The Same Old Story

The case of Trayvon Martin has been all over the news. I highly suggest you guys read the following news story and forward it down the line:
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-03-26/news/os-trayvon-martin-zimmerman-account-20120326_1_miami-schools-punch-unarmed-black-teenager

Here's the background: the boy's family, civil rights groups, and the usual exploitative suspects (Al Sharpton, Jessee Jackson) are portraying this event as a hate crime, of a young black male being racially targeted and assassinated in cold blood.

Here are the facts: The shooter George Zimmerman did not directly engage Trayvon in any fashion - not aggressively nor physically. It was Trayvon who came up to Zimmerman and PUNCHED him first, and then continued to attack the guy while he was on the ground.

I don't know about you, but if I'm getting beaten senseless I'm going to resort to any method at my disposal to end that crisis. It was at this stage that Zimmerman used his firearm.

Hence when the authorities investigated the incident, and no charges were brought forth. Zimmerman was bloodied when they arrived on the scene. A case of self-defense.

So why is their such a profound uproar over this case? Even President Obama has spoken out, stating that "if he had a son he would look like Trayvon"; a shrewd nod to establish/maintain his 'credit' with the African-American establishment, in my view.

No question hate crimes occur in this country. Discrimination permeates in subtle and obvious forms. I do not believe this case falls in either category. It was a tragic, but for it to be used as political football is highly counterproductive.

There are real problems in the black community: high unemployment, subpar academic scores, high crime rates. For the black leaders to trumpet the Trayvon Martin incident as example of black suffrage may end up being the real tragedy.

Much Ado about Tucson

Six individuals were gunned down this past weekend, and along with a critically wounded Congresswoman, a news story developed that encompassed every media outlet both online and on broadcast television. I am still puzzled as to why this outpouring of reporting has been dedicated to an event that has transpired frequently in America over the years. A simple internet search will yield a deluge of similar shootings in every venue and setting across the nation. Amazingly, all of them combined could not equal the momentous coverage that has been showered on the Tucson shooting. The New York Times web page has cordoned off an entire section of their headline space even to this very moment, all in relating their perceived significance of this tragic but not uncommon shooting spree. I believe the basis for the outlandish focus is undeniably centered on the political ramifications that can be mustered and synthesized regarding the motive for the event. As a photo was released of the suspect, the spirited look on the fellow's facade all but telegraphs what the true reason was behind his act - one of sheer lunacy and madness. There was no political bent in his actions, simply the result of a mind not complete in its stability. Unfortunately the news media must play out every possible manifestation of what COULD be behind the killings, but they will ultimately settle on the very argument I have centered on. It is just a pity we are forced to go along for the ride during their exploitive journey.

The case for U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan

In the wake of the tragic loss of life from last week's shooting at the Fort Hood military installation in Texas, there has been a constant stream of conjecture concerning the reasoning behind the alleged suspect's rampage.

It would be an attempt of pure folly to subscribe the antiquated and over-used "he hates America and freedom" line to dispel any other motivation, but in these troubled times of constant strife within the Muslim world, a more precise explanation must be offered.

The mind of Major Hasan has been filled with images of people from both his faith and ethnic background who have faced unimaginable destruction under the guise of liberation, and these events have been incubated by the profession that he, Major Hasan, has intimately been a part of since before the War on Terror began.

One can only imagine the constant second-guessing that Major Hasan dealt with as he struggled to reconcile the direction his life was taking him. On one hand, he was serving his home nation in its most venerable form - the military - all the while never being accepted by his contemporaries, superiors, and subordinates due to the appearance and makeup of his person.

What path shall a man take when he is not appreciated by the very land and body he was born into? I believe the answer was played out in its most brutal form that gloomy afternoon on the base. After all, what’s a dozen or so lives compared to the taking of tens of thousands by the indomitable machine that is the U.S. military.....indomitable up until that few minute stretch when one man, one Arab, and one Muslim, changed the scorecard single handedly.

Perhaps the prism of relativism can convince his persecutors to go gently into their task. Though 233 years of American history tells us that is a fairly unlikely happening.

A great toon for Obama

Obama in his element

Our glorious leader perched on his thrown.

Ode to George W Bush

Tomorrow arrives the day a great many of the populace have craved for since November 2004, the unequivocal end of the current administration's eight year executive reign. The perception of President Bush during his two terms have swung wildly on the approval line chart. He oversaw the most calamitous operation to be carried out on American soil in generations - nee the Operation of the Century as the Iraqi state deemed it in September 2001. In a matter of hours, the Islamic chickens had come home to roost, nourished by previous Presidents' inflaming escapades on the soils of Saudi, Iraq, Libya; the empowering of religious warriors in the quest to combat Soviet aggression; the unabashed devotion to the Israeli state's hold on Muslim land.

What road was Bush to take? The road towards combating Islamic fanaticism had been paved long before his inauguration, and if there was anything the US was still best at among anyone in the world, it was sheer military might. The American street was hell bent on a paralleled response to the bold and brilliant Muslim exercise employed on 9/11/01. This was a chess game after all, and the previous moves had been made in the preceding 22 years. This time, Bush and his planners would chart out the following moves in advance, the other side's response be damned.

We live under a system of representative government. It is we, the people, who choose the candidates to voice our opinions, requests, and demands. It is in that body of representatives that lies the power to use military force. We chose nearly unanimously to engage the Taliban and terrorist threat. Then again we were asked approval for military action against Saddam's Iraq, and even the opposition political party who controlled the US Senate decided to give George Bush his pass to start the 2nd war. There certainly were no cries of disapproval during the October 2002 war deliberations among the governmental bodies (save for the man who will take the oath tomorrow). Iraq was not and is not George Bush's war - lo, it is the American people who own it.

There were two other points of damnation the political left has seared onto Bush's legacy, quite unfairly. One is the inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina. There was no foreseeing the breaching of the levees. The city was given an evacuation order, yet it was the failure of the local and state government that supersedes any fault among the federal body. Secondly, Bush has been cast as a racist. How does it strike those critics when the first black secretary of State, the first female black secretary of state were appointed by Bush 43. His spiritual adviser, the man who officiated his daughter's wedding, is black. Bush has provided more aid to fight AIDS in Africa than any other president.

We must all analyze the George W Bush years and its effect on us not by how others perceive it - the biased media, academics, entertainers, but rather, how has his policies affected YOU...if at all. You'd be surprised by the answer.

The Perfect Season: Ode to the 0-16 Detroit Lions

The year was 1997. I was in the midst of my last semester of high school during the fall of that year, and the Indianapolis Colts were in the midst of a terrible season. They began their campaign losing 10 straight games. Everyone was predicting they would run the table in reverse. I was caught up in this backward euphoria, only to be disappointed as Indy beat the Packers to get win number 1. From that point on, I began every NFL year keeping track of potential heirs to the winless throne. There were certainly close calls - The 2000 Chargers began 0-11, last seasons Dolphins were a tantalizing 0-13, and most notable the 2001 Detroit Lions were 0-12. In fact, those Lions were the subject of late night punchlines throughout that run, which made 2008 all the more fitting. We can now be assured it was certain that the Lions franchise would be the one to complete the seemingly impossible task of losing EVERY game out of 16 game schedule. Remember, this isn't college ball. Presumably every NFL team can come out victorious against any other - see Giants vs Browns this year. The NFL expanded its schedule to 16 games in 1978 - the year I was born - and it took 30 years in the interim for the Detroit Lions to complete an imperfect season. We'll never remember off the top of our heads who this year's Super Bowl winner will be down the road, but what the Lions accomplished will be set in stone in everyone football fan's mind. It may never happen again this century...well, assuming the Lions get a decent quarterback in 2009.