American Failure

There has been much bashing of the American president by both the Left and the Right in this great nation. Some blame the Democrats, others blame the Republican Party. As I see it, the problem is a reflection of all of us.

Congress appears to be reading newspapers instead of reading the American people.

Linked to this is the American people's inattention to what their elected leaders have been doing, or rather not been doing.

In other worlds, we're all to blame.

"A Man Without A Country" - Philip Nolan and Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's "Spiritual Adviser"

Readers may well remember the movie of the same name about a fictional U.S. Naval Officer who cursed “Damn the United States! I wish I may never hear of the United States again!” Thus was the Philip Nolan court-martialed. (http://www.bartleby.com/310/6/1.html)

Senator Barack Obama's so-called spiritual adviser said the same thing last week. Only he invoked the name of God. We all saw the video on television. Mr., I'll not call him Reverend, Wright was obviously reading the lines. They must've been written by Moscow. I'm calling for Mr. Wright to become a non-fictional Man Without A Country.

Question - shouldn't that particular church have its tax status revoked because of using the pulpit for politics?

“WASHINGTON (with a date which must have been late in 1807).
“SIR—You will receive from Lieutenant Neale the person of Philip Nolan, late a lieutenant in the United States Army.
“This person on his trial by court-martial expressed, with an oath, the wish that he might ‘never hear of the United States again.’
“The Court sentenced him to have his wish fulfilled.
“For the present, the execution of the order is intrusted by the President to this Department.
“You will take the prisoner on board your ship, and keep him there with such precautions as shall prevent his escape.
“You will provide him with such quarters, rations, and clothing as would be proper for an officer of his late rank, if he were a passenger on your vessel on the business of his Government.
“The gentlemen on board will make any arrangements agreeable to themselves regarding his society. He is to be exposed to no indignity of any kind, nor is he ever unnecessarily to be reminded that he is a prisoner.
“But under no circumstances is he ever to hear of his country or to see any information regarding it; and you will especially caution all the officers under your command to take care, that, in the various indulgences which may be granted, this rule, in which his punishment is involved, shall not be broken.
“It is the intention of the Government that he shall never again see the country which he has disowned. Before the end of your cruise you will receive orders which will give effect to this intention.
“Respectfully yours,
“W. SOUTHARD, for the “Secretary of the Navy.”

RACE AN ISSUE IN OHIO PRIMARY?

The Cleveland Plain Dealer today (Sunday, March 9th, 2008) reports that race played a major role in Barack Obama losing Ohio and Hilary Clinton winning. Are readers supposed to be surprised that racial politics played a role in the Ohio Primary? While the Plain Dealer writers spun it to be whites voting against a black candidate, the fact is that virtually ALL African-Americans voted for Senator Obama. Doesn't the pendulum swing both ways?

Hiram College Professor Jason Johnson, evidently an African-American, dismissed the Obama loss as hardcore white folks voting against a black man. White voters I know only voted against this particular black man. They're ready to support the right man or woman, regardless of religion, marital status or color. This far-left candidate just isn't the one.

University of Maryland Professor Ronald Walters, apparently another African-American, put Reagan Democrats in a group he calls "economically sensitive." And these guys are teaching young Americans?

Seems to me the narrow-minded bigots here aren't white guys.

Visit Sullivan's website at http://www.geocities.com/osuileabhain2000/Index.htm

What You Get With State Control of the Internet

According to Fox News on 03/04/08, "Several million users will not be able to follow political news or access Web sites operated by political parties during the largest Internet blackout in the nation's history, reported the Tribune.

Iranian officials offered differing public explanations for why the republic would restrict private access to the Internet, according to the Tribune.

"Shutting down the Internet service will depend on security plans and on the Ministry of Telecommunication," Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi told an Iranian daily quoted by the Tribune.

Another election official told the Iranian press that an Internet blackout would ensure that government online service would operate without interruptions despite recent upgrades to its lines."

Can we expect the same thing in the America of the future? When the door is opened a crack by the Left, it always follows that it is then kicked wide open.

My Fear of African-American in Political Office

We're seeing a phenomenon in American politics with the candidacy of Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama for the office of President. As individuals, I don't fear either. However, I've long thought that African-Americans (A-As)are black first and American second.

There's a joke about having Irish Alzhemers - one forgets everything except the grudge. The fact that Senator Barama does not wear the American flag in his lapel signals to me that me has a grudge - he's a member of an African-American nation and is not one of us.

Speaking of the Irish, we are proud of our Irish roots. However, I don't know any who are Irish first, American second. The majority of us came to America better equipped - we had a shirt on our back, our strong faith, and we spoke English. That's about it.

The ancestors of most Americans did not arrive on these shores as slaveholders or with gold in their pocketbook. Neither did they have the economic value that slaves had. Southeners will tell you that, in the case of the Irish, they were given the jobs that blacks wouldn't be given. Why? Slaves had value and Irish laborers did not. I've also read accounts about Civil War era slaves who were obviously better fed than the soldiers in both camps.

What could we expect from an A-A President? Let me leave that to your imagination. However, the American Left has rarely taken issues head-on. They can't win them with a direct approach. But, when they've been able to open the door to a political issue just a crack, it has then been kicked open. What would happen with an A-A President? The first thing that comes to my mind is the issue of reparations.

I'm not writing this because I'm anti-black - I'm pro-American. The big issue in the upcoming Presidential race should be about investment in America. Our national economic policies continue to force capital to flee our country as fast as water over Niagara Falls. What is now disappearing is the industrial backbone of this nation - the American working class. No, not unions, Democrats or Republicans - American jobs. And our bankrupt American government, which would have been called "Red" in the old days, is the cause.

If you believe the Democratic candidates for President, Republicans are the problem. I you believe Republicans, Democrats are the problem. Both say their style of Government is the answer. However, Americans who incorrectly perceive this are the problem - they elect people who would like us to believe that Government is the answer. It is not. Americans are the problem.

Quit treading on me.

American News Media - How to Speak With A Forked Tongue.

A man went berserk in Kirkwood, Missouri this month, killing several people. The dead included police officers and citizens who held political office. A picture in the news showed the killer to be African-American.

I suppose those killed were all white as there was no mention in any reports of their racial background. If they had been black, and the shooter white, American news media would have applied a different standard and certainly would have spun the story in a different fashion, e.g. it would be portrayed as a racial event. And we would see the City Hall protests. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson et al would be flown in to give the outcry of injustice a sense of legitimacy in the eyes of the press.

However, because the shooter was black, this story does not further the agenda of the American left.

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW

I've always been puzzled by the fact that Ohioans can go to West Virginia, Michigan, Canada, New York and elsewhere to gamble, yet Ohio has successfully fought it.

I picked up the Plain Dealer this morning and saw the headline "CAN THIS NUMBERS GAME HELP FIX OHIO'S BUDGET?" State-run Keno, they profess, could raise $73 million smackeroos in a year. This is occurring five months after Ohio outlawed video gambling games in bars and taverns. They stuck it to veteran's clubs too. How can the State of Ohio have their cake and eat it too? Well, here's their fork-tongued, crafted answer.

Governor Strickland opposes casino gambling. State-run Keno is not a casino game, it's a lottery game. Well, thanks for pointing out the difference to me. I thought for a minute there you were trying to take over the gambling trade in Ohio.

This past December Governor Strickland launched another program called "Connect Ohio." According to lw.pennet.com, Strickland says it "will help expand broadband services across the state by working with local communities and providers to map gaps in access and facilitate local technology planning teams that will encourage adoption of broadband and other technologies."

Does anybody else think this is akin to the attempt by the state to, degree by small degree, eventually control the Internet in Ohio (read $$$), just like the attempt to have state-controlled gambling?

If the Gov. was smart he'd say it's all to benefit Education. That's worked in the past.

"It's time for....."

Senator Ted Kennedy has spoken his mind in support of his candidate. "It's time for Barack Obama" What gives? Is it "time for" Hilary Clinton because she's a woman? "Time for" Barack Obama because he's an African-American? Time for John McCain because he was in the Hanoi Hilton?
Sorry folks but I don't wear the cape of "time for" and the generalization that it assumes. It insults what's left of my intelligence. If I like a candidate's ideas, and that candidate has no legs, I'll vote for that candidate. If my candidate is female? Black? I'm listening to their ideas and how they would manage the issues I deem to be important to Americans. I'll cast my vote based on this, not because I'm supposed to feel one way or the other.
This crafted appeal to the feelings of the American voter is nothing more than a manipulation. And lots of folks continue to fall for it.

EARLY IN THE RACE

Americans have just witnessed the 2nd state to host a presidential primary with "winners" being John McCain and Hilary Clinton. What hoopla!

Iowa was touted as Senator Obama Barack's rise. Does Iowa even count?

In New Hampshire, less than 200,000 people turned out to vote. And the pollsters were surprised at the outcome. Way to go New Hampshire! Turned those folks on their pinheads.

It's interesting, however, to see that faith, religion and color don't seem to matter anymore. Nor do issues. The outcome of this election will be interesting. Women will vote for Clinton. African Americans will vote for Obama. Who will "white" men vote for?

OHIO SCRAPS 2 YEAR OLD 21 MILLION DOLLAR VOTING SYSTEM

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections recently voted along party lines to change the two year old electronic voting system. The two Republicans voted no, the two Democrats yes. The tie-breaker was cast by Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. She had previously recommended scrapping it.

Voters in other Ohio counties had no problems with identical and/or similar systems. Why Cuyahoga County? One is lead to believe that there are only a few of reasons for it:

1) The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections doesn't know what they're doing.
2) Cuyahoga County voters are too dumb to do things right.
3) There is a deliberate effort to sabotage the electronic voting system.
4) Jennifer Brunner and the Democratic Party will somehow benefit from the new ($9 million)
way of doing things.
5) Cuyahoga County will go over to Dennis Kucinich in the upcoming Presidential Elections.
6) All of the above.

How our friends and fellow Americans will lose the War

If I were the other guy, given the propensity of the American Congress, I'd just wait things out. You know sooner or later we're going to pull out. How about a little historical perspective behind my thoughts?

Henry Kissinger, a German-born naturalized American citizen, negotiated "peace with honor" on behalf of the American government of the time. The so-called Vietnam peace treaty was signed in Paris, France. We pulled out and it wasn't long afterward that the other guy came out of his hole and pushed into the capitol of South Vietnam, Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City). After the military victories won there by our courageous fighting forces, we allowed the other guy to win the political victory and eventual military victory.

There are times I like to be wrong but I've seen it happen before. Once we pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq they'll come out of their holes. The fact that they can kill at will doesn't matter. 50 innocent people were blown up this week there. They will blow up 50 anywhere they choose and nobody's standing with us in our attempt to prevent it.

Let's see what happens when we have radical Muslim governments in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, etc. Then-President Jimmy Carter turned his back on the Shah of Iran and we "lost" them. Who will then turn their backs to us? We still don't know who are friends are.

Thumbprint Identification

I recently had to ask a claimant to provide identification. He was seeking money for a auto-rental truck accident (he was in the car) that appeared to be staged. He asked me to meet him at a residence that was not where lived. In my presence, he pulled out a Social Security card from a desk drawer. It had his name on it. As he put the card back into the desk drawer I glanced down at it. Inside the drawer were many social security cards.

Whatever happened to the idea of thumbprint ID? Couldn't this solve a myriad of problems? For example, people who vote twice (like those who put Cleveland's Dennis Kucinich in office).

How about people with multiple IDs? Who knows, there might be the John Smith who is employed by a government beauracy or private industry, and then there might be the same John Smith, aka Muhamed whatever, drawing social benefits from Uncle Sam.

Wouldn't thumbprint ID eliminate cheaters? The pool of deceivers that would be cut from their income stream might be far larger than anyone could imagine.

Sell the Ohio Turnpike and help Iraqi Refugees

There has been talk this year of selling the Ohio Turnpike. There has also been talk about settling Iraqi "refugees" here. I've got a plan that will solve both issues.

Sell the Turnpike to Iraq. Can you see it - an Iraqi in every Toll Booth!

Thank you Bill Cosby

This was checked on Snopes.com as True.

"They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk:

Why you ain't,

Where you is,

What he drive,

Where he stay,

Where he

work,

Who you be...

And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk.

Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living. People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around.

The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or who is his father?

People putting their clothes on backward: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something? Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up?

Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back.

People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now. We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.

We have to start holding each other to a higher standard. We cannot blame the white people any longer."

Dr. William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr., Ed.D.

Illegal Immigation - the polarization of the issue.

The reported Hispanic community's alleged alarm over perceived backlash against illegal immigration only confirms this cultural anthropologist's observations.

All Americans, including "native Americans" have roots somewhere else. However, American media has done an effective job of polarizing the issue of illegal immigration.

The message to the illegal community, if one can call them that, is COME IN THE FRONT DOOR.

The problem exacerbates itself when amnesty is considered for those already illegally residing here. Don't you think they will bring in MORE illegals from their families?

If we don't maintain control it won't be long before the question will be asked, "Is Los Angeles (or Cleveland, or......) burning?

Religion in Politics

Religion is man-made, an outward expression of what most consider their "faith".

True faith, however, transcends "Religion". That is in the arena of spirituality. And those who are in touch with their spiritual nature can be Moslem, Christian, Jew or simply one without any outward expression of any particular "religion".

One's spirituality should be evident in the way they live and doesn't need to be questioned or broadcast. Religion, on the other hand, like homosexuality, has no place in the political world.

Is your bottle being filled?

Cleveland Plain Dealer writer Regina Brett recently wrote a column on what she termed "the culture of disrespect."

Ironically, it appeared the morning it was reported a Cleveland firefighter, Mr. Hough, killed three people by shooting them. I believe the Brett's "culture of disrespect" and this shooting to be related events.

It’s been said that we’re all one step away from insanity. If alcohol wasn’t involved with Mr. Hough’s behavior I believe he probably has no recollection of events. He just has had his “bottled filled.”

I, too, like Mr. Hough, live with a disrespectful neighbor. There’s no father in the home, only a lazy boyfriend. They leave their trash out front, never bothering to put the cans away like everybody else. When I’ve tried to talk to the mother she’s only been disrespectful to me. As a result, I call the police when there’s problems. Recently one young son was hot rodding on a very, very loud gasoline operated “motorbike” in the back yard. The police were no help. They “couldn’t do anything….it’s there back yard.” I asked him to at least talk to the family ‘cause I can’t. I tried one time talking to the lazy boyfriend. His reply was “We’re moving next year anyway.” Well, they make ME want to move!

Mr. Hough went crazy, true, but he’s been complaining about these neighbors for a long, long time without anything being done. The neighbors should have taken a clue. People need to begin to take clues. It can happen to any of us.

Like many others, I, too, have had to drive around black youngsters who walk in the middle of the street instead of using either sidewalk on the street. I’ d like to yell at them about what they’re doing and why they are not earning anyone’s respect by doing so. But, I drive around them, choosing not to say anything. I don’t judge all blacks by these actions but there’s enough of them earning disrespect and enough of us having it hurled into our faces that a lot of bottles are being filled.

I hope I never see the day when my bottle becomes filled and, like Mr. Hough, I lose it.

Memorial Day

At the end of WWII, four of General James Doolittle's Tokyo raiders were released from captivity in Japan. In Carroll V. Glines book, Four Came Home, the epilogue is titled 'The Battle Shall Be Won'.

George Barr, Jacob D. DeShazer, Robert L. Hite and Chase J. Nielsen said of their captivity:

"We learned the ultimate meaning of democracy and the freedoms that a democratic government represents. In the hundreds of lonely hours we spent trying to keep our sanity by reviewing the things we had learned in school, often reluctantly, one the documents we recited to ourselves was the Declaration of Independence."

WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL, THAT THEY ARE ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS, AMONG THESE ARE LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. THAT TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS, GOVERNMENTS ARE INSTITUTED AMONG MEN, DERIVING THEIR JUST POWERS FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED......

Rocky Colavito’s Foul Ball



As a youngster, my father introduced my brother Rodger (Red) and me to sports. We were already young fans before most kids knew who the Cleveland Browns were. In those days it didn’t cost an arm and a leg to buy a ticket. Red and I always got the cheap tickets to get in and them moved around to find better, unoccupied seats. And we roamed Cleveland Municipal Stadium at will, learning every nook and cranny.

Sitting in Right Field one day with our friend Jerry Szabo, we watched as Cleveland Indian right fielder Rocky Colavito came up to bat. He swung at the first pitch and we saw it fly upwards behind him and onto the stadium roof. I was immediately inspired.

“Rodge, I know how to get on the stadium roof. Let’s go get the ball!” Red didn’t take much coaxing after he learned I really did know how to get onto the Stadium Roof. I had previously seen the ladders and hatches to the roof in highest echelon of the upper deck seats. Sometimes they were open, sometimes closed. Szabo, citing discretion being the better part of valor, opted to stay where he was. Red and I took off.

In the Right Field upper deck I saw the hatch was open. Climbing up and through the opening we gained access to the roof. Like Marines landing at Iwo Jima, we immediately began to sprint in the direction of home plate. Quickly arriving behind the plate, we spotted the baseball, about a foot from the edge. Red crawled over and picked up the ball. We immediately began our return sprint back to right field.

Red was always the better athlete of the two of us. About halfway there I got a pain in my side from running and yelled that I had to stop. He got upset at me and kept running. When I pleaded, he stopped, looking at me in a disgusted fashion. He must’ve had a vision because as we walked past another open hatch a Cleveland Police Officer stuck his head through it and yelled, “Hey, you two, Come here.” .

We were taken to the Stadium Security Office where we knew we were in deep doo-doo. We let it be known that our father was also a Cleveland Police Officer, figuring we might get a reduced sentence. They called him and I imagine dad’s response, after hearing a description of our antics that day, said something to the effect of, “Send those two idiots home!”

By this time it was late in the game, when the entry gates became unattended. Although we were booted out of the stadium, we went to another gate and re-entered. We found Szabo where we left him in Right Field, wondering if we were ever going to come back.

Hindsight, they say, is 20-20. What we had done was calmly surrender to the policeman. What we should’ve done is run like a bat out of hell. Now, come on, what cop can catch a couple of young teenagers who are running for their lives? And we also should’ve looked for an open hatch that was closer to the home plate area!

I’m sure Dad silently contemplated which head doctor he should send his sons to. When we got home he read us the riot act, of course. But we didn’t suffer any just consequences. And after all we had been through, we didn’t even get to keep the baseball.

TAX THE SAINTS

Sinners Unite!

You have been maligned, trashed and have had your pockets picked by government goody-two shoes for too long now. Anytime a rising politician or millionaire wannabe gets an idea in their head they look for other peoples money. In their latest quest for funding construction of a Summit County, Ohio new soccer stadium, they are mouthing the ole sure-bet way - TAX THE SINNERS!

I think it's time they got creative and announced alternative plans - TAX THE SAINTS! Now I have absolutely no idea which saints they should go after. Perhaps my readers could offer some. Tax those who go to church on Sundays? Perhaps roadblocks could be set up and drivers and passengers asked, "Do you smoke?" If they proudly announce they don't, "aha, we got another saint boys."

What about volunteer organizations as alternative sources of tax revenue for a new soccer stadium? How about the Salvation Army? We know where to find their volunteers at Christmastime. Empty their pockets, those darn saints.

Let's see, oh yeah, why not the Saint Vincent de Paul Society? Why, every can of food or piece of clothing donated and distributed could be counted with a percentage of the value given to build that new stadium. Coats for Kids? Toys for Tots? Why, the limitless possibilities are just beginning to fire my imagination.

Maybe my readers can offer insight and inspire politicos with other ways to take money from saints. Well, at least those saints who are left with a job these days.

Editors note - the writer is a non-smoker.