Eleven-score and eleven years ago, on this continent, a new nation was formed. It was formed from rage, it was formed from violence, and it was formed from the will of men who refused to accept the rule of tyranny from across the sea. A committee of five chosen men gathered and wrote a Declaration of Independence, announcing to the world the birth of a nation dedicated to the prospect of individual liberty.
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by twelve of the original thirteen colonies (New York did not vote), though the declaration was not formally signed by the fifty-six delegates to the Continental Congress until August 2.
The English King, with a bounty on their heads, branded those who signed the Declaration of Independence as rebels and traitors. In signing, they recognized and affirmed with their “lives, their fortunes, and their honor” their dedication to the cause of freedom.
Though these fifty-six men risked their lives in signing this declaration, it was the thousands of men and women who stood up for their individual rights who eventually won the victory over the British.
Today, 231 years later, we celebrate the courage, the bravery, and the blood that these men spilled.
We, as a country, have become the richest and most powerful country in the history of the world. We are a great country, and we are a great people. Left, Right, or Middle, we are a people.
Celebrate today our country’s birthday remembering that you can not deserve freedom, you can only earn it.
You can email Alan at alan@alanfernald.com twenty-four hours a day.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Pardon me?
I just heard the news that President Bush has commuted the prison sentence of Scooter Libby; however, he did leave in place the two year sentence and the $250,000 fine. I am of very mixed opinions on this, however, I ask you to kindly bear with my feelings on the matter.
My first thought on this matter is that Libby was convicted of perjury about, and the obstruction of justice for a crime that was never committed. As such, it is rather hard to see how he was ever even prosecuted (much less successfully) for this matter.
My second thought, however, is that a jury of twelve men and women found him guilty, and he was sentenced in accordance with the appropriate guidelines. In other words, there must be something that the jury was aware of that we, the general public, were not privy to.
As such, I wonder why President Bush has used one of his “ultimate powers” to contradict the will of our justice system. Did he do it to assuage the conservatives who thought Libby was wrongly prosecuted? The same conservatives who Bush and other liberal Republicans had just thoroughly disenchanted with their desire to ram a bad piece of legislation down the throats of the American public?
Or did the President do it because of political expediency? Is he trying to recapture some of that oft-derided thing we call the approval rating? Or did he do it simply because he likes to hand out amnesty?
It matters not. When President Bush offered clemency rather than an outright pardon, he in effect concurred with the ‘guilty’ finding of the jury, while also making a mockery of the judicial system.
Should Bush have provided clemency to Scooter Libby? I do not know enough about what actually happened to be able to answer this question. At least this clemency was not for a personal financial benefit to President Bush, as some other recent President’s have done.
You can email Alan at alan@alanfernald.com twenty-four hours a day.
My first thought on this matter is that Libby was convicted of perjury about, and the obstruction of justice for a crime that was never committed. As such, it is rather hard to see how he was ever even prosecuted (much less successfully) for this matter.
My second thought, however, is that a jury of twelve men and women found him guilty, and he was sentenced in accordance with the appropriate guidelines. In other words, there must be something that the jury was aware of that we, the general public, were not privy to.
As such, I wonder why President Bush has used one of his “ultimate powers” to contradict the will of our justice system. Did he do it to assuage the conservatives who thought Libby was wrongly prosecuted? The same conservatives who Bush and other liberal Republicans had just thoroughly disenchanted with their desire to ram a bad piece of legislation down the throats of the American public?
Or did the President do it because of political expediency? Is he trying to recapture some of that oft-derided thing we call the approval rating? Or did he do it simply because he likes to hand out amnesty?
It matters not. When President Bush offered clemency rather than an outright pardon, he in effect concurred with the ‘guilty’ finding of the jury, while also making a mockery of the judicial system.
Should Bush have provided clemency to Scooter Libby? I do not know enough about what actually happened to be able to answer this question. At least this clemency was not for a personal financial benefit to President Bush, as some other recent President’s have done.
You can email Alan at alan@alanfernald.com twenty-four hours a day.
Monday, July 02, 2007
There's a war brewing in Iran
One of the gravest threats that the world faces is the threat of an Iran armed with nuclear weapons. On various occasions, the UN has mandated economic sanctions against the current regime in Iran. Recently, the Iranian envoy to the UN challenged the Security Council by saying if they dared to create more economic sanctions on Iran, the new sanctions imposed would be as futile as all prior sanctions in bringing their nuclear program to a halt.
What does this mean to us here in the US?
In the past, sitting Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made many statements that can only be construed as threats. He has made statements advocating the destruction of both Israel and the United States; statements regarding his desire to usher in the return of the 12th Imam (the equivalent to the Christian Armageddon); and the mounting evidence of Iran’s ongoing support of radical terror groups. Throw in nuclear weapons, and you have a significant threat to peace and stability in the region, and throughout the rest of the world.
Some sources say that Iran is only months away from having nuclear capability. Others state that it will be several more years. Yet other sources state it is at least a decade away.
Once again, we have a nation that advocates the destruction of a neighboring country that is also the only true ally that the United States has in that region. Mix that desire to cause the death of Israel with the race to obtain the current ‘ultimate’ weapon, and you can see the danger approaching. Then consider the religious zealotry involved, and the passion to bring in the return of the 12th Imam which, according to tradition, can ONLY happen when the Muslim religion is threatened with extinction, and you now have the motive to preemptively launch a nuclear war.
So what should we do about this?
Former Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, US Senator from Connecticut has gone so far as to say that we should be preparing to take preemptive action to stop the Iranian nuclear program. Due to the measures taken by Iran to safeguard their nuclear program (hardened underground laboratories, diverse and widely spread-out locations, etc…), a conventional strike such as Israel performed against Iraqi weapons facilities cannot possibly succeed.
Because of the military difficulties of a “quick strike” to terminate Iran’s nuclear program, this leaves only the option of actually going into Iran in force as happened in Iraq, or a limited nuclear strike on nearly every hardened facility that Iran has. However, Iran has good business relations with both China and Russia. Because of this, we can assume that both of these countries would be adverse to the US taking any actions that might disrupt those relationships. Both of the attack option outlined would cause significant disruption, and likely, would quickly be escalated into a war between the US and either China or Russia (or both).
What is clear is that a war is brewing in Iran, and it must result in an Iran more peaceful than currently.
Those of you, who know me, are probably now thinking that I believe we should go ahead and make that preemptive strike. But in this case, a military course of action would be foolish.
Remember back at the beginning when I mentioned that the Iranian envoy to the UN had stated that any new sanctions would be as futile as the past sanctions the UN has levied against Iran?
Well, to the envoy, the sanctions were futile. They were not hurting Iran per se. However, the people of Iran are hurting, and they are well aware that this is caused by the world as a whole against their government. The price of gas is rising rapidly, as well as the price of food. Civil unrest has reached such a point that the people are starting to rise up in the streets DESPITE the danger that this opposition to their government puts them in.
The best thing that the US can do at this time is to work with the United Nations (ouch, that statement REALLY hurt) to enforce any and all sanctions against Iran. The US should also hold bilateral talks with Russia and China, and utilize our relations (however strained they are) as leverage to influence the Russians and the Chinese to also exert pressure on the Iranian government/people to cease and desist their nuclear program.
The solution to peace is strength. But the strength in this case cannot be the mighty army of the United States, but the gentle strength of the dollar, the ruble, and the Yuan.
There is a war brewing in Iran, let’s help the Iranian people win their war against their own government.
What does this mean to us here in the US?
In the past, sitting Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made many statements that can only be construed as threats. He has made statements advocating the destruction of both Israel and the United States; statements regarding his desire to usher in the return of the 12th Imam (the equivalent to the Christian Armageddon); and the mounting evidence of Iran’s ongoing support of radical terror groups. Throw in nuclear weapons, and you have a significant threat to peace and stability in the region, and throughout the rest of the world.
Some sources say that Iran is only months away from having nuclear capability. Others state that it will be several more years. Yet other sources state it is at least a decade away.
Once again, we have a nation that advocates the destruction of a neighboring country that is also the only true ally that the United States has in that region. Mix that desire to cause the death of Israel with the race to obtain the current ‘ultimate’ weapon, and you can see the danger approaching. Then consider the religious zealotry involved, and the passion to bring in the return of the 12th Imam which, according to tradition, can ONLY happen when the Muslim religion is threatened with extinction, and you now have the motive to preemptively launch a nuclear war.
So what should we do about this?
Former Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, US Senator from Connecticut has gone so far as to say that we should be preparing to take preemptive action to stop the Iranian nuclear program. Due to the measures taken by Iran to safeguard their nuclear program (hardened underground laboratories, diverse and widely spread-out locations, etc…), a conventional strike such as Israel performed against Iraqi weapons facilities cannot possibly succeed.
Because of the military difficulties of a “quick strike” to terminate Iran’s nuclear program, this leaves only the option of actually going into Iran in force as happened in Iraq, or a limited nuclear strike on nearly every hardened facility that Iran has. However, Iran has good business relations with both China and Russia. Because of this, we can assume that both of these countries would be adverse to the US taking any actions that might disrupt those relationships. Both of the attack option outlined would cause significant disruption, and likely, would quickly be escalated into a war between the US and either China or Russia (or both).
What is clear is that a war is brewing in Iran, and it must result in an Iran more peaceful than currently.
Those of you, who know me, are probably now thinking that I believe we should go ahead and make that preemptive strike. But in this case, a military course of action would be foolish.
Remember back at the beginning when I mentioned that the Iranian envoy to the UN had stated that any new sanctions would be as futile as the past sanctions the UN has levied against Iran?
Well, to the envoy, the sanctions were futile. They were not hurting Iran per se. However, the people of Iran are hurting, and they are well aware that this is caused by the world as a whole against their government. The price of gas is rising rapidly, as well as the price of food. Civil unrest has reached such a point that the people are starting to rise up in the streets DESPITE the danger that this opposition to their government puts them in.
The best thing that the US can do at this time is to work with the United Nations (ouch, that statement REALLY hurt) to enforce any and all sanctions against Iran. The US should also hold bilateral talks with Russia and China, and utilize our relations (however strained they are) as leverage to influence the Russians and the Chinese to also exert pressure on the Iranian government/people to cease and desist their nuclear program.
The solution to peace is strength. But the strength in this case cannot be the mighty army of the United States, but the gentle strength of the dollar, the ruble, and the Yuan.
There is a war brewing in Iran, let’s help the Iranian people win their war against their own government.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Two Weeks Late
I realize that there are a lot of people out there who have become regular readers of this blog, and I must sincerely apologize for almost completely missing the last two weeks. Life has been rather hectic as I got extremely involved in performing my civic duty of protesting.
However, many things in the political arena seem to have resolved (well, in a manner of speaking) themselves during my hiatus, and I am hopeful that in many of the cases, my voice was one of those screaming the loudest that helped drive the outcome of some of these political boondoggles.
First and foremost, (though I was not involved in this one, much to my chagrin), the Morrison v. Kline debate heated up once again as charges of ethics violations came spewing out of the pro-choice camp when Morrison announced that he was dropping his investigation of Planned Parenthood and additionally announced that he found no basis for 15 of the 30 counts that Kline had filed against Tiller prior to Kline stepping down from the office of Attorney General.
However, the pro-life forces proclaimed their vindication when Morrison went on to file 19 misdemeanor charges against Tiller and his late-term abortion practice. Fifteen charges were the remnants from Kline’s original charges, and an additional four charges added in.
How will this play out? Personally, I hope that Morrison places the most vocal anti-abortion prosecutor to fight this battle in court. Maybe even bring back Kline to win/lose this battle in open court (like THAT will ever happen). By selecting a person to prosecute who REALLY wants to put Tiller behind bars and shutting down his abortion clinic, there will be no chance later of pro-life groups making political claims that the case was ineffectually argued by the AG.
Second, the US Senate FINALLY gave up trying to push through a bad immigration reform bill. The open border groups didn’t like it, because it was too harsh, the law and order groups didn’t like it because it granted de facto amnesty.
Fortunately, we the people actually had our voices heard by our Senators (thank you Senator Roberts and Senator Brownback), and the vote last Thursday was not even close to permitting this bill to continue. I know that I myself sent literally hundreds of e-mails and faxes to various senators regarding this bill, and I am hopeful that my own story regarding immigration was able to resonate among the millions of other messages that echoed through the halls of the US Senate.
On yet another front, the last I heard, the KC Royals had won 5 (yes, I did say they WON FIVE) baseball games in a row. Though they aren’t even close to getting up above .500 for the season, they are now above .400, and are doing everything they can to catch up with my preseason estimate that they would be flirting with .500 this season.
Only 13.5 games out of first, and nearly halfway through the season. Did even the optimists out there truly believe that they could do it? Now if I could only name more than about five players on the team right now I would be truly happy.
Anyways, I am now settling in to my new midnight to eight shift, and school seems to be coming along just fine. So hopefully, I won’t be deserting you for two weeks in the future.
However, many things in the political arena seem to have resolved (well, in a manner of speaking) themselves during my hiatus, and I am hopeful that in many of the cases, my voice was one of those screaming the loudest that helped drive the outcome of some of these political boondoggles.
First and foremost, (though I was not involved in this one, much to my chagrin), the Morrison v. Kline debate heated up once again as charges of ethics violations came spewing out of the pro-choice camp when Morrison announced that he was dropping his investigation of Planned Parenthood and additionally announced that he found no basis for 15 of the 30 counts that Kline had filed against Tiller prior to Kline stepping down from the office of Attorney General.
However, the pro-life forces proclaimed their vindication when Morrison went on to file 19 misdemeanor charges against Tiller and his late-term abortion practice. Fifteen charges were the remnants from Kline’s original charges, and an additional four charges added in.
How will this play out? Personally, I hope that Morrison places the most vocal anti-abortion prosecutor to fight this battle in court. Maybe even bring back Kline to win/lose this battle in open court (like THAT will ever happen). By selecting a person to prosecute who REALLY wants to put Tiller behind bars and shutting down his abortion clinic, there will be no chance later of pro-life groups making political claims that the case was ineffectually argued by the AG.
Second, the US Senate FINALLY gave up trying to push through a bad immigration reform bill. The open border groups didn’t like it, because it was too harsh, the law and order groups didn’t like it because it granted de facto amnesty.
Fortunately, we the people actually had our voices heard by our Senators (thank you Senator Roberts and Senator Brownback), and the vote last Thursday was not even close to permitting this bill to continue. I know that I myself sent literally hundreds of e-mails and faxes to various senators regarding this bill, and I am hopeful that my own story regarding immigration was able to resonate among the millions of other messages that echoed through the halls of the US Senate.
On yet another front, the last I heard, the KC Royals had won 5 (yes, I did say they WON FIVE) baseball games in a row. Though they aren’t even close to getting up above .500 for the season, they are now above .400, and are doing everything they can to catch up with my preseason estimate that they would be flirting with .500 this season.
Only 13.5 games out of first, and nearly halfway through the season. Did even the optimists out there truly believe that they could do it? Now if I could only name more than about five players on the team right now I would be truly happy.
Anyways, I am now settling in to my new midnight to eight shift, and school seems to be coming along just fine. So hopefully, I won’t be deserting you for two weeks in the future.
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