Sally Field: Sister Bertrille or Sister Betrayal?

Sister Bertrille or Sister Betrayal? Sally Field has become the latest celebrity to dive off the list of people I thought I knew. After watching people portray certain characters, you begin to identify them with that role and form opinions about them on that basis. I have been a fan of Sally Field from the Flying Nun days, through the Smokey and the Bandit days right up until the current medicinal ads. I have no problem with someone holding an opposing viewpoint. When I taught high school almost without exception all my friends and colleges were Liberal Democrats. When it comes to celebrities however, they are paid to entertain not interject their personal politics at nonpolitical events. With her hysterical, stuttering tirade at the Emmy Awards, she joined the likes of Danny Glover, Sean Penn and Charlie Sheen all of whom I was naïve enough to believe had at least a nodding acquaintance with reality. If she truly believes that the world would not have war if it was run by mothers, she is more deluded than the aforementioned triumvirate combined.
She has the right to her opinion as do all Americans. (Unless they have a Conservative opinion in which case they are to be muzzled and ridiculed at all costs) However to come to her erroneous conclusion, she would have to be ignorant of some of the great mothers in history. How about Russia’s Catherine the Great or England’s Queen Victoria, both of whose expansionist wars would rival any man’s. We can’t include Queen Elizabeth I due to her non-mother status as the “Virgin Queen” Or how about the more recent examples of Margaret Thatcher or Golda Meir? These two modern mothers were iron willed leaders who led their respective nations into successful campaigns against formidable opponents.
I happen to believe that women are just as capable leaders as men in peace or war. The only problem is that the most prominent female “leaders” in American politics are all well left of center. Whether it’s the scarf wearing, Axis of Evil member Basher Assad cuddling, Sen. Nancy Pelosi or the heavily medicated, second grade schoolteacher sounding drivel of alleged Republican Sen. Susan Collins, there is a serious lack of gravitas exhibited by the current crop of leaders who lack a y chromosome. Hillary? If she can be so easily fooled by George Bush into voting for the Iraq War, how would she fare when pitted against world leaders who truly wish to destroy our way of life?
In the current times in which we live with Al Queda, North Korea, Syria and a revitalized Russia vying for the chance to topple the United States from the sole superpower status, we can ill afford to vote for the next president solely on the basis of gender. However show me a viable conservative, experienced and tested mother and she would get my vote every time.

Live Like You're Living?

There’s nothing like a faux near death experience to make you assess your life. Last Saturday night I woke up at 10:30 with chest pains. Assuming it was just indigestion I took a couple of Tums and waited. After an hour I began to wonder. I thought of my Uncle Eddie who woke up with “indigestion”. By the time his wife came back from the medicine cabinet he was dead. Most of my uncles died of heart attacks in their 50’s and early 60’s. After two hours I reran the day’s events. My wife and younger son were gone for the day for a Confirmation Retreat. My elder son and I cleaned out the flooded cellar and cleared winter debris from the yard with a four wheeler and wagon. It was beautiful outside for the first time in a long time. My son suggested we shoot our bows for a while which was a pleasant surprise. We shot some to sight in and then took shots from distances we would never try in the woods. It was great. Then we went to Mass in order to have a Sunday with no obligations. All in all a pretty good day.
By hour three without any relief, and my wife by now awake and worried , it was time to go to the ER. If you ever want to get fast service at the ER there are two choices: arrive in an ambulance or say you have chest pains. After a few checks of blood pressure, temp etc. they gave me some nitro. The pain vanished. After more tests including a stress test that afternoon, a heart problem was ruled out. It was an esophageal spasm. A very expensive tummy ache.
But what if it was my last day? Dying after a calm day with family and going to church? Boy did I luck out! It would sure beat a day of pointless argument and waking up (or not waking up) on the couch. Or going to bed angry after battling my sons’ teenage rebellion with no one in the house happy. It all ends up being the luck of the draw. The only ones who know exactly when they die are condemned prisoners and suicides. Not a group anyone aspires to. It would be impossible to live each day as your last. Staring at each sunset and sunrise as you hug your family while professing unending love to your spouse and treating your fellow man with love and respect? Every day? It would be completely incompatible with earning a living or even driving! Moderation in all things is supposed to be the key to happiness. Although “live like you’re dying “ made a teary country song, it lacks practicality. This experience does make it easier however to put work, bills, deadlines, news and financial woes in their proper place.

Buy That Rifle

I went to Cabela's fabulous store in Pennsylvania while visiting my sister. I was overwhelmed. I was not expecting the sheer size or number of displays. The deer display alone must have been in the hundreds. They had examples of every possible species you would have ever thought could be hunted and some you wouldn't have come up with. Even a non hunter could enjoy the museum quality vignettes from every continent.
Then we went to the gun room. This would be Sarah Brady's Bunch's nightmare. Smiling men, women and children perusing rows and rows of every size, shape and caliber of firearms. It was in the used, moderately priced section when I saw one of the saddest scenes unfold. A couple that had to be in their seventies stood at the end of the aisle. The gentleman held a used rifle with the smile of a boy on his face. Perhaps it was a rifle he had longed for in his youth. Maybe a replacement for one sold earlier in life when financial need outweighed pursuits afield. He brought it to his bride for her approval with joyful expectation. She turned to him and with cold finality said "No! It's too expensive!" and stalked away. The beaten look on the old man's face as he lovingly put the rifle back in the rack was painful to watch. The man is in his seventies. I would assume he has raised kids and grand kids, paid mortgages, car payments and doctor's bills too numerable to remember. What could they be "saving" for? How many years does this man still have that would allow him to enjoy a day in the woods? If I had the money, I would have bought it for him just to see the look on the wife's face and to restore the smile on his.
Many people never make it to retirement. The sister I was visiting lost her husband to cancer at the age of 58. Saving and fiscal responsibility are important. So is enjoying life. Don't focus so intently on saving and scrimping for retirement that you neglect to enjoy the majority of your life. Take the vacation, don't work every Saturday, go fishing, book that hunt of a lifetime, buy that rifle.

What If?

What if the United States had not invaded Iraq? How would things be different? After September 11th, we would have still attacked the Taliban. The focal point of the War on Terror would be the much less hospitable terrain of Afghanistan.It would now be the "quagmire" (ask the Russians, Brits, etc.) and the calls for withdrawal would still be heard. What about Iraq? There is no reason to not believe that Saddam Hussein would still be in charge. He would be competing for face time with Iran's President Imanutjob. The U.N. Oil for Palaces program would still be humming along nicely. The cat and mouse game of inspections and sanctions would be playing on. ( I'll take Hans Blix in the Tikrit Palace for $300 Alex. Oops No Sorry) The weapons of mass destruction that many believe were moved and buried in the Bekka Valley would be in Saddam's arsenal. With Saddam and President Imanutjob both working on nukes, one of them was bound to get lucky. Saddam's now forgotten progeny Uday and Qusay would be poised to inherit their father's lethal legacy instead of being an obscure trivia question. How these two, with their wealth, cunning and blood lust would have rewritten Middle Eastern history will thankfully never be known.
Today,Iran is stuck between two proto-democracies and has growing internal pressure. The current war will be fought even if we do pull our troops out. The only difference would be that the battles would be here against civilians and not in Iraq against our military.

Bush Lied

Bush lied troops died. Fine. All the intel from allies and even the Clinton administration on which the invasion was based years ago was manipulated by then Gov. Bush in order to pull off his scheme. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Ever. Those Kurds that died en mass during Saddam's reign died as a result of ... bird flu that's the ticket. The Twin Towers were brought down by the Bush administration with help from Haliburton and accompanied by black helicopters from the World Government and the Freemasons blah blah blah. Pick your favorite conspiracy. The fact remains we are in Iraq.
Despite the early mistakes and the best efforts of the Democrats. there may be light at the end of the tunnel that is not a train. Since the surge, the number Iraqi civilian deaths is less than half of the pre-surge total. The full complement of troops will not be in place till May or June which oddly enough is the same time the Dems in the House want to begin the retreat.
The race is now on to see if the troops can secure Bagdad and hold it before the Democrats can either pass their retreat in disgrace policy or Iran widens the war. With 30-50% unemployment and a young disgruntled population, Iran's current government can not hold on without building some national unity. Just as the European monarchs did when a large, young, redundant male population threatened , President Imanutjob of Iran needs a good war. The moves in Congress can only embolden him.

Vulture Culture

Vulture culture is now a way of life in America. The most obvious example is the Anna Nicole Smith fiasco. Howard K. Stern the lawyer/lover/leech (or am I being redundant?) found the perfect carrion-to-be and has been snacking away happily ever since. Even “sideshow Sidlin”, the judge who is allegedly shopping around for a TV gig pulled out all the stops in getting every range of emotion broadcast to potential producers. This guy makes Judge Ito of O.J. fame look like Supreme Court material. It would not seem out of the range of possibility to imagine the mother may have her sights on some kind of Texas -size Graceland in mind if she wins her daughter’s corpse. Even though she has finally been buried the fight goes on for possession . Possession of the child with the hundred million dollar potential is the new battle.
The vulture culture is predominate in politics as well. The anti-gunners in politics quietly wait in the background until a gun related tragedy occurs. Then they swoop in with ’common sense” measures which tighten the laws on only certain types of weapons or ammunition or even outlets for the “safety of the public”. ( Won’t someone think of the children?) They know that an incremental strangulation of the Second Amendment is more likely to be successful than an outright attack.
The most insidious manifestation of the vulture culture involves the current attempt to pull troops out of Iraq. The Left’s constant screaming tally of fallen soldiers in Iraq is the best tactic they have. Growing up during the Vietnam War I can remember the daily/weekly body count tally on the nightly news. But even during Uncle Walter’s broadcast the number of ENEMY dead was also shown. The number of the dead on the enemy side was always much higher than the US casualties giving some the impression that we must be winning. That kind of thinking will not be tolerated in the majority of newsrooms today In today’s news the only number that matters is the number of Americans that die. If they do give any other number it is the number of Iraqi troops or Iraqi civilians. The impression being that they are the only casualties. The US forces has decided, rightly, to not go into the “body count as a measure of success business “ala Vietnam. The only problem is that the media will rarely if ever report any positive news coming out of Iraq. This leaves the impression that our troops are being pummeled by a rag tag band of fanatics.
The solution? Well the early success of the surge is being under reported so that may be the hint that success is near. The troops need to fight an unfettered war. Taliban massing in a cemetery? Level it! Taking fire from a Mosque? Airstrike! The PC approach that has been employed so far is only prolonging the fight. To fight an enemy that knows no borders you must be willing to attack them where ever they are. Vultures be damned.