Tookie Williams Deserved Death

As Tookie Williams was executed by lethal injection, supporters who shouted in unison "The state of California just killed an innocent man." How ridiculous for anyone who is intellectually honest to even suggest such a thing in this case.

There is no doubt that Stanley "Tookie" Williams killed those four people in 1979. The prosecution met the burden of proof and a jury of his peers, which included one black man, convicted him of four counts of aggravated first degree murder. The witnesses that testified in the case were credible, and none were proven to have lied, and none of them ever recanted their testimony. The prosecution knew where Tookie bought the shotgun that he used in the killings, and ballistics tests matched the weapon to the murders. Williams was guilty of his crimes and a just punisment was handed down.

What makes Williams more deserving of death is what he did while in prison. This man was not a model prisoner. He tried to escape, fought with guards, and did much while in prison to further illustrate his depravity. He may have written children's books to help deter inner-city kids from joining gangs. Yetthis gesture while having the appearance of nobility, does little clean the blood that is on his hands. Redemption does not come from such hollow acts, and ultimately the only one who can grant him forgiveness is no one on this planet. His crimes are just too egregious.

But make no mistakes, other than his writings, this man has done little to deserve clemency in this life. Just because some moron nominated Williams for the Nobel Peace Prize, does not make him a champion of peace. How many young African-Americans have chosen life in the Crips only to see their lives snuffed out in a drive-by shooting? How many innocent people have died at the hands of the Crips (the gang that Williams co-founded)? Did he ever confess to his crimes? NO! Did he ever help police in their fight against gang violence by turning on the gang that he co-founded? NO! Has he ever shown remorse for any of the things that he did in his life? NO! This is a man who spread evil, was convicted of murder, and then went to prison to await his fate that was carried out earlier this morning.

His execution was the final act of justice on this earth in this case. He is now with his maker, and hopefully the first people that he saw on the other side were those people that he robbed of life and liberty. If he is truly penitent then may God grant him forgiveness. He deserves none in this life.

Treason

Congressman John Murtha has left the realm of criticism of Iraq and his comments have moved into the realm of Treason. Murtha is saying now that the Military is basically broken and that the Army is living "hand to mouth"

These comments are destructive and damaging to the Military. Not only do these comments help to reduce the moral of the military, but it gives aid and comfort to the enemy. If the enemy believes what this man is saying, it could embolden them to fight on and to not give up.

The liberal left is doing everything to try and undercut the mission of the military in the War on Terror.

Make no mistakes. This is a war. If the terrorists were not trying to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq, they would be plotting to kill American civilians across the globe and in the US in particular.

These people will stop at nothing. Their goal is to annihilate freedom and install an Islamic theocracy throughout the world.

If you think I am exaggerating, take a minute to analyze what is going on in the middle east. How many countries in the middle east have democracies. Before Saddam was overthrown and captured there was exactly ONE: Israel. Now there is Israel and Iraq. The people of Lebanon are trying to get Syrian Bathists out of their country. Egypt is leaning toward more democratic elections. Is it a coincidence that these changes have come since the U.S. has decided to take the war against terror to the terrorists?

pacifism has never worked. It is a sad truth that often the way to peace and freedom is through bloodshed. We must stay the course. We must fight the fight, and the left needs to stop politicizing the war and get behind the President of the United States.

Iraq War Talking points

I am sick of the liberals talking points concerning the intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war. Since the Scooter Libby indictment the dems have orchestrated an attack on the Bush administration. They were hoping that the indictment of members of the Bush Administration would help fuel the fire, but with only one indictment and on lesser charges, the dems decided to roll out their attacks. Along with claims of corruption, the dems are now saying that the Bush Administration manipulated the pre-war intelligence leading up to the Iraq War.

Since the Bush Administration to this point has remained passive and not attacked this dishonest rhetoric I would like to respond for them. I will make the following points.

1) The same assertions that the Bush administration made about WMD, were made by the Clinton Administration. Clinton claimed that Saddam was a major threat.

2) Members of the intelligence committees have were privy to the much of the same raw intelligence that the Administration had in the run up to the Iraq War, yet not one Democrat on those committees ever even questioned the intelligence.

3) Even the most liberal Democrats supported the war. Both Kennedy and Kerry initially supported action against Iraq. They therefore have no intellectual footing to be able to really say they are opposed to the war.

4) Just about every western country had the same intel with regards to WMD in Iraq. The UK, Germany, France and Russia all had the same intelligence that Iraq was hiding WMD. In fact much of the US's intel was based on foreign intelligence services, since liberals had stripped the CIA of its human intelligence capabilities over the past twenty years through budget cuts.

5) WMD was not the only justification for going to war with Iraq. The US used WMD to justify its actions to the United Nations. Remember that the threat was that Iraq was a part of the Axis of Evil that was helping to sponsor terrorism around the world, and that Iraq's sponsorship of global terrorism posed an imminent threat to the United States.

6) While the 9/11 report stated there was no connection between Iraq and the 9/11 attacks, the report did NOT state that there were no connections between Al Qaida and Iraq. In fact there are several reports out there that back up the assertions that members of Iraq's secret police had met with members of Al Qaida in the past few years. And there are stories out there that do loosely link Al Qaida with the terrorists involved with the 9/11 attacks.

These are just a few true points that the world needs to be reminded of. I will post more later.

My letter to Senator Harry Reid

Dear Senator Reid,

I read the recent reports that you plan on voting against the confirmation of John Roberts for chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In your statement you said, "No one doubts that John Roberts is an excellent lawyer and an affable person. But at the end of this process, I have too many unanswered questions about the nominee to justify a vote confirming him to this enormously important lifetime position." You further state, "I have reluctantly concluded that this nominee has not satisfied the high burden that would justify my voting for his confirmation based on the current record. The question is close, and the arguments against him do not warrant extraordinary procedural tactics to block the nomination," Reid said.

Do you realize how hollow your statement sounds? You say you cannot confirm him, which in essence means you feel he is unqualified to be a Supreme Court Justice, yet you do not feel that you need to block the nomination. There is no doubt that a seat on the SCOTUS is enormously important, yet you don't think it is important enough to filibuster this nomination, yet you have supported filibusters for lower court nominations. Thus I am forced to conclude that your statement lacks intellectual honesty.

What I think has happened is that your party, having been hijacked by the extreme left wing, has become simply a party of opposition instead of a party that should be providing counter ideas to the Republicans. And since you are the minority leader, you feel that you have to lead this party by voting against this more than qualified nominee, simply because the fringes of your party are so vocally against him. Rather, would it not have been more prudent to throw your hat of support into the ring, and show that while you may not agree with Mr. Roberts ideology, you still must consent to his nomination because he is a qualified candidate.

This is what virtually every Senator did with Ruth Bader Ginsburg's nomination. I would have bet that more than 4/5ths of the Republicans felt that Ginsberg should not have been nominated, but because she appeared "qualified" they relented and confirmed her, despite the fact that she does not possess intellectual capacity or intuition that a Supreme Court Justice should have. Despite the fact that she really should not have been confirmed the Senate voted 98-0 to confirm her. This vote happened despite the fact that Ginsburg was General counsel and on the Board of Directors for the very left wing ACLU. And yet you cannot support John Roberts.

It is sad that a man with your religious background, could have lost so much of his roots. It seems that you have abandoned basic LDS principles and beliefs. Yes you are pro-life. But you vote against judges that will do what they need to do and simply interpret the constitution, not amend it by Judicial caveat. You should remember that the Doctrine and Covenants states that God, "established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom [he] raised up unto this very purpose" (D&C 101:80). Yet you oppose those people that would actually interpret the Constitution form it's original intent.

Now I do not pretend to think that the Constitution is a perfect document, but it is the foundation that the laws of this country were founded on. You have a charge as a Senator to defend it, not weaken it. Yet with each vote that you give in support of a far left wing agenda, you separate yourself from those of us who believe in this great land. As you stand arm-in-arm with Nancy Pelosi and other left wing liberals, you further align yourself with principles that are contrary to the Doctrines of the gospel that you profess to believe in.

Find some gumption and support this man for SCOTUS. Break ranks and vote what you know to be right.

Cindy Go Home!

So it looks like now that media circus around Cindy Sheehan has been assuaged by the Hurricane and Bush's going back to the White House. However, now I am reading that Cindy has signed on to speak on college campuses across the country.

What does this woman have to contribute to the national discourse on college campuses? She possesses neither the intellectual capacity nor the ability to maintain a discussion past her memorized talking points concerning her opposition to the war and President Bush. This is best illustrated by her statement that President Bush needs to pull troops out of occupied New Orleans. What in the world does that mean?

Man, I cannot wait until she comes to Arizona State University and talks about how the universe chose her as the spark that lit this anti-war "inferno" (yes she did say that). Now that is a deep thought. There is so much to discuss and debate in those remarks.

Arguments can be made against the war in Iraq, but they need to be rooted in some sort of intellectual honesty. They cannot be rooted in the over-emotionalism of a woman who lost her son in the war. Nor can these areguements be rooted in 60's radicalism that is so bankrupt of truth that rational people don't even listen.

She does have the right to say what she wants. The Constitution guarantees it. But for colleges and universities to spend money on such garbage is ridiculous and wasteful.

What is it about art?

Why does Art move us so much? If there is anyone who reads what I write, they would probably not expect this type of a post from me. My political leanings are obviously starboard, but I am still moved by things that touch my hear.

Great films reach me. Great books move me. Great songs ring true in my heart. I would imagine that the creators of these great things would probably disagree with most of what I believe, but I hope that they understand that what they create can touch people from all walks of life.

But I think that something that moves us now, might not move us later. The films that I enjoy now are not the same films that I loved growing up. I can remember seeing "The Breakfast Club" when I was a teenager and feeling that movie resonate within me. It captured the real dynamic of high school better than any film that I have seen before or since. I identified with all of the characters that were in that film. I understood them because because I knew them at my own school, and ultimately I saw myself in the characters I watched on the screen.

I watch that film now however and I see it in a different way. That film reminds me of my younger days. In high school, I as much as any other awkward kid who struggled with "teen angst" but now I don't remember much about what I loathed about high school. The sorrows are there in my memory, but the happy times seem to shine more brightly in my mind now than all of the garbage that I dealt with ( not that my childhood was that difficult) then.

Now, different films, books, and songs touch me in different ways. I don't remember crying very often when watching an emotional movie scene when I was younger, yet now I find myself pushing back tears way too often. Songs do this too. But I do know that what is happening now; these pieces of art touch my soul. They reach into me and pluck the strings that make the sweetest sounds within me.

Most people watch a film like "Black Hawk Down" and see a great military action film. I see a story about the struggle of man in the face of impossible odds. I see the selfless acts of soldiers doing their job. I watch a film like "October Sky" and I see a teenager, unable to understand his father, connect with him. I listen to a song like "100 years" and it makes me think about how short life is, and to live it right.

I thank God that he has given so many people on this earth, such wonderful talents. And I thank the artists of this world who do not hide their talent under a bushel, but use it so that we all can enjoy and benefit from it.

Remebering 9/11

It is the fourth anniversary of 9/11. I just finished watching a documentary of what happened on UA flight 93, the flight that went down in Shanksville PA. The documentary shows the passengers trying to retake the plane before it is crashed into someplace like the World Trade Center or the Pentagon. The passengers and crew on that plane were heroes. They were the first to sacrifice their lives in the War on Terror.

As I watched this film all of the feelings about 9/11 returned to me. The fear and disbelief did not go away for a long time. I don't think anyone knew what to think or believe. But make no mistakes, what happened on 9/11 was the first acts of War against democracy and freedom. Al Qaida and Islamic fundamentalists would like to supplant the free countries of this world with a theocratic government that would take away the freedoms of all people. These people are EVIL. They will not stop until they are eradicated from this Earth.

America has recovered from 9/11. America has taken the fight to the terrorists. President Bush has correctly acted by overthrowing two governments that sponsored and supported terrorists.

We cannot allow terrorists to threaten freedom and democracy. Our Government has acted correctly. I stand with those who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan to stop these evil people. I honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in protecting my freedom.

I have not forgotten. I will never forget.