Why aren't we calling it a terrorist attack?

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan entered a medical facility at Fort Hood, shouted "Allahu akbar" then started gunning down American troops. 13 dead, 29 wounded. Obama says we can't be quick to rush to judgement. Well I agree with that but now that there is overwhelming evidence proving he was a terrorist, we can judge. Yelling "Allahu akbar" was just the last clue.

Our intelligence agencies found e-mails he sent to known al-Qaida imams and operatives. Hasan denounced the "war on terror" as a war against Islam, and said Muslims should attack Americans in retaliation for the war in Iraq. He had openly denounced non-Muslims and had reportedly said they should be beheaded and have burning oil poured down their throats. I am not an intelligence expert but these seem like signs that should have made this guy a person of interest!

The media is saying he was under incredible stress and this may have caused him to snap. What stress? He was never in combat, never left Ft Hood. Hasan had business cards. They didn't mention his military grade but had SOA and SWT under his name. These are not military acronyms. SOA is short for "Soldier (or Slave) of Allah" and SWT is short for "Subhanahu Wa Ta'all," which means "glory to God".

It is frightening that our military and intelligence agencies missed all these signs. But why can't it now be called a terrorist attack? Just maybe it's because of politics. This would be the first attack on US soil since 9/11. Terrorist acts don't have to knock down buildings and steal thousands of innocent lives. This act was heinous and was a cool, collected, and vicious attack on our soldiers; and America.

Hopefully the evidence will force the media and Obama to call it what it was. This is absolutely no time for politics.

Let me get this straight

New Orleans gets hit with Katrina, a hurricane that is bigger than anything we'd seen before. The state of Louisiana initially refuses federal help and people refused to leave their homes. And it was still all President Bush's fault. It was because he hates black people, remember?

But now, after knowing for quite awhile that the H1N1 flu had pandemic potential, we still don't have enough vaccine. Where is the outrage that the Obama administration was not prepared?

Does Obama hate sick people? Maybe it's part of their government health care takeover plan. Let people get sick and then they'll need insurance- very shrewd - actually too shrewd for this group.

Even Fox News, the "enemy" of Obama and his administration, isn't placing blame. And of course the Main Street Media won't touch this.

Finally, fair and balance reporting!

When you least expect it. . .

. . . life can certainly throw you a curveball. On Sept 17th I experienced an aortic dissection which I learned can be quite fatal. Up until that moment I thought I was a relatively healthy 47 year old. The inner wall of my ascending aorta ruptured and blood stop flowing to most of my right side. Fortunately I received help and had open heart surgery on early morning, Sept 18th. Complications ensued and I got to enjoy a second open heart surgery six days later.

I will spare you guys all the other gory details. Suffice it to say I am rehabbing now but on but am supposed to still severely limit my activity.

I have gone through the usual range of emotions that such an event conjures up. I don’t want to get too sappy but this event has made me appreciate everything I have in life. I realized that I have a great family. My wife has been so strong and supportive during this ordeal that I can’t believe how lucky I am. Every day when I see my three girls I again realize that I’m a lucky guy.

The other, most amazing, thing I’ve come to appreciate is the love and support I have received from my family and friends. Besides all their thoughts and prayers, they have provided the support my wife and I needed to get through this. Meals just kept showing up at our door, the chores around the house got done, and I have had plenty of company while I recuperate.

I now often think about the last line from It’s a Wonderful Life – “No man is a failure who has friends” (and family).

There really are two Americas

And I don't mean rich and poor or black and white. We now have an incredible political divide. Don't blame the average American citizen- blame the media. I watch both the Main Street Media (MSM) and that "radical" FOX network to try to measure this divide and all I can tell you is that it's growing. During the Bush years (and even during Clinton's) at least the media covered the same stories. They put a different spin on them based on their political leanings but at least they covered them. Now they don't even cover the same stories (at least not until they have to in order to stay relevant).

The Van Jones debacle is the latest example. Fox News breaks the story that this Czar has said and done things in the recent past that make him unfit to be anywhere near the president of the United States. No other MSM outlet would cover this story until it grew to a size where they could no longer ignore it. So now they report it but put on pundits that call conservatives radicals, extremists and even racists because they want to hold a guy accountable for his past actions.

The tea party coverage is another glaring example. This is a significant movement and a great example of democracy in action but you don't hear much about it in the MSM. And when you do it's those extremists and radicals again. Funny, they look like regular old Americans to me. I don't remember the MSM calling Cindy Sheehan a radical while she camped outside Bush's ranch. (hum, I wonder where she is now and where is her outrage is over the Afghanistan war - but that's another discussion). Let's see how the MSM covers the tea party express as it descends on Washington, DC on September 12th.

The media in this country simply is not doing its job very well anymore. People obviously have personal biases. They need to recognize them and make an extra effort to offset them and provide balanced reporting.

There was a time when the media looked out for the people by watching the government. Now they look out for the government by watching the people. (Thanks Ann for that one)

What if it was your daughter?

It is always sad to see the death of an American icon. If you've read any of my posts, you'd probably realize that I was no fan of Sen. Ted Kennedy. He certainly served his country for 40 years and, while I don't agree with most of his positions I do admire that. Of course it can also be said that he never had a "real" job. A family fortune gives one that liberty.

Now I would never begrudge anyone the benefits of the family fortune. The rich are not the enemy; they are the builders of this country and have an obligation to only give back where and when they can. And that's what Ted tried to do.

But I was totally surprised this morning when the first article I stumbled upon was entitled "Chappaquiddick: No Profile in Kennedy Courage" This story unveiled a couple surprises.

First of all that this story was posted on ABCNews .com. You can find it here: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=8212665 . What surprised me was that it shook my belief that ABC is a left leaning "news" organization. I would never have dreamed they would let this story get published, especially so soon after his death. However, the majority of comments posted about the article reaffirmed my belief about ABC or at least the people who read/watch it. The vast majority blasted it.

Second, the true story of Chappaquiddick. I am a little too young to remember it when it happened and I never really took the time to learn what took place. This article showed me what a tragic mistake Kennedy made. No one knows if he could have saved 28 -year-old Mary Jo Kopechne's life but he clearly left her to die worrying only about himself and his future.

So Ted Kennedy carried his guilt around all these years and devoted his life to service. Again that is admirable. But does that absolve him of Mary Jo's death? Obviously his fame and fortune let him get away with it. That was his cross to bear (along with the Kopechne family) and all will find their just rewards so I do not intend to judge here.

But as people relive Sen Kennedy's life, his accomplishments, and his legacy they need to ask themselves one simple question:

What if that was my daughter in the car on that fateful night in 1969?

So I go on vacation . . .

For a nice full week. I purposely avoided the news and enjoyed the time with my family. Now that I'm back I see that not much has changed. In the spirit of government run programs, the Cash for Clunkers program was woefully under funded so Congress simply appropriates another $2B (that's billion).

This doesn't bode well for government run health care. I see that Obama is still pushing hard but even he is now willing to sacrifice some of the liberals core principles. And I see that the good people of this country that oppose this massive expansion of government are now considered radicals.

So, as I said, not much has changed. But this story really bothers me - http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/14/florida-police-question-suspect-obama-joker-poster/

The kids were hanging posters of Obama with his face painted like a clown. Now the only "crime" I can fathom is vandalism. I'm not too up on such laws but I know I see posters of all kinds of things on telephone poles and bulletin boards, etc. The fact that Florida police are gathering suspects and evidence and possibly looking to make arrests frightens me.

As much as I abhor the the thought of someone burning an American flag, I will defend their right to do so. Freedom of speech needs to be held sacred and that's all speech.

Where was the outrage when people made pictures of George Bush with a little Hitler mustache? Where was the outrage when MoveOn.org took out a full page ad calling a great general General Betray Us?

And don't even get me started on this whole rat-out-your-friends-to-the-White-house via e-mail if they dare speak out against health care reform. I see that e-mail link is no longer available. Maybe they're learning.

Now there's change I can believe in.

Good job Bill Clinton

I will admit that I haven't said that too often. As history does show however, Bill Clinton has proved to be moderate compared to Obama. Of course the Republican congress had a lot to do with what Clinton got done.

Anyway, I think it's a good thing he was able to free the two female journalists from North Korea. There could be some negative, unintended consequences such as legitimizing a rouge lunatic or raising the stakes the next time this happens, but thank god those women are out of that hell.

In general I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who voluntarily put themselves in harms way. Only are fine service men and women can use "It's my job" as a valid reason to do so. Those hikers that crossed over from Iraq to Iran by accident - why were they there in the first place? Mountain climbers ignoring weather warnings and forcing rescue workers to risk their lives - no sympathy. Flood/hurricane victims stuck because they ignored their warnings - again no sympathy.

But I saw the video of these two women coming home and it moved me. They are Americans, they have families and I am glad Clinton got them out of there. It is interesting that his wife, the Secretary of State, wasn't asked to do so or even the vice president. I am not surprised that nobody called George W. He and Kim Jong il weren't really on speaking terms.

I do have one question though. How the hell does Al Gore tag along on this? I've seen Bill and George H. Bush pal around but I haven't seen Bill and Al doing so lately. Every time he falls into a nice obscurity he has to resurface. I think it's a sad statement on him that he would insinuate himself into this feel good story.

Maybe Gore is just looking for another Nobel prize!