The Jovan Belcher Tragedy

On Saturday morning Jovan Belcher killed the mother of his 3 month old child and then shot himself in front of the men who believed in him at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. On Sunday there was a moment of silence for victims of domestic violence at the Chief's game, presumably for Belcher and his girlfriend. Bob Costas gave an impromptu commentary saying if Jovan Belcher had not had a gun then none of this would have happened.
   If there is any blame to assign then it goes to Jovan Belcher but if he is sick then what do we do? I don't know if he has reached out for help, perhaps he was on medication that didn't help him as much as he thought it would. If we don't know then we can't help.
   I am far from a bleeding heart but my views on this have changed over the past several days. At first I was up in arms about the gun control commentary and I still disagree with Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock that are calling for more gun control. Gun control would not have stopped this, he would have used another weapon (knife, car, stick) if he was intent on hurting someone. That isn't the answer. More personal accountability is the answer. Changing the culture of violence is a start. Football is not to blame but perhaps we should focus more on our family and personal relationships than on our fantasy football team or bowl game practices for State U. Let's talk to each other, meet face to face instead of over a phone, find time to spend listening instead of thinking what next to say. We can't sit still for a minute, always so much to do - as the father of 12 children I know how that feels and sometimes I don't feel like I am in control. That is when I need to stop, take a breath, and cancel things that are not important.
   To avert future events let us take the time to listen. It may not save a life, but maybe it will.

More and More

So if we keep throwing money at the war, it will eventually be successful, right? Just like if we keep throwing money at education our children will get smarter. And if we keep sending our sons to Scouts without any parental involvement except to say that the Scoutmaster isn't doing his job, our sons will automatically become Eagle Scouts. And if our sons attend church and Scouts then they will go on a mission.

No, it doesn't work that way. We have to be involved and find the roots of the problem then look for the solution. Throwing money at the problem, like the recent stimulus package and health care bill, will bring us nothing but debt and less time.

Health Care Bill and Bankruptcy

Don't fall all over yourself worrying about if Harry Reid should be stomped, quartered, hanged, and then killed for his racial remarks during the 2008 election cycle. Of course he should, end of story. He won't win re-election in Nevada and will most likely resign in order to shield his son, in a race of his own for the governor of Nevada, further disgrace. Don't take your eye off of the ball when it comes to this ugly health care bill still in flux.

There was an excellent article at the Heritage Foundation today about the real cost of nationalized health care with regards to state budgets. Right now, and I know first-hand, that state budgets are cutting every expense they can and still come up short. The only way some of them are surviving are an influx of federal funds. But what happens when those federal funds run dry or are not renewed next year? Even more cuts and fewer services.

Amendment X - The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Health care is not a right nor should it be enforced through legislative action on each state.

If this health care plan goes through it will make states more and more dependent upon the federal government for existence, which is exactly the plan of those in control. Then when a state, aka Texas, makes noise about independence or disagrees with federal policies (No Child Left Behind, Patriot Act, TSA Airport Screenings) then they will be threatened with a cut of federal funding for their programs.

Let's not take our eye off of the ball to turn up our noses at Harry Reid or despair that Sarah Palin has been given a national platform on Fox News. Watch what health care does because if it is successful we are in for a whole heap of trouble.

Fresh Faces in Government

Love this article today in the Opinion section of the Deseret News. Check it out.

Big Brother and the Toilet

Read a hilarious, but maddening and somewhat depressing, article about the evolution of the modern American toilet from its obvious environmentally-unfriendly days of 5 gallon flushing power to the puny 1.6 gallon regulated babbling brook we find today. Has there actually been a massive increase in plunger sales or plumber calls since the government decided to regulate things like how much water our toilet can flush?

Regulate our toilet water? Sheesh, next thing you know they will want to regulate how much toilet paper an eating establishment carries in the bathroom. Wait. They already tried to do that in Florida.

Government control over all aspects of our lives is ruining this country. See the current health care legislation for the most egregious example. The uncontrollable lust for power and the greed to keep everybody equal and level reminds me of a place I spent time in. The former Soviet Union. For nearly 70 years they tried to control everything about a person and their life but look how that ended. Tragic.

We cannot afford a perestroika in America, it should never get to that point.

Your Recovery Dollars at Work

The story reported here is that federal stimulus money - $9.5 million - went to 14 fake zip codes in Virginia. Huh? The administration says it went to recipients who didn't know who their Congressman was - so why are we giving that much money to people who don't know their own zip code?

Love the accountability.

You knew it was a bad plan to start with and it has only gotten worse.

Karl Malone Gets It Right

I love Karl Malone. He, more than Larry Bird or Michael Jordan, and John Stockton were my sports heroes growing up in SLC in the 80's. They came to work everyday, played hard, and played the game the right way - with a couple of nasty elbows and body bumps thrown in.

Since John and Karl retired the NBA has gone deeper into a thug league, the gangsta image is alive and well. How do you combat that when the brightest stars are flashing bling, covering themselves with tattoos, and now pointing guns at each other in the locker room? It has made the game unwatchable.

The latest incident is that Gilbert Arenas, a member of the Washington Wizards, brought handguns to the locker room and after a gambling argument with a teammate, presented him with three guns to shoot it out.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. That type of behavior should ensure that Gilbert Arenas never owns another gun in his life.

Karl Malone, a gun advocate and responsible owner, wrote an article for Sports Illustrated about athletes and guns. I loved the article because it focuses on the accountability that most gun owners feel and the responsibility they take upon themselves when purchasing, owning, and carrying a weapon. A must read.

Thank you Karl Malone for telling the truth and, I can't believe I am saying this, articulating what so many responsible gun owners feel.

Mike Lee Announces Run For Senate

Mike Lee, son of former BYU president Rex Lee, announced today that he would run for the US Senate seat currently occupied by Bob Bennett. He joins Cherilyn Eager, James Williams, and Tim Bridgewater as challengers to Sen. Bennett this fall.

I am still investigating what the differences are between the 4 of them, more on that later. Sen. Bennett must sense the oncoming tsunami as he was on the new last night about security related to the new federal court house here in Salt Lake. Sen. Bennett was the one who secured the funding for that building and was commenting on the need for beefed-up security there in light of yesterday's Las Vegas shootings.

We are going to see a LOT more of Senator Bennett in the coming months as they move to the Republican primary in May. At this point it looks iffy that he makes it out of the Republican primary - I wouldn't bet on him.

Bennett NOT for Senate

Excellent article today on why Bob Bennett is not a good choice to represent Utah in the United States Senate. The author, Erick Erickson, is the editor of RedState. com and has good insight. I wrote a blog entry a few days ago about the same thing.

Sorry Senator Bennett, that nice Christmas card you sent to me won't work this year.

Good Worth Fighting For

Last night I was laying on my back looking up at the ceiling while Kathryn watched the end of the Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers. Interesting perspective to listen to the dialogue and not see the pictures.

Sam and Frodo are having a conversation about their journey and here is what they said -

Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo; the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end... because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was, when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going... because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

There is darkness now but one day the light will come back, we are holding on and fighting for the goods things in this world. For our families, for our heritage, for our freedoms that were bravely bought with brave mens' blood, and for our God. May we remember to fight and know both the savor of victory and the bitterness of defeat.

Wild Dog Alert

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) (no relation, thank goodness), the Health Care Bill lynch pin, is begging state AG's around the nation to not go through with a lawsuit that would challenge the constitutionality of the proposed Senate version of the Health Care Bill if it indeed is signed into law. Read about it here.

Senator Nelson said he would cast the deciding 'Yea' vote for the bill if his state, Nebraska, was exempt from paying the coverage for any new Medicaid patients. Under current law the state pays no more than 50% of the costs and the federal government pays the rest, which could be greater for states who are poverty-stricken (or have poorly managed state governments). Nelson's provision would have the federal government pay 100% of the costs for all new Medicaid enrollees.

That is over $100,000,000 over the next 10 years.

For Nebraska alone. No other state, just Nebraska.

To refute the unconstitutionality claim he says that ALL states will get the same provision.

WHOA! Hold on! Tiny Nebraska (pop. 1.78 million) costs $100 million over 10 years to cover all new enrollees - about $56 per person over that period in Nebraska. Let's extend that out to the whole nation. USA population - 304 million x $56 = $17,024,000,000.

Yeah, $17 trillion over 10 years.

Of course President Obama has stated that "largest deficit-reduction plan in over a decade."

Good math Mr. President, an extra $17 trillion over a decade.

Don't call of the dogs, keep feeding them the Alpo.

Now Is The Time

2010 marks a mid-cycle election and now is the time to start making the distinction between the candidates. Primaries are coming up in the spring so don't wait until then to decide who you would like to support.

2009 was an interesting year for me, I dropped my membership with the Republican party and became independent. I don't care what party, or even if there is a party, that a candidate represents as long as they represent me and my beliefs. They could be Democrat or Republican, Constitutional or Libertarian, that distinction makes no difference to me. What matters is substance and what they stand for.

Who is up for re-election this year? Senator Bob Bennett is on the clock and I will work hard to ensure that he is no elected to represent Utah. I hope Mark Shurtleff doesn't come back into the race, he doesn't bring anything new to the table. Two candidates look good to me - Cherilyn Eager, James Williams, and Mike Lee (if he decides to run). Check them out as a conservative alternative to the now-conservative minded Bob Bennett.

Rob Bishop is also up for re-election but I think Rep. Bishop has done a good job, no complaints. There are no challengers at this point but I am sure one or two will pop up. They will need to be fairly right-wing to out conservative Rep. Bishop.

The last race I am looking at this year is for the local House seat that Jim Gowans occupies. 4 years ago my best friend tried to win that seat and didn't succeed. Gowans is a powerful man in Tooele with many connections in both parties. Jess was a strong candidate but still failed to reach the voters with his conservative message although all signs pointed to a strong showing. Voter apathy will continually remain the biggest problem in Tooele County. I don't know if Gowans runs this year or if he gives it up to a new candidate. Hopefully there are some good people who decide to take the plunge in the next month or two.

Now is the time to learn about these candidates and their positions. An exciting time of year!

Victory in Defeat

Read a fascinating article this morning about a Republican defeat in NY that was actually a victory. Read it here.

In a nutshell - the GOP chose a candidate that was decidedly left of center and supported her throughout the whole cycle. Conservatives were unhappy with the GOP candidate so they supported an independent candidate. At the last minute, the Republicans pulled their support from their candidate and backed the independent.

The Republican party needs to understand that if they want to matter then they will need to matter to conservatives.

Vote Today

I hope you had an opportunity to vote today - vote smart and keep informed. Be diligent and watchful.

"If America is destroyed, it may be by Americans who salute the flag, sing the national anthem, march in patriotic parades, cheer Fourth of July speakers – normally good Americans, but Americans who fail to comprehend what is required to keep our country strong and free, Americans who have been lulled away into a false security."

Ezra Taft Benson

Revenge?

Saw an article today about Republicans plotting "revenge" against Democratic candidates for President Obama winning last November. They say that this is the blowback from all of the different policies that President Obama is trying to foist upon this country in his first 10 months in office.

I hate the idea of revenge and that the Republican party is considering the idea of victory in the polls this week as such.

We are not keeping score, this isn't sports. War is not a good analogy for politics. We are talking about the lives of the citizens of this nation. It can be a win-win situation, there doesn't have to be a winner and a loser when it comes to elections - the American people should be the winner of every election. When good men and women come together to properly govern themselves everybody is better. When personal agendas and greed govern men then they need to be replaced.

The Republicans are losers if they think that they win by defeating Obama-endorsed candidates this November.

Czars Are Not Good

The czars that the Obama administration has appointed are undertaking tasks that they are not Constitutionally able to enforce and it is troubling that this administration and Congress believe there is nothing wrong with the idea. Appointed advisers, or czars, are not new with President Obama, they were in place long before him. However, he has taken the position to new levels.

The problems with the czars? They are not approved, like other cabinet and administration appointments, by the Senate. So they are not vetted or is there investigation and discussion on their merits and their shortcomings before a panel. They are simply appointed.

This week, companies that received TARP funds were told by the "Pay Czar" Kenneth Feinberg that he was cutting executive compensation by an average of 50%. Read about it in the Wall Street Journal here.

Two different thoughts on this -

1. If you are a company that accepted bailout TARP money then you know that you had just sold your soul to the devil. In an open market you would have folded but you effectively gave up your control to the federal government. You had to know that something like this would come. Brilliant PR strategy by the White House on this move but with a good chance at backfiring on them.
2. This position of this czar is so ripe for corruption due to the large amounts of money involved not only in the compensation of these executives but the fortune of many mega companies that are affected when talent leaves the firm if they don't feel like they are being rewarded for their hard-work. You could be on the side of the affected company and watch your talented executives leave - so you do anything you can to stop that, including making donations to certain campaign funds. Or you could be on the side of the competition - you would love to see the brain drain from your competitor. So you make deals and contributions. This administration has shown a propensity for having more skeletons in their closet in the first year than the previous 6 administrations combined.

Nowhere is the idea of a czar considered Constitutionally sound, it is independent of any branch and has no oversight.

Get rid of the czars.

So 13,000 people die last year from the regular flu and nothing is ever mentioned but 1,000 people die this year from "the swine flu" and the Obama administration feels like it needs to declare an emergency? 120 million vaccinations promised by mid-October but only 12 million (10%) delivered?

When a state of emergency, like war, is declared by a government then it gains extra powers that it would not normally be granted in times of peace to become the "protector" of the people. A prime example of this is the Patriot Act that is still around that a all-Democratic Congress renewed this year. The Patriot Act is perhaps the most un-Constitutional piece of legislation since the establishment of the Federal Reserve and the income tax. Why isn't this state of emergency being considered at the state level? A central government with this much power is so dangerous.

Two other notes, why don't the Obama children get the vaccination? It's not available to them? Come on, give me a break. (Update 10/29/2009 - the Obama girls did get their shot, thanks to Christina for the story link). And a Democratic Congress and Democratic President are cowards for attaching an incredibly short-sighted hate crimes bill to the Defense bill that was signed today. It couldn't stand on its own so these cowards put it with legislation that they knew would pass. These men and women do not deserve to represent their people and if they are representative of their constituency, so help us God.

A Slave Currency

This is the Amero, it is the proposed monetary unit that will take the place of the dollar and the peso if President Obama and his friends have their way. There has been several mentions of a new global currency this week at the UN and the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. It is the same concept as the Euro, the currency of those countries that are part of the European Union.

So why is this so important? And why do we care?

If we lose the dollar, which we are currently in the process of doing as China continues to buy up American debt at an astounding rate, then we lose our national sovereignty. We lose our identity. We lose any independence we have and tie ourselves unwillingly to the fortunes of Mexico, Canada, and other Latin American countries that have nowhere near the economy, infrastructure, or freedoms that you and I enjoy here in America.

We may as well burn the Constitution as its rights will be superseded by those in some form of a union treaty. When the EU became a reality, all member countries agreed to be governed by EU laws that trumped those of the individual country. Now any law that is made in an EU country is subject to laws made by the EU. Court judgments that are made in the country can be overturned by the EU courts. Are our interests and situations the same as Mexico's? No, not at all.

The global currency is another step on the way to allowing the UN to be the world government and the US losing everything that it has. Please elect leaders this fall who will follow the Constitution.

Solutions to Health Care

I read the transcript of Ron Paul's comments to Congress yesterday and I loved them. They made so much sense in the health care debate.

Forget the public option. Forget the awful plans put forth by Max Baucus and my very own Bob Bennett. They don't solve the problem, they only further government control of aspects of our lives that should be left up to the patient and free market.

Like Congressman Paul states, health care is not a right, just as education is not a right nor is a job a right. Those things shouldn't be provided by the government but by the free market. The federal government needs to get out of the way.

Read the article here.

Obama and the World Order

President Obama gave another 'historic' speech at the United Nations this morning and talked about how America cannot go it alone. The AP called the speech blunt in tone, although he said he wants "a new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect". Kind of like imposing those new high tariffs on Chinese products.

Through all of this talk he spoke about working together for the common good of the world but there was one very disturbing statement he made.

In an era where our destiny is shared, power is no longer a zero-sum game. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. That is the future America wants.

No, America does not want a new world order, we are firmly opposed to such a concept. That may be the socialist utopia that President Obama envisions but that is not what the Founding Fathers wanted nor what the American people want. Mr. President, you represent us, not the Saul Alinsky's and Noam Chomsky's of the world who think we can all band together in a la-la land of love and happiness. We love our national sovereignty, we fight for it and sacrifice for it. We will not give in to a world order that you spoke about.

Remember, this is coming from a man who also claimed that climate change was more important than economic recovery, that the days of America dragging its feet on this issue are over.

Yes, they are over, Mr. President. Climate change hoopla is NOT more important than several of the other issues we are working on.

One more thing- remember that promise last fall during the campaign to sit down and talk with President Ahmadinejad of Iran over the conflict? Hey, he was in the room with you? Did you guys sit down and have a beer together to talk about your differences? Shoot, it looked good when you tried to do it with that cop from Boston a couple of months ago . . .