SamSaid!

GASOLINE PRICES

     We are over the $3.00 per gallon threshhold heading for who knows what, and the national media are having a real treat beating up on those greedy, selfish, nasty, money-hungry, Corporate sharks who are taking advantage of every opportunity to gouge US Citizens while the fat cats swell the Corporate coffers  by millions and millions of dollars at the expense of the “man in the street”. No one in the private sector is spared, including all of those nasties driving gas guzzling SUV's (except those in Hollywood). The news is stronly anti-Corporate and anti-business.

     I am not all that happy about gas prices over $3.00 and climbing. But with all of the moaning, groaning and ciiticism of the oil industry, there is one fact that seems to be ignored by the gurus of the left. During this run-up of gas prices at the pump, the price of crude oil has increased from $50 per barrel to $70 dollars per barrel. I have always felt that the  price per barrel of crude drove the price at the pump. No matter what the use of the oil may be, it all starts with the price of crude oil. It is not my purpose to defend the practices or pricing policies oif Big Oil. But it seems to me that in the broad condemnantion of the oil companies, and the hardships caused by high gasoline prices, the soaring cost of crude oil (almosts a 40% increase) has to be fingered as the main culprit.

     Is the news you get from the media accurate without even mentioning  the huge price uncrease of crude oil?  –  an increase not controlled by the US Government or the US Oil companies ???  

     Think about it!

WARMING

     Global warming is the buzzword of the day and is now the popular cause of self styled experts on both sides of the political aisle. We are being bombarded by statistics trying to prove the case for the different points of view. While I am not indifferent to the gloom and doom global warming forecasts, I do not like to be snowed (no pun intended) by the careful arrangement of partial, selective facts.

     One fact does not seem to be in dispute, i.e., in the last 100 years, the climate of the earth has warmed by about one (1) degree. But there is one other fact that many folks seem to ignore; that is, over the history of our planet, whether measured in years, centuries, millennia, or millions of years, the climate of the earth has continually changed —  sometimes in major swings. We have had ice ages, some longer than others,  and warm periods (maybe we could call them hot flashes?) as well. Our planet has evolved so that we now have glaciers at the poles and tropical rain forests in between. And these extremes have come about, thank you, without the help or hindrance of mankind. Nowadays the culprit of climate change, i.e., “warming”, is placed at the doorstep of human activity  —   hence the gloom and doom global warming forecasts.

     I can buy the idea that PART of the climate increase that has occurred over the past 100 years is due to human activity, but ask yourself the question  –  is that element of “warming” 50% of the total, or maybe just 5%? The answers to that question show the fertile ground for statistical exaggeration.  For one, I will be much more comfortable about the whole global warming issue if that simple question is accurately answered. But the obfuscation of factual data by scientists who know better as well as journalists with their own agendas continues. The environmentalists are having a field day and happily throw kerosene on the fire. In the meantime, Mother Nature, the master architect of long term climate change, goes along her merry way toward another millenium  –  with or without our help

     Economics  –  and the price of gasoline?  That  is another matter.

IMMIGRATION

The demonstrations continue in cities across the country. The Mexican flag is flying and illegal aliens are demanding THEIR RIGHTS. Can you imagine that?  People who are in OUR country illegally are demanding THEIR RIGHTS?? Some kind of a country, right?

     The immigration issue is not a new one. It has been around for 10-15-20 years and more, dating back to the memorable Edward R Murrow telecast, “Harvest of shame”. For many years, the problem of “illegals” was considered manageable, and our Congressional folks just looked the other way. At that time, maybe the problem was too small to waste a lot of time on it. If it was too small then, it is too big now. Twelve million people is a whole lot of folks to try to locate, identify and manage. I don't think we could round up all of the illegals –  even if we wanted to. And that ignores the big furor it would create.

     It is not too difficult to put your finger on the essentials of the hassle. First of all, these 12 million  are not “undocumented workers”, as the left wingers like to describe them. They are aliens in our country  — and they are here illegally. To describe them otherwise is to obscure the issue. Second, their services are of value, and certain industries strongly depend upon them. Third, they definitely are a drain on our services that are available to citizens. Fourth, some of them pay taxes  — others do not. Fifth, some immigrants are in the country legally  — most are not. Sixth, the inflow of immigrants continues without our ability to stop it. Seventh, most of the aliens are in the US for money  –  jobs to better their families  — here or in Mexico.

     But any way you look at it, the US government has to deal with 12 million people, and we are not sure who they are, where they are, what they are doing,  or where they may be headed. In my view, no country should tolerate that kind of  situation. In order to have any governmental control or real security, a government should be able to control its borders. Right now, we can't, and that comes at a time when terrorism raises both concerns and doubts about strangers who are loose in our midst. It may require strong medicine for change, and of course we have no shortage of bleeding hearts who will support any measures as long as nobody is disadvantaged or hurt. But we have to face the problem, not finesse it.

    First of all, we need to control the borders and dry up the source. Second, we have to differentiate the legals from the illegals. Third, we must have a reliable ID system toallow us to track the “illegals” and deport the undesireables. Obviously there are details to be determined, but we should not overlook the basic fact  –  they are aliens who are in our country illegally. That has to be the starting point,   demonstrations or no demonstrations.

     In California, bi-lingual means teaching English as the second language. Can we see our future?  Si!

RIGHTS

     Every once in a while I spot an article in which a learned author offers words of wisdom worth thinking about.  James Q. Wilson is is one of those authors. The notable quote was (don't hold me to the precise words);

     The rising demand that every personal preference become a constitutional right is a worrisome disease. People do have rights, and the Constitution and the First Ten Amendments spell them out. Adding new invented rights by either a ratified amendment or judicial overreaching is a mistake. ”

     It seems that everyone nowadays has special rights. The obese, the handicapped (major or minor), aliens, immigrants, illegal aliens, children, unborn children, women, minorities (of all kinds of mixtures), gender deviations, political proclivities, ethnics, religion, age  —  and the list goes on. When a particular group starts to scream and protest, Congress, in some cases,  rushes in to “protect” them by creating new  “rights”. The legality of these rights does not come from a popular vote. The desires of the people are immaterial. In most cases the rights are the product of  the Judicial system —-  the opinion of one man (woman)  — a judge. Just by the stroke of a pen, a group becomes “entitled”, and a new set of “rights” comes under the umbrella of the law —-   and become almost impossible to revise or eliminate.

     They say we have a Democracy, but what good is a system in which the majority opinion of citizens is neither sought nor honored? How many politicians have been ecouraging or proposing plebiscites to “put it up to the people” for a popular vote on key issues? The death penalty?  Abortion? Gay marriage?

     Don't hold your breath. Just suffer in silence.  It's your right!!

QUAIL

     Last month, Vice President Cheney accidentally shot a friend (fellow hunter) while on a quail hunting foray in South Texas. Fortunately, no serious damage or injury occurred, and the victim has recoverd nicely. Of course, the White House Press Corps was incensed that they were not immediately informed and therafter made a big fuss and tried to make a mountain out of a molehill. The VP suffered embarrassment but little else.

     No matter how the incident occcurred or was reported, it clearly was an accident, and even Cheney's arch opponents do not claim otherwise. One would think that even-handed journalists could accurately and impartially report an accident.  But there are different ways to report facts. One way is to cast the event in the worst possible light  so as to discredit Mr. Cheney.  Easy to do —  just a choice of words. The other way would be to report it as an accident without any embellishment  — either way. But zealous attack-dogs have no intention of granting even handed treatment of the “news” when it comes to Geo Bush, the Vice President , or matters of State. The main objective by the left wing press was to keep the story alive and milk it for a couple of weeks. And then  — only then  — lower the rhetoric.

     I guess the motto is clear, “If you can't be hurtful, don't say anything”.  

SURVEILLANCE

     The leftwingers and anti-Bush people have succeeded in their most recent gambit. Anyone with common sense or an IQ over 40 would understand the need to intercept messages between terrorist groups or agents  who are hell-bent on killing Americans and others. But courtesy of the New York Times and other anti Administration spokesmen, now the whole world knows of our program to intercept messages (via wiretaps) either coming from overseas to the US or the other way around. Now, just aske youself   a simple question  –  who in his/her right mind in Al Queda is going to be using voice communications as they prepare their dirty work. They may be half crazy, but they aren't stupid. Sure, they may use the phones etc to mislead us, but whatever we had to gain from the intercepts is long gone.

      We have a lot going for us in technology which the terrorists simply can't match. So why should Americans who claim to be patriotic get such a charge out of disclosing information  that will clearly benefit Bin Laden and his murderously zealous crew? Somehow I get the idea that there are those who derive pleasure out of helping the terrorists. It is almost as if they are saying, “If Bush is in favor of something, it should be defeated”.

     Being President is not an easy job, and it is even tougher when there are forces dedicated to making it tougher. Just watch the evening network news  — NBC, CBS, and ABC. Better abbreviation is the BBC (Bush BashingCooperative). That's one of the reasons why  I watch Fox news.

CARTOONS

     Bin Laden  and Zawahiri are still squirreled away in the remote mountains of Pakistan/Afghanistan. At least that is the common knowledge, and noboby else seems to have a better idea. Through their muderous legions, they continue to pester the Western Coalition of nations, but they have not gone away. In the last two years , we have made life much more difficult for Al Queda and have assuredly disrupted  their operations and organization. They no longer enjoy the relative anonymity of prior years, and cannot safely plan and communicate with out detection. With limited resources, they cannot expect survive or win in the long run.

     Al Queda badly needed a boost, and got it with the furor over the Muhammad cartoons that were published in a Danish newspaper   —  and it didn't cost Bin Laden a cent. Now, there are additional millions and millions of Muslims who are angrier than ever at the West. Now, all Bin Laden and Zawahiri have to do is point to the West and say, “See, we told you so! The Big Satans must be destroyed”.

   Not much we can do about things like this, except to weather the storm. For sure, Al Queda  will have a bigger supply of willing suicide bombers.Personally, I thought some of the cartoons were both clever and humorous. My favorite was the Voice from above saying, “Hey, guys, slow it down  –  we are running out of virgins!”

     The cartoons are funny. A nuclear weapon sitting in Iran is not.

SUPER BOWL 

     The season ending Super Bowl of the National Football League has become the premier sports event in the US  –  surpassing the World Series, Major Golf events, the Rose Bowl, NBA basketball, US Open Tennis , and probably the summer/winter Olympics as well. Now the SB has become even more than a sporting event considering all of the TV extravaganza time that saturates the airwaves for 2 long weeks every January/February. Super Bowl # 40 (XL) is now history as the Pittsburgh Steelers  defeated Seattle, 21-10.

     The Steeler story is a good one. For the last 1/2 of the season they defied all of the odds by winning 7 consecutive key games playing away from home when one loss  would have ended their season. The Steelers did not have an abundance of great players but they had any number of good ones who rose to the occasion and sparked victories. Their payroll was far from the highest in the league and as a “smaller” city franchise they faced distinct disadvantages against the heavily bankrolled major cities. Theirs is the classic story of how the underdog “good guys” beat the odds and won  — led by a tenacious emotional coach. The Steelers have now won 5 Super Bowls and each time the players are awarded very fancy rings. With the 4 SBs won in prior years, soon  the fifth ring will be forthcoming. As the saying goes, “One for the thumb”!!

VOTING

     Hamas has won the election in Palestine and the collective efforts of many to secure peace in the eastern Mediterranean has taken a big setback. To many Palestinians, Hamas has been a source of good deeds. At the same time, however, they have been murderous butchers and the sponsors of terrorism. In the past, the US has provided aid (i.e., money) to Palestinian quasi government  leaders — believing that such a gesture  might bring stability to the Arab/Israeli standoff. But the Arafats of the world happily took the money, paid lip service to peace efforts, and continued on their killing ways.

    Now we are confronted with a major policy decision, i.e., whether to offer aid to Hamas (theoretically the Palestinian people)?  Do we want to subsidize known killers? George B says “no” but don't bet on the left wing Democrats in Washington. And of course, as the result of rigged elections, we now have a major problem in Iran, and even the EURO 3 (France, Germany, Russia ) are a bit nervous about a Nuclear Iran. Thus far, the recalcitrance and belligerence of the Iranian leaders rule out virtually everthing except the military option. It may be the last option, but it may not be all that far away.

     Any way you look at it, George Bush has a very tough job  — and it isn't made any easier by the attack dogs snipping at his heels.

PHONE CALLS

     The Bush-bashers at at it again  –  full steam ahead. They are visible on several fronts, but the top target now is telephone wire taps. The choice of words is especially interesting. The denizens of the left choose to use terms like “secret eavesdropping”, “spying on citizens”, “secret snooping”, or “invasion of privacy”. . Supporters of the President prefer to talk about “electronic surveillance”, “intelligence intercepts”, and “wartime security needs”. Despite the literary camouflage it is clear that the applicable telephone transmissions are international  –  one party in the US and the other overseas, and the targets are folks with kowhow into the world of Al Queda.

     Personally, I am not bothered about these bogus  ”concerns” of the ACLU and the left wing academicians. I don't claim to have a sophisticated polling system, but the folks I regularly talk to support the President by 75-25%. In brief, they say, “I'm glad he authorized the wire taps  and he has my support”. More directly, they say that ” ….they are glad that he had the guts to to go ahead and act rather than wasting a lot of time fussing about warrants that would not aid the process.

     It isn't really difficult to understand the motives of the left wingers of all stripes. Their common denominator is their reluctance to accept the fact that we are at war. They just look for fancy words to describe a police action  —  or maybe just a temporary irritant that soon will pass when the Republican hawks surrender the White House.

     When I hear or read the bleatings of the Pelosi wing of the Democrats, I think of some of the sayings I can recall from my youth. A polite expression is “None are so blind as those who will not see”. From the sports world, “He (she) doesn't know the difference between a double play and a first down”, or from baseball, “he(she) doesn't know the difference between his elbow and first base”. The all-time champion is the soul who doesn't now the difference between a part of the anatomy and a hole in the ground.

     We are at war with people who would love to kill us on a grand scale. If intercepting phone calls enhances our security, I am all for it, and I just don't give a ratzass whether the FBI or CIA has a warrant before listening. People with something to conceal may be concerned. I am not. The mealy mouth ACLU types like to think of themselves as the salvation of us all –  acting as “the loyal minority”. I just don't buy the label of “loyal”. It would take a lot of change for me to buy that term when applied to them.

     Hang in there, George.