Two days ago, Hillary was dead in the water, right?  Today, the morning after the New Hampshire primary, Clinton-stein is alive!  Mitt Romney, according to the press, is on his last legs...body is dead but the head doesn't know it yet.  Right?  Only if you take media reports at face value.  (And if you do, please surrender your passport, driver's license, car keys, firearms, trouser belt, and sharp kitchen implements and report to the nearest padded room.)

     I keep hearing media outlets throwing out the percentages of the votes from the early primaries and caucuses...as if they mean anything at all.  Prepare to be educated.  What is key in the primary process is not voting percentages, but delegates.  These are the delegates who will vote for their candidate at the party nominating conventions later this year.  Now I will tell you that percentages of the vote do determine how many delegates each candidate receives, but various state laws and party rules prevent any direct extrapolation of vote percentages to delegates earned.  The number of delegates is the bottom line, but the media is all about generating excitement.

     I'm not saying at all that momentum does not count.  Of course it does, and that is actually the point.  With 24/7 media coverage of these campaigns, if NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, AP, Reuters, and the Drudge Report say candidate X has momentum...then he does (OK, well maybe not CBS).  When they decide to report candidate X has great momentum because they got eleven votes in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, they are at best being disingenuous.  At worst, they are misrepresenting the facts (plain English translation=lying).

     Hillary is a big winner this morning, right?  Today she has 24 pledged delegates for the Democratic nominating convention.  Barack Obama has 25.  John Edwards has 18.  The Democrats will send a total of 4,367 total delegates to their August convention in Denver.   If you're ready to call this race anything but wide open at this point, see my earlier commentary about the padded room.

     Same goes for the Republicans.  The media this morning are preparing Mitt Romney's autopsy.  He has 24 delegates pledged to vote for him at the Republican convention.  Mike Huckabee has 18, while this morning's media darling John McCain has 10.  Fred Thompson has only four less than McCain.  One of them must take 1,191 delegates to the Republican convention to win the party's nomination.  Turn on CNN and you would never know that Romney is the Republican leader today.

     Would you call a football game when one team had a four-point lead in the first quarter?  I didn't think so.  This is where sportscasters actually have the edge on "real journalists."  We would be shocked to hear Al Michaels watch a football team go three-and-out on their first possession and say the game is lost.  He knows that after only one first quarter drive, there's a lot of football left to play.   He knows that if he's wrong, he winds up looking the idiot.  The other key difference is that even if he said it, it wouldn't affect the outcome (and I don't think he'd want to, either.  I'm not so sure about the news media).

     Monday Night Football reporting the elections?  Now there's an idea...

     "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," are some of the best remembered words ever written about Christmas.  They are part of Francis P. Church's 1897 editorial in the New York Sun, written in response to 8-year old Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the editor inquiring if Santa Claus was real.  You can read the entire column here, and I recommend you do so.

     There is always much debate over the role of Santa Claus in the Christmas season.  "Christmas is too commercialized!", and "It's about the birth of Christ, not Santa Claus!," are two of the more common protests.  But in Church's essay, I find a great deal of understanding as to what Christmas is all about, and it is fitting for all who celebrate the season, religious or secular.

     Church's message is that Christmas is about, "love and generosity and devotion"...things we would all do well to not just observe, but to practice.  To me, his writing is of Santa Claus as the very real symbol of the very real spirit of love and giving that we celebrate at Christmas.  So to me, whether you believe that spirit comes from people, with no divine spark, or whether you believe it comes from a God who gave us his most precious Gift over 2000 years ago, you can believe that it is real.  And thus so is Santa Claus.  He is our our simple symbol of that spirit, created for children...but still suitable for adults.

     I know now, as I have for quite some time, that a fat man in a red suit does not enter my house and leave gifts the night of December 24th.  But I also know, as Francis P. Church knew, that  "the most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see."  So I believe.  I hope you do, too.

     Merry Christmas.

     It seems that the latest litmus test for any sort of appointment to the Bush administration, or for a presidential candidate (Republican only)  is that individual's opinion of waterboarding as an interrogation technique, and whether or not it amounts to torture.  Once again, I feel that the media and our representatives to the government are asking the wrong questions here.  They keep inquiring, "is waterboarding torture?"  My response is that I do not care.  I often draw shocked looks from my peers when I relate to them as succinctly as possible that I do not care in the least what sort of interrogation methods are used to extract information from the enemies of our country.

     Many argue that by torturing prisoners of war, we open ourselves to the same sort of treatment when our troops are captured.  Based on how our people have been treated when captured by the other side, I'd say we have some catching up to do before we need to worry about that.

     They say that the information gained is unreliable, as a person being tortured will tell you anything you want.  Yes, and one of the things they will tell you is the truth.  If they indeed hold the information you seek, they can be made to tell you.  You just have to do your homework and make sure that you have the right person.  You have to be confident that the person has the information.  Otherwise, you are groping around in the dark and cannot trust what you are being told.  If you want to know the two-minute drill of a pro football team, and you torture the head coach or the offensive coordinator, you can be reasonably sure that the answers they give you are accurate.  Torture the mascot for the same info, and while you may get an answer, I wouldn't take it to the bank.

     But my ultimate reasoning on torture is this scenario.  Suppose two criminals have kidnapped your children and hold them for ransom, threatening to murder them if you do not pay.  You absolutely cannot pay the ransom, but one of the kidnappers has been captured.  The deadline is one hour from now.  What kind of pain would you be willing to inflict on him to make him tell you where his partner is holding your children?  I have posed this to a few who state that because of their compassion and humanity, they could not harm even a person such as this to save their own children.  I doubt they are telling the truth, but if they are, God help their children.

     For I can say this:  were I in this situation, I would have no compunction about doing anything and everything to that individual in order to save my family.  I would take no pleasure in it, but I would be able to do it and sleep well that night.  Most people will tell you the same.  Most would be happy to bring that person to the point that he wished for death in order to extract the information necessary to save their children (waterboarding would be like a vacation).  Yet many of these same people say they could not do the same if it were not their child who was in danger - if they had no personal stake in the outcome of the interrogation.  This is very simply the selfish attitude that has made us too squeamish to deal effectively with savages who behead their captives with knives.  Every casualty and potential casualty of this war is someone's child.  So the drastic measures you are willing to undertake for the sake of your loved ones, you are not willing to employ to save the child of another?

     So I guess I don't have to worry about being drafted as Attorney General...

     Christmas is a few short weeks away, and as we prepare to celebrate with our loved ones, we must not forget that there will be American service men and women who cannot do the same.  There is little, if anything, that means more to a soldier overseas than a chance to speak to loved ones, especially during the holidays.  While there is no substitute for being with family, the ability to speak with them, even for a few minutes,  can be priceless to those who sacrifice so much for our freedom.  So this Christmas, consider the gift of a phone card to a service member.

     I have made this my charity of choice at Christmas time, and as part of my holiday shopping I make sure to budget a gift to this very worthwhile cause.  During my time in military service, I had the opportunity during deployments to see soldiers' faces truly light up at the sound of a loved one's voice on the other end of the line.  These overseas phone calls are often much too expensive for an average service member to afford.  But our dollars can make it possible for them to call home to a wife or husband, children or parents, and for a few minutes share the love that makes this season special.  You can donate through the USO here.

     Here be dragons...and yeti, and sea monsters, and the chupacabra, and the skunk ape.  All of these creatures are just as mythical as many of the talking points surrounding the immigration discussion, but just like these cryptids, there are many who accept them as real.  (OK...the skunk ape may be real, but Michael Moore refuses to give a DNA sample, so we can't confirm anything.)

     The first mythical immigration bogeyman we need to confront is, "If we get rid of all the illegal immigrants who pick our strawberries, do our landscaping, etc. on the cheap, then our prices will go up."  Actually, this may be true, but the part that everyone seems to overlook is that the only reason these people work so cheap is precisely because they are illegal.  As soon as they are given legal status, then they will be entitled to minimum wage...and produce costs go up, and so do prices.  We cannot have it both ways.  We must either continue to wink at what is essentially an imported underclass in the labor market, or live with higher costs when their labor is legalized.  We are our own worst enemy here, as we cannot seem to figure out how to keep prices low while paying everyone a "living wage."  Labor costs will always be passed on to consumers through prices, so we have to decide what our priorities are.  If we insist that everyone make more money, we will pay higher prices.  (And if you take the left fork here, you will say that companies should just take less profit.  If you think the economy is bad now, wait until the government imposes maximum profit regulations on private businesses.  You may pass "GO," but you may not collect $200.  That's way too much.)

     Of course, the monster du jour is the subject of driver's licenses for illegals.  She Who Shall Not Be Questioned wrestled for her very life with this beast last week.  (It remains to be seen who won.)  But one common justification is that "if they're going to drive, shouldn't we license them?"  As far as I'm concerned, this one is a simple little critter to deal with.  If anyone throws that one up in front of you, ask them, "Should drivers with multiple DUI convictions be allowed to keep their licenses, since they're going to drive anyway?"  It's this kind of logic that got us in this mess in the first place.  We can't stop drug crime, so legalize it.  We can't stop minor children from having sex, so give them condoms at school (but not aspirin).  We can't stop illegals from driving, so give them a license.  If your 15-year old sneaked out and took your car for a spin, would you petition the state to issue him a license, too?  There are plenty of ways to skin that jackalope.

     This takes me to the real bigfoot in the room..."we can't deport them all."  The correct answer is that we don't have to deport them all.  We can't ticket every speeder, either, and yet I hear no one suggesting that traffic enforcement be abandoned in favor of amnesty.  If Congress were in charge of getting the nation's speeders under control, all you would have to do is sign an affidavit that certifies that you have been speeding continuously for the last five years.  Then you would be issued a Z-license, which would allow you to continue to speed until such time that speed limits were raised to match the speed you were already driving.  What we have to do is enforce immigration law and ensure that violators are sufficiently penalized so that it would discourage the practice.  It's called deterrence, and many will tell you it doesn't work.  Really?  So if you are zipping down the interstate at 20 MPH over the speed limit, and you spot a state trooper ahead, you don't slow down?  Of course you do.  You don't have to actually get the ticket to adjust your behavior.  The threat of the ticket is enough.  We should approach immigration enforcement the same way.  We'll never catch them all, but we can slow them down.

     I suppose to remain in theme, I must also address the myth that "we can't find them."  Now, I certainly can't find the Loch Ness Monster, (and neither can anyone else apparently), but I can fill a school bus with illegal immigrants inside of 20 minutes.  Probably anyone who lives in a town of any size has illegal immigrants living somewhere near, and you probably know what part of town they live in.  If you don't, ask any pollster, as they always seem to come up with enough of them to get a good sample for an opinion poll.  For example, in June of 2007, New American Media conducted a telephone poll of 1,600 illegal immigrants to ask their opinion of things like the Z-Visa, US citizenship, and so on.  Where was all this illegal wiretapping when we needed it?  We could have rounded up 1,600 right there, since obviously New American Media seems to have lost the number to ICE.

     By now you see these creatures are imaginary explanations for a very real monster we need to face down.  The surrender of our society, economy, and rule of law.  Here be dragons...

     I first met LTC William "Bill" Ledgerwood thirty years ago, as a skinny 14-year old freshman at Jefferson County High School in East Tennessee.  He was the Senior Army Instructor of the JROTC program at the school, and I was a new enrollee.  I spent the next four years under his tutelage and leadership learning lessons of discipline, service, integrity, and leadership as I would learn nowhere else.  After I graduated high school, I went to college, got a degree, and set out to see the world.  I did it by continuing my military education in the ROTC program at East Tennessee State University, getting a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and beginning a life that took me far from home for many years.

     Last weekend I returned to my hometown of Jefferson City, Tennessee to attend LTC Ledgerwood's funeral.  He had passed away the previous Thursday after an extended struggle with Alzheimer's at the age of 78.  So I packed up a suit and an overnight bag, got in my truck, and drove four hours down I-75 and thirty years into my past.

     As I drove, I reflected on LTC Ledgerwood, his life, and what it had meant to me.  I tried to think about what I would say, how I would express the impact he had on my life.  The obvious answer at first was the lessons I mentioned before:  discipline, service, integrity, and leadership.  However, I was struggling to put my finger on exactly what it was that he taught me about those things.  These were lessons which had stood by me through college and my military service, and continue to serve me today.  So what did he teach me about these things?  I couldn't for the life of me identify a single specific thing that he had taught me about these principles which are so important, and I felt a little ashamed.

     But it wasn't long before the realization came:  it was not important what he taught me about discipline, service, integrity, and leadership.  I am a work in progress, and learn more about these things every day.  The truth he taught was simply that these things are important.  He taught the principles, to be sure, but the real teaching was simply that these things are important at all.  With that lesson learned, I was equipped to step out on the path that was set before me and follow it well.

     LTC Bill Ledgerwood was a career Army officer who piloted both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, served two tours in Vietnam, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Star for his service.  An avid outdoorsman, he was a skilled and enthusiastic hunter and fisherman.  He was also a passionate and accomplished artist; his wildlife paintings were regular finalists in duck and trout stamp competitions for 20 years.  A print of one of his paintings hangs over my fireplace today.  He raised a beautiful and loving family.  He was a complete, classic gentleman; a warrior poet in every sense of the word.

     Unfortunately, the journey he started me on took me sometimes thousands of miles from home, so he was not really physically present in my life after high school.  I had not seen him for years.  But he was present in my life in a bigger way, and has been every day since that first meeting 30 years ago, because he taught me to recognize what was important and to pursue it.  So I was saddened at his passing, but uplifted with the pride of having known him.  I cherished the opportunity to celebrate his life, honor his memory, and thank him for taking a 14-year old boy and showing him the path.

            I haven’t posted in a while, partly because of some traveling I’ve been doing.  But in the process of those travels I have found myself several times in the company of patriots.

             My first stop was in Boston, “ground zero” for the American Revolution and the birthplace of the United States of America and the freedoms we enjoy today.  I was in Boston on business, but arrived early and went out for a walk after checking into my hotel.  I had been to Boston once before, but as it was also on business, I had not really had much of a chance to sightsee.  So I headed out on a sunny fall afternoon and pointed myself in the general direction of Boston Common.

             The Common was packed with people out enjoying the afternoon, so after a walk around the park I turned in the direction of Fanueil Hall.  My route took me past a cemetery surrounded by an iron fence.  I didn’t even know what it was at first; I just saw what was obviously a very old cemetery with a lot of tourists walking around.  But being a bit of a history geek, I had to check it out, so I walked through the open gate and into the resting place of some real patriots.

             I was quickly educated by signage in the cemetery, which informed me that I was in the Granary Burying Ground, founded in 1660.  As I followed the path to the right, I was soon looking at a tombstone which marked the common grave of five of the victims of the Boston Massacre, including the most well-known, Crispus Attucks.  Right next to it was the grave of none other than Sam Adams, statesman, organizer of the Revolution, and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

             I continued through the cemetery to find the graves of other notable patriots Paul Revere and John Hancock.  As the cool autumn breeze sent a few leaves scraping down the path ahead of me, I was struck by the reality of where I was and what I was doing.  I was walking among the graves of men who had passed over 200 years ago, and feeling a bit awed by the whole thing.  These were patriots who risked it all to establish a free nation.

             Precisely a week later I found myself in Washington, D.C., running in the 23^rd edition of the Army 10-Miler, and once again in the company of patriots.  Somewhere in the neighborhood of 17, 000 patriots were gathered not just to test themselves on the ten mile course through the nation’s capital, but also to pay tribute to the American soldier.  While there was obviously no shortage of patriots on the course, I passed one whose patriotism and sacrifice were instantly observable and worthy of honor.  Let me admit here that I wasn’t really in shape for this run, and while I was getting through, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself.  But when I saw this soldier who was gutting it out on two prosthetic legs…well, to say that I was humbled would be understating it in the biggest way.  I made a quick apology to God for my self-pity, a prayer for this young man’s continued recovery, and thanks that we still have such patriots today.

             The next day, while waiting for my flight out of the Baltimore airport, a flight arrived at an adjacent gate and about a dozen uniformed soldiers got off.  I didn’t notice at first, as it was a little farther down the terminal, but I heard a few hands clapping and looked up from my book.  As the soldiers came into the terminal, the applause became greater and greater, and as the soldiers approached I joined in the crowd of people who stood and applauded these heroes.  It was quite a thing to witness.  As the group of soldiers proceeded through the building, the applause followed like a wave.  It would fade as they passed one group of people, only to rise as they approached another, following them all the way down the wing.  More patriots.

             What a week it turned out to be, as I found myself in the company of patriots, past and present, wherever I went.  They are all around us, if you look.  You may even spot one in your mirror.  You don’t have to put on a uniform and go to war (though that may be your calling), but you can still be a patriot by supporting those who do.  If you see a soldier, tell them thanks.  Send a care package or a phone card overseas.  Educate yourself and vote for candidates who will do right by them.  Be there for them like they’ve been there for us for over 200 years, and then if we’re lucky we will always be in the company of patriots.

      A recent article in the Cincinnati Enquirer titled “College Security Carries A Price,” outlined several ideas for preventing mass murder on college campuses.  It also bemoaned the potential cost of the programs, estimated by the task force studying the issue to possibly be in the millions of dollars.  The suggestions made in the local study were similar to other more publicized reports such as the recently released task force study on the Virginia Tech murders, and another report made to the President which was developed by the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education.

     All of these reports detailed suggested measures to prevent future mass murders of this type on college campuses.  They were also striking in that they all came to some very common conclusions, most of which I do not have a problem with.  They all outlined issues in communication and information sharing, particularly with reference to Cho Seung-hui's failing mental health and the application of existing gun control laws.  Improved enforcement of the existing law is fine with me.  Perhaps if Cho's mental health status had been discovered during background checks he underwent while purchasing his two firearms, he would have been prevented from obtaining those weapons.  Of course these measures could not guarantee that Cho, who obviously had no compunction with violating existing murder statutes, would not have found a way, legal or otherwise, to obtain firearms.

     Other recommendations in these reports discuss ways to close gaps in the mental health system, in order to ensure those who need help receive it in a timely manner, and do not fall through the cracks, as Cho obviously did.  The problem is balancing the various federal and state health information privacy laws and the need for authorities to be able to access mental health records and information in the interest of public safety.  Fine.  I'm certainly in favor of applying a little common sense when deciding if we should allow a violent maniac walk the streets versus maybe hurting his feelings a little by peering into his mental health records.  If the law prevents the application of common sense, amend the law.

     All in all, the recommendations contained in these post-incident reports are about beefing up infrastructure and systems to detect and warn of potentially violent behavior.  That is all well and good, but on the whole these recommendations have two common shortcomings:  all require the expenditure of more taxpayer money, and none address how to deal with a violent incident of this type as it is occurring, after all of the preventions and warnings have failed.

     As far as the expenditure of tax dollars on these solutions, my issue is not the money.  I just question the effectiveness of all these systemic changes in stopping a determined would-be murderer from carrying out his crime.  Unless we as a society are willing to return to the days where the violent mentally ill are preemptively locked away from society, I doubt that we can devise a system which will have much impact on individuals like Cho.

     And that's the crux of the problem.  How do we as a society predict and prevent violent behavior by the mentally ill who are by definition, unpredictable.

     My suggestion is this:  make prevention and prediction moot points by allowing individuals their 2nd Amendment rights on college campuses.  If law-abiding concealed carry permit holders were allowed to carry a firearm on campus, prediction and prevention of violent behavior becomes less important, because now there exists the capability to respond to the violence as it is observed.  When someone walks into your classroom and shoots a student, prediction and prevention of his behavior is no longer required.  You have observed his behavior in real time.  The only question which remains is what to do about it.  If you are unarmed your options are to either fight a high risk fight against an armed attacker, or submit and throw yourself on his mercy.  If you are armed, you may still submit if so inclined, or you can resist the attack with a much-improved chance of survival.

     By most accounts, Cho began shooting in Norris Hall at 9:40 AM.  By the time police dispatchers had received and correctly routed 911 calls and dispatched police, it was 9:45 AM.  The first two police officers arrived on scene three minutes later, at 9:48 AM.  (Bear in mind that the quick response was due in part to the fact that police were already nearby investigating the earlier shooting at West Ambler Johnston Hall.)  After unsuccessfully attempting entry through three chained doors, police finally gained entry on their fourth attempt.  Most estimate that the shooting continued for another 1-3 minutes before Cho committed suicide, so the shooting lasted anywhere from 9-12 minutes.  During those 9-12 minutes, the faculty and students in Norris Hall were on their own against a deranged gunman, and were unarmed.

     There is a reason that attacks like this happen mostly in schools.  It's because schools are chock-full of defenseless, disarmed victims.  When was the last time you heard of a mass murder at a gun range?  So we can spend the estimated millions of dollars to implement procedures aimed at predicting and preventing violent behavior, and we can spend more on memorial services for the victims of the failures of those systems.  Or, with nothing more than the stroke of a pen, we can abolish the restrictions on legal firearms carry and begin to reduce the number of people who are required to be victims.

     I just got home from attending the Sean Hannity Freedom Concert, and if there were ever a time to turn away from the dark side and towards the light, this is it.  I have not felt so positive and energized about the future of our nation in quite a while.  This was the third stop in a series of five concerts, and if you can make one of the next two, I highly recommend that you do so.  (Concert information can be found here.)  There are plenty of good reasons to attend, but I'm going to give you two.

     First of all, it was incredibly uplifting to be surrounded with 10,999 other people who were not ashamed to be patriotic.  How many places can you go and sing along with Lee Greenwood performing, "God Bless the USA," and not have somebody look at you like you're some kind of weirdo?  Nobody gave me that look tonight, because they were all busy singing, too.  Loud.  We were all there together, singing along.  Together, we all cheered every time one of the concert performers mentioned how great a place America is.  We all stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance together, and every hat came off.  Every hand was over a heart, and everyone said, "one nation, under God."  Every mention of our brave men and women in uniform brought standing ovations.  There were some uniformed military in attendance, and it was wonderful to seem them getting the rock star treatment they deserve.  It was how America ought to be every day.

     But perhaps an even better reason to attend a Freedom Concert is that proceeds from the shows benefit a most worthy cause, The Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund.  The Fund is a trust established to provide full college scholarships to the children of American servicemen and women who are killed in the line of duty, permanently disabled, or are missing in action or prisoners of war.  Having been an Army officer, I know that it is not only the soldier who sacrifices in the service of the country.  Long hours, field training, and deployments strain military families to the limit every day.  They all deserve our support and gratitude.  But the incomparable loss and sacrifice of a child who has lost a mother or father in the defense of our nation deserves our very best in return.  They deserve no less than to know that the country that their parent died protecting will not forget that sacrifice.  Helping to ensure the future of these young Americans is just a small measure of gratitude that we can offer for their most costly sacrifice for the cause of freedom.

     So go to a Freedom Concert if you want to have some fun (it is hugely fun).  Go to sing a patriotic song at the top of your lungs.  Go to help the children of our fallen warriors.  Go to see America the way it ought to be every day, and hold off the dark side for a few more hours.

     The dark side has me today.  The cynical, pessimistic side of me which fears that our nation has not the will to do what must be done to win the war against terrorists.  I am finding myself increasingly doubtful whether we are willing to do what is necessary to secure ourselves against this threat, despite the fact that we have the capability.

     I just finished reading "Lone Survivor," by Marcus Luttrell, the true story of a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan.  Luttrell was, as the title indicates, the only member of a four-man SEAL team to survive a mission behind enemy lines to snipe a highly placed Taliban leader.  Full of bluster and bravado, Luttrell spends a good amount of time chest thumping before getting down to the story of Operation Redwing and how it fell apart.  You can find the book in any store or on Amazon.

     But I'm not here to do a book review.  The thing I took away from "Lone Survivor" is how seriously we have handicapped ourselves in this fight against fanatics who will do anything...anything to defeat us.  And there's the rub.  We will not.  The fatal flaw in Operation Redwing (and Luttrell admits it was his call, and his mistake), was human mercy and fear of the consequences of political correctness.  Luttrell's team, while waiting to observe and then snipe their target, was discovered by three Afghan goatherders.  While not visibly armed, the SEALs fear that the goatherders will report their location to the local Taliban forces, which they estimate to number as many as 200 fighters.

     At this point in the book, I found myself thinking, "these guys are going to have to kill these goatherders."  And indeed that was considered and discussed among the team members.  Both to salvage their mission and to save their own lives, the SEALs consider killing the men who have discovered them.  (Taking them prisoner was not an option, as the goats would linger in the area until someone came looking, and occupy one of the four men needed to complete the mission.)

     So the men discussed killing them, but found the idea distasteful (as most moral human beings would), although they agreed that despite their personal hesitations that it may be necessary.  Then came the discussion of possible consequences.  They saw themselves crucified by the liberal press, happily aided by Al-Jazeera and the like, and branded as barbarian murderers.  They saw themselves prosecuted and imprisoned.

     The result?  They released the goatherders, resigned to taking their chances with the Taliban, realizing it was likely a "lose-lose" proposition.  Indeed, the goatherders reported them, and the Taliban descended on them with full fury.  Three of the four SEALs died in the firefight, and Luttrell was seriously wounded.  He was declared missing in action by the DoD for several days while he evaded his hunters with no means to contact friendly forces in the area.  Sixteen other Navy SEALs and Army special operations aviators were also killed attempting to rescue the team when their MH-47 Chinook was shot down.  Nineteen good men died for fear of killing three goatherders who, though bearing no arms themselves, killed American troops as surely as if they had pulled the trigger themselves.

     Luttrell's tale illustrates with blinding clarity the lack of national will to conduct total war against a brutal enemy who obeys no rules of engagement.  Without the resolve to unleash the full might of the American military against our enemies, we are doomed.  We cannot appease the press, Europe, and the lawyers and succeed in a fight to the death against medieval savages.  If we cannot allow our troops to fight to their full potential, we sentence them to death for the sake of three goatherders.  I fear many, many more will have to die before we can summon the strength to do what is necessary, if we can at all.  Perhaps America's epitaph will at least pay tribute to how considerate we were towards our killers.

     I had my doubts, but I was glad to see the President step up and commute the prison sentence of Lewis "Scooter" Libby.  For the "crime" of having an inaccurate memory when attempting to recall when exactly he told someone who Valerie Plame was, he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.  Nevermind that it was not a crime to reveal that she worked in a cubicle at Langley (fortunately for Richard Armitage, who actually first gave that tidbit to a reporter), it was never shown that Libby made a statement which he knew to be untrue ( the legal definition of a lie).  He was merely wrong.  That certainly does not warrant prison, especially since these days being unable to define the meaning of "is" can be a successful perjury defense.

     Still, there are others vastly more deserving of Presidential clemency.  Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean of the U.S. Border Patrol currently sit in federal prison in Elkton, Ohio, for the "crime" of shooting an illegal alien and known drug smuggler in the buttocks.  They have been incarcerated since January 17th, 2007, when they began serving their 11 and 12 year sentences.  They are in protective solitary confinement 23 hours per day, due to the extremely hazardous nature of being a cop in prison.

     This is their reward for their efforts in attempting to secure America from foreign invaders.  When confronting an armed smuggler who had illegally entered the United States from Mexico with 743 pounds of marijuana, Ramos and Compean fired their weapons, and the real criminal was hit in the backside.  (The real criminal, by the way, is the illegal alien smuggling the marijuana.  If you guessed it was the Agents, you failed the "I Reside On Planet Earth" test.  Keep working on it.)

     The smuggler was then granted immunity from prosecution by the U.S. Attorney, so that he could successfully nail the Border Patrol Agents.  The smuggler was also given free medical care in El Paso, Texas, and is now filing a $5 million lawsuit against the Border Patrol for violating his civil rights.

     Outrageous.  Travesty.  Unconscionable.  Those are just a few of the words I have to describe this situation, and the only ones I can print here.  We wonder why the border is such a mess?  Put yourself in the shoes of the Border Patrol.  Every contact you make with an illegal alien has the potential to become violent, and if you use force to defend yourself, you face the very real prospect of being prosecuted and imprisoned.  How willing would you be to confront those who cross into our country illegally?  Is it any wonder that our borders have become so porous when we jail those whom we task with defending them?  I wouldn't blame any of them if they simply looked the other way.

     But Ramos and Compean did not look the other way.  They did their duty, despite the risks, and now they sit in prison for it.  President George W. Bush has the power to end this with the stroke of a pen, yet he does nothing.  By granting full pardons to Ramos and Compean, President Bush could take a big step toward securing our borders by simply reassuring those on the front lines that their nation supports them.

     But without a Presidential pardon, the Border Patrol could take one simple measure to avoid this circumstance in the future.  Twelve years in prison for shooting a criminal in the butt?  I don't think so.  Mr. President, pardon these men, or the Border Patrol will just have to give its agents more practice ammo and more time on the firing range.  Prison, my ...

On this, the day before the 231st anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, I thought this would be appropriate...here is the text of the document itself:

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is in the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.

Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the Present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let the Facts be submitted to a candid World.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People; unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.

He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.

He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislature.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislaton:

For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond the Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule in these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Powers to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic Insurrections among us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

Nor have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Having read the above, I would now recommend that you also read this, an essay written by Rush H. Limbaugh, Jr., father of the radio personality.  In it, Mr. Limbaugh describes what it cost the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence to put their names on that document.  Would you sign it?

     ...But nobody does anything about it.  So goes the age old joke.  But it's not so funny anymore in this, the age when an ever greater segment of the population seems to believe that we can do something about it.  Welcome to the Church of Global Warming, Reverend Al Gore presiding.

     This morning, a friend and I were cooling down after a run through a local park on a particularly nice morning.  Sunny but not too hot, low humidity...as good as it gets around here in the middle of the summer.  Since it was so nice, our conversation turned to the weather, and she commented on the long-term forecast for her upcoming vacation destination.  She said she had looked at the 10-day weather outlook for the city she was preparing to visit, shrugged her shoulders and said, "but you know those things are never right."

     She's correct, you know.  If we can't even predict precisely what the high temperature will be tomorrow, how can we know what it will be in 20 years?  I would venture that even armed with your local weather forecast, you would not wager your next week's paycheck that you can predict exactly what the high temperature will be tomorrow.  I wouldn't.  A variance of one degree, one way or the other, and you're eating mac and cheese until next payday.

     A one degree margin of error isn't much to play with, yet the Reverend Al and his disciples would have us believe not only that the 1.3 degree increase in the earth's average temperature over the last century is real, but is our fault.  We are also to believe that the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is correct when they predict an additional two degree rise in global average temperature in the next 100 years.  This prediction is brought to you by the same collective of scientists who cannot tell you with a similar degree of accuracy what the temperature will be tomorrow.  Now I am not a scientist, but I would think that the closer in time an event becomes, the easier it becomes to predict the outcome.  Of course, complicating the whole global warming debate is that there are also groups of scientists with studies that say either that it doesn't exist, or that it isn't caused by humans, or both.

     So it seems it all comes down to belief, and what are we to believe?  Well, you are of course welcome to attend the Reverend Al Gore's church, which believes that humans are powerful enough to change the very nature of...well, nature.  But that seems to me to be the doctrine of man as God, man as more powerful than nature.  I have a hard time with that.

     You see, in my life I have spent a lot of time outdoors.  I spent my childhood camping and hiking, with family and friends.  Walking in the woods after school with my buddies, swimming and fishing in the lake near my home.  I have explored the beautifully forested mountains of Appalachia, and marveled at the big skies and glorious views of the desert Southwest.  I have walked prairie grasslands, surfed North Carolina waves, and dipped my toes into chilly Pacific waters.  I have seen ice floes and the aurora borealis in the Canadian north.
 
     I remember one time as a teenager, camping in a canyon along the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico with friends, a couple of us woke up before sunrise, and everyone else was still sleeping.  We decided it would be fun to climb the canyon wall, and we reached the top just in time to see the sun rise.  I could not begin to describe the view as the sun rose and reached into that red sandstone canyon, but I can tell you how it made me feel.  Small.  It made me feel that I was a tiny little observer in a great, beautiful, and mysterious world, a mere rider on this magnificent creation called Earth.  I understood then, as I understand now, that this world was created by someone or something greater than myself, and that the forces of God and nature are infinitely more powerful than humans can dream of.

     So we are powerful enough to raise the temperature of the earth, even accidentally?  Or more significantly, as Al Gore and his disciples would have us believe, that we can lower it at will?  The arrogance.  Why stop with trying to control the temperature to within a degree or two?  Let's stop hurricanes and tornados.  Let's stop flooding.  Let's stop blizzards.  What arrogance.  Arrogance born of a belief that there is nothing more powerful than man.

     Believe Al Gore if you want, but I happen to remember that feeling of smallness born in that canyon sunrise almost 30 years ago, and I know that we are specks in this universe.  The planet will do as it pleases, whether we like it or not...we are only along for the ride.  We can treat it with due care and respect, and we should.  But when this world is finished with us, it will shake us off as a dog shaking off fleas.  And there is nothing Al Gore, or anyone else, can do about it.  A little humility, please.  We are not God.

     Once again, liberals have found imaginative new ways to reward illegal immigration...but maybe there's a little potential in this idea.  Now, I'm not suggesting that this would be at all helpful in solving the immigration problem, but maybe if this concept gets any legs I might stand a chance of getting something out of Social Security.

     Liberal writer Barbara Ehrenreich recently suggested in "The Nation," that America actually owes illegal immigrants on several levels.  But the one point that really caught my eye was that since illegals would not be able to collect any benefits from the Social Security system (except in California, Prop. 187, R.I.P.), that perhaps we should reimburse them the money that they have paid into it.

     After careful consideration, I have decided to throw my full support behind the concept that anyone who cannot expect to receive any benefit from Social Security may demand a refund of the taxes paid into the system.  As a 44-year old who has been in the workforce (legally) for 27 years now, I estimate that I have had $35,913 deducted from my paychecks that I will never see again.

     And that doesn't take into account that the matching contributions my employers were required to make on my behalf came out of my pocket, not the company's.  This is because the company I work for, being in the business of making money, will not charitably absorb the expense of paying into Social Security for me.  Rather, they will reduce my salary by the amount that they are taxed.  So the actual cost to me of my Social Security contributions over the years (so far) comes to roughly $71, 826.

     So I'm kind of liking this idea of Barbara Ehrenreich's.  I'm pretty sure that Social Security will be D.O.A. by the time I retire, so I have no expectation that I will reap any benefit from my participation in the program.  According to her way of thinking, that entitles me to a reimbursement.  I could sure use $71, 826 right now.

     Of course, I will probably need a lawyer to prove that I am actually an illegal immigrant and therefore won't be receiving any benefits (make that "undocumented worker").  Maybe John Edwards will be needing a job soon...

     Let me say right up front:  I believe that Paris Hilton got exactly what she deserved.  Remember, her original offense was DUI.  She was stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence, failed sobriety tests, and was arrested.  This means that the officer had probable cause to believe that she was under the influence.  The officer also was certainly aware of who she was and what would happen if he arrested her, but he arrested her anyway.  This tells me that he had a pretty solid case for her being DUI, and thus in a state where she was a danger to herself and to others on the road.  But once in court, she was allowed to plead guilty to reckless driving instead, receiving probation and a suspended driver's license.

     No big deal so far.  I was a cop and in my experience, that's a pretty common occurrence when it's a first offense, celebrity or not.  But the problem comes when Paris drove on her suspended license, thus violating the terms of her probation (and her original avoidance of jail time).  I doubt that the court was so vague in her original sentencing that she was left with the understanding that she was still allowed to drive legally.  I think she understood full well that her license was suspended, and what a suspended license meant.

     What I think she did not understand was that the judge was serious, and that all that probation and suspended license stuff really applied to her.  Reality TV has a whole new meaning for Paris Hilton now.  But it is some of the images from Paris' new reality that has me feeling a little sorry for her lately.

     The paparazzi photos of a sobbing Paris on her way to jail in back of an LA County Sheriff's cruiser reminded me of a frightened child.  A 26-year old child, maybe, but a child nonetheless.  That's what bothers me.  I take no pleasure in her tears, and I do believe that they were real, at least at first.  How did she get into such a state?  Where did she get the attitude that she was so special that the law did not apply to her?  How did she come to conclude that her status put her above following the rules?

    Paris Hilton was raised this way, by both her parents and our celebrity-worshipping culture.  So when she ran into a judge who was not impressed, her world came crashing down.  Now, I also maintain that the ultimate responsibility is definitely hers.  She is 26 years old...legally an adult in every state, I'm pretty sure.  And that's what legal adulthood is all about.  You have the freedoms of an adult, and also the responsibilities.  You can no longer behave as a child without consequence.

     This is what Paris has failed to grasp, at least up until Friday.  Now she is in LA County jail, and reportedly still crying, refusing to eat, blah, blah, blah.  I think about what I would say to her if she were my child.  It is up to her to stop the drama, the hysterics, and the tantrums of a spoiled child and learn the lesson being offered her.  Grow up.