“…for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace.” – Ronald Reagan, 6/12/87, standing near the Berlin Wall, delivering his famous “Tear Down This Wall!” speech.
Mr. Obama has no idea how to claim and frame world events around him to mold perception of himself and US as the fortunate heroes we are. He should take a tip from the master, Reagan, who knew how to put smiles on American faces, flushed with pride. He really knew how to peddle hope and lift a country’s spirits. Mr. Obama is probably a nice person, but he is out of his league. I really believe he has no one capable around him to help him fulfill his role in history. I prefer to believe that scenario instead of Mr. Obama refusing to listen to the advice of any capable advisors.
He missed the opportunity on this one (to position us as the victor over tyranny and the deliverer of freedom in the Middle East) because I suspect he really does not see the situation as thus. But, I do – yes, I see big possibilities in small, routine news items (we have become so jaded to life around us.) The people of Egypt oust their dictator – oh, that’s nice. Gadhafi flies in mercenaries to mow his own people down when his generals refuse to – oh, that’s sad.
Wake up! See the opportunities and possibilities! Remember: Educated, free Muslim women do not VOTE for their sons to become suicide bombers. I think I can glimpse World Peace, in my lifetime.
And for the 10th time, when I look to Mr. Obama expecting to see leadership, something to get behind and rally us together, I see…nothing. And when I look around, at us? Bickering. Confusion. Nonchalance. Like usual. Remember the oil spill?
God, I miss Ronny. He would be having a heyday with World Peace within his grasp. Funny how Reagan will always be perceived as a hawk, while Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize, for being black, certainly not for assisting the populace push for Democracy in the Middle East, and thus ushering in human rights, education, TRUE progress. The very idea of that still makes me light-headed, even giddy. That’s real change, real hope. Why is Obama so cautious on this?
Because he has no idea who he is, who we are, or what he believes in. The rest of us don’t know, either! Will he be the guy who gave billions to unnecessary or nonexistent projects to stimulate the economy (don’t think that worked). Will he be the president that brought free-health-care-for-all, or that’s what was supposed to be in the 1000s-page bill no one read…(we’re still not clear on exactly how this will work or if it will be declared unconstitutional or blocked by states who can’t pay for it). He’s definitely the guy who, faced with the worst instance of environmental damage inflicted by industry, set up a commission of lawyers to negotiate for a fund for victims’ claims (and BP low-balled them on that monetary cap). Hmmm. I’m thinking here, I really am. What will be his legacy?
Oh. It’s as obvious as the nose on my face. He’s the black guy. Well, when we’re done having our token black, maybe we can get a president who really sees himself as The Leader of the Free World. He can be purple for all I care. But wouldn’t it be incredible if he was black? You know, with all those powerful concepts of Leader and Free thrown into the perception of him. That is who Obama COULD be. If only he could embrace it.
Well, I don’t think we’ll ever see him strut down a carrier deck in a pilot’s jumpsuit like “W” or Putin (with his, you know, “package” on display), but I can help him out with the speech (to replace that lame-ass one I heard on NPR explaining the scope of the U.N.’s resolution to us little people who will be paying for it with our taxes).
It should have been in the evening, televised, from the garden.
“Tonight, we stand. We stand at the beginning of a new world, one of peace and unprecedented cooperation between its inhabitants. We stand witness to the desire of the peoples of the Middle East and we hear their cries for freedom. We stand ready to help, by evening the playing field. And by doing so, we all stand a chance for harmony and happiness. It’s time for us to take a stand.”
And, that is how you take your place in history. Not by explaining that we have to go do this because the U.N. told us to.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The Last Word
The last word on former President Gerald Ford comes from a New York Times article.
[Mr. Nessen and others said they particularly enjoyed swapping memories of how Mr. Ford had treated people, regardless of their station in life, with dignity and respect, and how he had never taken on airs.
He described the day when Mr. Ford’s dog, Liberty, made a mess on the carpet in the Oval Office and a Navy steward had scrambled to clean it. The president stopped him.
“ ‘I’ll do that,’ ” Mr. Nessen recalled Mr. Ford saying. “ ‘No man should have to clean up after another man’s dog.’ ”
Mr. Ford’s energy secretary, Frank G. Zarb, remembered the time when Mr. Ford had been ready to make an announcement to the White House press corps but then realized he did not have any cufflinks handy.
“He got two paperclips,” Mr. Zarb recalled. “And he said, ‘Let’s go. We have more important things to do.’ ”]
Betty and the kids say goodbye...
The Healers
It’s unfair to poke fun at former President Gerald Ford. I’ve been reading up on him, and this was a great guy. There’s a lot to be said about him, in spite of history textbook publishers trying to edit him out.
First, can you name a president who inherited a bigger pile of crap to deal with? The end of our involvement in Viet Nam and the fall of South Viet Nam, a sick economy with staggering inflation, and widespread disappointment and disillusionment in our government, thanks to Nixon and Watergate.
You know how we gripe and curse our politicians today, or merely shrug when we hear the president was caught in a bald-faced lie and cover up? It wasn’t like that before Nixon…well, and I guess, during, huh.
(Actually I can think of a poor schmuck who inherited a bigger pile of crap…Lincoln, but I’m digressing…) We just “lost” a war, the economy was in the toilet, and the president was impeached. Here you go, all yours.
He did try to do something for the economy, called Whip Inflation Now – WIN – get it? It didn’t work despite that catchy name. Can you blame a man for trying? (Well, actually I can, if he runs up a trillion dollar debt in deficit spending in the attempt because that is just crazeee.)
So, he mostly just tried to stay the course. And, Nixon did pick the right man to succeed him. Many are quoted as saying in his 25 years in the legislature, he never spoke an untruth or spoke ill of another. I don’t think I could do that. I would have to speak ill of my co-workers! Only 3 in the Senate did not vote for him to become vice president. This was, by all accounts an honest, nice man. He’s the only president who was an Eagle Scout. He was captain of his football team. He washed dishes at his fraternity house in college to pay for it.
Another great accomplishment, in my opinion, was marrying Betty, despite the general opinion that a divorcee-ex-dancer would ruin his political career. Who does not love this woman? She’s breaking taboos, sharing her mastectomy with the world, marching for ERA, talking about her sex life with the prez in women’s magazines, yakking on the CB radio as “First Mama.” Buttons were made for his re-election that said “Vote for Betty’s Husband.” She often made sandwiches and coffee for the secret service detail, delivered by Gerry. Her approval rating was 75%! And the last thing to say about her is consider the lives she has healed with her Betty Ford Center for addictions and the lives she saved with breast cancer awareness. She gives Eleanor a hard run for Best First Lady we’ve ever had, only in the job three years.
While Gerry was busy healing a nation, she was busy healing a nation of individuals.
His stance on gay rights: gay and lesbian couples “ought to be treated equally. Period.” He was part of a group working inside the R-party to make sexual orientation a NON-ISSUE. Thank you. The Equal Rights Amendment: Outspoken supporter, urged ratification.
After he was sworn in, he immediately addressed the country. “I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers.”
How could we have skipped over these wonderful people?
For his funeral, he requested his college fight song play instead of “Hail to the Chief” and a large role made for the Boy Scouts of America. 400 young men in uniform provided escort; others served as ushers.
Many historians consider his loss to Carter a “sacrifice he made for the nation.” He died of heart failure in 2006, the longest living president.
Despite the image of being a klutz (thank you, media, for your part in creating this false legacy), he played his role in our nation’s history with uncommon grace.
First, can you name a president who inherited a bigger pile of crap to deal with? The end of our involvement in Viet Nam and the fall of South Viet Nam, a sick economy with staggering inflation, and widespread disappointment and disillusionment in our government, thanks to Nixon and Watergate.
You know how we gripe and curse our politicians today, or merely shrug when we hear the president was caught in a bald-faced lie and cover up? It wasn’t like that before Nixon…well, and I guess, during, huh.
(Actually I can think of a poor schmuck who inherited a bigger pile of crap…Lincoln, but I’m digressing…) We just “lost” a war, the economy was in the toilet, and the president was impeached. Here you go, all yours.
He did try to do something for the economy, called Whip Inflation Now – WIN – get it? It didn’t work despite that catchy name. Can you blame a man for trying? (Well, actually I can, if he runs up a trillion dollar debt in deficit spending in the attempt because that is just crazeee.)
So, he mostly just tried to stay the course. And, Nixon did pick the right man to succeed him. Many are quoted as saying in his 25 years in the legislature, he never spoke an untruth or spoke ill of another. I don’t think I could do that. I would have to speak ill of my co-workers! Only 3 in the Senate did not vote for him to become vice president. This was, by all accounts an honest, nice man. He’s the only president who was an Eagle Scout. He was captain of his football team. He washed dishes at his fraternity house in college to pay for it.
Another great accomplishment, in my opinion, was marrying Betty, despite the general opinion that a divorcee-ex-dancer would ruin his political career. Who does not love this woman? She’s breaking taboos, sharing her mastectomy with the world, marching for ERA, talking about her sex life with the prez in women’s magazines, yakking on the CB radio as “First Mama.” Buttons were made for his re-election that said “Vote for Betty’s Husband.” She often made sandwiches and coffee for the secret service detail, delivered by Gerry. Her approval rating was 75%! And the last thing to say about her is consider the lives she has healed with her Betty Ford Center for addictions and the lives she saved with breast cancer awareness. She gives Eleanor a hard run for Best First Lady we’ve ever had, only in the job three years.
While Gerry was busy healing a nation, she was busy healing a nation of individuals.
His stance on gay rights: gay and lesbian couples “ought to be treated equally. Period.” He was part of a group working inside the R-party to make sexual orientation a NON-ISSUE. Thank you. The Equal Rights Amendment: Outspoken supporter, urged ratification.
After he was sworn in, he immediately addressed the country. “I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers.”
How could we have skipped over these wonderful people?
For his funeral, he requested his college fight song play instead of “Hail to the Chief” and a large role made for the Boy Scouts of America. 400 young men in uniform provided escort; others served as ushers.
Many historians consider his loss to Carter a “sacrifice he made for the nation.” He died of heart failure in 2006, the longest living president.
Despite the image of being a klutz (thank you, media, for your part in creating this false legacy), he played his role in our nation’s history with uncommon grace.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Ah, Yes, the Ford Years
I am gonna drive everyone crazy the next few weeks writing about Cooter’s U.S. History textbook, as we focus on recent history, the events that have shaped the last 40 years of our country and my life.
Cooter commented that Gerald Ford got only three paragraphs, out of the 1000-page text. He asked if I remembered anything about him. I had to laugh because the only thing I remembered was funny montages of his stumbling and fumbling his way from the helicopter on the lawn to the house. His eyebrows went up. “Really? You know he was a football player.”
Well, I think the skimpy coverage does say something about the guy who was the 38th president of our nation and who was NEVER elected as president NOR vice president. How is that possible? Nixon APPOINTED him when his vp Agnew resigned, and so Ford elevated when Nixon resigned.
What the quick treatment says is he did pretty much nothing (except immediately pardon Nixon), he basically kept the seat warm for Carter who was swept in during a very anti-Republican election. Ford barely beat out Ronald Reagan for the presidential party nomination in 1976. Then got stomped by the post-Nixon, anti-Republican sentiment. And so we ended up with Jimmy Carter…who was a very good man, but not as good of a president.
And for that reason alone, yes, Nixon, you were a crook.
I almost feel slimy posting a link to his trippings...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlz0he9rtKw
Cooter commented that Gerald Ford got only three paragraphs, out of the 1000-page text. He asked if I remembered anything about him. I had to laugh because the only thing I remembered was funny montages of his stumbling and fumbling his way from the helicopter on the lawn to the house. His eyebrows went up. “Really? You know he was a football player.”
Well, I think the skimpy coverage does say something about the guy who was the 38th president of our nation and who was NEVER elected as president NOR vice president. How is that possible? Nixon APPOINTED him when his vp Agnew resigned, and so Ford elevated when Nixon resigned.
What the quick treatment says is he did pretty much nothing (except immediately pardon Nixon), he basically kept the seat warm for Carter who was swept in during a very anti-Republican election. Ford barely beat out Ronald Reagan for the presidential party nomination in 1976. Then got stomped by the post-Nixon, anti-Republican sentiment. And so we ended up with Jimmy Carter…who was a very good man, but not as good of a president.
And for that reason alone, yes, Nixon, you were a crook.
I almost feel slimy posting a link to his trippings...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlz0he9rtKw
Monday, March 14, 2011
When to Throw the Penalty Flag?
A friend, that I like and respect, and I were discussing the role of government. She felt strongly that the role of government is to right the wrongs in society. Who else can do it, certainly not the citizens, they are powerless. My first impulse was to agree. After all, I can think of many instances in which the government was the only entity powerful enough to right a wrong: the Civil Rights Act, the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Sherman AntiTrust Act, to name a few.The government had to step in and right the unacceptable wrongs occurring for blacks in the South. It would not have happened on its own, I believe this. Regarding immoral and unethical businesses destroying our environment, how can we as citizens keep an eye on every business dumping toxic waste into our water supply? Yes, this needs a governmental solution. (Although, today, one could argue how ineffective the EPA is in its task since some businesses still dump toxic waste irresponsibly and bribe officials to look the other way.) And who can possibly take on a monopoly other than the government.
However, now that I have had a little more time to ponder this statement, I want to disagree with my friend in many cases. People do have power, with their money. They can choose to spend their money with conscientious businesses. This requires an informed populace and an ethical, resolute free press, neither of which we have at the moment, though. The U.S. is like a perfect storm, with coalescing factors swirling together (an uneducated populace due to the failure of public education, stoopid politicians elected with no expertise or experience in any area -- some who can barely think or speak, entire industries guilty of immoral conduct, labor unions with business-killing demands, huge percentages receiving public assistance, high taxes, high unemployment, deficit spending, shocking debt, dependency on foreign business and governments…). What will be the result? A tsunami wave, an earth-shattering quake, a hurricane sucking the country down into a vortex?
In a perfect world, the people do hold the power to right wrongs with their pocketbooks. I suspect we see it all the time around us and do not recognize it for what it is. I think the American people repudiated anti-business labor unions many years ago…when they chose to buy Hondas and Toyotas instead of Fords and Chevrolets. And instead of letting the people’s economic vote stand, our government took our tax money and used it to rescue the auto industry, allowing the grip-hold of unions to continue, now sucking the life out of not only their host companies but the American taxpayer as well.
This is what that previous sentence means: You chose to buy a Toyota because it was a better product for less money (compared to the jacked up Chevy price to cover ridiculous American factory labor costs). And then your government decided you needed to buy a Chevy, too, with your taxes, so that we can “save” the manufacturing union jobs. Your money supports two car companies, although you only selected one. And, you only got one actual car to drive home.
Was British Petroleum punished for its oil spill last summer? For a long time, stock analysts recommended buying the seriously devalued stock, as the large multinational company will surely rebound. There’s fortunes to be made. Now, some are starting to say sell, the costs associated with restitution of the spill will only continue to escalate, that there will be no happy ending. So has the punishing power of the people’s money done its work here? Way too early to say.
Recalls of contaminated food? Punishing bad companies with our buying decisions should definitely work in this case. But, I read that we are developing “recall fatigue,” not even paying attention to recalls since they have become so common. Costco now telephones customers to let them know they purchased a recalled item. Does this relay into any economic punishment? “When spinach was recalled in 2006, consumers took over a year to return to previous spending patterns. But after recent calls of peanut butter, beef and eggs, customers came back in a matter of weeks.” Okay, so, yes and no. We have to eat, for God’s sake. And the same food producers sell their food to different packagers and marketers…gee, it’s like a hidden monopoly in some instances. Actually, shouldn’t we reward companies who do recall items instead of those who let it go?
So, what’s the stance we should adopt for governmental involvement? If a financial punishment/reward by the people will work, let it. If a church or a charity can step in and help, let them. We need to be very careful about the new areas of influence we allow our government. So the question becomes for each American, what are the wrongs so seriously wrong, and no other recourse exists to fix it, that the government must step in and right? Could boycotts have worked to solve the civil rights issues? I don’t think so, we were seeing bombings of churches and buses, murder, beatings, outright criminal behavior skewing the natural order of economics. Civil Rights is just the perfect example of when a government must get involved and RIGHT a serious WRONG.
Many people feel that any abortion under any circumstances is a wrong the government must right. Others feel not creating a system for free universal health care for all, as an advanced civilization, is a wrong that must be set right. Some feel that the human rights violations in other countries is an unacceptable wrong to be righted, their sense of decency is offended, and they cannot simply avert their eyes. I understand and sympathize with all these positions…and yet, disagree completely that these are areas requiring, even demanding, government action.
We simply do not have the money to do all the wonderful things we’d like to. And whatever we endorse as a government (such as the current model of medicine) may show itself as criminally negligent in the future. Kind of like backing Saddam Hussein with our money, satellites, helicopters when Iraq attacked Iran in 1980. Yeah, we really did that. And don’t you wish you had that money back…
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Young Black Men
A news item in the local paper caught my eye…an 18-year-old student at Edmond Memorial High is charged with aggravated assault and battery after fracturing the skull and jaw of a 15-year-old student in the school restroom. The older kid is black, weighs 270 pounds, plays football and identifies himself as a “Rolling 60s” Crip. The younger kid has a Mexican surname, weighs 155 pounds.
[Police reported Fields admitted hitting and stomping the other student, saying Sanchez used a racial slur and “got what he deserved.”
Police reported Fields also said “this is what you get when you mess” with someone “from the hood.” Police reported Fields repeatedly described himself as a “Rolling 60s” gang member.
Witnesses said the assault began because someone in the bathroom was singing a rap song, which has the slur in it, police reported.]
So, the Mexican kid may or may not have been the one singing. Details are sketchy on that. Regardless, Fields is an idiot. And a dangerous one at that. Who knows what situation he will misperceive next, there’s already many packed into this little scenario. First, mistakenly assuming he was the personal recipient of a racial slur and possibly mistaking who made it, then thinking an acceptable response to that would be breaking someone’s skull and jaw. This is a stoopid and dangerous individual. How should we as a society try to fix this? Can this young man be rehabilitated, taught to be more patient before reacting with his fists, taught more appropriate responses? Sure he can, but the chances are not likely in our current system. He will be given a year in prison where he’ll really learn the dope on how to be a career criminal – why bother with a trial, he already confessed to the crime.
Another question is why would a football player be so eager to claim gang membership? This is Oklahoma, football is serious business here, and a 270-pound defensive lineman on the MaxPreps list has a future. At one time this boy was ranked 25 in the state in his position. Did the gang influence outweigh the football influence?
So, what’s up with the Rolling 60s Crips – who the hell are they and why are they in an Oklahoma City suburb? Wickipedia: “According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Rollin’ 60s is ‘the largest black criminal street gang in the city of Los Angeles with between 2400-4500 members just in LA…Gang activities include pre-meditated murder, bank robberies, rape, drug trafficking, carjacking, assault and vandalism.’”
Did this idiot not realize he had a future?
Why the hell are they here, in the heartland – we already have tornadoes, snow blizzards, flooding, out-of-control grass fires, dust storms, ice storms that make trees explode, an earthquake that shook my house, temps that range from below zero to over 100 – do we really need the gang problem, too?
So, how did the Crips become an organization with 35,000 members in multiple subsets (over 800 by 1999)? The top four states with the highest estimated numbers of members are: California, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. You’ve got to be kidding me. We’re freaking Crip-Central? This is sort of funny if it weren’t so damn tragic. Missouri – the Ozark mountains, home of the hillbillies? Oklahoma – nothing here but plains grasses, blackjack scrub, cows, and oil wells drilling here and there. Wow. Why have we fallen prey to a foreign invading sweep of gang culture? (Trust me, California and Oklahoma are like foreign countries to each other!) Why does anyone succumb?
According to the Wikipedia article on the Crips, two guys joined their little street gangs in 1969 to fight other little street gangs. They became known as the Crips, a reference to the young age of 17 of the members (cribs) that morphed into crips, short for cripples, when some started carrying canes to display their pimp status. But, this is the line that makes me see red in the article.
“Gang activity in South Central Los Angeles has its roots in a variety of factors dating back to the 1950s and 60s, including post-WWII economic decline leading to joblessness and poverty, racial segregation leading to the formation of black “street clubs” by young African American men who were excluded from organizations such as the Boy Scouts, and the waning of black nationalist organizations such as the Black Panther Party and the Black Power Movement.”
The Boy Scouts refused to let black young men join? Really? And the Black Panthers were waning in 1969? Hmmm. Why would they name the BSA, the only one named mind you, for widespread racism?
This was written by someone who has no idea how BSA works. The BSA is not a top-down organization, in which a group of men sit on high and make decisions how things are going to happen in the thousands of little packs and troops all over the nation and world. No, it’s the greatest, largest mobilization of community volunteers the world has ever seen. Packs and troops are run by volunteer dads and moms, who commit their time and energy to delivering a program in their neighborhood. The parents choose whether they will work to ensure a certain experience for their children, and they are not paid one dime. Every unit reflects the cultural make-up of its community. You would be shocked to know how few paid positions there are in the BSA. And those guys concern themselves with background checks and training of all the volunteers, raising money, and moving resources to the local units.
Yes, there are strict, tough troops with strict, tough dads running the show, with military ties. They camp a lot, engage in high-adventure experiences. There are soft, laid-back troops, who focus on merit badges like Reading. All sorts of crews or explorer posts that focus on a future profession or hobby: law enforcement posts sponsored by police departments, scuba diving venture crews, etc. The typical BSA unit today is sponsored by the Mormon church, but executed by the parents in the neighborhood (although, there are a lot of Methodist church-sponsored units). Through ongoing training of the adults, a strong, vital unit can be maintained for years.
Little Johnny’s dad, Scoutmaster of Hoolaboolah, may have been guilty of racism in 1969, probably was. But, that may not be the official stance of the BSA, and the BSA cannot control what every volunteer does and says. Let’s look closer at black involvement in scouting.
The first black troop was formed in 1911 in North Carolina. (BTW, the BSA was not officially chartered by the U.S. Congress until 1916, so this troop probably applied for a charter from England. The Boy Scouts of America was just getting started in 1910.) By 1926, there were 5000 black scouts in 250 all-black troops (segregation was not the fault of BSA). By the 1960s, a committee on inter-racial service became Urban Relationship Service, working to establish units for inner-city children of all races. According to this article found on a website for the African American Registry, “Programs targeting gangs were unexpectedly successful, and in many cities as many as 25% of boys living in housing projects were enrolled in the Scouts, many former gang members.” Of course, units in the north were integrated, most of those in the south were segregated. After the Civil Rights Act, all units became integrated except those that chose to remain all black. (And I have a problem with that actually, it’s called reverse discrimination. However, I am sensitive to the needs of individual communities and their methods to achieve their goals. A BSA unit ONLY reflects the composition and commitment of the individuals in its community.)
The greatest program for young men in the history of the world is available to all young men. Oh, thank God. The only thing you need is volunteer parents to run the unit. However…even that is changing today in high-need areas. Yes, units are sprouting up all over for the sons of homeless families and sons of incarcerated single mothers, all conceived and executed by VOLUNTEERS who are not the parents. God bless those citizens providing this service for the future of our nation. Tears well in my eyes looking at the pictures and videos of little boys given blue shirts, yellow kerchiefs and a code to try to live by, with or without their compromised parents.
So, how can someone carelessly claim the BSA excluded black youth and furthermore, name the BSA as a CAUSE of the rise of gangs, and how can the rest of us let that sort of statement pass? Did you know some scout jamborees were raided by Ku Klux Klan? The scope of this lie is absolutely breathtaking. They not only included black boys, but bared the brunt of radical crazies because of it.
What about advancement, were black scouts blocked from achieving high ranks? Let’s talk about Eagles, those young men who defy the odds (less than 2% rise to this top rank). Do you know what it takes to earn the Eagle rank? The young men who do this are special, there is something inside of them driving them forward with positive attitude. It would take too long to explain all the 21 individual merit badges with escalating pre-requisites in specific areas, the numerous pieces of each rank building toward the next, endless boards of review and scoutmaster conferences, and the Eagle Service Project itself, omg, which has to be approved by several committees, volunteers recruited, funds raised or solicited, do the dumb project, the work evaluated, then all the paperwork before, during, and after. At every step is a dad or mom volunteer checking quality, character and intent before signing off. Some young men do this incredible thing as young as 14, however most are 17. This is not easy, and I propose that most American adults could not do this. Eagles go on to win Nobel Peace Prizes and fly spaceships to the moon. They will naturally assume roles of leading this nation.
The first black Eagle was probably Edgar Cunningham in 1926 (uh, that was 43 years before the Crips formed), and the reasons this is uncertain are because several young black men eagled at that time and BSA does not ask ethnicity on Eagle rank applications.
There was Dr. Frank “Tick” Coleman, of Washington, DC, eagling in 1927, who went into education and counseling. Tick said “If we can get young men, young boys into scouting, it might help them get off the streets with these guns.” And you know an Eagle doesn’t just talk, they do. He dedicated many years to bringing scouting to underprivileged youth. He passed away in 2008, but a prestigious award is still given annually in his name by the BSA to its volunteer scouters who serve underprivileged youth. He said “I always wanted to make a difference.”
And what about Percy Ellis Sullivan, a 1936 Eagle out of San Antonio who went on to become a legend, first as a Tuskegee Airman then a Civil Rights lawyer. He said, “I dreamed that I could go anywhere in the Boy Scouts.”
Then there’s Chuck Smith, retired president and CEO of AT&T West, an Eagle from inner-city LA. “Clearly I wouldn’t have been president and CEO of a Fortune 500 company if it were not for this great movement of ours. I attribute every day of my success to it,” he said.
And check out Guy Bluford. While the Crips were forming in LA, he was busy getting a bunch of college degrees and flying planes for the Air Force, which would all lead to being the first African American in space. Of course he was an Eagle. He brought back the Challenger flag to a scout troop in Colorado.
Earl G. Graves, vice president of the BSA board, founder and publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, and an Eagle, said “The generation now being shaped by scouting will be strengthened by deserved self-confidence and molded with its own history of kindness, bravery, honesty, and its all-out pursuit of excellence.”
I dare you to say that the BSA excluded black youth causing a rise in gangs to the faces of these Eagle Scouts.
The answer is clear to me. If you want to make this a better world (in which young black men do not crush the skulls of young Hispanic men in high school bathrooms), get out your checkbook and donate some money to the Boy Scouts of America. I looked, there is no scout unit in Arcadia, the Edmond community where the big-wrecking-ball football player/ Rollin’ 60s Crip dude lives.
Earl Graves, magazine publisher...Eagle.
Guy Bluford, first African American in space...Eagle.
Chuck Smith, business titan...Eagle.
Percy Ellis Sullivan, Tuskegee Airman, famous Civil Rights lawyer...Eagle
Tick Coleman, mentoring football players into his 90s...Eagle.
Look at that crackerjack on the far right. Isn’t he the cat’s pajamas? I know a Senior Patrol Leader when I see one, and it’s not by the color of their skin. What is that young man going to be when he grows up? Oh my lord, anything he wants to be!
[Police reported Fields admitted hitting and stomping the other student, saying Sanchez used a racial slur and “got what he deserved.”
Police reported Fields also said “this is what you get when you mess” with someone “from the hood.” Police reported Fields repeatedly described himself as a “Rolling 60s” gang member.
Witnesses said the assault began because someone in the bathroom was singing a rap song, which has the slur in it, police reported.]
So, the Mexican kid may or may not have been the one singing. Details are sketchy on that. Regardless, Fields is an idiot. And a dangerous one at that. Who knows what situation he will misperceive next, there’s already many packed into this little scenario. First, mistakenly assuming he was the personal recipient of a racial slur and possibly mistaking who made it, then thinking an acceptable response to that would be breaking someone’s skull and jaw. This is a stoopid and dangerous individual. How should we as a society try to fix this? Can this young man be rehabilitated, taught to be more patient before reacting with his fists, taught more appropriate responses? Sure he can, but the chances are not likely in our current system. He will be given a year in prison where he’ll really learn the dope on how to be a career criminal – why bother with a trial, he already confessed to the crime.
Another question is why would a football player be so eager to claim gang membership? This is Oklahoma, football is serious business here, and a 270-pound defensive lineman on the MaxPreps list has a future. At one time this boy was ranked 25 in the state in his position. Did the gang influence outweigh the football influence?
So, what’s up with the Rolling 60s Crips – who the hell are they and why are they in an Oklahoma City suburb? Wickipedia: “According to the Los Angeles Daily News, Rollin’ 60s is ‘the largest black criminal street gang in the city of Los Angeles with between 2400-4500 members just in LA…Gang activities include pre-meditated murder, bank robberies, rape, drug trafficking, carjacking, assault and vandalism.’”
Did this idiot not realize he had a future?
Why the hell are they here, in the heartland – we already have tornadoes, snow blizzards, flooding, out-of-control grass fires, dust storms, ice storms that make trees explode, an earthquake that shook my house, temps that range from below zero to over 100 – do we really need the gang problem, too?
So, how did the Crips become an organization with 35,000 members in multiple subsets (over 800 by 1999)? The top four states with the highest estimated numbers of members are: California, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. You’ve got to be kidding me. We’re freaking Crip-Central? This is sort of funny if it weren’t so damn tragic. Missouri – the Ozark mountains, home of the hillbillies? Oklahoma – nothing here but plains grasses, blackjack scrub, cows, and oil wells drilling here and there. Wow. Why have we fallen prey to a foreign invading sweep of gang culture? (Trust me, California and Oklahoma are like foreign countries to each other!) Why does anyone succumb?
According to the Wikipedia article on the Crips, two guys joined their little street gangs in 1969 to fight other little street gangs. They became known as the Crips, a reference to the young age of 17 of the members (cribs) that morphed into crips, short for cripples, when some started carrying canes to display their pimp status. But, this is the line that makes me see red in the article.
“Gang activity in South Central Los Angeles has its roots in a variety of factors dating back to the 1950s and 60s, including post-WWII economic decline leading to joblessness and poverty, racial segregation leading to the formation of black “street clubs” by young African American men who were excluded from organizations such as the Boy Scouts, and the waning of black nationalist organizations such as the Black Panther Party and the Black Power Movement.”
The Boy Scouts refused to let black young men join? Really? And the Black Panthers were waning in 1969? Hmmm. Why would they name the BSA, the only one named mind you, for widespread racism?
This was written by someone who has no idea how BSA works. The BSA is not a top-down organization, in which a group of men sit on high and make decisions how things are going to happen in the thousands of little packs and troops all over the nation and world. No, it’s the greatest, largest mobilization of community volunteers the world has ever seen. Packs and troops are run by volunteer dads and moms, who commit their time and energy to delivering a program in their neighborhood. The parents choose whether they will work to ensure a certain experience for their children, and they are not paid one dime. Every unit reflects the cultural make-up of its community. You would be shocked to know how few paid positions there are in the BSA. And those guys concern themselves with background checks and training of all the volunteers, raising money, and moving resources to the local units.
Yes, there are strict, tough troops with strict, tough dads running the show, with military ties. They camp a lot, engage in high-adventure experiences. There are soft, laid-back troops, who focus on merit badges like Reading. All sorts of crews or explorer posts that focus on a future profession or hobby: law enforcement posts sponsored by police departments, scuba diving venture crews, etc. The typical BSA unit today is sponsored by the Mormon church, but executed by the parents in the neighborhood (although, there are a lot of Methodist church-sponsored units). Through ongoing training of the adults, a strong, vital unit can be maintained for years.
Little Johnny’s dad, Scoutmaster of Hoolaboolah, may have been guilty of racism in 1969, probably was. But, that may not be the official stance of the BSA, and the BSA cannot control what every volunteer does and says. Let’s look closer at black involvement in scouting.
The first black troop was formed in 1911 in North Carolina. (BTW, the BSA was not officially chartered by the U.S. Congress until 1916, so this troop probably applied for a charter from England. The Boy Scouts of America was just getting started in 1910.) By 1926, there were 5000 black scouts in 250 all-black troops (segregation was not the fault of BSA). By the 1960s, a committee on inter-racial service became Urban Relationship Service, working to establish units for inner-city children of all races. According to this article found on a website for the African American Registry, “Programs targeting gangs were unexpectedly successful, and in many cities as many as 25% of boys living in housing projects were enrolled in the Scouts, many former gang members.” Of course, units in the north were integrated, most of those in the south were segregated. After the Civil Rights Act, all units became integrated except those that chose to remain all black. (And I have a problem with that actually, it’s called reverse discrimination. However, I am sensitive to the needs of individual communities and their methods to achieve their goals. A BSA unit ONLY reflects the composition and commitment of the individuals in its community.)
The greatest program for young men in the history of the world is available to all young men. Oh, thank God. The only thing you need is volunteer parents to run the unit. However…even that is changing today in high-need areas. Yes, units are sprouting up all over for the sons of homeless families and sons of incarcerated single mothers, all conceived and executed by VOLUNTEERS who are not the parents. God bless those citizens providing this service for the future of our nation. Tears well in my eyes looking at the pictures and videos of little boys given blue shirts, yellow kerchiefs and a code to try to live by, with or without their compromised parents.
So, how can someone carelessly claim the BSA excluded black youth and furthermore, name the BSA as a CAUSE of the rise of gangs, and how can the rest of us let that sort of statement pass? Did you know some scout jamborees were raided by Ku Klux Klan? The scope of this lie is absolutely breathtaking. They not only included black boys, but bared the brunt of radical crazies because of it.
What about advancement, were black scouts blocked from achieving high ranks? Let’s talk about Eagles, those young men who defy the odds (less than 2% rise to this top rank). Do you know what it takes to earn the Eagle rank? The young men who do this are special, there is something inside of them driving them forward with positive attitude. It would take too long to explain all the 21 individual merit badges with escalating pre-requisites in specific areas, the numerous pieces of each rank building toward the next, endless boards of review and scoutmaster conferences, and the Eagle Service Project itself, omg, which has to be approved by several committees, volunteers recruited, funds raised or solicited, do the dumb project, the work evaluated, then all the paperwork before, during, and after. At every step is a dad or mom volunteer checking quality, character and intent before signing off. Some young men do this incredible thing as young as 14, however most are 17. This is not easy, and I propose that most American adults could not do this. Eagles go on to win Nobel Peace Prizes and fly spaceships to the moon. They will naturally assume roles of leading this nation.
The first black Eagle was probably Edgar Cunningham in 1926 (uh, that was 43 years before the Crips formed), and the reasons this is uncertain are because several young black men eagled at that time and BSA does not ask ethnicity on Eagle rank applications.
There was Dr. Frank “Tick” Coleman, of Washington, DC, eagling in 1927, who went into education and counseling. Tick said “If we can get young men, young boys into scouting, it might help them get off the streets with these guns.” And you know an Eagle doesn’t just talk, they do. He dedicated many years to bringing scouting to underprivileged youth. He passed away in 2008, but a prestigious award is still given annually in his name by the BSA to its volunteer scouters who serve underprivileged youth. He said “I always wanted to make a difference.”
And what about Percy Ellis Sullivan, a 1936 Eagle out of San Antonio who went on to become a legend, first as a Tuskegee Airman then a Civil Rights lawyer. He said, “I dreamed that I could go anywhere in the Boy Scouts.”
Then there’s Chuck Smith, retired president and CEO of AT&T West, an Eagle from inner-city LA. “Clearly I wouldn’t have been president and CEO of a Fortune 500 company if it were not for this great movement of ours. I attribute every day of my success to it,” he said.
And check out Guy Bluford. While the Crips were forming in LA, he was busy getting a bunch of college degrees and flying planes for the Air Force, which would all lead to being the first African American in space. Of course he was an Eagle. He brought back the Challenger flag to a scout troop in Colorado.
Earl G. Graves, vice president of the BSA board, founder and publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, and an Eagle, said “The generation now being shaped by scouting will be strengthened by deserved self-confidence and molded with its own history of kindness, bravery, honesty, and its all-out pursuit of excellence.”
I dare you to say that the BSA excluded black youth causing a rise in gangs to the faces of these Eagle Scouts.
The answer is clear to me. If you want to make this a better world (in which young black men do not crush the skulls of young Hispanic men in high school bathrooms), get out your checkbook and donate some money to the Boy Scouts of America. I looked, there is no scout unit in Arcadia, the Edmond community where the big-wrecking-ball football player/ Rollin’ 60s Crip dude lives.
Earl Graves, magazine publisher...Eagle.
Guy Bluford, first African American in space...Eagle.
Chuck Smith, business titan...Eagle.
Percy Ellis Sullivan, Tuskegee Airman, famous Civil Rights lawyer...Eagle
Tick Coleman, mentoring football players into his 90s...Eagle.
Look at that crackerjack on the far right. Isn’t he the cat’s pajamas? I know a Senior Patrol Leader when I see one, and it’s not by the color of their skin. What is that young man going to be when he grows up? Oh my lord, anything he wants to be!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Can’t Buy Me Love
Do you notice any bias slant in the questions posed to the young readers of my son’s history textbook? Is it “unusual” to suggest a traditional, prosperous life? This is why many home school.
__________________
I’ll tell you straight up, I am a conservative female, and yet, I hate Phyllis Schlafly. But the witch is smarter than her feminist contemporaries and tries to open eyes to a certain truth. There will never be equality between the sexes until men have the babies. They are not equal. At some things, women are better; at other things, men are. And then there are all those darn individual variations. The Equal Rights Amendment is one of those awesome little pieces of legislation that strives to change an unchangeable reality.
Sexual “equality,” or the attitude that women should be able to have sex indiscriminately, has only led to a bunch of stoopid single mothers living in poverty, and raising those children in poverty with limited opportunities. Without some kind of code of behavior, whether religion-enforced or not, our loose society has victimized those children.
Women have been made victims, too. Most women continue to work in fields that pay less, in the “pink collar ghetto.” Raising children and pursuing a career is a juggling act no one does well. They struggle to hold on to a decent job. Their education may have been sidetracked due to motherhood. They struggle to get a decent job, lacking qualifications. Hmmmm. Stoopid American Women didn’t realize by pursuing sexual equality, they would take a hit in economic equality.
Not only are the children and women hurt, but the rest of us, as well. With the influx of female workers into the labor force, who will accept lower wages, the real cost of labor has declined for all. This is a simple supply-demand equation determining price (lots of women in addition to men competing for the same supply of jobs, resulting in a lower wage paid to those selected). Add to the scenario the pressure on American Business from foreign competition with slave-like labor, and we get lowered standard of living for Americans. Married women with children MUST work (thanks to feminism, they no longer have a choice), so that the household has two crappy incomes and can maintain some quality of life, meaning a house instead of an apartment.
Not passing the ERA as the companion legislation to the Civil Rights package exacerbated the economic situation with low wages. The Civil Rights laws addressed unfair hiring, housing, and loaning practices. The ERA would have made sure all the women hired were paid the same as men. Why wouldn’t a business want to hire several women for the price of a few men? AND with the advent of Affirmative Action, businesses will be rewarded for doing it, with government money. It’s crazy, huh. They made a bunch of laws and policies that worsened the very situation they hoped to fix (low wages for some women) by dragging down wages for everyone and rewarding business for doing it.
I remember how, as a young single female newspaper reporter (all reporters are paid the same and starving), I used to snatch the fresh issue off the delivery piles, turn to the op-ed page, and rant about the latest Schlafly column. I was particularly outraged by her proposal of a “mommy track.” How insulting! I was in my early 20s and knew nothing about life, family, children, never imagined how I might one day try to balance the needs of my employer with the needs of my child. My fellow female reporters and I even made fun of her name after verbally shredding her arguments. (Of course, we were all relegated to covering the arts, entertainment, education, cooking and society beats. No females worked the police and court beats. So, we were pissed anyway.)
Fast forward 10 years. I’m a marketing mukkety-muk flying all over the world, anxiously talking to my small children in brief phone conversations in evenings. Sitting in Chicago traffic in a taxi, staring at the rain, I wished there was such a thing as a mommy track for me. Anything to relieve the pressure. I was sick from worry and guilt. I would have been happier if only the travel could have been reduced.
Look at the picture of Gloria Steinem. She’s beautiful. Wild, free, strong. Did she have kids and feel the tear in her heart? No, she did not. What if she had had a son, who came out of the womb carrying his genetic male DNA code from centuries past? Would she have understood that he now faces life in a modern world that does not value his natural characteristics? Even scorns them? Her stepson is Christian Bale, isn’t that interesting. Can you think of a more traditionally masculine male actor? Wow, who really was the British guy she was married to for three years? She recently appeared on “The Colbert Report” to tell us that men who take care of their children have better sex. How does she know this? Was there a study? Who determines what “care of their children” means and what is “better sex”? She’s a sad dinosaur in her 70s, about 30 years behind the times. Trust me, a man who doesn’t care about his children is perfectly happy with the sex he’s having, and will not fall for her promise of “better.” He’s got plenty of stoopid bitches in line.
What about Phyllis? She had six children. Still going strong with her groups, forums, books, running for offices and losing. She and her husband were lawyers. Does she ever stop to think how she played a part in creating this societal mess? Let me clarify. She defeated ERA, a simple bill proposing equal pay for equal work, which is the right thing for Business to do. If it had passed, would the radical women’s groups have disbanded with the main mission accomplished, would they have been more clearly exposed as the man-hating, anti-family, free-abortions-for-all anarchists? Schlafly stoopidly claimed ERA meant abortion funding. This is untrue and inflammatory. Socialist Democratic politicians in power means public abortion funding. These are different targets. If Conservative Republicans would do the right thing for individuals would Socialist Democrats even be necessary? They help put D’s in office who then go overboard and create crazy fiscal policy that results in one of three Americans on social welfare. Yes. Unbelievable, huh.
I’ll hate that Schlafly hag forever for the ERA thing. She says the most outrageous things, but, but…she does defend a woman’s right to not be a feminist. She is on point in her criticisms of public education.
So, what is wrong with paying women equally for equal work? Nothing. Passing ERA would have slowed down the current decline of civilization as I see it. It’s smart to treat people right. It’s not smart to relax societal standards for sex, and we women have to shoulder the task of maintaining society’s standards. We must not accept a man who beats women, who does not provide for the welfare of his children, who weakly engages in substances that inhibit his ability to thrive and compete. They should not have the joy of a companion and offspring. And if we slip, we all slide down the muddy slope.
How muddy? We now live in a society in which 41 percent of children are born out of wedlock. Hold on to your seat. Over 72 percent of America’s black children are born out of wedlock. Over 52 percent of Hispanic children are. And they will all struggle with poverty, demanding more and more from the government in exchange for their votes. Would any of these women have made the same choices without the existence of a welfare state? Hey, those women have the feminist-promised good life – have sex whenever you want, with whomever you want, no consequences to pay, because you are really just like a man…what a lie.
For all of time, women will fall in love with men (let’s assume good men) and want to have children with them. In the end, it’s the only thing that really matters. Not the job. Did you love and were you loved? Wouldn’t it be great if lawmakers quit confusing fiscal and social matters, which leads to forcing an extreme anti-family agenda on us? Has “feminism” been what is best for us? Perhaps I should say anti-people, instead of anti-family, because “family values” has come to mean extreme narrow-mindedness and hate.
Extremism is bad, no matter which direction.
By the way, Betty Friedan, author of the famous 1963 book, “The Feminine Mystique,” that started the feminist movement, wrote a second book in 1981 accusing the movement of becoming “anti-family.” One article states that as early as the 1960s, she criticized the polarized and extreme factions in her own movement that attacked groups such as men and homemakers. Yes, both Gloria and Phyllis had it wrong. Betty got it right, but no one listened to her. Her voice was lost in the middle.
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