Trayvon Martin and the Race Divide

The cause célèbre du jour is the tragic death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin. He was shot and killed by neighborhood watch dude George Zimmerman patrolling his neighborhood late at night on February 26 in Sanford, Fla. The night of the incident, police found Zimmerman standing over the dead body of Martin, shots fired from Zimmerman’s gun. Zimmerman’s faced was bloody and bruised, and the back of his clothes wet. Zimmerman had earlier made a 911 call stating that there was suspicious black youth walking in the neighborhood. Police told Zimmerman not to follow the youth, that they had sufficient information to handle the situation.

Martin was wearing what is popularly known as a hoodie…a sweat shirt with a loose hood and pockets in the front in which to place your hands. Watch any security tape involved capturing a crime, and odds are the perpetrator of the crime is wearing a hoodie.

Subsequent 911 calls from neighbors indicate there was a ruckus of sorts, with someone hollering help several times, and then a shot fired. Zimmerman told police he shot Martin in self defense. Florida is a stand and hold statute, which means if you are being attacked, you have no duty to retreat. You may defend yourself, including shooting the person with a licensed weapon if you feel that your life is in danger.

Martin himself was a good looking young man with a good school record and no history of trouble. He was on the way home from a convenience store. The family of Martin wants an investigation as to why Zimmerman wasn’t arrested for killing their son, an understandable request resulting from this tragedy. However the police determined that Zimmerman’s account of events were backed up by the physical evidence. His face was bloody and bruised. He claims he was physically attacked by Martin and was being held down on his back by him Zimmerman claims the voice on the 911 tape calling for help is his. In addition, there was an eyewitness, whose identity is now being protected, who described the guy on in the red sweater was being held down and beaten by the guy in the hoodie…the statement being taken the night of the incident.

The race mongers have now taken over this incident in a manner reminiscent of the Duke Lacrosse team debacle in which a hooker claimed she was raped. After nearly destroying these young men’s lives, the over zealous prosecutor was disbarred from the practice of law when it turned out that this woman had made the whole thing up looking for money.

I don’t know what happened in Sanford, but it certainly shows that racial tensions are just below the surface in this country, and those who make a living exploiting them will gin up the hatred leading up to the election in the fall to serve as a motivator to get out the liberal base no matter what the truth may or may not be.They are marching in the streets. Athletic teams are wearing hoodies in sympathy for Martin. Students are walking out of the classroom to demonstrate. Petitions are all over online, and the liberal press is positively orgasmic over this story.

By the way, where were these folks at the two shootings at St. Dominic's church by black thugs killing an old man and maiming his wife in the street, and killing someone coming out of morning mass in cold blood in the church parking lot? No race there, I guess.

There should be a thorough investigation to determine the facts. And the facts should be decided by what actually happened rather than a template of what some folks would like to have happened. If Mr. Zimmerman, himself an Hispanic, shot this young man in a racial vendetta of profiling and over zealousness, he certainly should be charged and punished especially because the 911 operator told him NOT to follow the young man.

On the other hand, if the facts show that Zimmerman was attacked by Trayvon Martin and he was acting to defend himself not knowing what Martin had hidden in his hoodie front pockets…then this is just another race baiting bugaboo being used to divide the nation by those with questionable intent.

Both blacks and whites should want the truth. The fact of the matter is that black on white violence is relatively rare. Black on black violence is rampant, a fact that the race baiters conveniently forget.

And one more thing, once again Barack Obama had entered the fray stepping up  up his class and race warfare efforts prior to the election. Rather than doing the responsible thing telling everyone to remain open minded until the investigations are complete, he is playing the emotional race card…if I had a son he would like Trayvon…President Obama, for once act like President and keep your mouth shut on this until the facts are known.

Justice demands truth...not emotion. 

Obama's Wrong Left Turn

President Obama is in trouble. His poll numbers fluctuate wildly on a daily basis. The polls themselves are all over the place increasingly reflecting the bias of the poll takers so it’s hard to grasp what’s what. Unfortunately for Obama, these poll fluctuations seem to be based more on the state of the Republican primary rather than on Obama and his policies. Depending on which Republican is slamming whom, Obama alternately moves between winning against various Republican candidates then losing to the same guys only a few days later.

Sooner or later Obama’s record will catch up to him, and that will be a tough nut for him to crack. When the Republicans finally do settle on a candidate, increasingly looking like Republican moderate Romney, then Obama will have to face the most devastating poll number of all…his approval rating, which is abysmal. This stand alone figure indicates the American public is ready for a change so long as the generic Republican is not objectionable.

While Obama and his buddies in the press and Hollywood gleefully exfoliate what they perceive to be right wing whack jobs, the truth of the matter is Barack Obama made a wrong turn to the left in 2010 when the America overwhelmingly objected to his progressive policies and punished anyone associated with Obamacare. Instead of moving to the middle, Obama returned to his true roots, the extreme left. His White House advisors deserted him in droves. He replaced all of them with folks even more to the left. The one exception was the appointment of White House Chief of Staff Bill Dailey, a pragmatist from Chicago, who made polite excuses and resigned this past January.

What is left in White House are left wing academics and “bomb” throwers. It was embarrassing to watch Energy Secretary Chu in front of Congress back track on his left wing statement of just two years ago that America has to find a way to allow its gasoline prices to rise to the level of Europe in order to promote “alternative” energy in the United States. He doesn’t own a car. He defines the proverbial left wing Ivory Tower.

So what is the White House to do? Run against Sarah Palin and gin up issues like contraception with a Democratic operative pushed in front of the cameras to feign poverty and reproductive rights for women. It backfired, and the all of the hate and vitriol from left wing hate mongers has spilled out all over alternative media and the blogosphere showing these folks for what they are. 

In an overt play to stir up fear in the Hispanic community, the left wing press has been ginning up the issue of whether English should be the primary language in Puerto Rico should it become the 51st state.  I am certainly going to lose sleep over that one notwithstanding Puerto Rico figured out a long time ago that it gets the benefits of statehood without any of the responsibility by just leaving things as they are.

While the media had been focusing on those horrible tea party folks and ignorant, toothless right wingers from the south, they have ignored the grass roots rumblings from the far left in the Democratic Party. A group called the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, an extreme left wing organization with roots in Moveon.org has begun to identify moderate Democrats at various levels of government from Congress down to mayor, and is beginning to run “true” Democrats, translate: leftists, against them with identifiable races in New Mexico and Illinois. These folks will make the Tea Party look like a walk in the park.

At the end of the day, political propaganda loses out to the truth. It happens 100% of the time. Sooner or later Obama is going to have to produce his vision for his second term. More of the same won’t cut it…and neither will the strategy of running the 2008 campaign all over again. Sarah Palin isn’t running this time. He may be liked, but his credibilty among the electorate is sinking...because in all things Obama, look at what he does...not what he says.  America is becoming more and more afraid of what he is doing.

Afghanistan: The Just War

A friend said at lunch today that American troops should be proud for their service keeping America safe. The non-existent War on Terrorism was, and is, being fought over there instead of here. He is right. God bless our troops.

But like it or not, wars are political. The Mideast wars are no different. How much can we expect of our troops before they snap? Case and point, the master sergeant who lost it and went on a killing rampage in Afghanistan this past week. This followed several weeks of violent protests and threats by the Islamists because of the accidental burning of two copies of the Koran used by prisoners to pass messages. We have since found out that this soldier had already served three tours in Iraq, and sustained a head injury on the last tour before being sent to Afghanistan. I know very little about the military, but am I the only one who wonders how this guy was sent on four tours of duty in a war zone over a relative short period of time?

This begs the bigger question. What are we doing there? Obama criticized Bush during the last presidential election because of the war in Iraq. Obama said Afghanistan was the right war...the just war. We were in Iraq because intelligence accepted by the entire world showed Saddam Hussein was harboring weapons of mass destruction. We didn’t find any, and there is strong evidence that they were spirited out of the country into Syria during the worthless political kabuki dance in the United Nations. But at least we had a reason. And don't be surprised the world doesn't find some of these weapons during the course of the Syrian civil war.

We also had a reason in Afghanistan. The Taliban provided safe harbor to Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda thugs. The first battle of the 21st century was a cavalry charge in northern Afghanistan. Unbelievable! But over the years, Al Qaeda has been just about neutralized, and Osama bin Laden is dead.

The Taliban is another story. These folks are a bunch of religious zealots fed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. There is an infinite supply of Taliban. The Russians with 400,000 plus troops couldn’t defeat these guys. What makes Obama think he can? Obama has already announced we are pulling out with a date specific. And that is going to make the Afghani good guys, such as they are, snuggle up to us? They have already bought their plane tickets to Miami.

Obama has failed to define what the objective is in Afghanistan. How does he define victory? He can’t. And to be frank, I don’t blame him because it is unwinnable. Since he already has announced a full withdrawal date, he might as well pack up the machine guns and come home now before more people lose their lives in a struggle that he can’t define, can't be won, and already has a termination date. What’s the point of dragging this on any longer?

Through the Bush years and now the Obama years, I suggested that the United States lease a large portion of land and establish a major military base like Guantanamo in Cuba just to keep our eyes on things in case they get any more ideas about blowing up some of our buildings. Then to paraphrase Newt Gingrich, let the Afghan people alone to live their own miserable lives.

A Fluke by any other name....: Pay for my Sex Part Deux

Sandra Fluke is a Georgetown University law student who went before Congress to testify she wants you to pay for her sexual activity. She believes health insurance should cover birth control pills. After all, she has tuition to pay and can’t afford her estimate of $3,000.00 for her birth control pills while she is paying tuition. Well, her tuition is actually paid for and she does get a stipend for living expenses. It just doesn’t cover her birth control pills. And the cost of those pills is closer to $1,000.00.  Her testimony was refused.

So here is this sanctimonious law student, going to school on somebody else’s dime, receiving a grant for living expenses, and whining that she doesn’t want to have to pay for birth control. On top of everything else, the news commentator tonight pronounced her name as if it rhymed with “duck”. You can’t make this stuff up.

Rush Limbaugh analyzed this situation on the radio, and came to the same conclusion as me. He called this woman a slut. By definition, asking people for money for sex makes you a slut, or a whore, or a prostitute. His comments caused quite an uproar, and he has since apologized for them unlike his liberal equivilents who used much worse names to describe Sarah and Bristol Palin as well as other conservative Republican women.  Then there is Bill Maher repeatedly calling George Bush a "douche bag."

Of course, I was attacked at a meeting by a prominent local Democratic lawyer who looked at me across a conference table and announced to every one sitting there that my political party hates sex. I replied “Counselor, Republicans love sex. We just think you should pay for your own sex, not us. I suggest you buy a condom. They cost fifty cents.”  And I suggest that Ms. Fluke buy a condom, or learn the rhythm method since she is attending a pricey Catholic School, or just refrain if she is so broke. I know it’s difficult. But she can do it.

Obama has once again shown the progressive view: to hell with tomorrow, if it feels good, do it today. What we end up with, contraception notwithstanding since it is widely available for free anyway to those who can’t afford it, is a bunch of people procreating like rabbits with no eye to any responsibility. How have we reached this point?

Piers Morgan on CNN was appropriately incensed at Rush Limbaugh’s comments. Morgan opined that if Ms. Fluke wants to have sex, it’s her business. He is right. It is her business. Not mine. But if I am paying for it through insurance premiums, then it becomes my business. Government has mandated it, and now it is subject to government control and scrutiny.  You know...we the people...want to know about Ms. Fluke's sex life.

The Progressives have miscalculated on this one. First, the United States Supreme Court does not live in a bubble and is seeing firsthand the practical consequences of Obamacare vis-a-vis individuals and religion, right before it hears arguments on Obamacare’s constitutionality. Second, the American public isn’t stupid. How we survived paying for our own birth control all of these years is beyond me. The public will tell the pollsters politically correct answers pollsters want to hear; but around the water cooler, the kitchen table, and the voting booth, in their heart of hearts, people see this for what it is.

As for Ms. Fluke, my advice to you is to not discuss your sex life in front of Congress on national television. You may be a very nice person, but asking someone else to pay for your birth control makes you look like…well…A Fluke by any other name is still a Fluke.

A final word about the harrang surrounding Rush Limbaugh.  Nothing is more hypocritical than a liberal.  Do you remember what they called Sarah Palin?  Do remember how they savaged her daughter?  Do you remember what they did to Christine O'Donnell who ran for Senator from Delaware?  Do you remember what they did to ALL of the women who were accosted by Bill Clinton?  While anything coming from the mouth of Bill Maher, no matter how vile or disgusting, is perfectly fine.  Rush had no business apologizing.  Liberal commentators and sponsors, clean your own house first.