drunk was being followed by an off duty volunteer fireman who first spotted the drunk driving on the wrong side of the road. Better yet, it was the middle of the afternoon. Most DUI arrests take place at night. Anyone this drunk during the day had to be a serious alcoholic, very, very unlucky, or both.

The fireman had a portable radio and was reporting his position as he followed the drunk, who was doing his best to try to hit everything in sight, and that was the problem. Not the fireman, not even necessarily the drunk, but the dispatchers, who were relaying the fireman’s directions at least five minutes late.

I showed up at the “Waterin’ Hole,” a biker bar, where Dispatch told me the drunk was stopped in the parking lot. There was no one there but a few bikers lazily sipping beer on the patio. They told me that they saw the drunk, being followed by a guy in a red pickup, but they were heading south at least five minutes earlier!

I told Dispatch that their information was behind reality, but they never got it right. I ended up racing here and there, only to find no one present when I arrived. Finally, I got a break. The drunk parked in front of a house in a residential neighborhood and was trying to get in. The off duty fireman blocked the drunk’s car with his pickup so he couldn’t take off.

When I finally arrived, I was more than a little dismayed to learn from the fireman that they had been there at least ten minutes. He told me it was a miracle the drunk hadn’t hit anything or anybody. As I watched the drunk I apologized and explained why I was so tardy.

The drunk driver was Jim Reinhart. He was 26, a sales rep. for a local company, and about 5’6” with a small build. He was profoundly drunk. Reinhart was on the porch of a small home, stumbling and swaying and clumsily trying to pull open the locked door.

I approached him and smiled. “Hey there Sir; how are you doing?” He didn’t acknowledge me, but continued to clumsily jerk on the doorknob. “Sir? Police officer (as if my uniform wouldn’t make that obvious)! What are you doing?” Again no response. “Sir! Is this your home? Do you live here?”

He slowly lifted his head--as though it was very heavy--and mumbled something unintelligible. “What was that? Is this where you live Sir?”

“Yeah...my house...” and his voice trailed off to nothing. He stared blankly. His eyes were watering and glassy. He was broadly swaying in irregular circles. Even though I was about six feet from him, I could easily smell the beer he had been drinking.

“OK. May I see your driver’s license please Sir?” He tried to reach into his left rear jean pocket with his right hand and began to turn circles like a tail-chasing dog. After a couple rotations I was afraid he’d fall off the porch and hurt himself, so I stopped him and told him that his wallet was in his right pocket. He grinned stupidly and jerked it out, accidentally zinging it past my left ear and onto the lawn behind me.

“Whoaaaa,” he said, and stumbled toward me. I stepped aside and let him continue. It’s always a good idea to let drunk drivers demonstrate just how drunk they are. He stopped in front of the wallet and began, in excruciating slow motion, to reach for it, but he only bent forward at the waist, keeping his legs rigidly straight. When he leaned too far forward, he toppled clumsily over onto the grass and began laughing uncontrollably.

The fireman and I couldn’t help laughing along. “OK Sir, what’s your name?”

“I’m Jim!” He exclaimed, laughing merrily.

“OK Jim, how about that license?” He took just about everything out of his wallet and began to drop it all around him. He handled and looked at his license and dropped it at least three times, fumbling with other cards and papers. I picked it up and read his address. “2119 Lakeview. Is that your address Jim?”

“Yup!” Jim laughed.

“But Jim, this house is 3204 Maple.” He just looked stupidly at me. “OK Jim, there are a few little things I’d like you to do for me. OK?”

Jim was still laughing as I helped him up. “OK” he said, slurring badly.

It was time for field sobriety “tests.” Most people have no idea what they are, but they think they’re purposely difficult so that the police can arrest everyone in sight, as in Steve Martin’s “The Man With Two Brains.” Stopped by the Swedish Police, Martin does a series of exercises such as walking on his hands and hopping on one leg while juggling and singing at the same time. Hilarious, but not quite right.

Words are important. I always called them “maneuvers” or “exercises,” never tests. Defense attorneys actually buy books on how to defend drunk drivers. One favorite defense trick is to have an officer go over each part of each exercise and then break it up into fractions and ask, “so Officer, my client did four out of five parts of the first test correctly, didn’t he? Wouldn’t that be 80% accuracy, and wouldn’t that be a passing grade on any test, anywhere?”

This usually leaves hapless officers sputtering and is pretty convincing to a jury. So I never use the word “tests,” and if a defense attorney tries that old trick, I explain that I’m asking their client to do simple maneuvers or exercises that any sober person can easily do, not to rack up a score as with a test, but to have the maximum chance to be fair to their client by observing as much of their behavior as I reasonably can. That has the advantage of being true, and juries like it.

We only got through three of them; I usually have drunks do five. First I asked Jim to walk on an imaginary straight line on the sidewalk. He was to walk five steps away from me, touching heel to toe on each step, turn while staying on the line, and walk back five more steps and stop. I demonstrated it for him, exactly as I wanted him to do it. “OK Jim; think you can do that one?”

“Sure” Jim said and started off. He was literally all over the sidewalk, tripping, nearly falling, and so unsteady I had to stop him after a few steps out of fear he’d fall and hurt himself. He didn’t come close to doing as I asked.

Next, I asked him to touch the tips of his fingers to the tip of his thumb, from his first to little fingers in order, and count “1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1” as he touched. I demonstrated exactly what I wanted him to do and told him to start. He held up his right hand and stared at it for about a minute, acting as if he had never seen it before. He eventually stabbed jerkily at his fingers with his thumb, mumbling random numbers, and never making a solid touch. Suddenly, with no warning at all, he lost his balance and fell over backward, flat on his back on the lawn, just like one of those models in the Lipton Tea commercials, still trying to touch his fingers to his thumb on the way down. I was worried that he was hurt, but he burst into laughter again. He was still having a great time!

Finally, I asked him to count upwards as far as he could by threes, demonstrating to 12. That was all, just counting, nothing else.

He giggled and began, slowly, clumsily moving his fingers as he spoke as if counting on them. “Three....three...five, two, seven, three...three...nine, twelve, two...”

That was more than enough evidence, particularly since the fireman was watching too, so I stopped Jim. He was just delighted to be arrested and jabbered happily as I handcuffed him and helped him into the back of my car.

The fireman’s story was great stuff. He told me that he was driving home after an errand in town when he spotted Jim coming toward him fully on the wrong side of the road--on the sidewalk! Oh, that was good. That observaton alone made it unlikely that the case would go to trial. People just love firemen, and no defense attorney in his right mind would want a jury to hear that. It was going to be plea bargain time.

The fireman realized that Jim was major league dangerous, and as he had his fire radio with him, decided to follow him. Jim was all over the road, nearly hitting several cars head on, and was traveling from 10 to 60 MPH through residential neighborhoods. He even spent some time in a ditch, motoring merrily along for several hundred yards. He ended up following Jim for more than five miles until Jim finally stopped and I eventually showed up.

FAST-FORWARD TWO MONTHS. THE SCENE: Jim’s preliminary hearing. Defense attorneys will usually waive the preliminary if they’re planning a plea bargain, but some do it anyway, hoping to find something they might use at a trial.

“And did you have a conversation while you were on the way to the jail with the defendant, Officer?” The prosecutor was leading me through the case. We already covered the chase and exercises.

“Yes, I did Sir.”

“What was that conversation?”

“I asked if he’d like me to call someone to get his car. He provided the name of a relative who did eventually take it.”

“And what else did you discuss?”

“As we began to drive to the Jail, Mr. Reinhart told me that he was ‘drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk.’ He also said that he was ‘drunk on my butt.’ He told me that he couldn’t figure out why the road was on the left, but he finally realized he was driving on the sidewalk. He also told me that he was sorry for ‘running over that mailbox.’”

“And did he run over a mailbox?”

“Yes Sir. I retraced his path and found a smashed mailbox at 8th and Main. I found the door of the mailbox lodged in the grill of his car and paint transfer from the mailbox on the grill, bumper and undercarriage of the car.”

“Officer, for clarification, this wasn’t just a private mailbox, was it?”

“No Sir. It was a U.S. Postal Service mailbox, one of the big red and blue ones.” Jim’s defense attorney looked sick.

The prosecutor grinned. “I see. And did you notice anything else about Mr. Reinhart’s vehicle?”

“Yes. Hitting the mailbox damaged his vehicle. I found its muffler and a two foot section of exhaust pipe stuck on the smashed mailbox. The mailbox was bolted to a concrete pad.”

“What happened next?”

“Mr. Reinhart kept talking about his alcoholism. He said that he was a life long alcoholic and that he had fallen ‘off the wagon,’ and that he was going to kill himself with his drinking. He told me that he was ‘out of control.’ He said he began drinking in junior high and was an alcoholic by the time he was fifteen. He told me that he already had five DUI convictions. He said that he had at least ten beers and a quart of ‘Jim Beam’ before he left home.”

“I see. Thank you Officer. Your witness.”

“Mr. Collins?” The judge motioned for the new, inexperienced public defender to begin his questioning. Collins had a kind of sly grin on his face. He thought he had an issue; he was going to get me on Miranda.

Miranda is very misunderstood. Common knowledge, gathered from TV and the movies, suggests that if a cop fails to “Mirandize” a bad guy, the bad guy walks. Wrong. In reality, Miranda applies only in cases of custodial interrogation. If the bad guy is in custody and the police are asking questions with the hope of implicating him in a crime, they need to read his rights under the Supreme Court’s 1968 Miranda decision. If they don’t, or the bad guy refuses to talk with them and they continue anyway, they can’t use what he says against him in court. It’s no get out of jail free card; if there is other evidence, he can still be convicted. Of course, if the bad guy wants to talk or volunteers information all bets are off.

Collins thought I didn’t Mirandize, and he was right. He thought he’d be able to get Reinhart’s very damaging statements excluded at the trial that he was now happily contemplating, visions of brilliant legal maneuvering dancing in his oh-so-new litigator’s brain. Reinhart had so many misdemeanor DUI’s that this one would be a felony, and he was going to spend some real time behind bars if convicted.

Even with the overwhelming evidence against him (he took a blood test--it was more than three times the legal limit), it might be worth it to try the case instead of doing a plea bargain. Who knows? Maybe Reinhart would get lucky, draw a stupid jury, and be acquitted.

Collins went for the jugular. “Tell me Officer, did you Mirandize Mr. Reinhart before the conversation you described?”

“No Sir.”

Collins could barely control his smirk. He thought he had me for sure. All he had to do was run headlong through the door he just opened. “So when you asked him questions, he hadn’t been advised of his rights under Miranda?” He shot a knowing look at the judge.

“I didn’t ask him any questions, Sir.”

“What?! You what...?” His face turned white and his jaw dropped wide open. The judge and prosecutor were stifling laughter. Collins was confused. Was I trying to trick him? It dawned on me that he was the victim of a common attorney affliction: I Don’t Bother to Read Reports Syndrome.

Every movie prosecutor and defense attorney carefully prepares each case. They’re aware of the tiniest detail. In the real world, this doesn’t hold true. Cops and judges learn through experience that painstaking preparation and voluminous knowledge tend to be rare qualities. It was obvious that Collins had not read the report thoroughly. I did not write about giving Jim Miranda, and when he saw that missing, he thought he had me and stopped.

But wait a minute! If they don’t read the reports--the literal record of who said what and who did what to whom--won’t they tend to look kind of stupid? Absolutely! But the truth is that one DUI case is much like another, and public employees like prosecutors and public defenders are very overworked. So they sometimes merely skim a report just before walking into court, or even read it on the fly just before asking questions, right there in the courtroom. Sometimes that works; sometimes it explodes in their faces. Collins was about to be blown up, cartoon-style.

It was even worse because Collins violated, and was about to again violate, one of the cardinal rules of courtroom practice: Never ask a question of a witness in open court unless absolutely certain of the answer. Collins blew it once when he thought he was sure of my answer, but didn’t understand the case sufficiently to ask the question. Now he had to do it again. If he didn’t ask the logical follow up question, the prosecutor would, following him through the door Collins blundered into opening. Still, he tried to make the best of it.

“Officer, you did not write in your report that you read Miranda to my client. You didn’t read my client Miranda at all, did you?”

“No sir,” I replied, being careful not to grin.

“But you did ask my client questions, didn’t you?” He was beginning to think he might just pull a rabbit out of his hat.

“No Sir, I didn’t, except of course his name and things like that.”

“Well, if you didn’t ask questions, how could you have a conversation?” Even as he asked the question, the look on his face told me he just realized he shouldn’t have asked.

“It wasn’t really much of a conversation, Sir. I just couldn’t get him to shut up.”

Collins watched his brilliant defense fly out the window. His looked absolutely sick. He knew I was telling the truth and that he just walked himself right off the plank. “He started talking the minute he sat down in my car and just kept rattling on and on and on. At first, I just listened and made notes about what he was saying, but after awhile he became really annoying and I repeatedly tried to get him to stop. I told him that he’d be better off if he didn’t say anything at all. I almost begged him, but he just kept talking and talking. He was still talking as I turned him over to the jail staff.”

“No further questions, your Honor,” Collins mumbled. He looked as if he—instead of Jim--had just been sentenced to life.

The judge was smiling broadly. “Redirect?” He asked the prosecutor.

He was grinning too. “No your Honor. The State rests.”

Reinhart was bound over for trial. It was no surprise when he took a plea bargain and did a year and change in jail for his sixth DUI conviction. I never found out if that experience helped shut him up.

The Sound of a Train

I love the sound of a train. When I left the big city to move here I asked the Realtor before I made a bid on the place, "can I hear a train at night?" She looked apologetic when she said, "yes, there's one that runs about a mile away, you can hear it most nights", not realizing that to me that's exactly what I wanted to hear, that comforting sound.

I grew up in a town with a small log mill in the mountains of the West and I used to lay in bed at night and listen to the soulful melody of a train running a mile behind our house. I remember those damp nights when the rumble of the train came right up into the house and made my whole room resonate with the melancholy beauty of its sound. That haunting sound today simply brings back memories of those nights safely in my bed, home safe and surrounded by people that love me, the laughter of my Mom in the kitchen with my Dad, a tonic for any worries a child could have.

I'm probably unique in this affection. Henry David Thoreau complained that his life and tranquility were interrupted daily by the sound of the train passing near Walden. "The whistle of the locomotive penetrates my woods, sounding like the scream of a hawk sailing over some farmer's yard". So, although I love the sound of a train, I identified with Thoreau briefly, after I first moved to one of my first post-college apartments, right across the street from an airport where rent was cheap and where the sounds of aircraft were a constant. It wasn't just airplanes, for there was a helicopter flight school, and my morning's sleep was often interrupted as their blades beat the air into submission outside my window at first light. When the helicopters weren't flying the students were, and although, as a fledgling pilot I loved the sound of an airplane, hearing them 24 and 7 wasn't really what I had planned on.

But on the morning 9-12-2001, I'd have given anything to hear the sound of a airplane over my house, to see a contrail in the sky. The heavens were still and vaporless, as we as a people collectively came to a halt in mourning and awakening to a devastation we'd never dreamed of. I knew we'd go to war over this. It would be the 3rd war of my generations time, the 5th of my Fathers', and I was afraid it would be the worst.

Like any war, there would be casualties.However, where we would go was so different than the trenches of France or the skies above Germany. We would be fighting in a land that is violent and raw, a place and a culture that does not lend itself to leniency or the principals of freedom. There is a fine honed edge between daily life and senseless violence in those lands and the price of any innocence would be high. Raised mostly in affluent times, like myself, with safety and security, the soldiers would be saying their goodbyes to parents and loved ones, with courage driven by fear and hope, with only their training and an admirable commitment to the duty they had taken on.

As I sit at my little table writing this, an old train style lantern lighting my keyboard, ten years have gone by, and though my world is quiet except the occasional sound of the train, we are still at war. As I write, I listen to the song of Gordon Lightfoot who sings "Who are these ones who would lead us now; To the sound of a thousand guns; Who'd storm the gates of hell itself; To the tune of a single drum; Where are the girls of the neighborhood bars; Whose loves were lost at sea; In the hills of France and on German soil; From Saigon to Wounded Knee; Who come from long lines of soldiers; Whose duty was fulfilled; In the words of a warriors will; And protocol".

It seems as if some of our leaders wish to forget why we fight; forget what duty is. "In God We Trust" is on our dollar, but how long until that is replaced with some new age slogan and the visage of someone not ever tested in battle, honed under fire. How long until "One Nation Under God" is repealed for a catchy phrase that won't offend those that don't embrace the principals and Christian faith this country was founded on?

"In the words of a warriors will, and protocol". As the song ends, I pray for the future of our great nation. I pray for the the safety of all of the military personnel that took the call of duty, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in support at home, wherever they may serve. I yearn for simpler times long ago, for other sights and sounds, log trains curving down forested hills in the rain, the whistle of their steadfast engines lulling me to sleep in a house in a nation Under God.
- Brigid