Gun Violence

I had a parent message me to say that her daughters had told her that if there was ever a shooting in our school like there was in Florida, they hoped that they would be near me because they knew I would do everything I could to protect them. At first, I had a great sense of pride and honor that they trusted me so much. Then, reality set in and I had a wave of sadness wash over me that our kids and grandkids were having to even think about such things. I don't want my granddaughters to worry a moment about some nut with a gun coming into their school. Unfortunately, this is the reality of our nation today. It must change.

I am a gun owner. I am not a hunter but I own weapons for two reasons: protection and just because I like shooting them. I consider my weapons as tools. Nothing more and nothing less.

When it comes to the issue of gun violence, as with many issues in our country, the loudest voices are from the looney right-wing gun owners who believe any restrictions on who can own weapons or how they can be used is a step closer to our citizens losing their individual freedoms. Meanwhile, left-wing zealots have staked out the position that guns are THE problem and feel that if we could just get rid of them, our world would be safe. It makes for great political drama but results in terrible public policy. Policies that allow the routine massacre of innocent men, women and children to take place across our nation.

As I said, I believe weapons are simply tools. Whether for protection, sport or to get food for the family, there are legitimate purposes for their use. That said, if any other tool we used in America was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of our citizens annually, the outrage would have forced immediate changes in design and usage. But when it comes to guns, all we can do is dig deeper into our entrenched positions and attack the other side for being out of touch with reality and in the meantime, thousands and thousands of our citizens will continue to lose their lives needlessly or will be horribly maimed and emotionally scarred.

Enough is enough. It is time that we treat this as a public health hazard and bring together the nation's experts to determine how we can stop this destructive cycle of violence. As they would say on Dragnet, just the facts should be used to determine the policies necessary to save lives and reduce carnage. Rhetoric and propaganda should have no role at the table for those searching for viable solutions.

Until we as a nation demand our elected leaders take such a position, the Grim Reaper will keep working overtime and innocent lives will pay the heavy price for policies based on ignorance and inaction.

We can do better.

We must do better.

Elections have consequences.

A Family Kind of Thing

Four Generations of Shinn's on the Huntsville Fire Department

My earliest memories of the Huntsville Fire Department were of going with my father, Harry Shinn, down to the old fire station for their regular meetings.

To be honest, I remember little about what kind of training they did but I vividly remember crawling all over the fire trucks and dreaming about the days I could drag a hoseline into a fire.

I remember my mother getting me out of bed and taking me to the parking lot of the Jan Ran Motel across from the IGA as it burned ferociously through the night as our firefighters battled the flames without turnouts. Without airpacks. In freezing temperatures. My mother and the other wives were busy making the firefighters bologna sandwiches and coffee to keep them going.

I remember my uncle Gene Shinn coming to the table to get coffee with ice caked in his ears. I remember my father and Steve Spurlock dangerously dragging large acetylene bottles out of the garment factory in order to protect the other firefighters who didn't know they were in the structure.

I remember many things watching my dad and my uncles Gene and Earl and my cousin Randy risking themselves in order to serve others.

I remember how proud I was the first fire I worked on a nozzle battling the first fire at the Ridgeway Apartments as they were being constructed.

I remember years later, when I was a single father, raising my daughter Kristyn in and around the fire station.

Fast forward a hundred years later and I will always treasure the first time Kristyn joined me on the department.

As this report from KNWA points out, the Huntsville Fire Department is a family kind of thing.

Trumping America

Donald Trump has succeeded in turning the 2016 Presidential election into must see television. Trump plays a character devoid of any need to play by the normal moral, ethical, economic, political and social standards most of society chooses to live by. Instead, we are subjected to an increasing array of absurd Trumpisms designed to stir the conscience of the uninformed and unenlightened while shocking every adult encumbered by reason and intellect.

Trump attracts every member of our society who ever hated Civics classes in high school and subconsciously would prefer an enlightened monarch who would impose order on our diverse land. The noise and confusion associated with democracy is simply too annoying for the common Trump supporter.

Intelligent Americans of any political persuasion remain baffled by the volume of lies and distortions Trump spews weekly and the lack of any measurable effect they have on the enthusiasm of his zealots. To be honest, Trump is s phenomenon that is difficult for most people to decipher. We are accustomed to our leaders to mostly respect the boundaries of honesty with an occasional stretch of the truth for political purposes. Trump has changed the rules by integrating lies, propaganda and distortions into the fabric of his personality. As a reality TV star, he knows his audience and targets the most base biases and prejudices they possess. The reason he is able to thrive among his supporters is because every time he thow's out an offensive slur against women, Muslims, blacks, Hispanics, Gays, union members, POW's, the media or anyone else, is because his voters already hold those viewpoints and he is simply preaching to the disturbed choir. These are the people you would meet walking away from a Klan rally or NAZI meeting or any mob threatening someone of a different demographic group. Undoubtedly,  they are the ones racing to their televisions to watch Duck Dynasty and Dukes of Hazzards reruns. They will be proud of being a redneck and more likely to see science and education in general as tools of the devil.

Next to World War II and the Cold War, Trump's movement is the single greatest threat to our form of freedom and reasoned Americans must stand up before it is too late and stop Trump from ruining the future for our children. The stakes are too great to remain on the sidelines.

Oklahoma Flunks History

The dumbing of America by Right-wing morons cloaking themselves in the American flag has become a significant threat to our freedom; more so than any terrorist group in the world. The reason our Founding Fathers favored a separation between church and state is because they recognized that our government has to rule everyone regardless of their faith or lack thereof. They understood that as soon as you throw religion into the political mix, you automatically infuse unnecessary emotional conflict into the realm of governing our citizens. Many of those first English colonists who came to this country did so as a direct result of the English King trying to impose his brand of religion on them. With this in the minds of the Founding Fathers, they knew that religion had no role in a secular government and they had no desire to establish a theocracy.

If people want their children raised as a specific religion by all means find a church that meets those needs. In the meantime, the Right-wing evangelicals and their cronies need to quit trying to turn our government into a backwards theocracy which condemns science and promotes faith healers and charlatans willing to take advantage of the ignorant and uneducated. Oklahoma's recent move to ban AP US History because Republicans deemed it unpatriotic while attempting to impose theological elements into our school system is a perfect example of what is going wrong in this nation. I don't expect much from Oklahoma and they rarely disappoint me. American history is filled with negative examples of both our government and our people, yet we are the greatest nation in the history of the planet. Not because of conservatives, who have been on the wrong side of history on every major social issue, but because of progressives who have recognized our short-comings as a society and have been moved to make the world a better place. As a Christian, I don't need schools to do the jobs of churches nor do I need politicians replacing educators. The rising tide of dumb rolling in from the right-wing of this country is drowning the future for far too many of our children and grandchildren.

A Time For Reasoned Discussion

Since 1994 there have been 70 school shootings. 70. Let that number sink in for a minute. I own weapons and enjoy shooting. I am not naive enough to believe that simply passing laws will prevent madmen armed with ill intent from harming our children. Although people constantly ignore the "well-regulated" aspect of the Second Amendment, I do agree that we as Americans should have the right to own firearms. But the time has come for this nation to have a legitimate conversation about how do we reduce gun violence in our country. That conversation must include a discussion about the need for average citizens to own large capacity magazines, about the ability to buy firearms without some kind of registration, about the need for some type of firearm safety training, about improved mental healthcare for our citizens, about the effect of video games and movies on impressionable young minds, and about anything else that even remotely might be a contributing factor in the levels of gun violence plaguing our cities and schools and people in general. Silly rhetoric about prying guns from your cold, dead hands or about the need for banning violent video games or anything else muttered as a defense of the status quo needs to end and be replaced with legitimate, reasoned debate on what steps we should take to end this travesty. The blood of our children cries out for adults to step up and make the hard choices necessary to protect our kids and others from vicious people hell-bent to inflict carnage on innocents. 70 school shootings demand our attention. 20 precious angels and their 6 protectors who died in the halls and classrooms of an elementary school shout for change that will show their sacrifice to have not been in vain. Soon the television cameras will pack up and move on to the next big story and the focus of our people will have shifted to events far from Sandy Hook. Time is ticking toward 71 and the question remains, "What will we do to stop it?" What is your answer?

Mike Huckabee and Fox Zealots

For the record, Mike Huckabee is representative of everything that is wrong with Fox and their conservative, anti-public school zealots. First, the idea that any mortal could stop God from going anywhere He wishes or is wanted is ludicrous. Second, the lie that keeps getting spun around Facebook and Right-wing media sites that someone has kicked God out of school is so easily disproven it requires either the gullible or simple-minded to believe it. We have Christian student clubs in our schools that have every right that any other club has in school. Students, teachers, and community the members routinely stage See You the at the Pole events. Teachers and students routinely pray before meals and other events and have Bibles with them in their class. What has been stopped is having the school force one brand of religion or another on a captive audience. I don't want some school administrator telling me and my children how to pray. For Huckabee, or anyone else, to say that the reason these poor children and their teachers were murdered in cold blood is because public schools have turned their backs on God is completely absurd and insulting to the families who lost love ones today and Huckabee and those like them should be holding their heads in shame.

Huckabee Proves He is Out of Touch

American Patriotism

For many, patriotism means reciting the pledge of allegiance, taking your hat off your head and placing your right hand over your heart during the national anthem. I see and hear passionate views on the 2nd Amendment and on the separation of church and state and over our taxes being too high. I listen to zealous explanations as to why it is more important to regulate a womb than to feed a child. But our Founding Fathers did not suffer and risk all to produce a form of government in which our citizens could sit on their ever expanding butts enjoying the fruits of our liberty while stuffing their faces as they mindlessly flipped through the soul-sucking cable universe. This year's election, more than any in my memory, offers two distinctly different visions of the future.


The form of government under which we exist was created to be administered by an educated electorate and yet we are increasingly being bombarded by the visions of political extremes because they are the ones who are most passionate about articulating their points of view. My favorite Founder, Ben Franklin, once said, "In those wretched countries where a man cannot call his tongue his own, he can scarce call anything his own. Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech... Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom, and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech, which is the right of every man..." It is the most precious of rights and yet in the nation which has been the political ideal of freedom, it is a right which is so infrequently used that our future liberty is in peril of atrophying and disappearing without so much as a final battle to defend it recorded for the sake of our posterity.

What separates us from the rest of the world isn't our standard of living or our love of the free market. It isn't our endless array of mind-numbing entertainment options or our obscene, obesity producing food bars. What distinguishes us from the rest of the planet is the system of government that our Founding Fathers produced for us and generations have fine-tuned to allow even those individuals of the most humble origins to have a voice in the way they are governed and to enable those from the most modest beginnings to become President of the United States. Mitt Romney and the Republicans tell us everyday how bad that government is and the President reminds us every day how important it is to a free people. The differences between the two parties couldn't be wider. The Republicans have vowed to dismantle the federal government while the Democrats promise to protect it so that it continues to serve the needs of the Common Man. I obviously am a Democrat and believe passionately in our vision of government but I respect those on the other side who so ardently disagree with us. Unfortunately, too many of our people sit uninformed in the middle hoping the election will soon be over so they won't have to be bothered by the distraction of the campaign anymore. Representative democracy is such a burden to them that they proudly boast of their ignorance and wear their stupidity as a badge of honor. So don't tell us you're a Patriot and love our country if you don't take the time to get off your pompous ass, examine the issues facing our future, and go cast an informed vote.

Whose Dream Will Win

Ryan is obviously a fan of the Hunger Games, not the movie but the way of life. What Ryan did with his speech before the GOP Convention delegates was to frame the legitimate debate for this election. The question is this, “While rebounding our economy from the second worst financial crisis in our nation’s history, should this nation provide social programs to help those in need or not?” As Ryan repeatedly pointed out, the Republicans say no and the Democrats say yes. That is true and everything else should be about determining that answer. Romney/Ryan believe that we can improve the economy by continuing to grow the size of our military, cut taxes further for the rich, and eliminating all social programs at the federal level.


Obviously, I disagree. Growing up in a very poor part of the country, I recognize how destructive it would be for the people in Madison County and other areas if we were to eliminate the social safety net. The United States is the most powerful nation in the world and I believe there is no excuse for the levels of poverty in this nation. Without child nutrition programs are we really willing to tolerate millions of hungry children in our nation? Without low-income housing are we really ready to live with millions of homeless families living in abandoned cars and under bridges? Without Medicaid are we willing to allow millions of our handicapped and poor neighbor’s to live in misery for the lack of money to buy antibiotics or to visit a doctor? Without the minimum wage laws are we willing to watch millions of our most vulnerable neighbor’s work long, tough days and nights for a $1 an hour still unable to afford the American Dream? At a time when the job market is demanding the most educated workforce in our history are we really willing as a people to stand by as the doors to a better life are slammed in the faces of millions of our children because we won’t provide them with financial aid to go to college?

This election places the very question of what is the American Dream on the ballot. We either hold the course as we rebuild our economy and continue to protect those most vulnerable in our society through the use of humane social programs or we take a hard Right turn and eliminate those programs as the Republicans have vowed to do and force the next generation of Americans to live through a life of broken dreams and economic despair while the distant lights on yachts and in penthouses daily taunt the daydreams of our children and grandchildren. Somewhere in China and India will be families huddled around their TV sets as Buddhist and Hindu missionaries walk through the streets of America surrounded by throngs of dirty, hungry, forlorn children as an announcer tells their audience that for just the price of a cup of coffee a day, they could save the life of some poor American child. I’m curious whose dream will win come November.

Power does not exist in a vacuum

Power does not exist in a vacuum. It is either controlled by those who run corporations or those who have amassed massive wealth or by those who control government. Our Founding Fathers were not naïve simpletons who placed power in the hands of man based upon good will alone. They gave us a system in which the actions of our elected officials may be monitored and drawn into the light of public scrutiny and even the poor have a voice. This does not mean that the rich have no influence but when organized and armed with a passionate cause, regular people have the capacity to set the rules by which they live regardless of their circumstances. It also does not infer that the common man is always right and the rich are always wrong, it merely means the resources exist for a balanced playing field which has not existed for mankind throughout history.

The fact that Barack Obama could be elected following a two-term George Bush demonstrates exactly how much control the American people have over the political process while simultaneously demonstrating the volatility of the electorate’s judgment.

"Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing."

A favorite tactic of the Tea Party zealots has become the use of historical references as a justification for the most tenuous connections. Waving the banner of Socialism as a form of Scarlet Letter while attempting to brand the policies of the Democratic Party as un-American is yet another example of their intellectually void approach to winning political arguments.  It is not a coincidence that the United States became a superpower at the same time that the federal government enacted waves of social programs designed to improve the conditions of the working class.

The tired mantra of the Republican Party that somehow Democrats long for a Soviet Union style government is trite and absent any true intellectual foundation. The reality is that the United States is a unique combination of capitalism and socialism and has been for nearly a hundred years. No legitimate voice of the Democratic Party advocates the total control of the private sector by the government yet the leading voices of the Republican Party proudly champion an unfettered capitalistic system oblivious of the poverty and corruption which coincides in such an arrangement.

Now is the Time!

Power in the hands of man is always subject to abuse and corruption but only under our system of government do the people have a voice in bringing it under control. Too many hide behind flourishes of rhetoric in condemning the last, best hope of mankind which is our government. For those who have grievances against the system, and I am sure there are many, our Founders provided an effective way for the people to address and correct them. But it requires true Patriots who are willing to roll up their sleeves and wade into the political arena to make it work. Life is what we make it; not what we wish it would be. Sitting on the sidelines chanting a “Pox on both your houses” neither solves anything nor inspires others to rise up to a higher level.

Grade school tactics used by the Right-wing in this country such as substituting derogatory words in the place of the correct ones in titles such as Clinton News Network or National Propaganda Radio is no substitute for ideas and fails to illicit legitimate ideas of reform from those who choose to take up such a challenge. The folly is not in thinking we are free but in failing to recognize that freedoms do not come without responsibilities. A child is free to live in their parent’s home but subject to the rules of their father. History demonstrates the need for a people to bond together against common enemies and the benefits of such collaboration. American history is filled with such inspirational tales and it is the ignorance and bastardization of our past that should stir anger in the hearts of every American. Together, and in large part because of our government, unions, and the unique nature of our economic system, Americans have achieved an unparalleled level of prosperity and freedom.

I do not condemn the rich for their success but I do demand that they acknowledge that their success is in no small measure due to the stability provided by our system of government. "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luke 12:48.

And as for the number of poor who live in our great nation, it is time we start asking the right questions instead of repeating the drivel which trickles out of the gnarled lips of corporate fat cats intent on shaking the last nickel out of the pocket of the working man in order to benefit themselves and their fettered progeny. The question should be, “Why at a time when the wealthiest Americans are getting richer every day is poverty in our nation allowed to grow unchecked?” The question should be, “Why would our nation choose to follow a path of governance which grows the number of rich with homes on both coasts and other countries while record numbers of hard-working Americans suffer the indignities of foreclosure and bankruptcy?” The question should be, “Why are working class Americans rallying as torch bearers for the very corporate toadies who despise them?”

I am both a proud American and a proud member of the Democratic Party and the time has come for this nation to rise up and smite the arrogant purveyors of ignorance which have gripped the Republican Party and this nation right straight in their pompous mouths and send them packing back into the dens of inequity where they so rightfully belong.

It is time we quit giving an audience to those among us who wish to reduce our great nation to the dust bin of history and return us to the agrarian past where land barons owned the property and all those who toiled upon it. It takes no great rhetorical mastery to divide and to tear down those who wish to build and create. All it takes is for one vocal person armed with a grudge and a sharp tongue to repress the dreams of thousands. But America was not built by those petty people and history holds no monuments to their negativity. We are a bigger people than that. Our history is bigger than that. Somewhere in this great land are a multitude of leaders ready to inspire us to build the next generation of dreams for ourselves and for the world. Somewhere, there is the next team of visionaries ready to inspire us to tackle tasks beyond our grasp because that is what we as Americans do. We don’t come face to face with challenges and decide they are insurmountable and wring our hands in lamentation praying for a higher power to lift us from our dilemma. We grab those obstacles by the throat and kick them in the ass and move on thanking God he gave us the power to take care of ourselves on this Earth until the time comes for us to join Him in His home.

In the United States of America, the Tea Party and the Republican Party have loudly and with great fervor worked tirelessly to reign in the dreams of our people. They have sowed the seeds of discord throughout our land in a despicable attempt to make our young people believe the best of America is in her past. It is a lie. It is a damned lie and it is time Democrats join together to crush that lie and replace it with the vision of hope that has been the foundation of our party and its principles.

God bless America!

Ron Paul's Flight of Fantasy

Ron Paul and his simplistic view of the world certainly doesn't scare me but his positions on too many issues are not based on reason. For example, look at his positions on healthcare. Paul rails against Obama's plan as if the government backed program would diminish the quality of our healthcare system. Yet, it was the private-market system that has been driving our country to bankruptcy sucking one out of every five dollars into its gluttonous abyss. There are certain areas which should be within the public realm; such as, national defense, police, fire, EMS, and many believe, medical. He favors allowing citizens to purchase insurance across state lines but fails to articulate how he would address the problem which has prevented it from being done in the past which deals with regulation. Currently, states regulate the policies provided within their borders but by allowing them to cross state lines that will require federal regulation. His opposition to mandatory catastrophic insurance coverage means that those of us who have insurance will continue to have to subsidize the freeloaders who do not. I agree with many of his foreign policy positions but I believe he is wrong about Afghanistan. Iran and Pakistan are significant concerns for our nation. It is not US foreign policy which has destabilized Pakistan, it is their corrupt leadership which has been in place for decades and the extremist groups that have developed a following within the country that has destabilized their regime. Having our forces in the area allows us to have legitimate influence in the region. That said, I am not an advocate of the US being the leader in building Afghanistan or Iraq into a productive economy at the expense of our own.

Paul's perspective that rational citizens do not have a right to draft laws to ensure a "well-regulated" gun industry is not reasonable. Citizens have the right to restrict all rights for reasonable causes. You still cannot yell fire in a crowded theatre because of the public health risk. Automatic weapons and large capacity clips are neither for hunting Bambi nor rational self-defense needs. I frankly believe that it is merely a macho attempt to over-compensate for personal inadequacies in other areas. I could be wrong.

Paul's support of homeschooling simply ignores the obvious lack of accountability placed on those who choose their mommas and daddies as instructors in addition to the loss of socialization that public schools have provided over time in producing the melting pot. How many people are truly adequate to instruct their children in the full range of subjects that are offered to a typical high school student? The answer is not a head scratcher as even a modicum of research can demonstrate. The true rationale for pulling children out of public schools is more typically the result of a fundamentalist approach to religion which champions ignorance over reason or because parents make the decision that for financial reasons, the child's education must take a backseat to the immediate needs of the family. It is unAmerican and it should be heavily restrained and children subjected to such environments should be routinely examined to determine if they are making legitimate academic progress or if their basic skills are being allowed to atrophy.

And finally, his anti-union bias is either naive or disingenuous. To assail the excesses of organized labor without acknowledging the greater evil done under the banners of corporations makes Paul either a fool or a lackey for the Chamber of Commerce. Safe working conditions, a 40 hour work week, overtime, minimum wage, Worker's Compensation and a host of other benefits for the working class people were earned at a high price by union members and the Democratic Party. It is time that those who work for a living recognize the damnable lie perpetrated on them every day by the agents of the wealthy elite in this country and rise up and smite them before it is too late and we lose the very protections we have come to cherish.

Rising Tide of Dumb

When the Founding Fathers debated and established our government, there were many who feared democracy and compared it to rule by the mob. It was their fear that the masses would be guided more by their passion than their intellect. Today, as even a relatively partial observer can note the fears of those cautious Founders appear to have been fairly grounded. On issue after issue, large numbers of our citizens vocally express their ignorance with a degree of pride that must have Alexander Hamilton spinning wildly in his grave.
In the world's most successful democratic society, the very people who benefit most from our political system are often the most oblivious to its structure and foundations. Doubt this? Conduct your own survey. Ask those around you a series of questions about celebrities and their performances and you are likely to hear an extended monologue concerning their value to our society. Ask those same people about the specifics of the contributions made by our Founders or even ask them specific questions about our current leaders and you are likely to either be enveloped in silence or caught in a deluge of rhetoric based on biased, non-factual emotional rants. Rarely will you be engaged in a principled discussion of the most pressing issues facing society.
Too many want to spew their personal moral views on a woman's right to control her own body, or who has the right to marry whom or whose view of God is more correct. Where are the passionate discussions about the factors necessary to keep our political system viable? Where is the public debate on the legitimate need for a fair distribution of economic opportunity in this nation? Who is factually raising the concern of having a failed state on our southern border? Who is openly talking about the changing nature of our society caused by the aging of the Baby Boomers? How many people are actively discussing the rising challenges posed to our future by China and India? On significant issue after issue, the public debate simply does not exist. Instead, our nation is channeled to the melodrama of sensational trials or the latest buzz in the entertainment industry.
There is a rising tide of dumb in this nation and if not stemmed soon, we run the very real risk of being drowned in a sea of ineptitude.

False Issue: Republic or Representative Democracy

The current rhetoric surrounding the issue as to whether the United States is a republic or a representative democracy has been sparked by those intent on dividing our people as a distraction from other, far more important issues and continues to be stoked by well-intentioned Americans whose passion has simply been misguided by nefarious forces. When the Founding Fathers came together to form what has become the most successful form of government for a free people in the history of our planet, they had no template to draw from and few sources to try and cobble together a new government to replace the failed Articles of Confederation.


Few expected this new document to last forever, most notably Ben Franklin, one of the few Americans of the time with an international reputation. On Monday, September 17, 1787, during the last day of the Constitutional Convention, Ben wanted to give a short speech to the Convention prior to the signing of the final draft of the Constitution. Too weak to actually give the speech himself, he had fellow Pennsylvanian James Wilson deliver the speech. It is considered a masterpiece.

The following is as reported in Madison's notes on the Convention for Monday, September 17, 1787.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Mr. President

I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them: For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others. Most men indeed as well as most sects in Religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and that wherever others differ from them it is so far error. Steele a Protestant in a Dedication tells the Pope, that the only difference between our Churches in their opinions of the certainty of their doctrines is, the Church of Rome is infallible and the Church of England is never in the wrong. But though many private persons think almost as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their sect, few express it so naturally as a certain french lady, who in a dispute with her sister, said "I don't know how it happens, Sister but I meet with no body but myself, that's always in the right — Il n'y a que moi qui a toujours raison."

In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other. I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded like those of the Builders of Babel; and that our States are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one another's throats. Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us in returning to our Constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partizans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary effects & great advantages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign Nations as well as among ourselves, from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength & efficiency of any Government in procuring and securing happiness to the people, depends, on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of the Government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its Governors. I hope therefore that for our own sakes as a part of the people, and for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending this Constitution (if approved by Congress & confirmed by the Conventions) wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future thoughts & endeavors to the means of having it well administred.

On the whole, Sir, I can not help expressing a wish that every member of the Convention who may still have objections to it, would with me, on this occasion doubt a little of his own infallibility, and to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument.”

What is lost on many in this debate is the reality of the circumstances surrounding the crafting of our federal government. We are unique. There is no other society like us. The best minds of the time, coming from a diverse array of circumstances, bound together by the single necessity of preventing their hard-won freedoms from being lost to the growing anarchy fostered as a result of the limited power of the Articles of Confederation, established a system of government that has become the beacon of freedom to the masses yearning to breathe free from around the globe and throughout history. The living quality of the document has been the true genius of its nature. A brief examination of the history of its amendments leaves no doubt as to the significance of the Constitution’s ability to adapt to the evolution of our political process while simultaneously providing a fixed point of justice for our citizens to be judged.

The United States is a representative democracy, but its system of government is much more complex than that. It is not a simple representative democracy, but a constitutional republic in which majority rule is tempered with a respect for the rights of political minorities. The Constitution of today is far different from the Constitution of 1787, yet it is still the rock upon which our freedoms rest.

Before we get caught up in the false debate over names consider this list and ask yourself, "What is in a name?":

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Islamic Republic of Iran

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

People's Republic of China

Republic of Cuba

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Syrian Arab Republic

Republic of Colombia

Republic of Uganda

Somali Republic

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Republic of Iraq

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Whether to use the label "representative democracy" or "republic" is not what is significant. As bullets fly around Libya and the people of Iran, Egypt, Tunisia, and other nations struggle to obtain what we take for granted; the real name we should all remember is that we are "Americans." We may not agree on the manner in which we believe government should work but surely, we can all agree that the system works as well as those who cast their ballots every single Election Day makes it work.

To deny that fact is to deny what is undeniable. Elections matter and have consequences. Those who win power make policy; at least until they offend enough that the voters replace them with their opponents. At which time, the cycle begins again. God bless the United States of America because until the day we go to meet our Lord, America is the closest to heaven on Earth as man has ever been able to fabricate.

Attacks On Teachers and Unions

As a money manager, I'm not very good. Every year, I spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on my students. I buy them meals, shoes, clothes, classroom supplies, and other assorted items as needed. Both of my parents were teachers and I never really considered doing anything else with my life as a career.


The Democratic Party has been asleep at the wheel and Republicans have seized the initiative to swing the pendulem back in favor of the wealthy in this country and strip what little gains working class people have made via the labor union movement in our nation. Unions are being hammered at every level and the average citizen is oblivious to the significant assault this current wave of attacks are going to have on the standard of living for the average American. For years, non-union workers have benefited from the coattails of union members and the rights won for them in hard-fought battles in every field.
The Republican Party continues to reveal itself at every turn as the bastion for the wealthy, the racist, and the anti-intellectuals. They are effectively turning back the clock to the 1920s. The question is whether or not the Democratic Party will regain it's backbone and go to work actively and ferociously defending the rights of the average working class man and woman in this country.

Our future depends upon it.

Call For Sanity and a Stop to Religious Zealotry

Glenn Beck is a TV personality who is in pursuit of the almighty dollar. One of the main problems our nation is suffering from is too many people relying on the opinions of people from the entertainment industry. Beck writes specifically to stir people in to actions that will line his pockets with gold and not to solve problems. Shame on those who fall for his silliness.
There is simply no doubting the fact that many of our Founding Fathers had a strong belief in a greater power and prayed for divine guidance. Just as today the overwhelming majority of Americans identify themselves as religious people. According to the United States Census Bureau of the 300 million people in this country, over 228 million identify themselves as being associated with a religion. The largest single religious affiliation is Catholics with just over 57 million adherents followed by Baptists with just over 36 million followers. Methodists/Wesleyans make up over 11 million followers. There are dozens and dozens of different religious groups in our nation and hundreds of variations on each group’s beliefs. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mennonites, Christian Science, and host of others are collected under the banner of Christianity. Nearly nine million Americans list themselves as something other than being a Christian.

In general, it can easily be claimed that as a nation the majority of our population declare to be Christians but as with most things in life it is when you get to the details that the issues become more difficult. The divide between Catholics and Protestants has been a major split between Europeans since Martin Luther. Look at the split between the second largest groups of Christians the Baptists. Pick any small community, much less larger ones, and if you wait 15 minutes you’ll see another Baptist church spring up somewhere usually after having a falling out among the membership of an existing church. Those who try to stir up our emotions through the use of religion deserve a special place in hell for their deceit and their manipulations which detract from the true meaning of our religious faith. We are all sinners who find salvation through the cherished gift of our savior Jesus the Christ. When we start mixing the earthly realm of men with our spiritual works we are failing horribly as a light on a hill whose mission is to draw the souls of men to the path of our own redemption. How can I convince you that Jesus is our passageway to deliverance if I am condemning you for your political views?

The Founding Fathers had lived under the tyranny of a system built on the belief that God willed some men to be rulers and other to be chattel. Responding to the unjust taxation of a foreign government placed upon them following the French and Indian wars they rebelled against the government because they wished to be heard. No taxation without representation meant exactly what it said. They did not mean no taxation from those who they elected a few months ago and who they would be voting on again shortly. They purposefully created a republic in which there was a careful balance of power between the varying branches so that no central power could rule as a tyranny. BUT, they also did not trust the will of the people who they feared could have their emotions inflamed by charlatans’ like Glenn Beck so they made certain that the Senate, not the House, would be elected by the elites from their states as a way to check the passions of the mob.
We are all Americans who love our country no less than the next. But love of country and the love of our God, however we may define that God, does not mean that we cannot, nor will not have disagreements over political issues. Not all people benefit the same from all proposals. It is that very reality that leads to the failure of communism as a form of government. It is why our Founding Fathers were so brilliant in hindsight. They knew that people will always act out of self-interest and they created a system that worried more about keeping the actions of our elected officials in the open and allowing the people the power to remove corrupt officials as they were discovered.
Looking for proof that our Founding Fathers wanted to establish a theocracy is like looking inside the magician’s hat for the bunny. You may think it is there but upon closer inspection you realize that it was all an illusion.

Relay For Life

May 14 & 15, 2010 will be the Relay for Life in Huntsville. Anyone wishing to participate by putting in a team or assisting with activities will be greatly appreciated. I will be posting more information in the coming months as we develop the plans further.The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.Relay began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon in Tacoma, Washington, ran and walked around a track for 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Since then, Relay has grown from a single man’s passion to fight cancer into the world’s largest movement to end the disease. Each year, more than 3.5 million people in 5,000 communities in the United States, along with additional communities in 20 other countries, gather to take part in this global phenomenon and raise much-needed funds and awareness to save lives from cancer. Thanks to Relay participants, the American Cancer Society continues to save lives.

The Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama, and Little Men

Frankly, and without surprise from those who know me, I feel the George W. Bush Administration was a disaster for our nation. BUT, following 9/11, I supported his rallying of the nation and the sending of the troops into Afghanistan. I even applauded his defense of Muslims when some wanted to blame all followers of Islam for the cowardly deeds of a few. It is possible to disagree with the policies of a President and not behave like a two year old child who simply adopts an opposite position on everything because they wish to be contrary.
The Nobel Committee has selected the President of the United States as their choice for the Nobel Peace Prize. They have explained that he was selected because of his having changed the tone of the conversation around the world. After having sunk to a low in the public opinion of our fellow nations on the Earth, the election of Barack Obama has once again returned United States to being the # 1 most admired nation in the world. For most Americans, regardless of their political allegiance, this should be a source of pride for our citizens. Unfortunately, the leadership of the Republican Party has allowed their zealotry to blind them to the well-being of the United States. Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Michael Steele are but a few of the GOP hatchet men that relish the fact that the United States did not win the Olympics and now feel the need to attack the Nobel Peace Prize as a meaningless event. The Chairman of the RNC, Michael Steele, sent out this e-mail message in response to the President of the United States receiving the honor.
"Dear Friend,I'm sure you've heard the news -- Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It's a stunning, if not truly surprising, indication of just how meaningless a once honorable and respected award has become. What has President Obama actually accomplished? It is unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights. Even the normally fawning media have expressed shock at the clearly political and unmerited award. But the Democrats clearly see it differently, with DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse stating "the Republican Party has thrown in its lot with the terrorists -- the Taliban and Hamas this morning -- in criticizing the President for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize."Like most Americans, the DNC can't think of one achievement that the president has accomplished, so they resort to their predictable response and standard playbook of demonizing anyone who disagrees with them. First they call Americans concerned over health care "rabid extremists" and "angry mobs." Now, when challenged to answer the question of what the president has accomplished, Democrats are lashing out calling Republicans terrorists. That type of political rhetoric is shameful. Friend, the Democrats and their international leftist allies want America made subservient to the agenda of global redistribution and control. And truly patriotic Americans like you and our Republican Party are the only thing standing in their way. Help our Party spread the word about the Obama Democrats' dangerous naivete and power grab. Please support GOP elected officials as they work to hold the Democrats accountable to the American people for their failed policies and irresponsible rhetoric by making a contribution of $25, $50, $100, $500 or $1,000 to the Republican National Committee today. Your gift will also help support the recruitment and election of principled candidates who will defeat the Democrats in 2009 and 2010 and promote policies that put America first. Sincerely,Michael S. SteeleChairman, Republican National Committee P.S. Friend, President Obama's award of the Nobel Peace Prize puts the cart before the horse. Help us remind the Democrats that trendy slogans and international esteem don't create new jobs for Americans, reduce the national debt, or keep our country safer in a dangerous world by making asecure online contribution of $25, $50, $100, $500 or $1,000 to the RNC today. Thank you."
There is no denying, as the Republicans themselves admit that Obama's popularity around the world has significantly improved the perception of the United States around the globe and restored a sense of admiration and respect for our nation among the citizens of the planet. Yet, in a twist of logic that is truly mind-boggling, the leaders of the Republican Party claim that all of this is actually a bad thing for our country and that people need to give them money so they can expose the real Democratic Party as bad for the country.
They have obviously lost their minds? Of all of the things they could be complaining about with regard to the policies of the Democrats and Obama, the fact that our President wins this award is not one of them. It is an honor for our nation and our people. For the Republicans to complain about Obama receiving this honor makes them look petty and cheap and is not worthy of one of the two major parties in the United States of America. It is the kind of response I would expect from a third world petty tyrant angered that he was not in the spotlight. It is time for Michael Steele and the other Republicans to suck it up and behave as if they belonged in the public debate and were not here as a divine act of comedy.

Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Bettie Page

For many freedom loving Americans, the idea that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld could truthfully not believe that tactics like water boarding are forms of torture seems to stretch their credibility past the breaking point. However, I'm not so sure that I would be so quick to discount their statements on the issue as self-serving efforts at protecting their historical legacy and an attempt to keep themselves out of jail. To believe them, it is essential to find a context in which their ignoring the obvious is believable. Under what circumstances would any rational human being believe that being strapped to a board and then being systematically drowned, revived, and drowned again repeating the process over and over again is not torture?
It was while watching an old episode of the television show CSI that the answer became glaringly clear. In the show, the lead investigator, Grissom, is enamored by a woman with an outside of the mainstream profession. She was a dominatrix. According to the respected alternative lifestyle website Wikipedia "the stereotypical image of a dominatrix is of a woman wearing a rubber or leather catsuit and thigh-length boots with high heels or, in a more elegant and teasing mode, black lingerie, stockings and high heels, or some combination of these two alternatives. Many professional dominatrices do indeed wear similar outfits for their work in order to meet client expectations. Women who engage in female domination recreationally are known as dommes, dominatrices, mistresses, or simply dominants. A high percentage of dominants are lifestyle dominants, but some simply play the dominatrix role because it is a high-paying profession. It is common for professional dominatrices who are also lifestyle dommes to have both paying clients and a "personal slave or sub" or slaves or subs, who are not paying clients. A personal slave will typically perform a domme's housework and run errands for her. A personal slave may or may not live with his or her domme. Professional dominants most frequently do not engage in sexual contact with their paying customers, as this can be construed as prostitution in some places. A common form of domination involves chastity where a dominant controls her slaves' sexual access, sometimes keeping them locked in a chastity device except for rare occasions." By the end of the episode, all had become clear for me. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are obviously devotees of this profession. To them, a little water boarding and electrodes to the genitals would be just another Saturday night on the town.

To further support this position, I did a little research. The most famous Dominatrix was the legendary Bettie Page who was at the peak of her fame in the 1950's. Cheney was born on January 30, 1941 which means that during his teenage years as his sexuality was forming, the dominant Page must have captivated little Dick's imagination and deeply impacted his view of the world. As for Donald Rumsfeld, he was born on July 9, 1932. Mental illness usually becomes more pronounced during an individual's twenty’s which means that during the very time that Don Rumsfeld was struggling to grasp hold of reality, Bettie Page was grasping his manhood and shaping his perspective on the use of power.

So, to those of you who continue to doubt the honesty and integrity of Cheney and Rumsfeld with regard to their defense of torture techniques, I must respectfully disagree with you. I think it is all too apparent that they really are just a couple of screwed up little boys who never grew up. Pity them but don't hate them.

Cheney, Limbaugh, and the Grinch Who Stole Christmas

God Bless America. There truly is no better place on Earth than the United States of America. The level of freedom that we enjoy is unparalleled to any other country at any other time in history.
Watching the implosion of the Republican Party over the last year has been downright entertaining for me. A good liberal Democrat, I have been forced to endure the silliness and mean-spiritedness of the Far Right for years. To watch them devour each other now is a sign that reinforces my faith in God and all things that are holy.
When historians get around to writing their accounts of this era, few people will be able to rival Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh as the most unprincipled scoundrels in our history. Cheney had earned his berth in this classification early on in his Vice Presidency with his secretive collaboration with the energy industry to financially rape the citizens of the country. But since leaving office, he has managed to plunge himself even lower into the depths of hell with his ridiculous defense of the use of torture by the Bush Administration. In a nation founded upon the principles of human rights and steeped in the tradition of expanding those rights, Cheney’s defense of water-boarding is intolerable. How can we as a nation condemn the evils of those who act against us if we allow ourselves to sink to their levels?
Boss Limbaugh joins his pal Cheney on this descent into darkness more out of his desire for ratings than principle. Cheney truly believes in his view of the world whereas Limbaugh is simply an opportunistic windbag living off of the naivety of his audience. A college dropout, Rush latched onto entertainment as his career option. In recent years, he has made fun of Michael Fox and his struggle with Parkinson’s disease, accused veterans who opposed the war in Iraq as being phony soldiers, and championed the idea that African-Americans are incapable of being effective NFL quarterbacks. If it weren't for his callous disregard for basic human kindness and charity would be tempted to forgive his bloated shenanigans as the mind-numbing ramblings of a drug addict. Unfortunately, his hypocrisy is so blatant; he has earned his rightful place next to Cheney in the basement of history’s pathetic caricatures.
However, there is hope offered to us by the great literary figure of the Grinch. He too had a heart constricted by the coldness of his character. His evil doings were every bit as calculated as those of Limbaugh and as mean-spirited as those of Cheney but he was touched by the compassion of those victimized by his deeds and the love of those he had exploited. So, maybe Cheney and Limbaugh will be redeemed by a higher power and given the chance to refurbish their reputations and right the wrongs they have perpetrated on the citizens of this great country before it is too late. If not, perhaps they will enjoy their place in history with Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, and Benedict Arnold.

Obama Drama

After eight years of the bungling Bush administration, it is both interesting and sad to hear the minions of George W. as they fan out across the media in a calculated effort to shift the responsibility of our nation's fiscal crisis from their tainted hands onto the shoulders of our new president.

Obama has an enormous task before him and the outcome of his efforts will determine the quality of life for our children for the next 50 years or longer. For the bloated voice of the Republican Party, in the form of Rush Limbaugh, to attack any actions of Obama rings hollow but specifically for them to criticize his handling of the economy is ridiculous. They were a complete and utter failure. It is time for them to shuffle off of the public stage and carefully take up their seats in the dust bin of history next to Warren Harding and James Buchanan.