Who's Crazier, James Holmes or Gun Control Advocates?

The killing of at least 12 people and the wounding of upwards of 50 others in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater during the midnight opening of the latest Batman film was a horrific event perpetrated by mass murderer, James Holmes. Right on cue, liberal politicians called for even stronger gun control, suggesting reinstituting the ban on “assault weapons,” and limiting ammunition magazines to no more than 10-rounds would prevent another tragic event. Between federal and state governments, there are approximately 10,000 laws regulating the possession, sale, and use of firearms. Is another gun law going to prevent a repeat of what happened inside that movie theater in Aurora? Not likely. Einstein’s definition of insanity was someone repeating the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. That’s what happens every time politicians pass a new gun law. What liberal politicians don’t understand is that these laws only “infringe” law abiding citizens from exercising their personal Second Amendment rights to “keep and bear arms.” When Philadelphia Police Commissioner, Charles Ramsey, was asked if things would have been different if an armed citizen with a concealed weapons permit were in the theater, he scoffed at the notion and said: “The debate goes beyond just this one incident, but this guy had body armor from head to toe,” he explained. “You had tear gas in there, and unfortunately, many states, and I don’t know about Colorado, but many states that authorize concealed carry have no provisions at all for people to receive training, marksmanship, proper handling of firearms, or whatever. So now you got two people randomly shooting in a movie theater. I don’t know how that helps.” It would have helped a lot. Holmes meekly surrendered when he was confronted outside the theater by armed police officers, despite being covered with “body armor from head to toe.” The same thing would have probably happened if he was confronted before hand by an armed citizen inside the theater, potentially saving numerous lives. And, by the way, Colorado requires a resident to “demonstrate competency” before a concealed weapons permit is issued. It is unfortunate that a legally armed citizen or off-duty or retired police officer was not in attendance at the theater at the time Holmes made his entry. Would anti-gun advocates feel better if instead of using an “assault weapon” Holmes used explosives to blow up the entirely sold out 16 theaters and leveled the building? How about if he swung two machetes at his helpless victims? The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter what weapons are used when the perpetrator is hell-bent on killing as many people as physically possible. Somehow, evil people like Holmes will find a way. It’s obvious to me that Holmes wanted to survive the event. That’s why he immediately told arresting officers that he had booby trapped his apartment. In the event of his arrest, he wanted to show everyone just how smart he is. If the police, or an armed citizen had killed him, the booby traps would have killed other people as his method of extracting revenge. He wants to glow in the media spotlight, and is now faking his mental illness, as evidenced by his sending a notebook to a psychiatrist to cover himself should he survive the event. Keep in mind, this guy was a PhD student who thought he was smarter than anyone else on the planet. It couldn’t be that the Hollywood movie violence Holmes has been subjected to over his entire lifetime, such as Batman movies, might have influenced him to perpetrate this violence and to gain his 15-minutes of fame? Several mentally deranged copy-cats have already been charged with plotting similar events across the country. In light of the number of crazed people hiding somewhere who would do us harm, this latest episode demonstrates why responsible, crime-free citizens should have the right to defend themselves, and others, from nut-jobs like Holmes. To suggest that firearms caused the mass murder in Colorado is like saying matches cause lung cancer. All firearms are inanimate objects; it takes an evil-doer like James Holmes to put them into action.

Look Who's Calling Who A Felon

When Stephanie Cutter, the deputy campaign manager for President Obama’s reelection, alleged that Gov. Mitt Romney may have committed a felony by providing false information in Securities and Exchange Commission filings, she revealed how desperate the president is to gain political support. Ms. Cutter’s unjustified and completely unfounded assertion reminds me of the many admitted felony crimes our president has committed. President Obama has written in his two autobiographies about smoking van loads of marijuana and using cocaine. Both the possession, use and transfer of marijuana and cocaine are felonies, but Cutter gives her man a pass. By contrast, instead of ingesting illegal drugs, visiting Pakistan for unstated reasons after high school, associating with the likes of convicted felon and former Weatherman terrorist Bill Ayers and attending church services by America hater Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Mr. Romney spent two and a half years of his youth on a religious mission to France. Because of his religious beliefs, Mr. Romney does not drink, cuss, smoke or womanize, let alone do illegal drugs. Mr. Romney never received a sweet loan deal from convicted felon Antoin “Tony” Rezko, who in 2011 was convicted for bribery and receiving kickbacks in Chicago. While governor, Mr. Romney never fired an Inspector General for uncovering alleged felony crimes committed by one of his political boosters, thus obstructing justice – a felony. Gov. Romney never evoked “executive privilege” to run cover for his attorney general to shield him from contempt of Congress, a felony. Gov. Romney never appointed “czars” to circumvent the Massachusetts State Legislature in order to place political cronies in positions of power. Unlike President Obama, Gov. Romney never mismanaged the Massachusetts budget so badly that Standard and Poor’s downgraded the state’s bond credit rating for the first time in U.S. history. Instead, Gov. Romney eliminated $1.5 billion in state debt and established a rainy day fund. Gov. Romney didn’t order the Massachusetts State Police not to alert the Immigration and Naturalization Service about illegal aliens who were arrested in his state, eliminating any resemblance of backdoor amnesty. Ms. Cutter also questions why Mr. Romney won’t release more of his tax returns, implying he has something to hide. She was echoing the message of Democratic National Committee chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Ms. Schultz implied that Mr. Romney was hiding assets from taxes, when in reality, knowledge of the foreign accounts came from Romney himself when he released his latest tax return. When a reporter asked Ms. Schultz about the foreign investments in her 401(k) she refused to discuss it. She also steadfastly refused to release her own tax return for public scrutiny. In contrast, President Obama refuses to release his college transcripts or medical records and took about three years before finally releasing his birth certificate to satisfy so-called “birthers.” What does he have to hide in those documents? Mr. Romney’s foreign investments, made by investment counselors from his blind trust, made those investments for him. Declaring foreign accounts on your tax return is obviously not an attempt to conceal illegal activity. President Obama’s minions suggesting Mr. Romney is a felon is like suggesting former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL), a convicted felon, only had his state’s best interest at heart when he tried to sell President Obama’s senate seat to the highest bidder. Obviously the Obama campaign strategy is to divert attention away from the president’s dismal economic record by attacking his opponent; the same strategy he said Republicans were trying with him in 2008, and something he would never do. He has reached into the Democrat’s moldy bag of tricks and pulled out the tired old strategy that dictates when you have nothing going for you, slam your opponent. Slime him and make him so radioactive that no one will vote for him. He used this exact strategy on his opponent when he ran for the U.S. Senate. If you were hiring a CEO to run your failing business, would you select someone who has integrity and a proven record of saving and expanding companies, or someone who claims that your success is a result of somebody else’s hard work, not yours.

US Enemies are Iran’s Friends

The Associated Press reported to its horror, a “secret police document” revealed that the “New York Police Department recommended increasing surveillance of thousands of Shiite Muslims and their mosques, based solely on their religion, as a way to sweep the Northeast for signs of Iranian terrorists.” The implication is the police do not have any basis to conduct surveillance on followers of “the religion of peace” except for their religion. The article is obviously the AP’s attempt to further malign the NYPD for its forward thinking and preparation for terrorist attacks in its city based on worldwide events far from Manhattan. This is on the heels of The New York Times doing a hit piece on the department a week earlier for showing, The Third Jihad, as a training film to its officers to educate them on home-grown Muslim terrorists. The 2006 NYPD’s “secret” intelligence report, titled “US-Iran Conflict: The Threat to New York City,” recommended the NYPD “Expand and focus intelligence collections at Shi’a mosques.” Why Shiite mosques? Because that’s where you’ll find Shiites. You won’t find them at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue. The NYPD intelligence document appears accurate. Just last week, Sec. of Defense Leon Panetta stated that Israel may be within a few months of launching a preemptive strike against Iran to set back or eliminate its nuclear weapons program. An attack on Iran by Israel will be all the justification Iran needs to launch attacks on U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, and probably New York City and Washington, D.C. Iran is a radical Shiite state that sponsors terrorism and has sworn the destruction of Israel. It calls the U.S. the “Great Satan.” U.S. intelligence officials have said it has not ruled out Iran conducting direct attacks inside this country. Iran is closely aligning itself with Venezuela where it could peddle its nuclear and missile technologies. U.S. officials have reports to indicate there is evidence Iran has provided al-Qaeda some logistical support to its operatives, including providing personnel vehicles, money and the like. Although al-Qaeda is a Sunni Muslim terrorism organization, Iran appears to subscribe to the old adage: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” despite a history of years of turmoil between the two Muslim sects. From my conversations with Sunni Muslims, some hate Shiites more than Jews or Americans; however if that partnership can cause harm to a mutual enemy, both sides appear to be willing to set aside their differences for mutual benefit. Considering there are about 8,500 Iranians among the estimated 35,000 Shiite Muslims residing in New York City, there is good reason for the NYPD to be proactive in gathering intelligence. There are also known Sunni Hamas members within the city who might act in Iran’s behalf because of Iran’s support to Palestinians. The AP pointed out in its article that the NYPD is prohibited under its own guidelines and city law from basing its investigations on religion. I would argue the NYPD bases its intelligence gathering on Muslims being responsible for many actual and attempted acts of terrorism within its city limits. Not all Muslims living in New York City are terrorists, but New York has been and still is a magnet for Muslim terrorists around the world. New York and Boston police conducted intelligence operations on Catholic sympathizers who provided funding and material support to the Irish Republican Army. I don’t recall the AP or New York Times making much of an issue about that. The AP and NYT need to stop publishing “secret” police reports and classified national security information and end being the source of intelligence for Muslim terrorists. They need to stop portraying Muslims as the victims of police abuse when in reality the NYPD is approaching the problem logically. The NYPD is making every effort to protect all New Yorkers, even employees of the AP and New York Times. (Family Security Matters.Org Contributing Editor Gregory D. Lee is a retired DEA supervisory special agent. While assigned to the U.S. embassy in Pakistan, he participated in the arrest of Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 NYC World Trade Center bombing, and later testified at his trial. Reach him through his website: www.gregorydlee.com.)

Los Angeles Should Stop Hugging Illegals

In what has to be the most ridiculous recommendation by any law enforcement official, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and his counterpart, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, have announced they support issuing driver licenses to illegal aliens. Chief Beck said, “The reality is that all the things that we’ve done – ‘we’ being the state of California – over the last 14, 16 years have not reduced the problem one iota.” Sheriff Baca qualified his recommendation by saying that licenses should be issued “as long as they have been in the United States for a number of years without committing other crimes.” The problem would be resolved if the State of California would mandate local police officers and sheriff’s deputies to turn over illegal aliens to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. Instead, California’s governor signs into law a state version of the “Dream Act” allowing illegal aliens to receive public and private college grants. San Francisco, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and other cities declare themselves “sanctuary cities.” Is there any wonder why California is a magnet for illegal aliens? The Los Angeles Times reported Chief Beck said that he expected the number of hit-and-run accidents would decrease if illegal immigrants were licensed, because they would not have to fear being caught without a license at accidents. Maybe if LAPD officers told illegal aliens they had no fear of deportation they wouldn’t run after being involved in accidents. Sheriff Baca suggested that driver licenses for illegal aliens be renewed annually and have the letter “I” imprinted on them “so police could determine immediately if they were dealing with someone in the country illegally.” That has as much change of passing the state legislature as tattooing the letter “I” on an illegal alien’s forehead. Chief Beck is also on record of directing his officers not to impound vehicles of illegal aliens that they encounter because he thinks it is unfair for illegal immigrants who cannot receive California driver licenses. The 30-day holds (on vehicles), he said, “are too severe a punishment for never-licensed drivers and place a serious strain on their ability to get to and from jobs.” His proposal started an uproar from taxpaying licensed and insured drivers in the city who are tired of paying state mandated “uninsured motorist” insurance, which is a euphemism for illegal alien insurance. Rather than doing what obviously works every time it’s tried, deportation, Los Angeles city and county law enforcement and public officials chose to tolerate illegal aliens, allow them to victimize legal residents with hit-and-run accidents, and take jobs away from them. Isn’t it illegal for anyone to employ an illegal alien? Then why is Chief Beck concerned about an illegal’s ability to get to and from his job? What part of “illegal” doesn’t the Los Angeles police chief and sheriff understand? As much as California may not like it, illegal aliens are arrestable by virtue of their mere presence. If Chief Beck and Sheriff Baca want illegal aliens to be licensed, let them get an international driver’s license and buy automobile insurance. Even if licensed, most illegal aliens wouldn’t buy high-cost automobile insurance because if they are involved in an accident, they merely return to their home country. A driver license implies legitimacy from the state. Most of the 9-11 terrorists had legitimate driver licenses and never feared questioning by immigration authorities. California assumes all illegal aliens are from Mexico when in reality many are visa overstays from around the world, including Pakistan, Thailand, Iran and the Middle East. It’s time for California to stop hugging illegal aliens and start enforcing federal immigration law. If California sheriffs bussed all the illegal aliens county law enforcement agencies encountered on a weekly basis to Tijuana, the crime rate would further go down and the quality of life for legal residents would increase substantially.

In Defense Of The Stolen Valor Act

When Xavier Alvarez ran for board membership of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in Los Angeles County he proudly told voters he was a retired Marine combat veteran wounded in 1987 and received the Medal of Honor. He also claimed to have played hockey for the Detroit Red Wings, rescued the American ambassador in Tehran, Iran during the hostage crisis in 1979 and sustained wounds when returning to the decimated embassy to retrieve the American flag. If that wasn’t enough to convince the electorate, he said he was a Vietnam veteran helicopter pilot and secretly married to a famous Mexican actress. His bravado proved to be all lies. The first clue was that Medal of Honor winners are humble and don’t use the award for personal gain. Alvarez was indicted and convicted for violating the Stolen Valor Act, which makes it a crime to falsely claim the awarding of military medals and ribbons. He is now challenging the Constitutionality of the law by claiming it violates his First Amendment right to free speech. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments recently and will decide the issue later this year. If it sides with Alvarez, then it should be alright to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater, lie to a federal agent during a criminal investigation, perjure yourself in court and liable anyone you desire. Alvarez’s claim to be a Medal of Honor winner was for personal aggrandizing and to gain an elected office. He victimized all military veterans with his claims, the voters of the water district where he ran for office, and not to mention his opponent who lost the election to someone considered a distinguished American. A politician lying about his qualifications for public office is nothing new. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) became chummy with the local VFW and implied numerous times in speeches that he was a Marine Corps Vietnam Veteran who was spat upon at the airport when he returned home from overseas combat duty. The truth is he was a reservist who served his entire commitment at the D.C. armory. Despite his admission that he “misspoke,” his election to the senate proves voters have a Constitutional right to be stupid. Ironically, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) placed him on the Senate Armed Services Committee, which exemplifies his disdain for the military. President Bill Clinton lost his law license after a federal judge concluded he had lied to a grand jury about the Monica Lewinsky affair. While running for president, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) claimed he went on a secret mission to Cambodia during the Vietnam War, which wasn’t true. Obviously, wannabe war heroes believe claims of valor will enhance their chances for betterment, and they don’t give a damn who they hurt doing it. I suppose if the Court strikes down the Stolen Valor Act, I can claim to be a brain surgeon because it’s part of my First Amendment right to free speech. Should President Obama then pardon Martha Stewart for her conviction of lying to FBI agents during a securities investigation? Should President Clinton get his law license back? If the Court decides lying is a protected First Amendment right, can people lie about anything without fear of consequences. Major newspapers and media outlets are siding with Alvarez and have filed “friend of the court” briefs saying that criminal mandates on lying is simply wrong. It’s curious that the main stream media points out that the First Amendment does not specifically mention that only truthful speech is protected from the government. Maybe it fears sanctions for publishing half-truths and lies that advance its left-wing agenda. Some liars need to be held accountable because they rob people of the facts they require to make an informed decision. If people lie on their tax forms, perjure themselves, or lie (not exaggerate) on employment applications or their CV to make themselves appear to be someone they aren’t, they need to be sanctioned - especially if someone claims to be a highly decorated military veteran to steal the valor of others. (The U.S. Supreme Court Has Since Ruled the Stolen Valor Act to be unconstitutional based on it violating the 1st Amentment. Congress is in the process of changing the law to make it less broad in nature.)

It's Not Healthy Being A "Star" Football Player

In an article in my hometown newspaper, The Herald, the reporter wrote that “the parents of former North Monterey County High School football and track star Reginald Doucet Jr. said Thursday that they are convinced the Los Angeles Police Department is guilty of murdering their son and covering up the crime.” There is was again; a football “star” being killed by the police. Just out of curiosity, I Googled, “Star Football Player Killed.” I got over 30 million hits. The search revealed screaming headlines about the deaths of former “star” football players who were murdered, shot, died in car and motorcycle accidents, hit by a train, killed during an argument over cologne, stabbed, killed by police, drowned, “executed by NYPD,” died in plane crashes, died while entangled in a BowFlex machine, died in combat, or died while playing the game. They hardly ever seem to die of old age. There seemed to be a lot of “star football” players killed by the police. So many, in fact, you’d think that the police around the country were targeting young football stars for assassination. Why did the police kill him? He’s a football star, of course! Why do newspaper editors feel compelled to use the adjective “star” before “football player” when describing a dead athlete? Does it enhance the tragedy of the loss when someone with great skills or talent dies? Do newspapers check the decedent’s playing statistics to see if he really was a star? Regardless, the evidence is clear. Being a “star” of anything will hasten your death. A good number of athletic stars, movie stars, singing stars, and television stars have all met early deaths, the latest evidence being the death of Whitney Houston. I think I have a good chance of living a long life because I’m not a star of any sport or entertainment field. In light of my research, I’d be satisfied to be an “average” player, singer, or actor. They never seem to be bothered by the police, fans, paparazzi, drug dealers, ex-girlfriends, and the like. Actually, the more average you are, the less likely you’ll be the victim of a police shooting, murdered, go to jail for drunk driving or arrested and tried for killing your wife or girlfriend. Of course, when the police do kill a “star football player,” there probably has never been occasion when witnesses sided with the police version of what transpired. It seems that in every single documented incident of a police officer shooting a “star” football player, no one has ever said, “Yeah, I’d of shoot the guy too if I were the cop.” You would think in light of all the incidents where police have shot star athletes, at least one of these “stars” got what he deserved. The only time this has ever come close is when Michael Vick (a star football player), was arrested for promoting dog fights. Little old ladies wanted to get a gun and shoot him. So do your children a favor and persuade them to not be star football players.

Got ID?

The Obama administration’s Attorney General Eric Holder and his Civil Rights Division Chief, Thomas E. Perez, blocked the implementation of a Texas law requiring voters to produce identification in order to vote at a polling place. According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Justice Department wrote a letter to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot, claiming that “Hispanic voters in Texas are more than twice as likely than non-Hispanic voters to lack a driver’s license or personal state-issued photo ID. The department said that even the lowest estimates showed about half of Hispanic registered voters lack such identification.” How does the Department of Justice measure such things? Did it randomly stop Texas Hispanics asking them for photo IDs? Oh, wait! That would be discriminatory, as evidence by Holder suing Arizona for passing legislation to do just that. So absent that, how did the DOJ come to that conclusion? Do half of all Texas Hispanics over 18-years old not have driver licenses? Can they not afford the fee to purchase a Texas issued photo identification card? I hardly think so. American society is so accustomed to showing identification that it’s astonishing anyone other than someone who has ill intent would object to proving their identity for something so important, like voting. Without blinking, Americans produce their driver license or other government issued identification to enter a federal or state building or military installation, join the service, cash a check, write a check, establish a bank account, sometimes to use their credit cards, vote on union issues, sign a notarized document, board a commercial airliner, register for school, take out a loan, adopt a pet, rent a car, rent a hotel room, apply for a job, buy cigarettes, initiate cell phone service, buy alcohol and hopefully to apply for welfare. So why not to vote? What’s so discriminating about asking someone to prove who they are to cast a ballot? If producing photo identification to vote is discriminatory, then why do we have to show identification for anything? It’s impossible for me to believe that someone who is in the U.S. legally does not have access to some form of government identification. For a small fee, a state DMV will issue any legal resident an identification card. There’s the rub. Texas requires applicants for identification cards to provide a social security number, which only legal residents are entitled. Is this why Holder and Perez estimate that half of all Hispanics in Texas cannot get a state issued photo ID card? California actually verifies the number with the Social Security Administration before issuing an ID card. The truth of the matter is that requiring voter photo ID would virtually eliminate voter fraud. It would prevent dead people, “Mickey Mouse,” “Donald Duck,” felons, and illegal aliens from voting for their favorite candidates, and Holder knows it. He and his Chicago cronies are mining for voters wherever they can find them. The Obama administration sees a crop of voters to harvest this November, and it doesn’t want pesky state voter photo ID laws getting in the way. Many millions of American servicemen and woman have sacrificed greatly to maintain the cherished right to vote. For the Obama administration to discount that and allow even a remote possibility of someone not entitled to vote to do so, is an affront to those who fought and died to retain that right as free citizens. Thirty-four states have introduced legislation to require voters to identify themselves at polling places. A federal law should require all voters to prove their identities before casting a ballot. That law would prevent anyone, any ACORN type of organization or any administration from skewing the results of an election. If Texas offered to issue free State photo ID cards to any legal Texas resident who wanted one, Eric Holder would still complain because his political party’s illegal voting base would erode. He’d probably object on the grounds Hispanics can’t afford bus fare to the polls, or can’t read English, or some other such nonsense.

Time Is Up For Afghanistan

Bad things always seem to come in threes. This year the U.S. military has endured three separate incidents that have the potential of changing the course of the Afghanistan war. The YouTube revelation of Marines urinating on dead insurgents set the stage for two other horrific events. The burning of the Holy Quran at Bagram Air Field resulted in weeks of civil unrest, death of six soldiers, and protests against America. It was the premise for yet another apology by the Commander-in-Chief for military actions. Regardless, if there were cryptic writings on the page margins of the Qurans or not, burning them was an idiotic thing to do. Few Americans understand the Afghan and intense Muslim sensitivities to the Holy Book, which they view as the direct word of God. To desecrate it is an affront to all Muslims and unforgiveable in Afghan culture. When I was on diplomatic assignment in Karachi, Pakistan, a spontaneous riot erupted. Someone found a Quran laying in a gutter of a busy boulevard. He gingerly picked up the book and started running around like a madman yelling to crowds of onlookers that someone had desecrated the Holy book. As if preprogrammed to do so, pedestrians stopped what they were doing and began smashing business windows and overturning cars. After about an hour of mob violence, a man on a moped drove up to the scene of the alleged desecration and asked if anyone had found his Quran. He explained that it had accidently fallen off his moped’s rear rack. The crowd immediately returned to sanity and began to disperse. Afghans acted the same way once they learned about the burning of the Qurans. If those two incidents were not bad enough, a drunken rogue U.S. soldier wanders off his operating post, goes into a village and allegedly murders 16 Afghans, nine of which were children, and sets their bodies on fire. To the Afghans, nothing less than his headless body dragged around the muddy streets of Kandahar will satisfy their thirst for revenge. The alleged murderer, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, has retained John Henry Browne, a respected Seattle attorney, who is already laying the ground work for his defense. He is making it well known that this was SSG Bales’s fourth tour of combat duty, (the first in Afghanistan), and that he is a loving father, up to his ears in debt, and was a former star football in high school. He is also emphasizing that SSG Bales suffered a non-combat related traumatic brain injury during a traffic accident in Iraq. According to Mr. Browne, SSG Bales also suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These types of defenses are completely foreign to Afghans who would prefer his trial be in Afghanistan where justice is sure and fast. Whether Mr. Browne can pull off an acquittal before a military jury is yet to be seen. He needs to remember that in all likelihood, most of the military panel members have multiple deployments under their belts. They may believe that a PTSD defense is weak because none of them has massacred women, children and non-combatant males. No matter the outcome of the trial, Afghans have had their fill of Americans and NATO. The vast majority of them just want to be left alone. All the good Americans have done there is unappreciated because no Afghan believes it will last. They know that their culture of corruption, the insurgency, illiteracy, religious fanatics, opium production and crime will unravel the progress made in the last ten years. These three incidents have forced the U.S. to prematurely transfer more control of governance to the Afghans and probably curtail unilateral night raids which has been most effective in capturing or killing insurgents and terrorists. Afghanistan is one of many places on earth that is truly ungovernable by Western standards. The U.S. has learned, or will soon, what the Soviets and English before them learned: Afghanistan marches to a different drummer. It will always reject foreign intervention, regardless of how well intended the interventionists are. The U.S. mission in Afghan has accomplished the dethroning of the Taliban and the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Continuing to spend billions of dollars in infrastructure improvements, the establishment of rule of law, building of prisons and additional military and police training will prove to be of no use. Once Westerners depart, whether it is today, in 2014, or even 2114 doesn’t matter so long as corruption is a way of life and opium is Afghanistan’s number one cash crop.

Media's Rush To Judgment Of George Zimmerman

The media’s new poster child for victims of racism is Trayvon Martin. His death has marked the beginning of a media frenzy and brought out the usual race baiter suspects. Before the official police report has even been released, the Sanford City council, pressured by media reports, temporarily removed its police chief, Bill Lee, (no relation) and quickly replaced him with an interim chief, a black police captain from the department. Chief Lee was suspended because the State’s Attorney wouldn’t file charges against Zimmerman. Go figure. Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson raced each other to Florida to be in the spotlight and organize rallies to demand the arrest of George Zimmerman. They maintain, along with a purported two million petitioners, that Zimmerman is a murderer who shot a “defenseless” black 17-year old juvenile armed only with a can of iced tea and a bag of Skittles. (Trayvon Martin is a lean 6-foot, 170 lbs.) President Obama stirred up his political base, the same way he did after the arrest of his friend, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. He said that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon. At least he didn’t say the Sanford, Florida police “acted stupidly” this time. He vowed to “get to the bottom of what happened.” Even after eyewitnesses began to emerge corroborating Zimmerman’s version of the chain of events, including Martin knocking Zimmerman down and striking his head repeatedly on a concrete sidewalk, the frenzy grew even larger. The latest media revelation is a police videotape of Zimmerman, in handcuffs, exiting a police car and escorted into the station. Reporters and sympathetic talking heads all agreed that Zimmerman exhibited no visible signs of trauma to the back of his head or nose; therefore, he’s obviously guilty! They forgot to mention that the police at the scene called paramedics to treat Zimmerman before transporting him to the station. Did the paramedics clean his wounds before treating him? Nah! That does not fit the template of a racist wannabe cop who called 9-1-1 over forty times since 2007 as a “self-appointed” Neighborhood Watch “captain.” (That would be 40-times in a 60-month period, or .67 times a month.) If Zimmerman wasn’t injured, then why did the police call the paramedics? The media obtained audio tapes of the 9-1-1 call preceding the shooting and concluded that the person heard yelling during an apparent violent struggle was obviously Martin because his dad, Tracy Martin, said so. They neglected to mention that the police played the audio tapes for the father who said the voice was not his son’s until it dawned on him that meant that the person yelling for help had to be Zimmerman, so he recanted. This happened the next day, instead of that evening, because Mr. Martin failed to call the police to report his son missing. Guess he had something else to do. The grieving mother, Sybrina Fulton, must have shed tears on the paperwork she signed to trademark “I am Trayvon.” Her attorney said that she didn’t do it for profit; however when you see the news coverage of pro-Trayvon marchers, many are wearing t-shirts with the trademarked slogan and Trayvon’s smiling hooded face when he was thirteen years old. I guess she didn’t like Trayvon’s recent photo associated with his Twitter account where he snarls at the camera and flips the bird. The initial AP news articles were dripping with admiration for this child who helped little old ladies cross the street. When it was later revealed that the lad was visiting his father during a two week suspension from school for having marijuana residue in his book pack, and that he had previously been suspended twice before for tardiness and truancy, the grieving mother exclaimed, “They killed my son, now they want to kill his reputation.” The black city manager of Sanford said he would find and fire whoever leaked the information to the press. Seems like when actual facts emerge, he won’t tolerate them being leaked. Movie director Spike Lee (no relation) got in the act by Tweeting what he thought was George Zimmerman’s home address. This caused unspeakable horrors for the poor 70-something couple because the man shared the same name. He later apologized to his many Twitter followers not for giving them George Zimmerman’s address, but for giving them the wrong address. He was hoping one of his followers would collect the New Black Panther Party bounty of $25,000 to find and “arrest” George Zimmerman. Not to be outdone, Congress held a public forum on Capitol Hill about the shooting. Every available black Democrat representative posed for photographs with the grieving parents to gin up their political base in an election year, including Sheila Jackson Lee (no relation). To show solidarity with his rap-a-dap, “gangsta” constituents, former Black Panther Rep. Bobby Rush wore a “hoodie” in the well of Congress in defiance of House Rules dress code. Unfortunately, if Zimmerman escapes indictment for Trayvon Martin’s death, the followers of the race baiters will never be convinced of his innocence, regardless of the truth. The main stream media will ensure they never will.

Citizen King

Last weekend on the NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, the network felt it was important enough to fly him to Los Angeles to interview Rodney King to get his thoughts about the 20-year anniversary of the riots that left over 55 people dead and 2,000 injured. For the first time, according to Mr. Holt, Mr. King admitted to driving over 100 miles per hour while being pursued by California Highway Patrol and L.A.P.D. officers. Until then, he and the media gave the impression he was just driving down the street minding his own business when the mean police officers attempted to stop him because he was black. Dr. Drew Pinsky, on CNN’s Dr. Drew Show, interviewed Mr. King and told him, “You’re just a regular citizen that got caught in something that no one could have predicted would have the kind of impact on history.” Rodney King is not a “regular citizen.” “Regular” citizens aren’t on parole. When a regular citizen is caught driving drunk, they don’t flee the police racing over 100 miles per hour on freeways and through residential streets. “Regular” citizens, even when caught driving under the influence of alcohol, have enough sense to comply with an officer’s instructions and not resist arrest. “Regular” citizens don’t become the media poster child for “racial profiling,” and get 3.8 million dollars for his first book deal and an almost equal sum from a lawsuit, and then lose it in “bad investments.” “Regular” citizens have a job, go to work, raise a family, obey the law and enjoy the opportunities this country has to offer. I hate to break it to Dr. Drew, but Rodney King is no “regular citizen.” Citizen King was on parole for robbery where he threatened a store owner with an iron bar. Parole, unlike probation, is when a person serves time in a state or federal prison, and is released early. Probationers, on the other hand, serve their sentence “on the street” and do not go to the county jail after conviction of a misdemeanor. The analysis of Citizen King’s blood/alcohol content five hours after being arrested was just under the legal limit. Considering alcohol dissipates at an average rate of .025 per hour, he would have been at least twice the legal limit at the time of his arrest. This probably explains why he grabbed his rear end and rotated his hips in a sexually suggestive manner to the police officers who were attempting to arrest him, and why he ignored their lawful commands and fiercely resisted. He knew his parole would be violated and his next stop was back to state prison. He was determined to put on a show before returning to the big house. His behavior was so bizarre, the officers understandably thought he was under the influence of the drug popular in the black community at the time, Phencyclidine, or PCP, aka “Angel Dust.” I have arrested scores of people under the influence of PCP as a police officer in Pasadena, California, where Mr. King grew up, I can tell you that “Dusters” feel no pain, and have to always be physically restrained. Pasadena P.D. had a “two handcuff” policy because some dusters, even with their hands cuffed behind their back, were able to bust the chain link between the cuffs because they were oblivious to pain. The department’s policy was to also use “hobble cords” to lasso the suspect’s legs with a nylon rope and latch it on to the handcuffs, making the suspect look as though he was a roped calf at a rodeo. That’s how violent many of these dusters became. This evidence, and a lot more, such as Citizen King’s seeming indifference to being shot with a Taser, reinforced the thought he was under the influence of PCP in the minds of the four officers, and was presented to the Simi Valley jury that acquitted them. The rest is history. Citizen King is still a media hero whereas two of the L.A.P.D. officers were later convicted of federal civil rights violations; the other two were acquitted. Mr. King became a multi-millionaire and a “celebrity” on reality television shows. All of the officers lost their livelihoods and reputations. In two decades, the media has finally found a new poster child: Trayvon Martin. When a reasonable jury acquits Mr. George Zimmerman of second degree murder, stand by for a repeat of the Los Angeles riots, but probably at a much larger scale. Can’t we all just get along? (Mr. King accidently drowned at his home after this column was written.)

You Can Always Count On Pakistan To Do The Wrong Thing

Last week’s conviction of Dr. Shekeel Afridi by a Tribal Justice Court, even though it had no jurisdiction to try the matter, exemplifies Pakistan’s complete disregard to the rule of law and the why it can always be counted on to do the wrong thing. Instead of rewarding Dr. Afridi and celebrating his cooperation with the CIA that led to the identification and capture of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan a year ago, he was tried and convicted for treason and sentenced to 33-years in prison. Dr. Afridi helped the CIA determine that Bin Laden’s family members were in the compound where Navy Seals later killed him. He set up a store front vaccination clinic and captured the DNA of women living in Bin Laden’s compound that verified they were Bin Laden’s family members. That match made it most probable Bin Laden himself was in the compound, and probably led to President Obama’s decision to unleash the Seals to get him. Without that positive DNA match of the family members, the likelihood of the special operators getting the green light from the White House would have been understandably very slim. From my experience working and living in Pakistan while on a DEA diplomatic assignment from 1994 - 1998, the worst crime someone could commit was to “malign” the military. The military is the most respected government institution in Pakistan, and anyone who proves it doesn’t deserve the respect it demands receives severe punishment. A Pakistani Foreign Service National DEA investigator named Ayyaz Baluch performed an undercover assignment in Islamabad to further a New York Division investigation. His job was to meet with a Pakistani Air Force (PAF) major and pay him thousands of dollars for his recent sale of a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin he delivered to a DEA informant in the U.S. on a recent PAF flight to Dover, DE Air Force Base. The major “fronted” the heroin to the informant with the understanding a “relative” of the informant would pay him in Islamabad upon his return. I sat in the restaurant of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad and witnessed the payment to the major who promised to deliver more heroin on his next trip to Dover. A month or so later he delivered two more kilograms to the informant in New York City and DEA immediately took him into custody. When the Pakistani military received word of what happened all hell broke loose for the American diplomatic community, and especially for Mr. Baluche. After weeks of non-stop newspaper editorials and articles about how DEA agents in Pakistan were actually CIA officers assigned to steal its nuclear secrets, goons of the Inter-Service Intelligence agency kidnapped Mr. Baluche from his home. For the next year he was lodged at an air force confinement facility, systematically beaten, tortured, and hounded to sign statements that he was working with the Americans to steal Pakistan’s nuclear secrets. Despite the protests from DEA and the American Embassy, he was court-martialed even though he was a civilian, and given a multi-year prison sentence. After a year, the Pakistan military decided to turn him over to DEA who immediately arranged for his departure from the country after securing a permanent resident U.S. visa. Mr. Baluch is now a U.S. Citizen and a senior intelligence analyst assigned to DEA headquarters. What happened to Mr. Baluch is similar to what happened to Dr. Afridi. The Pakistan government should have commended both for their heroics; instead it punished them for doing the right thing. The Government of Pakistan’s action is a clear message to its citizens that providing information to the U.S. about the hiding places or intentions of terrorists within its borders will not be tolerated. These same citizens already know that with Pakistan’s endemic corruption, providing any viable, actionable information to the authorities is a complete waste of time and only poses a danger to the informer. Pakistan’s demand for an apology for U.S. forces killing 24 of its soldiers after they fired across the border on them, coupled with extorting us for the release of tons of our war supplies in country before they are allowed to transit into Afghanistan are not the actions of a “partner” in the war on terror. Congress cutting 33-million dollars in aid to Pakistan this year to symbolize the 33-year prison sentence Dr. Afridi received is a good start. It’s time to cut all U.S. aid to the Pakistan regime and begin seeking alternative ways to resupply our troops in Afghanistan. This is the only way Pakistan will change its ways and eventually become a full-fledge member of the international community. Giving into Pakistan’s demands will only lead to other similar situations.

Obama's Naked Hispanic Pandering

Last week President Barack Hussein Obama took the unprecedented step to circumvent Congress and institute a form of the so-called “Dream Act” that the House of Representatives refused to enact into law. By directing his Secretary of Homeland Security to cancel deportations of illegal aliens between the ages of 19 and 30 who came to the U.S. with their parents, and directing U.S. Attorneys to use “prosecutorial discretion,” President Obama has unilaterally implemented his version of the Dream Act without any authority to do so. The president’s excuse is that “It’s the right thing to do.” With an election year, President Obama must rely on Hispanic voter support for a second term in office. Surely this didn’t have anything to do with his decision. The president said that each illegal alien affected by his decision would be reviewed individually. His order applies to those 30 and under who were brought to the U.S. as children, have completed high school or earned a GED, and who don’t have record of felonies or multiple misdemeanors. It seems to me that these illegal alien “children” have learned from their parents they are in the country illegally. A 28-year old high school graduate should be mature enough to know his or her mere presence in the country make them subject to arrest and deportation. They are now making a conscious decision to remain illegally in the country. Did any of these people consider “doing the right thing,” and returning to their home country to seek legal immigration? In reading an AP report on how this new protected class of people feel about President Obama’s decision, a recent UCLA graduate with a bachelor’s degree in sociology said she could now seek employment to put her education to work. How did this illegal alien make it through a prestigious California University without being questioned about her legality? Liberal California politicians see no problem with an illegal alien taking a highly sought after seat at UCLA. They ignore that illegal aliens are depriving the children of taxpaying U.S. Citizen California residents the opportunity to attend the college. President Obama has no issue with these illegal aliens joining the workforce to further deprive U.S. Citizens jobs despite unemployment rates above eight percent. About 30 percent of all people between 19 and 30 cannot find work; now it will even be harder for them to do so. College educated illegal alien children will now compete with U.S. citizen college graduates for the opportunity to launch their careers, all for the sake of President Obama’s reelection. What the Hispanic community should be focusing on instead is President Obama invoking executive privilege in the release of subpoenaed documents connected to the “Fast and Furious” debacle. Without the documents, it may never be clear if Attorney General Eric Holder, or possibly the president himself, was the “shot-caller” in the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigation that knowingly allowed fraudulently purchased semi-automatic assault weapons to be smuggled to Mexico for use by its violent drug cartels. Allowing those weapons to “walk” to Mexico without any chance of them being traced to the cartels and recovered, directly led to the killing of hundreds of Mexican citizens and Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Where’s the hue and cry from the Hispanic community about this? President Obama is assuming two things: Hispanics will overwhelmingly vote Democratic this next election cycle because of his backdoor amnesty, and all illegal aliens want to become U.S. Citizens. Many Hispanics are social and fiscal conservatives, and many illegal aliens are simply in the U.S. to earn what they can before returning to Mexico or Central America with more money in their pockets then if they had worked in their home countries. Hispanics want the same things as other ethnic groups: financial security. When they realize President Obama’s economic and domestic policies have failed after three and a half years of trying, many will seek a change in leadership, trumping the immigration issue in favor of their own pocketbooks. Legal Hispanic immigrants realize that blanket backdoor immunity further lessens their chance of securing employment, and that is obviously the wrong thing to do.