My Five Seconds of Fame

My 5 seconds of fame…see this video clip (0:41 – 0:46)  for important coverage of the back of my head (that’s me with the reading glasses and snappy haircut highlighting my salt and pepper locks)! Oh, by the way, some prominent Democrat Presidential candidate is in the video, too…
 
Do also note the lengths to which said candidate goes to control her voice and make her seem softer and less shrill…
 
The candidate fails to note that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was bi-partisan legislation sponsored by none other than Teddy Kennedy (D-MA). She also fails to realize that President Bush is constitutionally barred from appropriating any funding for anything. That is the Legislative Branch’s responsibility. So if Sen. Clinton is unhappy with NCLB then she has no one to blame but herself and her colleagues who apparently crafted and voted for a flawed piece of legislation. And according to their rhetoric, they feel it is not sufficiently funded so they are at fault for that, too! 

I’ll spare you an entire rant about the fact that most of those critical of NCLB haven’t actually read the legislation and don’t realize that the implementation requirements are left to the states and not the federal government. NCLB simply says: states set their own standards; measure their progress; and then perform continuous improvement until the state-established standards are met.

With All Due Respect to the People of Nevada…

…I can only assume that all of you were simply spinning a roulette wheel in the voting booth and Harry Reid’s number somehow came up more than any other candidate when you all made Reid one of the two Senators representing the Silver State.

Harry Reid, far from demonstrating the character and attributes of a genuine leader, has simply gone too far with his simple-minded assessment of the situation in Iraq. My personal and visceral reaction to Senator Reid’s “this war is lost” assessment is one of outrage. However, in the hope of gaining further insight and understanding into what I consider to be a cowardly and defeatist mentality, I would like to pose several questions for Senator Reid the answers to which might help me to overcome my initial emotional reaction and attain some form of enlightenment on the matter.

First of all, I would like to know who exactly you think you are, Senator Reid, to portend to speak on behalf of the Secretaries of State and Defense? Second, how can you, Senator Reid, declare the war lost, ostensibly against a set of predefined objectives, yet at the same time whine that the President has no defined plan or strategy (and, by extension, no clearly defined objectives)? Third, if the situation in Iraq is now nothing more that a civil war against opposing factions based on centuries-old emnity for one another then, to use your reasoning, Senator Reid, you must also hold that the U.S. should NEVER, EVER consider getting involved in the likes of Darfur’s internal struggles, correct? Lastly, what is YOUR strategy, sir, for not only dealing with the situation in Iraq but also any potential fall-out if YOUR strategy does not result in exactly the outcomes you expect should things not go quite according to plan?

I must remind you, sir, that you were elected by the citizens of the State of Nevada in a statewide election whereas the President was elected by the citizens of this country in a nationwide election. You are not the Commander-in-Chief, a geopolitical or military strategy expert, or anything of the sort. Senator Reid, whining and complaining is not constructive criticism. Using emergency appropriations bills to broadcast to our enemies, whose goals are plain and clear, and to attempt to tie the hands of the Commander-in-Chief and our troops, is not statesmanship, leadership, or a plan for victory. It is shallowness and ignorance on display because of your lust for power. 

Gamble your own life and the lives of the people of Nevada who elected you with your reckless statements, Senator Reid, but please don’t gamble with my life and the lives of my children.  

I just don’t understand how people in Nevada, where the state motto is ”All For Our Country,” elected someone like Harry Reid…

A Decision Towards a More Civilized Society

Today, in a momentous 5-4 decision that moves us all towards a more civilized society, the U.S. Supreme Court rightly upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. The decision, the majority opinion for which was delivered by Justice Anthony Kennedy, does not restrict whether a woman may have an abortion. It merely eliminates one barbaric form of abortion from the palette of legal options available to kill pre-born human beings. Nevertheless, this decision is a move towards a more civilized society.

Regardless your position on whether abortion should be legal, it is unreasonable for a civilized society to permit, let alone support, what the Supreme Court concludes in its decision to be a gruesome, cruel and unusual, and wholly unnecessary partial birth abortion procedure. Read the description of the procedure contained within the decision for yourself and one has to seriously question the moral compass, intellectual capacity, and critical thinking skills of those who would do so. Also ask yourself whether such a procedure is illustrative of a truly civilized society. 

Given the plethora of education and information regarding human reproduction (formerly known as ’sex education’) and the myriad of birth-control methods made readily available by organizations such as Planned Parenthood, shouldn’t the number of unwanted pregnancies in our ”civilized society” be approaching zero anyway? I’ll propose some intellecutal calesthenics surrounding that topic at a later time.