Back in a time when the National Basketball Association consisted of the best basketball players in the land...Translation...Back when the NBA was fun to watch...there was a guy by the name of Red Auerbach, and he was the coach/general manager of the team in Boston called "The Celtics"."
In a time - the 1960's - in our country, Red Auerbach was willing to put 5 black men on the court when no one else was. He won 9 straight NBA championships.
In the 1980's, he was courageous enough to put 5 white guys on the court, when no one else was. He ended up winning 7 more NBA championships.
Red Auerbach had passion and the courage of his convictions. On October 28th 2006, Red Auerbach died at the age of 89.
America has lost another person who stood for what he believed in, and was a success because of it.
Is there anyone out there like him? Please step forward, now.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Rick Santorum
There is a man in Pennsylvania by the name of Rick Santorum. He has been a State Senator there since 1994, and rarely has one person elicited so much national attention as a junior Senator from a State like Pennsylvania. Not that I have anything against Pennsylvania, but on the national attention meter, it doesn't exactly ring the bell like California, Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, etc.
Rick Santorum is a conservative Republican, and it looks right now as if he is probably going to lose his seat in the Senate, partly because of the backlash voting that everyone is predicting, and partly because of Senator Santorum himself. You see, Rick Santorum says what he believes, and stands for what he stands for, regardless of whether that is going to cost him his job. This past Monday, he said as much during a campaign speech he was giving. He told prospective voters that he "was not going to say to them what they wanted to hear just to get re-elected." He followed that with the daring statement, "and I'm ok with the fact you may not vote for me because of it."
Hmmmm. Interesting.
Rick Santorum believes in traditional marriage and family, and he said so several months back. He also made a strategic - and admittedly stupid blunder - by saying homosexuality is destroying the moral fabric and fiber of our society. Say goodbye to any possibles you may have had with that statement, Rick. The truth of the matter is homosexuality probably does not tear down the moral fiber of America, but plenty of other stuff does. We do just fine jacking things around all by ourselves, and one more thing isn't necessarily going to make it worse. But he said it, and now he has to live with it. And to his credit, he does.
In the same speech, Senator Santorum voiced his position that he was and still is in favor of the War in Iraq and the battles against terrorism in general. This of course is political suicide of the highest magnitude these days. Gay bashing and war supporting is not in the best interests of any candidate right now. In the speech, the Senator noted the following:
Since 2003, 4,500 schools have been reopened or built by coalition forces, and stocked with over 8 million text books. This number is up from less than 1000 schools during the Saddam regime.
Since 2003, 98% of the children of Iraq have been given the basic imunizations that we here in America get. That 98% is up from 1% during Saddam's time.
Prior to 2003, there was a cell phone or PC for 1 person out of every 1 million. Since 2003, 5 million cells are in use, and over 3.5 million Iraqi's own PC's.
There were 2 television stations from 1979 to 2003. They were silently dubbed "Saddam TV." Since 2003, there are now 150 local and satellite stations available, many of which openly talk and debate politics...something that would have earned a citizen a bullet in the head in another time.
Of the 18 provinces of Iraq, 12 or 13 of them are secure and peaceful. Strides are being made, and yes, lives are being lost in making those strides.
He said a lot more...which included his acknowledgement that there have been political and military blunders in Iraq as well... and he was roundly booed during the speech. Senator Santorum says what is on his mind, and that is where he declared he won't change his mind, his Senatorial duties, or his principles, for a vote. He was again booed.
I don't know about you, but I'm damn sure glad we are getting ready to boot this guy. Imagine what might happen to this country if we had a whole barrel full of politicians who said what they believed and stuck by their principles...regardless of which side they stood on?
Show me another liberal or conservative anywhere who has not caved to money or special interest groups. Show me another - again, liberal or conservative - who has not changed their mind and their statements when the situation fit.
In a few years, Pennsylvanian's are going to be kicking themselves for being blinded by anger. Perhaps luck will turn it around, and the entire nation will prosper from Pennsylvania's error in a couple of years.
Perhaps...
Rick Santorum is a conservative Republican, and it looks right now as if he is probably going to lose his seat in the Senate, partly because of the backlash voting that everyone is predicting, and partly because of Senator Santorum himself. You see, Rick Santorum says what he believes, and stands for what he stands for, regardless of whether that is going to cost him his job. This past Monday, he said as much during a campaign speech he was giving. He told prospective voters that he "was not going to say to them what they wanted to hear just to get re-elected." He followed that with the daring statement, "and I'm ok with the fact you may not vote for me because of it."
Hmmmm. Interesting.
Rick Santorum believes in traditional marriage and family, and he said so several months back. He also made a strategic - and admittedly stupid blunder - by saying homosexuality is destroying the moral fabric and fiber of our society. Say goodbye to any possibles you may have had with that statement, Rick. The truth of the matter is homosexuality probably does not tear down the moral fiber of America, but plenty of other stuff does. We do just fine jacking things around all by ourselves, and one more thing isn't necessarily going to make it worse. But he said it, and now he has to live with it. And to his credit, he does.
In the same speech, Senator Santorum voiced his position that he was and still is in favor of the War in Iraq and the battles against terrorism in general. This of course is political suicide of the highest magnitude these days. Gay bashing and war supporting is not in the best interests of any candidate right now. In the speech, the Senator noted the following:
Since 2003, 4,500 schools have been reopened or built by coalition forces, and stocked with over 8 million text books. This number is up from less than 1000 schools during the Saddam regime.
Since 2003, 98% of the children of Iraq have been given the basic imunizations that we here in America get. That 98% is up from 1% during Saddam's time.
Prior to 2003, there was a cell phone or PC for 1 person out of every 1 million. Since 2003, 5 million cells are in use, and over 3.5 million Iraqi's own PC's.
There were 2 television stations from 1979 to 2003. They were silently dubbed "Saddam TV." Since 2003, there are now 150 local and satellite stations available, many of which openly talk and debate politics...something that would have earned a citizen a bullet in the head in another time.
Of the 18 provinces of Iraq, 12 or 13 of them are secure and peaceful. Strides are being made, and yes, lives are being lost in making those strides.
He said a lot more...which included his acknowledgement that there have been political and military blunders in Iraq as well... and he was roundly booed during the speech. Senator Santorum says what is on his mind, and that is where he declared he won't change his mind, his Senatorial duties, or his principles, for a vote. He was again booed.
I don't know about you, but I'm damn sure glad we are getting ready to boot this guy. Imagine what might happen to this country if we had a whole barrel full of politicians who said what they believed and stuck by their principles...regardless of which side they stood on?
Show me another liberal or conservative anywhere who has not caved to money or special interest groups. Show me another - again, liberal or conservative - who has not changed their mind and their statements when the situation fit.
In a few years, Pennsylvanian's are going to be kicking themselves for being blinded by anger. Perhaps luck will turn it around, and the entire nation will prosper from Pennsylvania's error in a couple of years.
Perhaps...
Friday, October 13, 2006
Since when is criticism against the law?
From an on-line publication called "THE PROGRESSIVE":
Liberal columnist Steve Howards says he used to fantasize about what he'd say to President Bush or Vice President Cheney if he ever got the chance.
That opportunity arrived on June 16, the same day he says he read about U.S. fatalities in Iraq reaching 2,500.
"Initially, I walked past him. Then I said to myself, I can't in good conscience let this opportunity pass by. So I approached him, I got about two feet away, and I said in a very calm tone of voice, 'Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible."
Howards says he was taking two of his kids to their Suzuki piano camp in Beaver Creek, Colorado. They were walking across the outdoor public mall area when all of a sudden he saw Cheney there.
"I didn't even know he was in town," Howards says. "He was walking through the area shaking hands. Initially, I walked past him. Then I said to myself, 'I can't in good conscience let this opportunity pass by. So I approached him, I got about two feet away, and I said in a very calm tone of voice, 'Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible.' And then I walked away."
Howards says he knew the Administration has a history of making problems for people who protest its policies, so he wanted to leave off at that.
But the Secret Service did not take kindly to his comment. "About ten minutes later, I came back through the mall with my eight-year-old son in tow," Howards recalls, "and this Secret Service man came out of the shadows, and his exact words were, 'Did you assault the Vice President?'
Here's how Howards says he responded: "No, but I did tell Mr. Cheney the way I felt about the war in Iraq, and if Mr. Cheney wants to be shielded from public criticism, he should avoid public places. If exercising my constitutional rights to free speech is against the law, then you should arrest me."
Which is just what the agent, Virgil D. Gus Reichle Jr, proceeded to do.
"He grabbed me and cuffed my hands behind my back in the presence of my eight-year-old son and told me I was being charged with assault of the Vice President,"Howards recalls.
He says he told the agent, "I can't abandon my eight-year-old son in a public mall."
According to Howards, Reichle responded: "We'll call Social Services." "Before that could happen, however, my son ran away and found my wife, who was nearby," Howards says.
"First of all, I was scared,"Howard recalls. "hey wouldn't tell my wife where they were taking me. Second of all, I was incredulous this could be happening in the United States of America. This is what I read about happening in Tiananmen Square. They hauled me away to Eagle County jail and kept me with my hands cuffed behind my back for three hours."
At the jail, the charge against him was reduced to harassment, he says, and he was released on $500 bond. The Eagle County DA's office eventually dropped that charge.
On October 3, Howards sued Reichle for depriving him of his First Amendment right of free speech and his Fourth Amendment right to be protected from illegal seizure.
Howards and his attorney, David Lane, have not demanded a specific dollar amount.
"We will go to trial and let a Colorado jury decide what type of damages are appropriate," says Howards. "This isn't about anything I did. This about what I said. There is a frontal assault occurring on our constitutional right to free speech. We brought this suit because of our belief that this Administration's attempt to suppress free speech is a greater threat to the long-term integrity of this nation than ten Osama bin Ladens."
Reichle did not return my call for comment. Nor did he respond to The New York Times in its article on this incident.
Lon Garner, special agent in charge at the Secret Service's Denver office, says he has "no reaction to the lawsuit. It's in litigation," he says. "We have no comment."
Before his encounter with Cheney, Howards says he had a clean record.
"I was never arrested before," he says. "I don't have so much as a speeding ticket."
If Mr. Howards' story is in fact 100% correct, I gotta go with "Lefty" on this one. It is not against our Constitutional rights to criticize, even in an off-hand way in a public setting. "Lefty" is correct on this one when he said, "If you don't want public criticism, don't go to public places."
Would I myself say something to someone like Nancy Pelosi? Probably not.
I believe ignoring those you think are stupid is the adult thing to do. However, we do live in the United States, and with that citizenship comes a certain amount of latitude...latitude provided by men far smarter than Vice President Cheney over 2 centuries ago.
With that said, don't any of you who've actually read my stuff think I'm jumping the fence - because I'm not. There was an incident in 1995 when President Clinton was shaking hands at a democratic fund-raiser in Louisiana, and one of the people in line refused. When President Clinton asked the gentleman why, he responded with, "Because I don't like your ass." Several minutes later, a Secret Service Agent warned the man that "one more derogatory comment will get you a pair of handcuffs and a trip to the county jail."
Soooooo, I guess the point here is this: If an American citizen - ANY American citizen - is not free to publicly criticize the highest officers in this country, I think it's high time you let us all know that. I do believe 99.9% of us had no idea speaking directly - and critically - to someone like Donald Rumsfeld was a crime.
Thank God I exercise restraint in my life. Nancy Pelosi IS a freaking imbecile, and I might have found myself so inclined to tell her.
Not any more.
Liberal columnist Steve Howards says he used to fantasize about what he'd say to President Bush or Vice President Cheney if he ever got the chance.
That opportunity arrived on June 16, the same day he says he read about U.S. fatalities in Iraq reaching 2,500.
"Initially, I walked past him. Then I said to myself, I can't in good conscience let this opportunity pass by. So I approached him, I got about two feet away, and I said in a very calm tone of voice, 'Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible."
Howards says he was taking two of his kids to their Suzuki piano camp in Beaver Creek, Colorado. They were walking across the outdoor public mall area when all of a sudden he saw Cheney there.
"I didn't even know he was in town," Howards says. "He was walking through the area shaking hands. Initially, I walked past him. Then I said to myself, 'I can't in good conscience let this opportunity pass by. So I approached him, I got about two feet away, and I said in a very calm tone of voice, 'Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible.' And then I walked away."
Howards says he knew the Administration has a history of making problems for people who protest its policies, so he wanted to leave off at that.
But the Secret Service did not take kindly to his comment. "About ten minutes later, I came back through the mall with my eight-year-old son in tow," Howards recalls, "and this Secret Service man came out of the shadows, and his exact words were, 'Did you assault the Vice President?'
Here's how Howards says he responded: "No, but I did tell Mr. Cheney the way I felt about the war in Iraq, and if Mr. Cheney wants to be shielded from public criticism, he should avoid public places. If exercising my constitutional rights to free speech is against the law, then you should arrest me."
Which is just what the agent, Virgil D. Gus Reichle Jr, proceeded to do.
"He grabbed me and cuffed my hands behind my back in the presence of my eight-year-old son and told me I was being charged with assault of the Vice President,"Howards recalls.
He says he told the agent, "I can't abandon my eight-year-old son in a public mall."
According to Howards, Reichle responded: "We'll call Social Services." "Before that could happen, however, my son ran away and found my wife, who was nearby," Howards says.
"First of all, I was scared,"Howard recalls. "hey wouldn't tell my wife where they were taking me. Second of all, I was incredulous this could be happening in the United States of America. This is what I read about happening in Tiananmen Square. They hauled me away to Eagle County jail and kept me with my hands cuffed behind my back for three hours."
At the jail, the charge against him was reduced to harassment, he says, and he was released on $500 bond. The Eagle County DA's office eventually dropped that charge.
On October 3, Howards sued Reichle for depriving him of his First Amendment right of free speech and his Fourth Amendment right to be protected from illegal seizure.
Howards and his attorney, David Lane, have not demanded a specific dollar amount.
"We will go to trial and let a Colorado jury decide what type of damages are appropriate," says Howards. "This isn't about anything I did. This about what I said. There is a frontal assault occurring on our constitutional right to free speech. We brought this suit because of our belief that this Administration's attempt to suppress free speech is a greater threat to the long-term integrity of this nation than ten Osama bin Ladens."
Reichle did not return my call for comment. Nor did he respond to The New York Times in its article on this incident.
Lon Garner, special agent in charge at the Secret Service's Denver office, says he has "no reaction to the lawsuit. It's in litigation," he says. "We have no comment."
Before his encounter with Cheney, Howards says he had a clean record.
"I was never arrested before," he says. "I don't have so much as a speeding ticket."
If Mr. Howards' story is in fact 100% correct, I gotta go with "Lefty" on this one. It is not against our Constitutional rights to criticize, even in an off-hand way in a public setting. "Lefty" is correct on this one when he said, "If you don't want public criticism, don't go to public places."
Would I myself say something to someone like Nancy Pelosi? Probably not.
I believe ignoring those you think are stupid is the adult thing to do. However, we do live in the United States, and with that citizenship comes a certain amount of latitude...latitude provided by men far smarter than Vice President Cheney over 2 centuries ago.
With that said, don't any of you who've actually read my stuff think I'm jumping the fence - because I'm not. There was an incident in 1995 when President Clinton was shaking hands at a democratic fund-raiser in Louisiana, and one of the people in line refused. When President Clinton asked the gentleman why, he responded with, "Because I don't like your ass." Several minutes later, a Secret Service Agent warned the man that "one more derogatory comment will get you a pair of handcuffs and a trip to the county jail."
Soooooo, I guess the point here is this: If an American citizen - ANY American citizen - is not free to publicly criticize the highest officers in this country, I think it's high time you let us all know that. I do believe 99.9% of us had no idea speaking directly - and critically - to someone like Donald Rumsfeld was a crime.
Thank God I exercise restraint in my life. Nancy Pelosi IS a freaking imbecile, and I might have found myself so inclined to tell her.
Not any more.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Cruise
Went on a 5-day cruise this past week, and when I feel I can muster up the energy, I'm fairly certain I can post a typical JL4 sarcastic blog about it. It was indeed great fun and a wonderful trip.
First stop was Key West...the city, not the string of islands known as "The Keys". The ocean surrounding the Keys themselves is breathtaking, as I'm sure the islands away from the main poulation are as well. We didn't get to see any of the beautiful stuff though...we went to the city.
Key West is described as "historic", "quaint", and "a breath of fresh air away from modernism".
Hmmmm. The adjective I would have used is "dump".
There is the main drag (pun definitely intended for those of you who get the joke) called Duval Street. It has approximately 350 T-shirt stores, 280 phony jewelry stores, and 150 bong and water pipe stores. The truly wealthy and prosperous locals own the three-tiered T-shirt/jewelry/bong combination stores, clearly a cut above the other single-faceted establishments. And speaking of the locals...evidently having a job is waaaaaaay down the priority list, and I'm not talking retirees here. Thousands between the ages of 30 and 55 just walk the streets every day, a can of cold beer in their hand at 10 am on a Tuesday, looking as if they'd just left the South Florida bonging festival, which of course they probably just had. No one shaves, washes their hair, wears clean clothing, or owns shoes. They also are clearly perturbed at the cruise ship tourists being there. Little do they know their disdain for our presence is matched by our will to get back on the boat after about 30 minutes of walking their dingy streets.
As you walk down Duval Street and several of the side-streets, you're struck by three very distinct things:
1) About every 12th house or hotel is a beautifully restored and maintained bungalow in the best Key West traditions. These are what you see in the brochures.
2) The 11 structures that follow would make people in the South Bronx mutter, "Say Whaaa? I ain't not gonna live in that rat trap...nah ahhh....who you be bullshittin with dat $650,000.00 price tag for a 700 sq ft hurricane speed bump?"
3) Sweeping and otherwise cleaning the streets is apparently illegal in Key West. To be fair, there is no one to sweep the streets since the only people employed are working the T-shirt stores or selling you the newest version of a hash pipe. The majority of the potential work force is wandering around town drinking a Coors silver bullet and awaiting their next chance to twist one up.
In closing, I wanted to point out one other thing. In EVERY store, there was a variety of underwear for sale. All the male underwear had some sort of FART joke printed on the backside, while the female undies reflected what the other person was presumably supposed to do with what lay underneath them. Classy.
"Historic", "quaint", and "a breath of fresh air away from modernism". Ummm, not quite. To be honest, when you reside at a level beneath Wal-Mart and Spencers Gifts by a large margin, the quaintness kinda goes out the window.
Must be the constant farting.
First stop was Key West...the city, not the string of islands known as "The Keys". The ocean surrounding the Keys themselves is breathtaking, as I'm sure the islands away from the main poulation are as well. We didn't get to see any of the beautiful stuff though...we went to the city.
Key West is described as "historic", "quaint", and "a breath of fresh air away from modernism".
Hmmmm. The adjective I would have used is "dump".
There is the main drag (pun definitely intended for those of you who get the joke) called Duval Street. It has approximately 350 T-shirt stores, 280 phony jewelry stores, and 150 bong and water pipe stores. The truly wealthy and prosperous locals own the three-tiered T-shirt/jewelry/bong combination stores, clearly a cut above the other single-faceted establishments. And speaking of the locals...evidently having a job is waaaaaaay down the priority list, and I'm not talking retirees here. Thousands between the ages of 30 and 55 just walk the streets every day, a can of cold beer in their hand at 10 am on a Tuesday, looking as if they'd just left the South Florida bonging festival, which of course they probably just had. No one shaves, washes their hair, wears clean clothing, or owns shoes. They also are clearly perturbed at the cruise ship tourists being there. Little do they know their disdain for our presence is matched by our will to get back on the boat after about 30 minutes of walking their dingy streets.
As you walk down Duval Street and several of the side-streets, you're struck by three very distinct things:
1) About every 12th house or hotel is a beautifully restored and maintained bungalow in the best Key West traditions. These are what you see in the brochures.
2) The 11 structures that follow would make people in the South Bronx mutter, "Say Whaaa? I ain't not gonna live in that rat trap...nah ahhh....who you be bullshittin with dat $650,000.00 price tag for a 700 sq ft hurricane speed bump?"
3) Sweeping and otherwise cleaning the streets is apparently illegal in Key West. To be fair, there is no one to sweep the streets since the only people employed are working the T-shirt stores or selling you the newest version of a hash pipe. The majority of the potential work force is wandering around town drinking a Coors silver bullet and awaiting their next chance to twist one up.
In closing, I wanted to point out one other thing. In EVERY store, there was a variety of underwear for sale. All the male underwear had some sort of FART joke printed on the backside, while the female undies reflected what the other person was presumably supposed to do with what lay underneath them. Classy.
"Historic", "quaint", and "a breath of fresh air away from modernism". Ummm, not quite. To be honest, when you reside at a level beneath Wal-Mart and Spencers Gifts by a large margin, the quaintness kinda goes out the window.
Must be the constant farting.
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