Great American Priorities

This year is the 100th Anniversary of The Boy Scouts of America. The traditions of the organization run deep and true to the American spirit. The list of famous former scouts is an impressive one.
The following men acheived the level of Eagle Scout:
•Bill Alexander, U.S. Representative from Arkansas
•Gary Anderson, U.S. Representative from New York
•Charles Bennett, U.S. Representative from Florida
•William Bennett, Former Secretary of Education
•Bill Bradley, Pro basketball star and U.S. Sneator from New Jersey
•Milton Caniff, Comic Strip Artist "Steve Canyon"
•Willaim Dannemeyer, U.S. Representative from California
•Arthur Eldred, (First Eagle Scout)
•Gerald Ford, 38th President of the U.S.
•Murphy J. "Mike" Foster, Governor of Louisiana
•James Lovell - Astronaut
•Richard Lugar, U.S. Senator from Indiana
•Sam Nunn, U.S. Senator from Georgia
•Ellison Onizuka, Challenger Astronaut
•J.J. Pickle, U.S. Representative from Texas
•Samuel Pierce, Former Secreatry of HUD
•Harrison Salisbury, Pulitzer Prize winning Author
•Willaim Sessions, Former FBI Director
•Steven Spielberg, Film Director/Producer
•Wallace Stegner, Pulitzer Prize winning Author
•Percy Sutton, Chairman of CBS John Tesh, TV Celebrity
•James Stewart - Actor
•James Brady, Former Press Secretary to President Reagan
•William C. DeVries, M.D., Transplanted first artificial heart
•Walter Cronkite - Journalist, T.V. commentator
•J. Willard Marriott, Jr., President, Marriott Corporation
•H. Ross Perot, Chairman, EDS Corp.
•Daniel J. Evans, Former US Senator and Governor of Washington state

The rest of these men were also scouts:
•David Hartman, Actor (Life Scout)
•Henry "Hank" Aaron, Baseball Superstar (Boy Scout)
•Richard Gere - Actor
•Bruce Jenner - Olympic Gold Medal Decathlon (Cub Scout)
•Jim Morrison - Rock Legend (Boy Scout)
•Merlin Olsen, Actor, Sportscaster (Boy Scout)
•Eddie Rabbitt, Country/Western singer (Boy Scout)
•Richard Roundtree, Actor (Boy Scout)
•Alberto Salazar, 3-time winner, NYC Marathon (Life Scout)
•John Schneider, Actor/Singer (Cub Scout)
•Howard K. Smith, Former ABC-TV commentator (Boy Scout)
•Mark Spitz - Olympic Gold Medal Swimmer (Cub Scout)
•George Strait - Country/Western Singer (Cub Scout)
•Joe Theisman, Sportscaster, former NFL player (Life Scout)
•Peter Ueberroth, Former Commissioner of Baseball (Cub Scout)
•Paul Winfield, Actor (Cub Scout)
•Steve Young, NFL Quarterback
Why do I bring this up? Being the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts and the scouts made President Obama honorary chairman. The President was scheduled to speak to more than 45,000 scouts at their jamboree that occurs every four years. Unfortunately, the White House informed the scouts two days before his appearance that the President would deliver a taped message instead due to a scheduling conflict. What was the scheduling conflict? The President taping his appearance on "The View".
Given the list of distinguished former scouts, what has "The View" produced in comparison to the scouts besides higher viewer ratings and more TV exposure for an already over-exposed president.

Good Daddy, Green Daddy

This past Fathers Day President Obama unveiled yet another government initiative called "Take Time to be a Dad Today" and can be found at www.fatherhood.gov . Now I am all for helping fathers be better Dads, but is this really a role and responsibility of the federal government? What infurites me is that it is also another shameless agenda push. On the website there is a section with tips for Dads and the following are actual quotes that I cut and pasted from the website(emphasis mine):

Earth-friendly cleaning products are widely available and are kinder to our air and water. Or you can make your own cleaning supplies with white vinegar, lemons, baking soda, and other basics you probably have in your kitchen already.

Leaving the car at home will reduce carbon emissions and you will add exercise to your day without even trying.

Visit a farmers market or farm where you can pick your own produce. Locally grown fruits and vegetables do not need to be shipped, which contributes to reducing carbon emissions


Buy compact florescent light (CFL) bulbs, which last about 5 years and use less energy. Switching just one standard bulb to a CFL can help you reduce your electricity bill by as much as 75 cents per month (truth: last about the same amount of time as regular bulbs and leave you with a mercury filled piece of waste that is even more dangerous to the environment if not disposed of properly)

In 2008, Americans spent nearly $11 billion on more than 8 billion gallons of bottled water, and then tossed more than 22 billion empty plastic bottles in the trash. Instead of buying bottled water, use a water filter on your tap and keep a pitcher of filtered water in your refrigerator to fill a reusable bottle (isn't it interesting that the governement is in charge of making sure our drinking water is safe and yet they tell you to filter it!)

Now I already do alot of the things listed and more, in fact I consider myself an "eco-conservative". These things we should do as stewards of the earth God gave us, not as the evidence of good fatherhood. In a time when our President continues to state that we are in unprecedented fiscal tiems, do we really need to be spending precious tax-payer dollars on bogus, overreaching initiatives that are just disguised agenda movers?
If you want to be a responsible father whose impact will last for generations, raise your children in Godly home. Be a God Dad, before you are a Green Dad.

Pioneering in the modern age

As I read the coverage of 16 year old Abby Sunderland who recently attempted to circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat and do so as the youngest to accomplish the feat, I was struck by the reaction to her failed attempt. Bad weather and a broken mast ended the quest and Abby was successfully rescued. Since then much attention has been placed on the attempt. Media reports slam her parents for exploiting her. Other reports ask the question, "Who pays for the rescue?". I must admit, I ask myself the same questions. Each time a mountain climber attempts to scale some great peak only to fail and require a tremendous amount of resources to rescue them, I ask the same questions..."Who is going to pay?, "Should they even be attempting this stuff?", "Why put rescuers in danger to satisfy your own sense of adventure?".
These are legitimate questions in a legitimate debate, however, what if we applied the same questions to adventurers of the past. What if Amelia Earhart had succumbed to modern attitudes toward adventure seekers? How about Admiral Byrd, Lewis and Clark, Sir Edmund Hillary? In the early 1970's NASA was forced to shutter the Apollo program due to increasing governmental and public perception that they were wasting money and undertaking unneccessary risks. Since then, save the shuttle and space station program, we stopped reaching beyond the stars.
When did we become complacent about stretching the limits of human endeavor. Sure there are risks every time someone reaches outside of their surroundings and put to the test their abilities and fortitude. That is how we as a race, the human race, have accomplished feats above and beyond the previously accepted norm.
As imperfect creatures created by a perfect God, our boundaries to grow, learn, and reach are almost limitless in this universe.
I still have not reconciled my own questions on this issue but something bothers me about squelching ambition. Ambition along with both it's successes and failures has always made the seemingly impossible, possible.

Politics and Pensions

The latest political scapegoat has become public employee pensions. Top state officials in many states are blaming current and future pensions as budget busters. NYS Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has recently jumped on the pension bashing band wagon and is looking into legal action to erode them. Ironically, Cuomo is posturing himself for the Governorship.
The facts surrounding NYS public employee pensions and their affect on future budgets are being misrepresented. Are there current pensions that are out of line with the earnings on which they are based? Most certainly. However that problem was addressed in 1976, further in 1983, and again in 2009. In our tier system, only Tier 1 employees are earning no top end pensions. Tier 1 employees are those hired before 1973. Tier 2 employees can earn expanded but not unlimited pension and were all hired prior to 1976. Tiers 3-5 are stricly limited and comprise the bulk of current employees and therefore future retirees.
The fact is Tier 1 and 2 retirees make up a very small portion of the system and are dwindling each year.
This problem has been resolved, but for the sake of political expendiency, candidates are going to continue to make an issue where there is none. Let the facts be heard and not the rhetoric at the expense of some hard-working public employees.

My "zero tolerance" issue

Indiana Republican Rep. Mark Souder just announced his resignation from Congress because of marital infidelity with a staffer. This issue has become far too prevalent in todays political landscape. The unfortunate reality is that it has been going on for decades but often coupled with a "wink and a nudge". In our 24/7 media society, it is less reasonable to expect to play and get away with it and for that I am glad. Adultery in elected circles is my "zero tolerance" issue and I include Republicans and Democrats together on this one. I am as disgusted with Mark Sanford(R SC) as I am with John Edwards (D NC). I am as appalled by John Ensign (R NV) as I am Bill Clinton and don't even get me started on "televangelists". However, my issue today is with those entrusted with power by their voters.
The bottom line of my intolerance is the fact that if you will lie to God and soul mate, you will tell your constituents ANYTHING.
I give Mark Souder the minimal credit of stepping down, for those who remain in office, shame on you, and shame on your electorate if they return you to office.

When a father turns on his children

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
The preamble of our Constitution clearly establishes in it's use of the words Union, United, common, and domestic tranquility, the idea that we as a nation are a collective of entities(states) and our common goal is to prosper as one yet without sacrificing autonomy.
In recent days, both our President and his Attorney General have seen fit to disparage one this nations 50 "children" by innacurately villifying Arizona in its attempt to control it's own border. The law is fair and just comprising only of an extension of existing powers to more law enforcement. In a knee jerk reaction, both President Obama and AG Holder(who was forced to admit he hadn't even read the 10 page bill before demonizing it) have foisted on Arizona the consequence of ill-conceived and short-sighted boycotts.
Now our 48th state finds itself on the short end of tourism and commerce backlash based on misinformation starting at the top. By our own founding documents, the federal government is charged with protecting our great states, not villifying them. In a time when states can ill afford to spend precious dollars on doing the work that Washington has failed to, they certainly should not have to defend themselves against attacks from the White House.

Independence Day

This past week 5 students from a school in Morgan Hill, California wore shirts with American flags to school. It also happened to be a day in which the school(for some reason) was celebrating Cinco De Mayo. Because the Vice-Principle deemed the wearing of the American flag incendiary, they were given the choice of turning the shirts inside out, removing them, leaving school, or getting suspended. They chose to leave. The story on only those facts makes me shake my head but another underlying issue also highlights the absurdity of the situation. The school was celebrating Cinco De Mayo, what we(myself included) have been led to believe is Mexico's Independence Day. A little research exposes that the day commemorates a battle in the small state of Pueblo in southern Mexico. Cinco De Mayo is not largley celebrated in Mexico itself, but has become an "excuse to party" day in small pockets of the country. Mexican Independence Day is nationally recognized(in Mexico) on September 16.
So what we have here is another example of political correctness run amok. Again, those in the P.C. crowd are shoving recognition of another nations sovereignty down our throats when they don't even have it right to begin with. Recognizing Cinco De Mayo in America is akin to going to Mexico on Mardi Gras and having a local shove a Corona in your hand and shout "Amigo, we celebrating your eendeependence"
America first

Reliability

In the spring of 1983 my Dad took me to Crocker's Hardware in LeRoy to pick up our new Toro lawnmower. Being 16 at the time, it was not like getting a car but since the lawn was my responsibility, I was nonetheless glad for the upgrade from the old Dynamark mower that I had put through its paces and actually had painted flames on during what must have been a boring summer day.
The Toro was quite the machine, with it's alloy deck, Suzuki two-stroke engine, and rear bag. What I liked most about the new mower was that it started on the first or second pull each and every time.
In the spring of 1998 I bought the old Toro from Dad for $35. What impressed me now was that at 15 years old, it still started on the first or second pull.
Today, I went out to mow my lawn and as you may have guessed, the old girl started on the very first pull. Now I no more enjoy mowing the lawn now than I did at any other time, but there is a certain satisfaction that when I pull that cord, she is going to spring to life. As silly as it sounds, I see the Toro as an extension of what I strive to be...reliable. When someone calls on me to help, I want them to have that same quiet confidence that I will get the job done. As my family will attest it is sometimes to a fault that I will endeavor to please others, but in the end there is an undeniable comfort in knowing you made a difference no matter how large or small.
Each week from April to October for the last 27 years, I have been pulling that same rope with the same results, and it makes me feel as though that mower is a part of me, not in how the rubber pull handle fits my fingers, rather in how the machine's essence reflects what I hope to always be...reliable.

Where did the dignity go?

Several months ago Anderson Cooper of CNN used the euphamism "teabagger" when referring to members of the Tea Party movement. It naturally drew some tee hees from the media and a few other outlets picked up on the term. I had hoped at the time it would just kind of fade away but unfortunately it became more and more mainstream. Eventually elected Democrats started using the sexual innuendo and now it has finally reached the top. President Obama uses the term during an interview for the new book "The Promise:President Obama, Year One"
This is either a case of how far we as a country have slid down the slippery slope or a glimpse of the true character of our Commander-in-Chief. Could be a mix of both.
In a quote that has often been attributed to Ruth Graham..."If God doesn't judge America, He will need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."

The National Day of Prayer

Today marks the annual proclamation of our National Day of Prayer. For the past 59 years, our Presidents have recognized the deep traditions of faith upon which our country was founded. Some have embraced it with great vigor, others as though it were an obligation akin to pardoning the Thanksgivng turkey. Although the days official history started in 1952 by proclamtion of Harry Truman, recognizing our need as a country to collectively turn to our Creator dates back to 1775 and the Continental Congress when they called upon the colonies to seek God's wisdom in forming our new nation.
This year our President issued the annual proclamation and in doing so encouraged us to remember the people of Haiti and Chili before recognizing the victims of the West Virginia mine disaster. He urged us to remember the loss in Poland without even giving reference to the 11 Americans killed in the oil rig explosion or the 29 + Americans who lost their lives in the ongoing flooding in Tennesee. Now I am no Isolationist, and we as a nation should be praying for and supporting all those in need around the globe, but at least put America and her citizens first. Jesus himself taught us the concept of concentric outreach when he commanded his disciples to witnesses in" Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
America First