Category: Guest Authors

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

Corbett Role In Penn State Scandal

Pop Quiz: What’s the relationship between the following two statements which have appeared in recent news articles:

1) “Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s national profile rises in the wake of Penn State scandal.”

2) “Tom Corbett has been mentioned as a possible Vice Presidential candidate.”

Strangely,
they are inversely proportional. When one’s profile rises, that’s
typically a good thing. But as the nation learns about some very
disturbing actions of Corbett related to the Penn State scandal, his
Veep chances are plummeting. As a direct result, his chances of ever
being a heartbeat away are between zero and forgetaboutit.

At this rate, he may be lucky just to survive his first term.

Why
the cover-up, and how far up the ladder did it go? Why the lack of
swift action, from not just the University, but from law enforcement?
And how could football — no matter how storied a program — have
risen above the protection of innocent children?

These questions
were supposed to be answered by a thorough and unbiased investigation by
the state Attorney General’s Office. But as more information emerges
on that front, the less faith people have that justice has been — or
will be — served.

Enter Tom Corbett.

For better or
worse, Corbett has been a quiet, behind-the-scenes governor during his
first year in office. Yet he felt compelled to address the state and
national media on the scandal. In doing so, he said more in one press
conference than he had in his entire governorship, despite the fact that
he declined to answer most questions.

Interestingly, Corbett is
wearing three hats. He is the Governor of a state that contributes
millions to Penn State. He is a Penn State Board Trustee who
participated in Board decisions, including the firings of Joe Paterno
and University President Graham Spanier. And most significantly, he is
the former Attorney General who launched the child molestation
investigation of former football coach Jerry Sandusky in 2009.

Corbett has attempted to have the
best of both worlds: national publicity where he touts the virtues of
morality, and a free pass on accountability because of alleged
confidentiality issues. But that tactic has backfired, as the media
spotlight turned on Corbett himself. The more that is learned about
Corbett’s actions — and inactions — regarding the investigation, the
more his credibility tanks.

Consider:

1) It took
substantially longer for the Attorney General’s office to bring charges
against Sandusky than it did for numerous politicians to be indicted in
the Bonusgate corruption probe. Bonusgate was a very complex
investigation involving crafty politicians with the best lawyers money
could buy. Since much of what was being investigated in Bonusgate was
not run-of-the mill illegalities, the investigators had to overcome a
hefty, time-consuming learning curve to understand the subject matter.

So
how can such a complicated investigation come to fruition more quickly
than a black-and-white child rape case? And where is the rule against
making an initial arrest to get the molester off the street — and warn
the public — while continuing to build the case?

Given the
appalling nature of the alleged crimes, and the real possibility that
more young children were molested during the three year investigation,
why did the Attorney General wait so long to make the staffing level as
robust as it should have been from the start?

If the answer is
that resources were limited — sorry, try again. As bad as other
crimes may have been, such as those committed in Bonusgate, no one was
physically hurt and the welfare of children was never an issue. Giving
priority to children who are at risk of rape and molestation is a
no-brainer. But inexplicably, that wasn’t done.

The Governor
continues to defend his actions — scolding those who dare question him
— by stating that it takes time to build such a case and that he
can’t comment further, but three years? That’s an insult to everyone,
especially the victims. Again, you can’t have it both ways,
grandstanding for political points but clamming up when the questions
get tough.

And fair or not, many are now asking if the
investigation was delayed so that Corbett could avoid being the
gubernatorial candidate who took down Joe Paterno and Penn State —
both wildly popular among the hundreds of thousands of alumni living in
the state.

2) This one is simply incomprehensible.

In yet another instance of Corbett finishing what former Democratic Governor Ed Rendell started (others being $20 million of taxpayer money to renovate the Yankees’ AAA stadium, and $42 million to bail out the Philadelphia Shipyard to build ships with no buyers), the Governor personally approved a $3 million taxpayer-funded grant to Sandusky’s Second Mile charity — just four months ago!

That bears repeating. Tom Corbett,
with full knowledge that Sandusky was under investigation for multiple
child rapes, still approved the money to his charity.

How is that possible? And why on earth is the national media not yet running with this?

In
a response that was offensive to any rational person, here’s what his
spokesman said, as reported in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:

“He
(Corbett) couldn’t block that (grant) from going forward because of
what he knew as attorney general…He couldn’t let on to anyone (including
the governor’s office) what he knew….”

That is so wrong that it begs the question as to the real motivation behind approving the grant.

First,
the fact that so many people had been interviewed by the grand jury
made the investigation anything but a secret. Second, the Harrisburg
Patriot News reported on the grand jury investigation —- in March.
Corbett approved the funds — in July! So not wanting to “let on” was
clearly bogus. The investigation was already well-established in the
public domain.

Secondly, there was an incredibly easy way to deal
with the grant without tipping off anyone: simply strike it. After
all, the budget Corbett signed cut everything else, so a grant to a
charity would have been seen as just another casualty of financial
cutbacks.

Veto the grant (why taxpayers are funding that in the
first place is obscene, but that’s another story) and be done with it.
It should have been that easy. But it didn’t happen.

Why?

Well, consider if the following may have had anything to do with it. According to the sports website Deadspin.com,
past and present board members of the Second Mile, along with their
businesses and families, have donated more than $640,000 to Corbett
since 2003.

That interesting — and massively
significant — point seemed to have slipped the Governor’s mind during
his press conferences. Go figure.

Something is rotten to the
core about how this whole affair has been investigated. It’s time for
the Feds to take the lead role in uncovering the whole truth, and that
includes possibly looking into the Attorney General’s investigation.

It’s
clear the Board of Trustees cannot be counted upon to conduct an
unbiased investigation, nor can the local police, and, sadly, even the
Attorney General’s office. And nothing emanating from the Governor’s
office on this issue can be taken at face value.

In discussing
why Paterno and Spanier were fired, the Governor said, “…the Board lost
confidence in their ability to lead Penn State through this time and
into the future.”

With all the opportunities Tom Corbett has had
to play it straight with the people of Pennsylvania — especially the
victims — on his dealings with the Penn State issue, he hasn’t done
so.

And that has caused an ever-increasing number of people to lose confidence in his ability to lead.

There
is a great scene in the movie The American President where Richard
Dreyfuss suggests that being president “was, to a certain extent, about
character.” And in classic Michael Douglas style, he replies, “I can
tell you, without hesitation, that being President is entirely about
character.”

Well, character isn’t limited to the Oval Office. It
resides in every one of us — and that includes Governors, Trustees,
coaches, police and investigators.

Moving forward, let’s demand that a basic legal and moral principle be followed to the very end:

Fiat justitia ruat caelum —“Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

The victims deserve no less.

 

Corbett Role In Penn State Scandal

No Means What?

The Roar

No Means What?

On Thursday, November 17th, Congress killed the funds for Obama’s pet project of building  high-speed rails nation wide. Normally, this would end this debate.  Not so with Obama.  This reckless President, who views our Constitution as a mere nuisance rather than what it is, the law of the land, has another card up his sleeve.  It seems that there is substantial money to ensure that work will continue on certain projects.  Sen. Dick Durbin D-Ill, mentioned that “some money will be found to keep Obama’s train program going through the Transportation Department’s TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economy Recovery) program, which makes grants to projects that achieve critical national objectives.”  A 2012 spending bill contains approximately $500 million for the TIGER program.

So, just what did Congress accomplish and to what did the headline “Congress kills high-speed train” refer to?  Since congress holds the purse strings, how does this possibility present itself?  And what precedent does this set when preaching “no means no?”  Along with all his other Constitutional violations, Obama now stashes funds for constitutional (rainy) days.

Seriously, aside from the manipulation of funds, which now seem to lie around for this exact purpose, ala the approximate one hundred billion allocated for the ongoing implementation of Obamacare, defying the January 31st summary judgement which ruled the legislation to be unconstitutional, just how many types of “slush funds” are available for legislative detours?

Now, I must concede that the previously mentioned $100 billion was actually hidden within the thousands of pages which made up the Obamacare bill.  Given that this monetary inclusion is precedent setting and unethical, the question remains, if Congress votes down a piece of legislation, just how is it that a Presidential policy continues while negating a congressional vote?  At what point did money overtake legislation?

Since assuming office, it seems that the current administration “has steered $10.1 billion to high speed rail projects around the country.”  This national need confounds since  the jammed Northeast corridor is where the commuter action is most prevalent.

Many State governments have refused this high-speed rail funding due to the down the road expenses.  Ultimately, this project is just another make work program which adds to the rolls of governmental employment.  All at the taxpayer’s expense.  Buying votes is now a high speed business and one that seems most efficient when circumventing congress.

Jim Bowman, Author of,
This Roar of Ours

Fumo Judge Disgrace To Federal Bench

Fumo Judge Disgrace To Federal Bench 

By Chris Freind

 

Get a hit just one out of three times, and you’re in the Hall of Fame. Get nine out of ten problems right on a math test and you’re a star student. Nail one of the biggest political dirtbags in Pennsylvania history with 100 percent success — gaining convictions on every one of 137 federal counts — and you’re the bad guy. You’re the one who gets roundly reamed out in very public fashion. You’re the one criticized for disregarding the law.

In becoming the new poster boy in the “What the F&*# was he thinking?!” category, United States District Judge Ronald Buckwalter did the unthinkable — again — by giving former State Senator Vince Fumo a Get Out Of Jail (Almost) Free card.

Convicted of charges in 2009, ranging from public corruption to tax offenses, and from fraud to
obstruction of justice, Fumo received the appallingly light sentence of
just 4 ½ years. People routinely get sentenced to a whole lot more for a
whole lot less.

But this Judge, who before the trial was viewed
as somewhat competent, made a series of mistakes after conviction,
including incorrectly reading the sentencing guidelines. So he was
forced by an appeals court to re-sentence Fumo.

Despite the fact that:

A) Every one of the convictions still stood,

Federal sentencing guidelines called for 17 to 22 years,

C) The public and legal community had been outraged at the original lenient punishment, and

D) Fumo showed absolutely no remorse — none —, which the Judge acknowledged,

E)
Buckwalter gave Fumo six more months. That’s not a typo. Not six more
years, which itself would have been woefully inadequate, but six short
months.



Just writing that is enough to make you vomit.

Ronald
Buckwalter is an absolute disgrace to the federal bench, and his
flagrant disregard for justice calls into the question the very nature
of lifetime judicial appointments. There is simply no rational
explanation for his pig-headed decisions regarding Fumo, but making the
sin mortal was chastising the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

That’s like a parent blaming the teacher because his child bombed the test.

The
investigation, which started under then-U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan, was
thorough and professional, without so much as a single black mark. The
investigators brought what they believed to be an iron-clad case against
Fumo, and a jury of Fumo’s peers obviously agreed.

In appealing
Buckwalter’s original sentence, the Office again acted responsibly,
correctly noting Buckwalter’s mistakes, and seeking the only thing that
everyone but Fumo and his dwindling posse wanted: justice.

An
appropriate punishment at the original sentencing should have ended the
Fumo saga, but like the referee who feels compelled to upstage the
players and become the center of attention, Buckwalter seemed to want
the headlines for himself.

Mission accomplished Judge. But at what price?

His
disparagement of the U.S. Attorney’s office without a doubt provided
ammunition for future defendants to argue that they too are the victims
of overzealous, politically-motivated prosecutors. Wittingly or not,
Judge Buckwalter opened a Pandora’s Box that will be very difficult to
close.

In calling the prosecution excessive, Buckwalter stated
that Fumo should not have been charged with so many counts, when in
reality, he could have been charged with more. He even went so far as to
label the prosecution’s efforts “unfair.”

Unfair?



No, the prosecution was more than
fair. They didn’t commit the crimes. Vince Fumo did. What’s patently
unfair is letting him off easy because he was an “effective” legislator
(which, by the way, is one of the biggest myths in all of Harrisburg,
but that’s another story.) and because he was involved in charitable
works.

Excuse us, Judge, but what does that have to do with anything?

You
do the crime, you do the time. It’s that simple. And for the other
factors that may have played a role in leniency, they too should have
been irrelevant.

If, because of poor health, Fumo would have died
in prison if given a longer sentence, so be it. If, because he would
have been a very old man getting out of prison had he gotten the lengthy
punishment he deserved, that’s his problem. No one held a gun to Fumo’s
head to embark on a life of crime.

To give Fumo what is
perceived by most to be special treatment is, in some respects, the
biggest crime of all. Not illegal, of course, as sentencing is at
Buckwalter’s discretion, but criminal in the sense that justice was not
adequately served.

Perhaps more than any other city, Philadelphia
has a reputation for rampant, institutionalized corruption. For
decades, the bad guys always seemed to operate with impunity. From
rigged elections to pols illegally living it up on the taxpayers’ dime,
the perception, rightly so, was that the politically-connected could
operate above the law, and the average Joe got the shaft.

But
then a funny thing happened. After witnessing numerous convictions at
the city, county and state levels, most notable in the Bonusgate
scandal, the public started to believe again. Hope was renewed. Turns
out that the people, through their honest, hard working prosecutors,
were fighting City Hall — and winning.

Faith in truth, justice
and the American way, now restored, hit its pinnacle when Vince Fumo,
once untouchable, was brought back down to Earth, led away in handcuffs.
But when the original sentence was announced, the collective breath of
our society was forcibly expelled, the result of an immense kick to the
gut.

Yet hope remained, if by a delicate thread. It wasn’t over.
Maybe, just maybe, things would be made right, and Vince Fumo would
finally “get his” at the re-sentencing. But as before, the people were
left devastated, angry, and dumbfounded. Somehow, Fumo escaped the fate
he deserved.

And with that, all the goodwill and hope that had
been cautiously accumulating evaporated in a heartbeat. Fool me once,
shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.



The bitter hardness that is
Philadelphia’s attitude just got stiffer. As a direct result of the Fumo
travesty, no longer do folks believe in fairness, but instead have
reverted back to the “they’re all corrupt, they’re all in it together”
mentality. And who can blame them?

No matter how you slice it,
the bad guys came away with the better hand, and the good guys finished
last. Thank you, Judge Buckwalter.

There is no worse death that the end of hope. And more than anything, that’s why Philadelphia is dying.

Case closed.