Category: Guest Authors

Catholic Mass, Andy Reid, School Choice and Dumb Security Measures

 

 

The best thing about being a columnist is that there’s never a
shortage of material—especially the kind that leaves you shaking your
head.  The bad part is that there isn’t enough time to cover all those
topics thoroughly.

So the following is a brief perspective on various events, many of which the media has missed:

Pennsylvania School Choice Disaster: For the last year, those fighting for educational reform (comprehensive choice in education) but against
Senate Bill 1, the fatally-flawed bill in Harrisburg that would have
neither educated nor reformed (and is now dead), were lectured on the
merits of “incrementalism” by SB 1 proponents. “You have to get a little
at a time,” they scolded.

Well, despite never actually trying to pass a
broader bill that would include the middle class—which is why school
choice failed—the SB 1 folks (pushing the incremental approach) were
smashingly successful.  They set the entire Movement back
incrementally.  Comprehensive school choice passed the senate in 1991,
and garnered 89 votes in the House (of the needed 102). In 1995, an even
broader bill had 101 votes—just one shy.  Yet in 2011, with a governor
who made vouchers a top priority, with Republican majorities in both
chambers and with millions of dollars for lobbying, the SB 1 forces
couldn’t even get 90 votes.

So let’s see. In 20 years, we went from 89 to 101 to 90.   Not exactly progress, but definitely incrementalism.

Political Motivation: The “politically motivated”
charge is an overused—and   meaningless—line uttered by those who refuse
to confront the truth.  Consider two recent examples, with the typical
lack of follow-up by the media to call the complainers on the carpet:

Herman Cain is certainly an affable chap, but had no business running
for president for two reasons.  First, he was clueless on the issues,
as his entertaining responses illustrated.  Second, if you’re going to
be under the most intense spotlight in the world, you need to be up
front with your skeletons so that they are revealed on your terms. But
Cain didn’t do that, and he got burned.

How could he possibly think that three sexual harassment suits
wouldn’t come to light? In his announcement speech, he could have denied
wrongdoing, blamed bloodthirsty trial lawyers and wimpy settle-happy
insurance companies, and moved on.  Instead, he just kept blaming Rick
Perry and later the Democrats for leaking it, self-righteously stating
that the story was “politically motivated.”

Hey, Herman, here’s a newsflash.  You were running for President of
the United States! Of course it’s politically motivated!  So what? It’s
not whether something is politically motivated but whether the allegations were true—which
the national media never seemed to ask. Politicians leak things about
their opponents all the time, motivated by their desire to win. If he had just been honest from the beginning, he might still be in the race.

And locally, we have all the Democratic leaders fuming about the new congressional districts,
redrawn every 10 years by the party in power in Harrisburg, which
happens to be the GOP.  Therefore—you guessed it—we have the Dems
leveling the charge that the gerrymandered districts were drawn that way
for political purposes (or, as one classicly described the new 7th District, “Meehan-mandered”).

Let’s see.  They are congressional seats, filled by … politicians.
They are designed by … politicians.  They will remain unchanged for the
next decade, so the drawing was done for … political purposes.  Where’s
the surprise?  That’s the way it’s always worked.  Interestingly, the
Dems’ statements could be swapped word for word with Republicans when
they were out of power.

It would have been refreshing to hear a Democratic official be honest
and say, “Yes, the districts suck for us. Kudos to the GOP.  They got
slaughtered in 2006 and 2008, but won when it counted (2010), and now we
have to live with the results. It’s our party’s fault, so we’ll be sure
to gear up in 2020 to gerrymander them to our liking.”

But that type of honesty is just a pipe dream in politics.

Catholic Church changes: Church leaders decided that
it would be a nice idea to substantially change the liturgy using new
translations.  Brilliant move.  It took centuries for most Catholics to
even begin mumbling the prayers at Sunday Mass (though singing is still
nonexistent), and now they change the whole works?  You can hear the
crickets now …

Fair or not, it has also left many wondering why the Church spent so
much time and energy on such an endeavor while still not cleaning up its
own house regarding the (continuing) sex scandals. And not
coincidentally, more Catholic school closings will be announced next
month.  Sorry, that’s not because of the economy, demographics and
population shifts, but lack of leadership, very little transparency and
an image of arrogance that will be very hard to break. Amen.

Safe to Fly? Think Again: A hugely important story
that got very little attention is the new Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) rules that don’t require children under 12 to take
their shoes off for x-ray inspection. Additionally, children will
receive significantly fewer pat-downs. (Despite the inevitable claims by
one or two whining parents, these pat-downs are not intrusive and the
parents are never separated from their children during the procedure.)

Well, at least it’s reassuring that terrorists don’t know about this new policy.  Oh wait … they do.

Not only do we implement such an insane, politically correct
procedure, but gleefully announce it to the world.  And since there are
numerous examples of terrorists strapping bombs to their children’s
bodies in the name of God knows what, does anyone really think they
won’t gleefully accept this gift, change their strategy, and place
explosives in Junior’s shoe?

And when the next disaster occurs, we’ll all stand around wondering
how on Earth this could have happened.  For that answer, just look to
the TSA signs announcing the policy.

Of course, before that tragedy occurs, we could end the security
theatre and start profiling, make everyone take off their shoes, and
have no exceptions for pat-downs.

As always, those who don’t like it can take the bus to Europe.

And finally, for all the Eagles fans who have been praying for Andy Reid’s firing
at the end of the season, keep dreaming. The Birds will play just well
enough to keep the best three-quarter coach in football right where he
is.  After all, this is Philadelphia, and we revel in the misery heaped
upon us, year after year, by boneheaded decisions made by our teams.

And you can take that $10,000 bet right to the bank.

 

Primary Skullduggery

The Roar

Primary Skullduggery

I’m sorry but I thought we were in the process of choosing a candidate for the office of President of the United States.  So far, this primary season has consisted of a political version of the old time boys game called “king of the hill.”  Embedded within this kill the leader mentality is an unmistakeable American Idol aura which leaves no area, whether it be professional or personal, unscathed.

What is often termed “the vetting process” has turned into a systematic attack against any challenger who may represent a genuine threat to Romney.  Over these past few months, this take on what is unfolding is so unmistakably clear that it tends to cheapen the entire process.

In retrospect, the 2008 media treatment afforded to then candidate Obama now stands as a glaring contradiction verses the intense scrutiny which Presidential hopeful Herman Cain recently endured.   And this protective layer attributed to Obama’s past continues today as after very nearly three years in office, Americans knows very little about his years leading up to his presidential bid.  This special care now seem not only in practice concerning Romney, but it’s beginning to send a general unease throughout the voting public since we have already felt the remorse from electing a candidate that was teasingly presented by the media.

This political impropriety suggests that the future of free elections will become an after the fact charade since the selection process may well precede the primaries.  A silver lining to all this subterfuge is this bipartisan appeal since Romney is now heir apparent for such good tidings of care and precautions.

As voter pessimism stirs, it also appears that our news outlets have another tactic in play.  While protective of their candidate, at the same time they ignore any and all who may present a qualified challenge.  This has been most apparent with regards to Rick Santorum.   We owe it to ourselves to ask why.  In fact, it might become prudent for all to consider what the media will not.  Just as there is a reasoning for their Romney selection, so is there a reason why Santorum is being ignored.

Due in part to the President’s own agenda, 2012 will be a determining year for America’s future. Already, our Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing of Obama’s Health Care law and Immigration policies.  Since this fork in the road has been shoved in our faces, we the voter must rid ourselves of any and all entangling influences.  The predominance of media input is not just entangling, it has become suffocating.  More importantly, it’s emphasis has morphed from presenting the news to a presentation of thought.

In honest reflection, the voter still is in the dark as to whether those unsubstantiated charges, which led to Mr Cain’s withdrawal, were in fact, truthful.  The most telling of this outcome is the manner in which it is now considered “old news.”  It appears that the media had its way once again.

What was presented through the personal assault upon Mr. Cain was a picture perfect example from the power of the press, which unfortunately doesn’t equate with a “freedom of the press.”

Jim Bowman, Author of,
This Roar of Ours

Pennsylvania Society In New York? Absolutely!

Pennsylvania Society In New York? Absolutely!


When the second weekend in December rolls around, you can set your watch to two things:

1) Politicians, business leaders and media executives from the Keystone State converge on the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan for three days of receptions and parties in an event known as The Pennsylvania Society Weekend.

2) The news media will, verbatim, recycle their tired old story, criticizing the event and asking why it isn’t held in Pennsylvania.

Good point, right? Wrong. It’s articles like that which make a newspaper’s biggest value being the backup when you run out of toilet paper.

Instead of actually reporting on some of the newsworthy stories that emerge from the weekend, or, God forbid, using the opportunity to generate leads for future stories, most reporters choose the easy — read: lazy — way out by publishing last year’s article after simply changing the date.

Water is wet, the sky is blue and the Pennsylvania Society gala will always be in New York — as it should be. So for all the misguided good-government types, self-described “reformers,” and the chip-on-their-shoulder folks who sport a nose-pressed-against-the- glass attitude, here’s a newsflash: your self-righteous criticism is not just wrong, but factually incorrect about the PA Society. As a result, your comments are simply ignored as white noise.

Here is the truth rebutting many criticisms leveled at the year’s premier networking event and the “elite” who attend:

1) Why isn’t it held in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh? Uhhh, this is a no-brainer. Because, literally, no one would go. Period. Not only is there always an excitement in getting away for a weekend — which just isn’t the same when the destination is in your backyard — but there is the ultimate incentive to attend: it’s Manhattan at Christmas time. No city in the world comes close to matching the electricity flowing through New York in December. There is nothing better. End of story.

2) Why is the Pennsylvania Society event held in New York? In addition to the above, there’s a little thing called history. In an age when traditions are routinely scoffed, it is refreshing to see that some are still sacred. The weekend started a century ago when some of Pennsylvania’s successful businessmen living in New York (you know, the evil industrialists who had the gall to actually employ hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians and transform the state into one of the most dominant economic engines in the world) wanted to keep in touch with fellow Pennsylvanians.

Wow. Maintaining friendships, cementing business relationships and furthering the economic interests of Pennsylvania. What a crime. Maybe they shouldn’t have started the tradition and instead let the state fall into stagnation, decay, and malaise — kind of like it is now.

3) It’s all backroom deals in smoke-filled rooms: Not true. New York has one of those ridiculous, all-encompassing smoking bans, which is a shame. I saw a bunch of CEO’s and pols trying to finish their deal-making after getting thrown out of a mahogany-paneled restaurant for lighting up their Cubans, only to get ticketed for smoking in Times Square. Yep. That’s illegal too. The nerve of New York to interfere with Pennsylvania’s elite!

Of course, it hasn’t dawned on the critics that “schmoozing, networking, fund-raising, backslapping, wining, dining, and deal-making” (as the Inquirer described it) can and does take place outside of New York. It happens in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and everywhere in between. As a matter of fact, these folks don’t even need back rooms anymore, as they can “make their deals” on cell phones, and, for those who prefer face-to-face conspiracies, Skype.

The truth is that the last time a candidate was “anointed” at the Pennsylvania Society was Bill Scranton for Governor. In 1962. And a check of the records will show there was in fact an election that year, so Mr. Scranton was not installed via dictate by the power elite.

4) The money would be better spent in Pennsylvania, and what kind of message does it send in this economy to have politicians attending lavish parties in New York?

It’s probably a bad image, but damn it’s a fun time!

Of course, both these points boil down to one of America’s biggest problems — and a major factor why we are in this mess. We are all about style and symbolism over substance.

Does it “look good” to spend money in-state? Sure. Would it make one bit of difference? None. Zero. Maybe if a fraction of the energy spent advocating for symbolism was actually spent on getting Pennsylvanians back to work through meaningful growth policies, we’d all be a lot better off. Ironically, many of the detractors are the same ones standing in the way of real progress, but that’s another column.

5) It’s so aristocratic…all the power elite playing in their privileged world.

Well, since this author attends, that theory is shot to hell. But beyond that, it’s simply not true. Here’s the biggest non-secret that will get me barred from the few events to which I’m actually invited: most “By Invitation Only” events are nothing of the kind. Put on a suit or nice dress, and you’re in. And once that happens, the preconceived notions disappear right before your eyes.

It’s not about backroom deals and the coronation of candidates. It’s about people enjoying the company of folks whom they see only this once the whole year. It’s about renewing long-lost friendships. It’s about swapping war stories, exchanging ideas, going shopping, seeing a Broadway play and taking in a show at Radio City.

But perhaps most remarkable is that, just this one time of year in New York, you can walk into a room with no gatekeepers and have a relaxed, in-depth conversation with some fascinating people who are otherwise insulated. Current and former Governors, U.S. Senators, Attorneys General, Cabinet Secretaries, Congressmen, titans of industry, media publishers, authors… the list goes on and on. The overarching point of the weekend isn’t to lobby and politic (though clearly that takes place), but to have fun.

State Representative Mike Vereb said it best, “You can actually talk to someone for more than five minutes.” Too bad we can’t do that more often in Harrisburg, but it’s a start.

And here’s the best part. It’s civil. Democrats and Republicans actually talk to one another without hurling insults and fists. About the only folks hitting the floor are the ones who enjoyed the festivities a tad too much.

The media would do itself a huge favor by reporting on the true aspects of the Pennsylvania Society Weekend and not regurgitating the same trite garbage that only serves to further undermine people’s faith in their leaders.

So I raise my glass to keeping the Pennsylvania Society Weekend exactly where it belongs — New York City.

Cuban cigar, anyone?

 

 

Pennsylvania Society In New York? Absolutely!

Our Challenge

The Roar

Our Challenge

What is taking place today is the final phase from a systematic attempt at accomplishing what a force of arms could never even attempt.  Think about it.  The results from being conquered militarily imparts negativity and a resoluteness to regain what has been forcefully taken.  Gains from warfare are at best limited.  However, gains from converting the loyalties, beliefs and overall thinking of a people are lasting.  The only question to answer is when is it appropriate to initiate the “changing of the guard?”  That time appears to be nearing.

For the majority of my lifetime, the object has always been the American mind.  During the last half of the twentieth century till the present, our citizens have been inundated with questionable if not outright anti-American dogma.  Today, we have a sizable portion of our society who do not know America or its origins. This is an intentional attempt to weaken our resolve and to slowly introduce contradictory concepts against our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, our Bill of Rights and to our way of life in general.  The terms of “internationalism,” “globalism” or the all encompassing “world community/world citizen” often smooths the harsh antithesis from a communist reality.

The journey from Bunker Hill and Valley Forge to present day America is as disgraceful as it is obvious.  We now have a President who claims that our system of free enterprise/capitalism “doesn’t work, it has never worked.”  And those in attendance this week, listening to Obama’s Osawatomie Kansas speech, cheered.

Communism takes hold in poor countries.  If America were to be tamed and rode hard into communism, changes had to be instituted.  Approximately thirty years ago, what began as downsizing the corporate fat grew into relocating to tax friendly locales.  Then foreign locations became the norm with their infinitely cheaper work forces.  All this without any effort from Washington to discourage or present a more business friendly setting.  Could there be a motive present?

Couple this exodus with the increasing amount of educational mush being fed to successive generations.  The results from both are a shrinking economy and increasing ignorance.  It is impossible to convert America into a third world poor existence, however, is it now enough to drumbeat upon those who are most dependent?

What to do? Our government’s sole effort was to increase all forms of benefits.  Now, how practical is this solution?  Do not stem the corporate flight, just increase the ease of being unemployed.  Added to this mix is a President who condemns the successful, the well to do, the rich.  Do we see a pattern emerging?

Also, our President remains adamant with his call for increased taxation.  Now this is certainly not business stimuli.  In addition to this growing dishevel are the misdirected citizen chants against Wall St.  This confusion resembles the farmer who cuts down his apple tree because of one or two worms.  Government is the culprit.  Government takes from business and employees alike.  It does not produce, it survives from the labor of its citizens.

All this has surfaced for two reasons.  First, we elected a questionable leader who is impatient with his obvious socialistic priorities.  Secondly, the boldness of these actions validate an  underlying assumption that the numbers are on their side.  They believe that Americanism has withered to the point that it is now ripe for the picking.

What they underestimate, is the American spirit which is alive in America’s largest generation. Although we missed all the educational mush, many fought the same designs in a far off country.  More importantly, we saw the true face on the anti-American socialists upon our return.  That face hasn’t changed!

Jim Bowman, Author of,
This Roar of Ours

Stockpile Chinese-made Christmas Gifts Until U.S. Policy Changes,

Stockpile Chinese-made Christmas Gifts Until U.S. Policy Changes,

By Chris Friend

 

 

After watching the latest segment of ABC World News’s “Made in America” series, several thoughts come to mind:
1) Don’t view it on a full stomach.
2) Once again, the media has failed to ask the right questions because
they, like our elected officials, don’t understand the problem.
3) Spending more money on a problem sounds great but is never the solution.

The series illustrates the astronomical amount of goods that are made
in China, and postulates how great it would be if only we could “buy
American.”

Gee, Diane Sawyer and Company, tell us something we don’t know.

Perhaps if the network did a little research as to the real reason why America manufactures virtually nothing anymore, thus identifying the problem, it could then report on the ways to bring back American companies, and the jobs and products they create.

But that would take foresight and initiative. And when it comes to the American media, those traits are in short supply.

In the latest segment, Sawyer states that the average American family
will spend $700 this Christmas season, and that if each just spent $64
on American-made goods, more than 200,000 jobs would be created.

If that’s the recipe for success, then why stop at just $64? Well,
ABC thought of that. Reporting that total Christmas spending would add
up to more than $465 billion, they did the math for viewers: “If that
money was spent entirely on U.S.-made products, it would create 4.6
million jobs.”

Great idea, if you’re playing make-believe. But in the real world, things don’t work that way.

First, we live in an ever-increasing global economy,
which is perfectly fine, as world trade is a good thing. But things
don’t work out so well when a country owns a mammoth trade deficit,
which, in our case, is north of $500 billion per year and exponentially
growing. You don’t need to be an economist to understand that when
manufacturing plants move overseas, exports drop significantly while
imports shoot skyward. That trend will only continue until the problem
is identified (let alone solved). But stating a pie-in-the-sky wish that
all products should or could be purchased in America is just plain
insulting.

Second, throwing more money at the problem won’t solve anything,
and, in fact, will make it worse by masking the real issues. Yet that’s
a lesson lost on America, as we continue to fall for the duplicitous
line that if we just open the wallet and increase the budget, all will
be well.

What do we do about the nation’s abysmal academic achievement, in
which U.S. students rank near the bottom of every category compared to
their global competitors? Spend more on “education”—a lot more. Of
course, we’ve been doing that every year at the local, state and federal
levels, yet the scores continue to go the wrong way, but so what? That
just means we need to spend even more money!

Too much crime on our streets? Hire more cops, despite the fact that
most municipalities are going under just trying to pay current salaries
and exploding pension and benefit costs. Forget that even the most
militarized police states still have crime, and that more money (and
thus more police) won’t deter crime. Smarter policing, and infinitely
more important, smarter kids, will. But since we still aren’t “spending
enough” on education, we continue to open the coffers for more cops.

Not enough jobs? Again, this wouldn’t be an issue if we had an
educated workforce and a solid manufacturing base. But since we have
neither, and refuse to make any meaningful attempt to change that
situation, we create money out of thin air, throwing trillions in
“stimulus” dollars (a.k.a., “taxpayer” money) at the problem. The fact
that it didn’t work has not deterred the politicians, as they seek yet
another round of stimulus spending.

And now, ABC would have us believe that spending $64 is the panacea
to America’s chronic unemployment problem, and one that will help
manufacturers stay in business.

When will we ever learn?

Such news reports only serve to divert attention from the real
problems that need addressing: our atrociously unfavorable trade
policies, the highest corporate taxes in the world, and the complete
lack of an energy policy. By understanding these problems, we could
begin to stave off the total loss of manufacturing. And here’s a
newsflash: No nation has ever prospered, let alone survived, without a
healthy manufacturing base. Without that, it’s lights out, and that’s
not conjecture, but mathematical certainty.

So what to do?

• Trade policies need to be wiped clean and rewritten from scratch,
with one overarching element above all else: America’s interests come
first. Period. China looks out for its own interests, as it should. We
need to do the same. At some point, we may not have the leverage to call
the shots, but we do now. So let’s do it.

• An immutable law of economics is that if you want less of
something, tax it—a concept lost on most elected officials. Hopefully
that will change with a new Congress that will incentivize companies to
keep jobs—and revenue—stateside by slashing the corporate income tax.
It’s easy to paint the CEO who moves operations to more favorable tax
environments overseas as greedy, but when faced with the highest tax
rates in the world, combined with shrinking profit margins, it becomes a
sound business decision. Given the choice, most would rather stay in
the U.S., but the government has taken that choice away from many.

• By far, the most effective solution to give manufacturing a
permanent rebirth and a competitive edge is simple and easy. It’s energy
independence. But it seems that drilling for oil and natural gas,
mining clean coal and expanding nuclear power is just too politically
incorrect for ABC’s focus.

America will never compete with the lowest labor costs in the world. So the only
way to offset that is to have the lowest energy costs in the world. And
more than any nation on Earth, America can do that, because it
possesses the greatest concentration of energy resources on the planet.

Lower fuel costs give manufacturing companies an edge, and that means
greater commerce and more jobs. Businesses can take the billions in
savings that cheap energy offers, and reinvest it so that operations are
expanded, more workers are hired, and new manufacturing doors in
America are opened.

And when all of the ancillary benefits are realized, the economy goes
into overdrive: homes are bought, restaurants thrive, small businesses
no longer face closure, and untold new ventures spring to life. All lead
to higher tax revenue.

Incomprehensibly, too many major media outlets and the majority of
politicians in both parties do not recognize these root causes of
America’s economic crisis. And you can’t solve a problem if you don’t
know what it is.

Connect the dots, and America thrives again. Keep the same policies in place, and we go the way of Europe.

And what a story that would be.

 

The Difference

The Roar

The Difference

The year was 1962, the same year in which this writer graduated from high school.  I must admit that as momentous as the Engel v. Vitale Supreme court decision would become, my interests were far from that fateful outcome which banned school prayer in the New York State school system.  With next year marking its fiftieth anniversary, the results from that Constitutional blunder are now in plain sight.

Through these intervening years, society’s journey has consistently traveled down the road of rack and ruin.  From the perspective of then verses now, the denouncing of religious attention and instruction within the confines of our educational system, seems to have been the single most detrimental legal ruling against our cohesive society and our Founder’s original intent.

During the intervening years, current speculation has thus floundered to the point which now even questions our Nation’s Christian foundations.  In my previous “A Day For Prayer,” which detailed George Washington’s proclamation, setting aside a day for thanksgiving and prayer, the devious intent to this anti-Christian debate becomes clear.  Adding to his 1789 proclamation is his Presidential Address which explains the importance to which our founding rested upon what our modern day Jurists outlawed.  To quote the Father of our Country, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports.

This discrepancy between our beginning beliefs verses today’s secular contentions lays bare the road which should have never been traveled.   And it is to this one individual effect, from our apathy and disloyal slumber, which has inspired and continues to strengthen the thousands of Tea Party formations nationwide.  Our slumber is now over.

All is not lost.  Along side these Tea Party uprisings comes the home school phenomenon, which elevates the welfare of the child over the glitz of this materialism craze.  A supportive companion to this inherent sacrifice brings the recognition that Christian values and beliefs will  strengthen our life’s journey.  Yesterday, one national figure, brought into focus what has been ignored within his professional football genre.  The missing ingredient is that of being humble.

Professional sports, with football leading the charge, has also undergone sweeping changes which in retrospect bring questionable results.  How many viewers and fans witness these personal on field tributes after almost every play?  No matter the score, or if the team is winning or losing, these me, me, me exhibitions have diluted the game’s integrity and worth.  Well, yesterday, a winning QB returned to the days when winning brought out the best in a person.

When Tim Tebow, won his fifth straight game, this one at the buzzer, his humble presence shone through his interview when stating, “I know that I had a lot of help.  Offensive line did a great job, and receivers stepped up and made me look better than I really am.”

One might ask, what makes Tebow such a humble throwback to bygone days?  Could it be his Christian upbringing and spiritual guidance throughout his life.  This one instance brought back a clear recall of what was the order of the day before that 1962 Supreme Court ruling.

This recollection to a lost societal trait can be used to canvas today’s demographics.  As our view centers on the younger generations, it becomes apparent that being humble is not on their agenda.  People today try to draw attraction similar to those football players during a game.  The only difference is instead of chest thumping and gyrating,  we now revel in nose rings, tattoos and an assorted mix of colored hair.

As George Washington also said, “True religion affords to government its surest support.”  The same can be said for its aiding human decency and self respect.

Jim Bowman, Author of
This Roar of Ours

A Serious Matter

The Roar

A Serious Matter

My last anti-media essay will not let go of me.  While questions as to whether Cain did or didn’t will predominate till he becomes demoralized and beaten, the sad and lingering thought is that this is just the latest in a long line of channeling public thought to a predetermined position.  For too long, the true culprit is not the individual topic but rather the topic provider.  Our national media has now taken on the appearance of becoming our crucible, our test, for whether we remain not only free in action and deed but free in thought as well.

It seems to me that along with our “freedom of speech,” “freedom of the press” has been prostituted to the max.  Are we okay with free speech’s only reservation being “fire” yelled in a crowded setting or with the mentioning of a “bomb” at an airport?  In reality, there is so much more to free speech than those two exceptions but that is for another time.

These nagging notions of mine, brought about by this despicable portrayal of Cain, urges a further understanding, not only for myself but hopefully for all who remain curious.

Suffice to say that since the freedoms of speech and press are explicitly acknowledged within the First Amendment to our Constitution, it also follows that an ordinary amount of responsibility accompanies these rare public provisions.  This stipulation is often lost with the individual’s flaunting, as exemplified today with the occupiers “free speech” debasements taking place around our Country.

The most acceptable of public impressions is that our “freedom of the press” qualifies as a “free press.”  Both terms, “freedom” and “free,” are defined as a state of liberty.  Yet there is liberty and there is liberty.  Since our Constitution was written back in the day, definitions from Webster’s 1828 dictionary become more appropriate.

Liberty is a freedom from restraint.  Yet in society, there is natural, civil, political and religious liberties.  Civil liberty pertains to an “expedient for the safety and interest of the society, state or nation.  This should form the guidelines for the operation of our information industry.

Who among us can argue that “the safety and interest” of our nation is served best by the retorts of unsubstantiated recollections?  Who among us can accept the defamation of character which these claims are now producing?  Is this the act of a “free press” or an unsubstantiated press?

Is this a new media phenomenon and if not, just how damaging can the whimsical become?  The answer is “very damaging” when one remembers the supposed theories surrounding the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin attacks.   Today, credible doubt has surfaced as to whether this cause for war ever took place.

Another current day media escapade is this “global warming” facade.  Without getting into the nitty-gritty, nuts and bolts of this scheme, the thousands of emails to have been discovered two years ago detail the attempts of scientists to concoct and deceive.  Just recently, another batch of email evidence was brought to light with identical intent.  Still, our media continues with it’s promotion of a future doomsday while the federal government legislates to the point of outlawing the ageless and proven worthiness of the incandescent light bulb.

The media’s product of the unsubstantiated now promotes the public’s acceptance of the absurd.  When it’s weight can start wars and reverse industries, what chance does one innocent man have? But more importantly, what chance do we have for obtaining the truth, if in fact, that  remains our objective?

Jim Bowman, Author of,
This Roar of Ours

Media’s Alarming Power

The Roar

Media’s  Alarming Power

For the first time in my life, an accepted societal cog has caught my serious and now fearful attention.  Here, in the land of the free, a charlatan, who enjoys our freedom of thought and expression, has been allowed to move among us with impunity from its unaccountable conduct.  For too long, we have been resigned to the machinations of what we have come to accept from “a liberal media.”  Today, our leniency has produced a menace with an insatiable appetite.

In hindsight, many refer to the Obama Presidency as a “product of the media.”  Their lack of scrutiny, in areas other than just his citizenship, certainly greased the mental process for shedding America’s hangover from our days of slavery and segregation.  The public’s exhilaration from finally being able to prove that, yes, those days are truly behind us, enabled voters of all stripes to cast careful thought and debate aside for their passion that America could elect its first black President.

While all this now taking place, it seems ironic that a media questioning of Senator McCain’s citizenship eligibility came to the forefront while they showered Obama with an automatic pass. This 2008 preferential treatment may now seem to be the harbinger of what is taking place with the up and down horse race to this early republican campaign season.  Sad to say, those shades of differing treatment have now mutated into an all out assault based on innuendo and “he said, she said” references.  This is not the task of a responsible and honest free press.

What we have today is an information source that trades jabs between the glitzy formats of a revolving platform of political opinion and predictions verses the usual hum-drum news casts which often centers on the despicable and/or the macabre.  This conclusion may seem overboard but given the hundreds of lifting stories which surface daily, news in general depresses and it now seems to depress for a reason.

To underline this descent from the preferential to the slanderous, try to now shed political loyalties and consider the numerous Clinton allegations, which filled the spectrum from the adulterous to the criminal.  Yes, even a rape charge was not sufficient for media curiosity, let alone to investigate.  Need we compare then to this present investigative vim at targeting
Cain’s purity?  A comparison projects our dilemma.

What is being sacrificed, is the public reputation of a man who, for some reason, answered the call of his country.  Now, for just a moment, stop rushing to media conclusions and consider the possibility of innocence.  Our media pundits are eager to rid this republican primary of a black conservative with a proven and widely successful career in business and also in his private life. Why?  The reasons are obvious yet to be left unspoken.

We often ask the question, when faced with the choice of electing “frick” or “frack,” is this the best out Country has to offer?  Well, when an true outsider enters the political fray, the insiders with their establishment power circle the wagons.  Their attacks are as vicious as they are unending.  What we are now witnessing, and to a degree, buying into, is the complete and vicious ruination of a man who, for all intent and purposes, would never have entered the contest with all these various women waiting to sharpen their knives.

What the various media outlets ignore is that during the time span of this last accuser, armed with her infamous “61 text messages and cell phone calls,” Mr. Cain had endured and survived a Stage Four cancer struggle.  I would think this hardly is the setting for any sexual shenanigans.  Also, 61 conversations averages less than five per year.  The grist for a hot and heavy relationship?  It is not!

Ladies and gentlemen , Mr. Cain is obviously the victim and the reasons are quite clear.  Let’s rid ourselves of emotion and knee jerk reactions spurred from unsubstantiated sources.  Common sense must once again be embraced for if we allow this to affect our support, “Frick” and ‘Frack” will once again be our only reward.

Jim Bowman, Author of
This Roar of Ours

A Day For Prayer

The Roar

A Day For Prayer

First off, let’s get it right!  I want to wish all my fellow Americans a happy day for thanksgiving and prayer.  These are George Washington’s words when he sign a decree designating November 26, 1789, as a day of “Public thanksgiving and prayer.”

I am sick and tired of this whack-a-doo anti-American sect somehow erasing our Forefather’s original message and intent with their secular and anti-Christian overlap.  Today, in the year of our Lord 2011, let us all proceed to renew our American instinct and dedicate our efforts towards the return of the principles which made our Country so great.  For I believe that our current turmoil and agitation comes as the direct result of our waywardness from our original design.

In 1962, our august Supreme Court ruled against prayer in school.  In its finding, the Court stated, “prayer in its public school system breaches the constitutional wall of separation between Church and state.”  Also cited was the Court’s, “A union of government and religion tends to destroy government and to degrade religion.”

This was the conclusion to a case against having a twenty-two word voluntary and nondenominational prayer observed in New York State schools.  Consider the words of this particular prayer, “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country.”  This bland moment of reverence is a monumental example as to this continuing push for a secular America.  Ladies and gentlemen, without a rudder, a ship flounders.  Our ship of state is floundering and the reasons are quite clear.

Returning to the words of George Washington, his thanksgiving and prayer proclamation wisely acknowledged “the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor…” also “Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to ‘recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.'”

Now President Washington spoke in lengthy sentences.  It seems to be the trade mark of those early days when diction was more elaborate and defined.    As such, our first President continued proclaiming that this occasion is “to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be…”

Space does not permit the complete proclamation but suffice to say that the main theme to Washington’s decree was his and our worshiping thanks “to the great Lord and ruler of Nations.”

From this historical document, one can readily see that that modern day America has been led to the slaughter.  Starting from when the Constitution was ratified till the 1947 Everson case, which introduced this insipid and Constitutionally unfounded “wall of separation between church and state,” the freedom of religion, to practice and worship remained sacred and untouched.  It is a monumental injustice for nine black robes to embark upon a First amendment detour which has the complete eradication of our Christian doctrines and heritage as it final quest.  In essence, our Supreme Court created new law which for all intent and purposes contradicted our First Amendment’s recognition of our inalienable religious rights by prohibiting their “free exercise.”

So on this day of thanks and prayer, while we all enjoy the football games and eagerly anticipate the Black Friday store gimmicks, remember that it was a Supreme Court authority, the same authority which will now consider the constitutionality of Obamacare, which trashed our inalienable religious freedoms.  As such, their record for upholding Constitutional safeguards should send shudders throughout our society.  If ever there was a time to “beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions,”  this seems to be the occasion.  The father of our Country was right, and his message still rings true.  A day for “thanksgiving and prayer.”

Jim Bowman Author of
This Roar of Ours

MADD, What Happened?

The Roar

MADD, What Happened

I have witnessed the seemingly overnight and phenomenal growth of MADD from its original ten members to it’s current National membership roster. Along with corporate sponsorships MADD now even entertains their own DUI grading system over the various State and local law enforcement agencies.

MADD’s immense network now can place representatives in courtrooms across the country to ensure that DUI offenders receive a proper verdict.  However, as a recent event suggests, maybe MADD picks and chooses which case to intimidate.

Just after midnight, on April 30th, it seems that two Philadelphia police officers observed a vehicle  proceeding in the wrong direction on a one way street.  After stopping the vehicle, both officers noticed that the driver appeared to be glassy eyed and smelled of alcohol.  The ensuing breathalyzer test turned up a .16 result, or twice the legal limit.

The Philadelphia Daily News reported the results of this DUI case in an article written by Mensah M. Dean on November 2nd.  In that essay, it seems that this .16 BAC defender benefited when the “judge threw out all the evidence in her drunken-driving case.”  It just so happens that the defendant is none other that Rep. Cherelle Parker, who happens to hail from the same Northwest Alliance political camp as does Judge Hayden.

Now, a case with such incriminating evidence, there had to be substantial questions which led the judge to dismiss the charge.  The judge cited “credibility concerns” related to the two officer’s testimony.  Cited was officer Stephanie Allen’s “first that no other cars were on the street, but changed her testimony during cross-examination.”  Wow, that should exonerate  Rep. Parker.

As a lifelong Philadelphia resident, Deputy Attorney General Marc Costanzo stated, “I  understand how things go around here.  No, I’m not surprised.”

My question is not about Philadelphia’s political  shenanigans but to the AWOL status of our heroines of DUI safety.  The attention getter in this case, from a MADD standpoint, should be the breathalyzer result.  Of course, there is also the matter of an elected representative being the possible offender.  Obviously, water too deep, even for the mermaids from MADD .

In spite of appearances, there still might be a positive or teachable moment.  Contrary to what many now believe as the only enforcement tool against DUI offenders, a police check point, which is a politically correct rendition of the term roadblock, was not in use.  Oddly enough, probable cause led to the vehicle stop as the officers observed the vehicle being driven opposite to the one way street sign,  Yes, this is the procedure which worked up and until the MADD influence appeared on the scene.  This enforcement practice is in accordance with our Constitutional safeguards enumerated in our Fourth Amendment, something which MADD obviously deems expendable.

In conclusion, Deputy Attorney General said it best when he stated, “I’m a little surprised that a city judge would find two police officers who testified – in my opinion – consistently about an incident less credible than someone who blew a .16 blood alcohol reading.”  I’ll drink to that!

Jim Bowman, Author of,
This Roar of Ours