The Clinton Legacy Strikes Again

Another Clinton appointed Federal Judge has stuck a blow for the ACLU, Amnesty International and all anti-death penalty groups.

Judge Jeremy Fogel of the United States District Court in San Jose California has declared lethal injection "cruel and inhumane punishment" for convicted murderers sentenced to death.

The Judge was appointed by Clinton in 1997. Prior to his appointment he was a Harvard law school graduate who served as Directing Attorney for Mental Health Advisory Project.

During this past week Governor Bush of Florida called a halt to pending lethal injections because Angel Diaz required two venapunctures to administer the lethal drugs, and it took 34 minutes for him to die. During the 34 minutes witnesses said he exhibited that he felt pain, he grimaced and shuddered.

Putting aside the fact that this man murdered a man in Miami in 1979, and prior to that had escaped from a prison in Puerto Rico where he was serving a life sentence for second degree murder.

Executions are not supposed to be pleasant experiences for people who have committed heinous crimes with little regard for the feelings of the victims and their families. Our Judicial system has allowed this man, Angel Diaz, to live for 27 years while millions have been spent exhausting all appeals. His victims were killed by this killer who did not kill them in a painless and humane way! He owed his debt to society, and two needle insertions beneath his skin are something that unfortunately occur every day in clinics and hospitals. I myself incurred six such failed attempts to insert an intravenous drip by some inexperienced technicians in one of the best hospitals in Rome Italy. Yes it hurt, but it was not inhumane!

When people sit on the federal bench and declare such a "humane" way of carrying out a capital punishment, as "inhumane and presenting an unacceptable risk of cruelty." It is an affront to the victims of violent crime, and no wonder there are so many murders in this country every year.

The horrid thought and fact is that this same judge will continue to sit on the Federal bench and dispense such disproportional opinions for the rest of his life! And we don't know how many more like him Clinton stacked the Judicial deck with.

Washington Syndrome

The news, television and blogs are filled with stories about who is going to run and win the presidential election. Instead of spending so much time and effort on an election that is in 2008. The news should be about what will happen to this country if we lose the war against terrorism. The U.S. press was concentrated on the War in Iraq for a few days after the IRSG report was released, and the foreign press is having a field day printing stories about "Bushs' failed War". The fact that less American soldiers were being killed each of the last two years and tens of thousands of Iraqis voted twice is ignored. Let us not forget that the despot who ruled Iraq has been tried for his crimes against humanity, and sentenced to death by hanging.
The whole world seems to assume that President Bush will "role over" and declare, as too many have, that he made a mistake and the war in Iraq can't be won. The problem with all of this prattle is we did win the war, the army of Saddam Hussein was torn to pieces by our brave and dedicated soldiers, marines air force and navy. But maintaining the peace is the difficult part. When terrorist fanatics are willing to kill their own people this battle will be as hard to win as has been the war in Northern Ireland. Nothing we do can make the fanatical Sunnis not hate the fanatical Shiites! They have been fighting of and on for centuries, with the willing support of such "bastions of freedom" as Syria and Iran.
It is regrettably true that once a man or women gets elected to either the House of Representatives or the Senate they catch the fever, The fever is power and prestige, which drives them to begin campaigning as soon as they are sworn into office. A problem that can only be solved by instituting universal term limits. We have it for the president, What make the other Washington "Princes" so special?
Maybe if term limits were enacted we would have politicians who come to Washington to do some good for the country. Not just special interests that keep them in the office they hold. If they knew they had to go back to normal life after a given time. They would work together to protect the great country they are suppose to represent!

Will History Be repeated?

The time is long past due for the American people to realize that history is about to repeat once again. It seems as though the memory span of most Americans is limited. More so with every new generation in my opinion.
Perhaps it is because very little American history is taught in our Public schools. Then again it might be just more convenient for Fast moving ,Want it now" generation to never look back.
Whatever the reason it is about to be Korea and Vietnam revisited if President Bush buys into that "trash" called the ISGR. Once again the "peace at all costs" crowd seems to be winning the hearts and minds of the decision makers in Washington.
In the 50's it was Truman relieving General MacArthur from his command in Korea, because he wanted to wage all out war against the North Koreans and Chinese if necessary. Had we done what he wanted , including use of nuclear weapons if needed their would be no North Korean nuclear missile threat, and Communist China would not be the strong nuclear power they are now.
In the late 60's and early 70's the left wing press and the communist sympathizer organizations in the U.S. caused President LBJ to give up the presidency and President Nixon to make peace with the Communists that resulted in genocide in Vietnam and Cambodia. and a further destruction of the morale in military leadership. Even the great general Schwartzkoff has said he contemplated retiring from the army,because morale was so bad.
Now if President Bush follows his fathers friends advice, and uses the IRSG report to end the Iraq war, we will once again be "back to the future." The possibility of genocide in Iraq is very real, as is the possibility of another"Diem Bien Fu"for the reduced number of troops that are left as advisers if we withdraw our troops from Iraq.
The first President has the legacy of failing to finish the job when we went into Iraq during his only term in office. Let us hope and pray his son won't do the same thing due to pressure from the "Diplomacy Freaks"!

The Destruction of A Patriot

The resignation and acceptance of President Bush of the resignation is a great loss to this country.
Yes, Mr. Rumsfeld was an abrupt man who broached no foolishness. As an ex-Naval Fighter pilot he was unaccustomed to the duplicity of diplomacy. He spoke "it" like a true patriot. Because of his abrupt manner he made too many enemies, especially with the politically correct military brass and of course the career members of the career Defense Department. But he understood the threat this country faces from the Muslim extremist, and did his best to support the military in the fight to defeat this threat.
The media hated him as did all the leftist Democrats, and a few leftist Republicans. So now he is gone and the Country is weaker because of his loss. His replacement is no match for this mans fidelity to winning the war against terrorism. He is a diplomat, and President Bush made a poor choice when he replaced a true Patriot!

We Have to Believe!

The one thing I like about blogging is that I can say whatever comes to my mind as long as it is not obscene, treason, criminal or libelous.
The thing that keeps nagging my consciousness is that at this time of the year especially we Americans, :have to believe"!
although I am what some would call a senior citizen I had never read the book or watched Tom Hanks version of "The Polar Express" until last night. My wife has cherished the book for the 33 years we have Been married, and read it to our now grown son every Christmas while he was still a child.
The movie version is cleverly done with computer animation, and a good watch for adults as well as the children. Its' theme is "you have to believe".Of course the belief they talk about is the belief in Santa Claus and the North Pole where he and his elves weave their magic for Christmas eve delivery to all "good children".
At varying ages, mine was at age seven, we all learn that Santa is a myth, but that doesn't stop our belief system fortunately. I want to propose that we have to believe in certain fundamental principals.
We should believe in a Devine power who created this wonderful if flawed world we live on. Whether it is God as I believe, Buddha, Allah, or some other name. It is important to realise that whether God created the earth by causing the "Big Bang" or it took him the six biblical days it doesn't matter. All we have to do is look at the miracle of birth to realise this doesn't happen by accident.
We have to believe we should be thankful for living in this great Country. No other country in the world has all the wonderful opportunities for a good life if you are willing to work for it.
We have to believe there are people who hate us, some unfortunately within our country who would love to see us go down the way the Roman Empire did.
We have to believe in the rights of individuals without which we are nothing more than a sham.
We have to believe this is all worth fighting for if we believe it exists at all.
We have to believe it is better to fight our avowed enemies on their home soil rather than wait until they are here and we are fighting in our streets not theirs.
Lastly we must believe that Goodness can triumph over evil if only their is a will to do it!