No Shame too Much?

Well, well, well. Now more info comes out concerning the AIG sitcom like a slow gas leak. We're finding out now that many politicos including President Obama himself did take campaign money from AIG. As Gomer Pyle would say, "Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!" Well, should we be surprised? Should it really be a surprise that Congress bull-rushed a bill through that would tax the AIG bonuses ninety per cent? Should it be a surprise that President Obama long planted the seeds of discontent towards AIG and other like corporations?

Look, even though the politicians in D.C. are aiming to set new records as far as trying to see how far they can demonize the big corporations and hide their own culpability, we have long been numbed by what goes on there. Perhaps--we keep telling ourselves--it should not have reached this far. We may be able to convince ourselves of that; but didn't we stand up and cheer when the CEO's of the big three auto makers were excoriated before congress simply for flying to D.C. in private jets. The bar reached higher and higher as it got to the point where we had to hear about how nearly every CEO or wealthy person was ready to cut his/her salary so that nobody would be mad at them, or that they would not feel the shame or wrath of the media.

Then the situation in which, a few weeks ago, basketball coach Jim Calhoun of Connecticut was asked by some smarmy reporter (if he was, in fact, a reporter; probably a reporter wannabe) if he himself would be willing to give back part of his salary. To his credit, Coach Calhoun did not allow the smart aleck to finish his question or statement and simply intoned, "Not a dime back." Simply fabulous. Many in the media criticized him for being so abrupt, but time has long been past to be civil (insert "applause" here).

I'm not blind to the culpability of both political parties,though. I'll be fair. President Bush unfortunately forged, though in a small way, the pathway to "stimulating" the economy; and his plan was supported by the Republicans. I myself was surprised that our own Senator here in Texas, John Cornyn, voted in favor of it. Again, perhaps, I should not have been surprised; and they certainly were spinning it in the favor of that something needed to be done, even though it was probably done in panic mode.

All in all, instead of thinking surprise, surprise, surprise; better yet, we should be admonished with Gomer Pyle's, "Shame! Shame! Shame!"

The Faux Fury

I feel the heat! I feel the heat! No not because this is the first day of Spring, but from the continuous and I would even say frenzied flurry coming from the nation's capital. It is from the wave of heated air coming from our politico's faux indignation. Does anyone really believe that these congressman such as Mr. Frank did not know that AIG was going to still hand out bonuses even though they took government money? Spare me, please.



Yet, we (Hey, don't include me. Here in Texas, we have the common sense to elect a Governor such as Rick Perry who is not fooled into having to accept stim money... at least not all of it) keep electing these people who feign being surprised and continually grandstand while grilling the CEO (Liddy). I find it simply outrageous and even scary that Barney Frank would even ask for the names of the recipients of the bonuses. Talk about storm trooping! What's his plan? Does Mr. Frank intend to send some "special" individuals to gather these execs and their families to reeducate them about the "evils" of greed and such? How long will it be till they want to reeducate the rest of us?

Who knows? I maybe overstating their intentions. However, consider what has already been reported. That now it has been "suggested" that these execs and their families should not travel alone for awhile... just for their safety that is. CEO Liddy had himself quoted at his hearing that somone wished that these execs be "strangled with piano wire?" How nice and tolerant. Now who's proffering hate speech? It's not Mr. Limbaugh, Mr. Cheney, or whoever else the Left decides qualifies as a dangerous rogue. Someone who is not cooperating or understanding the good intentions of President Obama's administration.

Now, Mr. Obama did state that he was ultimately responsible for what had happened with AIG; that the Buck did stop with him. That's good. That's good that he is taking responsibility. Just like he did when some of his candidates such as Tom Daschle had to remove their names because of past indiscretions. Commendable. However, you and I know how shallow that is. He is the one who planted the seeds of discontentment; who started the carousel of pitting one financial class against another by saying CEO's of companies taking government money shouldn't make more than $500,000. Only to lead to all this silliness of other CEO's or execs of other companies publicizing their intent to cut their salaries.

C'mon, America, we ain't that dense (as Paul Simon sang, "Say, who do... who do you think you're foolin'?"). President Obama's calculator certainly has been working overtime. And not that we are really expecting him to; but we know he is not going to fire himself because of this oversight on his part. Just like any other powerful man of the past, he'll fire someone else.

Mr. Obama is simply regaling in his own self-importance. Besides, anything that gets such politicos as Barney Frank, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi up in arms and ready to jump off a cliff is very amusing to me. I love it. Love seeing them steaming inside like that. They deserve it... that is, in my opinion. Sounds convoluted on my part, but you'll get over it. No time for being nice now. We're well past that now.

Whew! That heat wave is really coming on strong now. Need to go inside where it's air conditioned. But before I depart, I'll leave with you this: "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "AIG." "AIG who?" "A... I... G, I thought you knew we were going to give out bonuses."

Send the Gullibility Packing

America, what is this of us being enthralled (perhaps mesmerised), or is it more accurate to say that we've been subdued to believe that whatever the Muslim society decides to do in this our country must be okay or that we should just look the other way whenever something tragic occurs in the guise of culture? Now, I do speak of the Muslim society in the collective sense because I have yet to hear any significant protest or outcry about the poor Muslim woman (her name was Aasiya Hassan) who was beheaded by her husband in Buffalo a few weeks ago. Have we actually been "buffaloed" into believing that this horrendous crime does not warrant any closer scrutiny? Are we actually to believe that this was not a "test case" to see how far Americans are willing to accept Sharia law? I contend that it was.

I contend that it would be a grave mistake to believe that this was just another crime --tragic as it was--committed by a seemingly mild-mannered, well-adjusted man who somehow went mad and went to the extreme in ending his wife's life? I contend that we cannot be that gullible in believing that. Of course, all this did not take place all at once. It has been line upon line and precept upon precept. So let's take a look at some of the events that have brought us to this ignominious point.

Case in point are these "dry runs" that have been reported at various times at airports? These dry runs in which Middle Eastern men (or at least Middle Eastern looking men) have acted suspiciously before boarding the plane, while it was still on the tarmac, or in the air. Probably the most notorious was the infamous, musical band of thirteen Middle Eastern men who boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 327 back in May 2007.

These men, who were reportedly musicians, were observed by passengers and air marshals mulling around the airplane, trying to act as if they were not acquainted. They acted nervous and appeared sweaty. A few spent a long time in the lavatory. An air marshal directed a flight attendant to have the cockpit radio ahead for law enforcement officials to meet the airplane in order to question these men. As it turned out, the men were eventually let go as nothing really criminal was found in their background. Nevertheless, common sense urges us to take note of the intentions of these men. Their intention was not only to terrorize, but also to probe... to probe for weaknesses not only in our defenses but also to probe for weaknesses in our psyche.

Before that, in November 2006, their was the case of the imams at a Minneapolis airport who were for instance praying loudly at the gate area before boarding, speaking angrily about the U.S., and unnecessarily requesting seatbelt extenders with heavy belt buckles which could have been used as weapons. They were removed from the plane, questioned and later released. Of course, being the nice, forgiving clerics of the Islamic faith that they were, went on to bring suit against the airline and some of the witnesses who reported them.

Now, we have reached this point with Mrs. Hassan what no doubt (at least not in my mind) was an "honor killing" (at least that is the convoluted term which is used). According to news reports that I've been able to read, she may have been tortured with a hunting knife before her decapitation and may have been alive during that hideous act. A few days ago, I had read an article in my local newspaper concerning this event, interviewing experts of the Islamic faith. Basically, all the article could really deal with or make a stand against was domestic violence against Muslim women.

Sure, Mrs. Hassan unfortunately had to deal with spousal abuse; but people, this was more than spousal abuse, more than domestic violence, certainly more than an "honor killing". This was a MURDER... a MURDER!!! Let's not mitigate this hideous act and refer to it as something other than it was. And, unfortunately, Mr. Hassan will only be facing second-degree murder charges...will not face the death penalty. This was calculated. This man knew what he was doing. All this should be alarming to us.

Line upon line. Precept upon precept fellow citizens. Be watchful of the signs. Do not be caught off guard by what the enemy within is trying to do. Our enemy is not trying make this wonderful country accept Sharia law all in one fell swoop. We've allowed ourselves to be bullied to morph into another culture for far too long. Not simply to accept it but to eventually be dominated by it.

I used the following sites to glean my information from: standingwither.blogspot.com and kerstenblog.startribune.com