Louisiana Tour

One advantage of being in the National Guard Special Forces is that they frequently pay me to play. I had been enjoying some rock climbing for about a week when Rita struck and the wheels began to turn. My SF Group didn't have to look far to find a team already activated so when the tasking came our play time ended. I have been on a tour of Southern Louisiana for the past several days and will likely be unable to blog for longer than the two weeks I originally anticipated. I hope to write again soon so don't give up on me.

The U.S. Constitution

Throughout most of history people have been governed by men who were, despite their many titles, dictators. Although a benevolent monarchy can be a good and very effective form of government, we have seldom seen benevolence. To the contrary, we usually see someone who uses the governed to inflate their personal position. Whether they feel they are the highest authority or whether the highest authority, aka God, appointed them to their position, the result is usually the same, tyranny.

The U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution were greatly influenced by the pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Pane. Pane wrote that the best form of government was no government but whenever humans interact there have to be set rules or standards between them to govern their behavior. Due to the inherent nature of men, when enough people gather there needs to be a governing body which can establish and, when needed, enforce these rules for the benefit of the group as a whole. Therefore, the purpose of government is to provide the least intrusive rules possible and to interfere with the business of the governed only when necessary.

I grew up in a home where the U.S. Constitution was virtually canon, the word of God. At a young age, my parents took me to a seminar by Cleon Skousen on the Constitution. Skousen is a respected Constitutional authority and I learned much from this seminar about the constitution and our founding fathers. Recently we have seen many attempts to belittle and occasionally demonize our founding fathers. These attacks attempt to portray them as regular men but the fact still remains that they were ordinary men in extraordinary situations who believed in something greater than themselves and were willing to do something about it. These men understood that the natural tendency of men in power is to abuse the power entrusted to them. They managed to overcome this tendency themselves and wrote a document that would help prevent this from destroying our society.

Delegates from each state were elected and arrived in Philadelphia ready to fight for the interests of the states they represented. The Constitutional Congress toiled hard and in complete secrecy for four months. On September 17th, 1787 a majority of delegates approved the document and they celebrated with a farewell banquet before taking it to their state legislatures to be ratified. The result of their work was a document written on four sheets of parchment which would change the course of humanity. It was based on an unprecedented concept that power was derived from, and belonged to, the people.

In 1848 a French author wrote,

The principle of the sovereignty of the people, which was enthroned in France but yesterday, has there [in America] held undivided sway for over sixty years…For sixty years the (American) people, who have made [the people’s sovereignty} the common source of all their laws, have increased continually in population, in territory, and in opulence; and –consider it well—the most prosperous, but the most stable, of all the nations of the earth…The republic there has not been the assailant, but the guardian, of all vested rights; the property of individuals has had better guarantees there than in any other country of the world; anarchy has there been as unknown as despotism…The principles on which the American Constitutions rest, those principles of order, of the balance of powers, of true liberty, of deep and sincere respect for right, are indispensable to all republics. (Democracy In America, New York, Vintage Books of Random house, 1945, ed 12, p.X)

I attest that God influenced the men who drafted the U.S. Constitution. It has the power to improve humanity to a degree only superseded by the word of God as recorded in scripture. It now stands as a beacon to oppressed peoples everywhere.

AFK

I'll be out playing Army for the next two weeks in a technological black hole. I do not know how much internet access I will have but past experiences from this location indicates none. I will need to find the time to post an article for tomorrow since it's the anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Hopefully, you will be able to read it on the 17th but it may have to wait until next month.

The camp I will be working at did receive 2000 "evacuees" from the gulf coast. You'll probably be hearing about them as well.

The Declaration of Independence.

When was the last time you read the Declaration of Independence? Have you ever taken the time to read it and comprehend it? I had the pleasure of being interviewed by a local talk show host who had memorized it in its entirety and was working on the Constitution. How many of you consider yourselves a Patriot but have not taken the time to understand? Hopefully the answer is none, but if even one does exist, this is your opportunity to rectify the situation.

The document begins, “When in the course of human events…” but what is it saying? It says that when the time comes for us to separate ourselves from a governing body, proper respect to others requires that we explain why.

It continues, “We hold these truths to be self-evident…”, in the modern vernacular, “Well, Duh!” “…that all men (women included) are created equal.” Note the word “created.” We all start out naked but what we do after that is mostly up to us. It is also a shame and a national embarrassment that after using this phrase, the Constitution defined some men as “three fifths.”

“…that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Note the word “pursuit.” This implies no guarantee, however, many seem to want to remove this word and complain that they did not receive an adequate hand-out.

An adequate explanation and discussion of the entire Declaration goes far beyond this medium. My intent is merely to peak your interest and send you to the document to read for yourself, but let me make one more comment. Most of it discusses the “repeated injuries and usurpations” of the current King of Great Britain. I suggest you read this list before you make another accusation about the corruption within our form of government or suggest any changes. After all, not even Clinton was that bad.

The declaration makes a statement that every leader should understand but few do, “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” or, the power always comes from the people. Without the consent of the people, whether through will or compulsion, the leader has no power. With this in mind, it is the responsibility of the governed to be informed. Last year, during the election process, my 10 year old son was asking how our election system worked. I gave him a copy of the U.S. Constitution and, with a little incentive, he read it in one day. If a 10 year old can read and understand it, so can you. So, take the time and review the documents that created the greatest nation on Earth.

Institutional Racism

We have heard plenty about institutional racism over the last couple of weeks and within this article I will show that it does exist and is well ingrained into our society.

For an initial illustration I would like you to tell me your initial gut reaction to the following questions. Should Congress designate a White History month? How about a White Congressional Caucus? Would you watch White Entertainment Television? Would any of these suggestions be considered racist? If your last answer was yes then why do we have a Black/Hispanic/Native American History month, a Black Congressional Caucus, or Black Entertainment Television?

Now that some of you erroneously think I am racist, let’s take a look at the race baiters in our society. 40-50 years ago our race baiters would wear white robes and promoted the idea that blacks were less intelligent, less capable, were inferior to whites, and needed white men to provide them help and direction. Today our race baiters fight for time on MSNBCNN and complain that our nations white leaders are not giving blacks enough help and direction.

40-50 years ago there was a political party that apposed desegregation. This party filibustered the Civil Rights Act and insisted that the states had the right to maintain segregation. This party was the Democratic Party; if you don’t believe me just check out Senators Byrd and Thurmond. Today the Democratic Party runs on a platform promoting a nanny state which doles out money to the disadvantaged. In the late ‘80’s the left wing in the Australian political arena campaigned with the slogan, “By 1990 no child will live in poverty.” They won the election and quickly raised taxes and expanded on their dole/welfare programs. Within their system, the more you could prove you were disadvantaged, the more you received and race played a large roll in one’s level of disadvantage. The result was large dole neighborhoods, an alarming unemployment rate, and MORE children in poverty. The point in this example is to illustrate the fallacy of the liberal ideology and show it for what it is, a way to keep the black man down with his support.

On the reverse side, the GOP pushed the Civil Rights Act through and more recently appointed the first black Supreme Court justice, the first black Secretary of State, and even the first black female Secretary of State. So why is it that conservatives are branded as racists when they honor minorities based on their merits?

Freedom Walk

Andi continues to report from the front lines in the fight against the anti-war crowd. This time she reports on the Freedom Walk. I don’t know how many people showed up for this event but it sure looks like more that have shown for all the recent Soros/Moore events combined.

War Stories

Tim O’Brien tell us, “True war stories do not generalize. They do not indulge in abstraction or analysis.” In this context I offer you my first War Story with the added emphasis that not all of my War Stories come from combat zones or in times of war.

Ouch!

It was a beautiful sunny day in late June and I was enjoying a leisurely ride to work. The last thing I remember was the wonderful feeling of the wind in my hair and the sun on my arms. I had recently started a new job as supervisor for a local security company and enjoyed the opportunities it provided in contrast to the dead-end job I had just left. I was truly elated perched atop a beautiful motorcycle with the magical popping sound of a twin-v engine rising from beneath me.

The next event that I remember had me lying in the back of an ambulance conversing with the EMTs about the condition of my ankle. Their initial assessment was a dislocation and the sight of my foot displace three to four inches to the side of where it should have been adequately supported this assumption. In the process of shredding my pants they found my cell phone and offered to use it to call someone to meet me at the hospital so my wife was notified quickly.

Over the next few hours I was both x-rayed and CAT scanned over almost every part of my body. I quickly realized that the C-spine collar I was wearing was an unnecessary precaution but I humored the medical professionals until after the x-rays and CAT scans; they all seemed to think that a few years of med school trumped by nearly four decades of intimate and often extreme use of and interaction with my body. My injuries were eventually cataloged and included significant abrasions to my face, a little asphalt ground into my arms, a small patch of road rash on my left shoulder, considerable bruising on my left side from the hip down, both the tibia and fibula broken at the ankle resulting in my complete dislocation, and, as one nurse mater-of-factly put it, “by-the-way, your nose is broken too.”

I do not remember the first time they tried to set my ankle but I definitely remember the second time. My fingerprints are probably permanently imbedded in the steel side rails on that bed despite all the morphine they gave me. Later that day someone asked me to rate my current pain on a scale of zero being no pain and ten being the worst pain I had felt in my life; I had to initially state that my pain meter had recently been recalibrated. Due to the nature of my fractures, as illustrated by this example x-ray, my foot would not stay in place and they wisely decided to knock me out completely for the third time they tried resetting my ankle.

My next noteworthy event was regaining consciousness after surgery. I do not smoke or drink and I have never used illicit dugs because my clarity of thought is very precious to me, so the mental fog that prevailed when I awoke was very unsettling. When I announced my discomfort the cat calls from the nurse’s station which included, “you just came out of surgery,” “just stay put,” and “you’ve had a concussion,” only added to the confusion. In my mind, I was somewhere I did not want to be and I was leaving even if I had to fight my way out. I suppose we were all lucky that my body would not respond until after my head had a little more time to become clearer.

They kept me in the hospital over night, which, along with my broken bones, was another first for me. I slept remarkably well considering the circumstances but still awoke early enough to ask the nurse to part the shades so I could watch the sun rise. That was one sunrise I appreciated more than all the previous ones because I knew I had beaten the odds stacked heavily against me.

As you could imagine, I have reflected a great deal on the events surrounding my accident and, as an old soldier, wish I could remember the event of the actual accident so I could conduct my after action review (AAR). All I have to work with is the police officer’s accident report which states that I did nothing wrong. It does document that a young mother with little kids properly restrained in her small SUV decided to make a left turn through my path on a residential street. I wasn’t wearing my helmet that day, I seldom wear it in the Arizona heat, nor was I wearing my jacket or gloves which was rare even considering the heat. I consider the restricted range of motion and field of view that my full face helmet provides too restricting especially when I consider that I have never struck my head in any of my previous motorcycle spills regardless of whether I was wearing my helmet or not; I have always managed to tuck properly to avoid injury.

Many people have told me not to ride a motorcycle again. This advice has come from family, doctors, and religious leaders but it is advice I do not expect to follow. In my relatively short life I have lived a couple of lifetime’s worth. I do not intend to stop living so I can live longer. So, with my next motorcycle purchase I will buy a less obstructive helmet with the idea that a half helmet that I will wear is better than the full helmet I will not wear. I have yet to decide what will replace my Virago but I will say that I will only purchase a Harley when two conditions are met. First, I must have more money than sense and, in all humility, claim that I have been gifted with more than my fair share of sense. And second, Harley needs to make a bike with a drive shaft.

About Tribes

If you have not read this one Tribes yet then GO, take the time to read it and don’t come back until you do.

One Month Anniversary.

One month, twenty posts, and 2900 hits. Not too bad for a first month. I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to review my opinions especially those who left appropriate comments. For those who left inappropriate comments, I still have the power of deletion .

I have personally used this blog to help vent some frustrations over how wrong and/or ignorant some people are, but it has also helped me recover mentally from a rather disabling accident I experience just over two months ago. I am having a terrible time living with the disability so I am working hard at overcoming it. The doctor originally predicted a 90% chance of a 90% recovery; I’ll have a hard time with anything short of 100%. Hopefully I’ll be able to provide the whole accident story soon but that will have to wait. After all, I am just now finding the motivation to mention it. Let me just say, START SEEING MOTORCYCLES! If I hear that any of you even bumps a motorcycle I will personally hunt you down.

So, this anniversary note turned into some semblance of a self portrait Friday. Thanks for dropping by anyways.

NG Soldier in Iraq Looses Son.

Andi spotted this one and her article Do You Want Fries With That? is a must read. Once you have read it, be sure to let SPC Joe McNeill’s Congressmen know what you think.

Let’s get this one overturned!

Just Desserts.

It's a shame that this occurs; New Orleans Cops Shoot Eight Gunmen. At least they got what they deserved.

Finally writing about Katrina.

Greetings Mayor Ray Nagin.





I have no intent to make light of the great disaster that is ongoing in what was New Orleans. The loss of life and property is beyond comprehension and is a tragedy of the worst proportions. What I will illustrate is some absurdities which are apparently not very obvious.

If I choose to live in a tidal plane whose responsibility is it to ensure that my property does not get flooded? And, when the inevitable happens, would I be justified in blaming my problems on the President of the United States? Is it the fault of the federal government or the Corps of Engineers for not giving me enough money to protect my property?

Now why was it my responsibility to pay to keep New Orleans above the water level? And, why would someone choose to purchase costal property that was below sea level? Like Sam Kinnison said, “we have deserts but we don’t live in them.”

Next, Mayor Nagin and many in the media are criticizing FEMA and the President for a delayed response in the relief effort. These are more brainless accusations made in ignorance. President Bush declared a state of emergency before Katrina even made landfall so FEMA could preposition its relief effort. What was not predicted was the need to evacuate and feed half a million people from a flooded and crime ridden city. To my recollection, this is a feat which has never been accomplished before. The closest comparison I can imagine would be the Normandy invasion but the allies practiced for months and then only transported 156, 000.

If Mayor Nagin thinks that FEMA should have used their crystal ball to predict and better prepare then why didn’t he use his to better evacuate his city or reinforce the dikes with New Orleans funds before Katrina?

Finally, we have a class within our society which I have started calling feral humans. Some of these feral humans are making a mess of the rescue effort in New Orleans. For those who would rape and murder during the rescue effort I suggest 168 grains of justice propelled by 44.5 grains of determination which I can produce at a cost of around 25 cents. As for the looters, I can forgive those acquiring food but those looting anything other than food or water should be identified, prosecuted, and sentenced to the maximum the law allows. “We have no way of washing our clothes” is no excuse. I have personally worn the same clothes under extreme for much more than 5 days.

I still pray for those who are suffering because of this disaster, however, I will not give a free pass to those who would politicize their suffering and I make no apologies for what I say because, this is Where I Stand.

Update: I just found this An Open letter to Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera. I originally wanted to spend more attention to this particular train of thought so I'm happy to link to this one.

Photo: Afghan Security

Just sharing some of my photos. I hope you enjoy.