For the Survivors

A little something from Ben Stein that puts Memorial Day in its proper place.


Remarks delivered on Saturday evening in Arlington, Virginia, at the Memorial Day weekend seminar and grief camp of TAPS -- the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME be a part of your family. This is the most important family on the planet right now. There is a First Family on Pennsylvania Avenue, but this is the real first family. The family of those who have paid the ultimate price to keep us free and dignified and alive.

Throw The Bums Out

Congress has gone to far.

There are stories all over the web on this today, but this Forbes piece sums it up pretty well.

The gist of the Senator's arguments is that politicians are above the law. Even when caught on camera taking a $100,000 bribe, perhaps especially when caught on camera, as was Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson by the FBI.

This only leaves one manuever for the rest of us who actually behave. Vote against whoever is in office. Whether they have been good or bad representatives of your district or state, they should be removed as a lesson to all politicians.

This may require Republicans to vote for Democrats and vice versa, but that is a small price to pay to bring our country back from the brink of disaster. If you simply cannot vote for the opposite party you can also use the primary to push an incumbent out of the race. There are a lot of options and all of them are quite powerful and frightening to our elected representatives. Why else do they go to such great lengths to "serve" their constituents. Ha, they like the power and the perks.

Unlike what happens elsewhere in the world when the powers that be get to big for their britches, this will be a bloodless and law-abiding coup. No matter who is elected they have to be better then what now infests Washington.

College Graduation, 20 Years After

After reading several news stories today regarding how students at the New School in NY City and at Boston College treated their commencement speakers, I tried to remember who performed that sacred duty for my class.

I drew a blank. All I can recall is she was the assistant secretary of education for either the state of Federal government. She did not say anything that managed to stand the test of time. Perhaps because her speech was uninteresting or because I had stayed up most of the previous night.

For the record many of the students and the faculty at BC and the New School were horribly rude to Condi Rice and Sen. John McCain. They wore anti-war signs, turned their backs to the speakers and generally behaved like junior high students.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion on the war or any other topic, but what ever happened to common courtesy? And for the faculty to lead the way with this boorish behavior should result in the revocation of a couple of dozen tenures. Of course that will never happen. What this does show is the level of influence the teaching staff has on the kids.

And on top if it all shouldn't graduation day be about the students?

Will refocusing everyone's attention onto a political topic change anything? Will George Bush watch the ceremony and go, "well, gee if the BC students are against Iraq then maybe we should leave." No, it simply distracts from the festivities at hand.

Now back to my ceremony. The kids should be grateful that their schools were able to attract people of such stature to their commencement. In 20 years they will remember the speakers name and what they talked about, even if they disagreed with their political stance.

I hope these churlish children don't expect everyone to agree with them once they enter the working world. I hope they can sit in a cube across from a guy or gal who served in the military or who might be pro-life without strapping on an armband in protest or resorting to other immature actions.

Murdoch Snuggling Up To Hillary

Rupert Murdoch, media tycoon and owner of the conservative leaning Fox News and the NY Post has continued his newest antic of smooch up to Hillary Clinton.

The latest dose of his new liberal leanings was in a NY Post story today, which was also prominently displayed on Foxnews.com.

The story tries to show Hillary's human side, not an easy task, by listing the songs she has on her iPod. She has an eclectic mix of The Rolling Stones, Beatles and Aretha Franklin to keep her 1960s base constituency happy, plus some U2 to attract those somewhat younger voters who are interested in Bono's save the world ventures.

Murdoch cozying up to Hillary is nothing more then his attempt to cover all his bases in case she pulls off a presidential victory in 2008. I was wondering how long it would take for some positive Hillary stories to start appearing in his media holdings. Several weeks ago it was announced that Murdoch would host a fundraising gala for Hillary, which was interesting because the NY Post has not been shy in its Hillary-bashing since she was elected NY senator. This New Republic story does a nice job summing up the earlier Post/Murdoch position on Hillary.

It should be interesting to see what happens next between NY's newest love birds.

Pat Robertson - Weatherman

In his new roll as 700 Club weatherman, Pat Robertson today reported that God told him that a tsunami might strike the American Northwest.

According to a Fox News story:

Robertson has made the predictions at least four times in the past two weeks on his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network, which he founded. Robertson said the revelations about this year's weather came to him during his annual personal prayer retreat in January.

"If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms," Robertson said May 8. Wednesday, he added, "there well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."

I've never had God come and talk to me about the weather, or anything else for that matter. But, if he had, I would expect a very clear message. "There will be a tsunami in Portland, Oregon on August 18." Or "It will be bright and sunny in Seattle for the July 4 holiday."

If I heard the Lord right... How could Roberston, who seems to have a direct line to God, not get perfectly clear reception? Doesn't he use Verizon?

The only other possibility is that Robertson just wasn't paying attention.

"What? Hey, God. What was that about a tidal wave?"

"You expect me to repeat myself to a failed presidential candidate! Next time pay attention."

The most annoying aspect of this proceeding is Robertson is just desparately seeking attention. People claim to have spoken with or seen God, Mary or Jesus because they want to the world to pay attention. To guarantee that the press picked up on his rantings Robertson decided to throw in a little destruction. Where was Robertson for the poor Malaysians? Aren't they Christian enough to warrant a warning from God?

By couching his statement with the If I heard the Lord right bit, he can simply say his mental radio connectin with God had been acting up during the conversation and thus chalk up his failed prediction to poor atmospheric conditions.

I hope the media learns its lesson and stops printing everything that spews from this guys mouth. Robertson, that is. Not God.

The Da Vinci Code

The new movie The Da Vinci Code is a fine vessel for portraying all that is wrong with religious zealots.

Catholic groups from around the world have criticized the books take on the Catholic church, called for the movie to be banned, called for it to be censored and the conservative Catholic sect Opus Dei originally asked that it not be made at all. Granted, Opus Dei is the story's villain so that gives them a reason for their request. This CNN story gives a good run down of the opposition.

What all these people and groups refuse to acknowledge is that The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. Dan Brown bent history and the facts to create a compelling story. (Good book with a terribly flat ending to me) He is not pawning the book or movie off as what really happened. The hard line Catholic reaction is as knee-jerk and illogical as the Muslim hysteria regarding cartoon images of Mohammed.

However, in today's world the minute you disagree with something the first reaction is to scream for it to go away. Hold protests, try and boycott the film into failure. All the while condeming the creators as being against you and your group.

I cannot understand how people who claim a high level of faith in their religion worry about the impact of a movie, book or TV show. Are they worried that someone will start questioning their faith because of what Dan Brown or Salmon Rushdie wrote. If a person were to do so then they were not much of a believer to start with.

If your religion is strong enough it will brush aside such feeble content. As they say in church, have faith.

National Guard To The Border, Part II

I hope President Bush proves all the conservative pundits wrong.

Their reaction today was somewhat unexpected. I thought more of them would give the president the benefit of the doubt on his new plan, but a quick poll of about six columnists on NRO had five decrying Bush's address as nothing more then a smokescreen to hide behind his true agenda of giving amnesty to the 11 million or so illegal aliens now in the U.S. Their lack of faith proves how deeply angered the nation's conservative base is with the president.

I'm a bit more middle of the road then the average conservative so I was more or less pleased with the speech. He continuously used the term illegal alien to describe the crimminals that have snuck into this country. I was not happy with the guest worker plan, but I also realize that the president is correct. We cannot round up 11 million people. It is logistically impossible.

So, as I am wont to do, I took his promises at face value. Believing the president might make me naive, but I think you have to give someone a chance before you get to cynical, although past history made it particularly hard in this case. What makes me want to believe him is his use of the word illegal. It was a theme throughout the speech and it is a rare day indeed when illegal aliens are actually called what they are, crimminals.

If the Federal government does enact everything that the president stated then we would put a serious dent in our problem. We can seal the border, force employers to only hire legal residents and start a paper trail on those people already here.

However, if the funding does not come through, or if the president vetoes a bill that does not include everything he desires, then it will become obvious that Bush was merely trying to boost his poll numbers without fixing our immigration problem.

This is my fear and I think, despite my hopeful outlook, is what is really going to take place.

Bush' desire to let these crimminals stay is well known. Big business wants a constant source of cheap labor. Bush listens to these guys. My other reason to be wary is the government current refusal to enforce the laws that are on the books. We legally have all the tools at our disposal to fix this problem, we simply don't bother and that infuriates me.

But, this is a new day and we should give George the chance to do the right thing. A barrage of emails and letters to your congressman or senator telling them what you want would also can't hurt. These people want to be re-elected, if you tell them that your vote is going to the anti-illegal immigration candidate I bet they become one of those quick enough.

National Guard To The Border

If President Bush does announce tonight that he is sending Guard units to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants it will be the first smart domestic policy move he has made in his administration.

The U.S. is essentially being overrun with illegal aliens and the Border Patrol is not big enough to handle the job. It has not been stated how the Guard will operate, but having some units do their two-week yearly training stint on the border might be a good idea. They will receive some good training while patrolling the desert, possibly useful if sent to the Mid East and the units will be doing their natual job. Defending the nation's borders.

The cry from politicians both Amerian and from south of the border is already being heard. Vincente Fox, Mexico's president, called the president to complain about militarizing the border. Bush hopefully listened respectfully and then told him to shut up and do something about stopping the flow of illegals on his side of the Rio Grande. It is known that Mexican authorities frequently help illegals with maps and water.

The only argument from our side of the border against this idea is that it will further stretch the already heavily committed National Guard. This is something that has to be taken into consideration, but it can be worked out. If not regular army units should be sent.

Finally, no one in Washington should listen to the cries that this move is anti-immigration. It is, in fact, pro-immigration. By stopping the illegals it will again make American citizenship something to be prized, not something you can simply steal by sneaking into the country.

No word has leaked about what will be done with the 11 million or so illegals already inside the nation. My guess is the president will tie this tough border stance to the guest worker card program that he has been pushing. If thoroughly enforced I would go along with the guest worker idea, but considering the government fails to enforce its current laws I'm not holding my breath on that issue.

Gov't Moves To Outlaw Online Poker

Between running the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in general against terrorism, I would have thought Congress had better things to worry about then online gambling.

This ESPN story notes how Va. Rep. Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R) is pushing a bill to make gambling online a Class C felony. Class C crimes can carry 1-10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Here is a Congress that will do nothing to enforce laws that are currently on the books, like illegal immigration, and has no problem tacking on foolish spending onto bills like the Alaskan Highway to nowhere.

Of course the bottom line is Congressmen like Goodlatte are upset because no tax dollars are collected from online gambling. If the government was willing to spend the money wisely I wouldn't mind if they taxed it, but we all know they would simply find a way to piss it away.

If Americans want to gamble from the warmth of their homes then I say leave them alone. We face bigger more dangerous problems in the world today.

Gas Prices Will Not Go Down, Ever

Sorry to sound so pessimistic today, but all the news surrounding the oil industry is postive.

Yes, that's right positive.

Wednesday is the day that the total amount of POL (Petroleum, Oil, Lubricants) is added up nationwide and the numbers are released and analyzed by Wall Street. This gives investors and idea about how much supply is out there so they can set prices accordingly. Ever since Katrina last fall supplies have been low because oil platforms and refining capacity were knocked offline.

However, during the past two weeks supplies of crude and gasoline have risen above expectations, an act that normally forces prices down. In addition, it was reported today that gas consumption was slightly lower during the past month then during the same time last year. Another good sign, in that Americans are finally cutting back a little on their driving when faced with $3.24 a gallon gas. This also didn't do much for the over all price of crude, which went up.

However, when the opposite happens, say supplies drop or are not quite as high as predicted by Wall Street then prices jump immediately. If Iran rattles its nuclear saber prices go up. Nigerians threaten to disrupt supplies, prices go up.

But when even the smallest amount of good news comes out nothing happens. Instead the analysts say it's not enough.

Despite the headline of this CBS MarketWatch story, prices were up one hour after it was posted. The story may not intend to, but it does detail all the reasons why prices will not drop. That reason is to many people are making money off $72 per barrell oil. The oil companies, their investors, the countries with the oil and commodity speculators are cleaning up right now and since they have the ability to control prices, and thus how much they make, there is no logical reason for them to alter the current pricing levels.

After all, what would you do if you were in charge of giving your own raise at work?

So get used to paying $3 or $4 or $5 per gallon. Until the American people decide enough is enough and force the issue through massive conservation efforts this is what we are in for.

Save the Sheep

This is a great story. It seems PETA, the animal rights group, has opened a chapter in the Middle East to combat the poor treatment sheep receive.

Here is the story from AFP.

PETA is upset that the sheep are not treated nicely, that they tend to suffer during their trip to the Mid East from ranches in Australia and the group is not happy with the slaughter houses either.

Australian sheep and cattle shipped to the Middle East suffer atrocities beyond your worst nightmares," read the caption to one of the videos, said to have been filmed in Cairo's Basateen slaughterhouse.

The folks at PETA, I think, are in for a big surprise. Their attempt to change government sheep handling rules is absurd. These governments don't care about their own people, much less sheep. I think after the PETA folks receive a beating from the local secret police they will back off their claims and let the sheep meet their demise in any fashion the butcher desires.

They ain't in Kansas no more and they will not be dealing with touchy-feely types Egypt, Kuwait or Qator.

This should be an interesting confrontation. I hope AFP stays on this story.

Buttafuco Update

As promised here is the hit count driven by Long Island's favorite trio.

Since my post on May 3 12 people have come to Rear View Mirror after having put one of the trio's names into a search engine. That is 12 out of the 55 hits the site has received.

Way Cool.

It's Good To Be A Kennedy

In one of the faster paced news stories of the past few weeks one of the lesser Kennedy clan, Patrick, son of Teddy, managed to stay on CNN and Fox News all day today.

His featured spot started out this morning with the news that he drove his car into a barricade near the Capitol building at 3am last night. Local cops claimed he might have been drunk, but they either did not or were told not to deliver a DUI test. Patrick was then driven home by the police.

The the great Kennedy PR team went into high gear to stage manage the event.

The drinking part was denied, which is important because like many a Kennedy alcohol has caused Patrick problems in the past.

The story soon gained a new angle. It seemed Kennedy was on prescription drugs for a intenstinal disorder and they caused him to become confused and drive his car into the barricade. Supposedly he was so befuddled by the drugs that he thought he was needed at the Capitol for an important vote. Of course Congress had already let out for the day three or so hours earlier. Who knew Pepto Bismal was so disorienting.

Kennedy kept claiming that alcohol was not involved, despite the claims made by the staff at a local bar/restaurant called the Dove and Hawk that he had a few drinks their that evening.

Time for stage three of the PR team's machinations. Get Patrick out of DC.

So just 12 hours after the accident took place there are screaming headlines on Fox and CNN that Kennedy has been sent to rehab to deal with a prescription pain killer addiction. I guess those "don't operate heavy machinery" statements on Percocets should also mention small cars.

At least he didn't kill anyone, but if anyone else had been pulled over for driving into a barricade outside the nation's capitol at 3am they would have been shuffled right off to jail.

So once again it has been proven that it's good to be a Kennedy.

Moussaoui Sentenced To Life

The outcry from those upset that Moussaoui was not sentenced to death is understandable, but unwarrented.

I am of two minds on the issue. In general the death penalty does not bother me. If Moussaoui were sent to the electric chair I would not shed a tear. However, life in solitary without the chance for parole is no walk in the park. It can be argued that spending 23 hours per day locked up by yourself will do some pretty severe mental damage to a person.

Having Moussaoui rot in jail till he dies is not a defeat of our system of justice nor does it indicate that we are a weak willed country. Peggy Noonan and the milblog site OpFor are wrong on this account. Life in jail might not have the instant gratification that an execution offers to a victims family, but this level of jail time should not be considered a slap on the wrist. The sentence shows we have a system, we stick by it and even when it does not dish out the maximum punishment the crimminal is not let off easy.

The fact that the juries decision is being considered a defeat for the U.S. is ashame, but I feel there are mitigating circumstances to how many citizens are reacting.

I think religion is playing is usual, confusing role.

Moussaoui wants to die because his crazed religious leaders have promised him a quick trip to terrorist heaven where he will be entitled to the works. Many Americans want him dead so he can start doing time in hell. Each side is certain that their religious-based fate awaits.

Then there are those who just want him dead for revenge.

For whatever reason I don't fall into any of these camps. I'm not wishy washy on crime. I believe there are crimes to die for, but the people who carried out Setp. 11 are dead. Some of those who organized it are in custody and others are still on the loose. Those are the people whom I want dead. If there is ever a lottery to fill in bin Laden firing squad I will by a lot of tickets.

Despite Moussaoui's claims that he was supposed to be an integral part of Sept. 11, he came across as being on the fringe at best. His foolish boasting, for me, secured this image. Instead of coming across as a U.S. hating terrorist he sounded like a U.S. hating crazy person. Considering he probably used these outbursts to anger the jury into giving him a trip to "old sparky" his plan backfired.

Unfortunately for the U.S. Moussaoui is the only terrorists we were able to grab who decided to plead guilty to the attacks and so is the only outlet for our need for justice.

Rear View Mirror's Biggest Hit

I have a hint for anyone interested in driving traffic to their blog. Write about Mary Jo and Joey Buttafuco and Amy Fisher.

I have something over 180 posts on Rear View Mirror with about 18 or so people coming to the site each day. StatCounter allows me to see what search criteria people used to find my blog and about 30 percent put those three names into a search engine and ended up here. The amazing this is I wrote about those idiots once (Twice now, I suppose) several months ago, but the hits just keep coming, as Kasey Kasem says.

Perhaps this answers my previous question about what the NY Post was thinking when it placed a sex scandal on the cover instead of an actual news story.

Now I'm going to sit back and watch the hit meter climb as more people look for dirt on Mary Jo, Joey and Amy.

I'll keep you all posted with the results.

Death of Journalism, Part II

After my earlier post, I checked that bastion of journalism the NY Post and saw this story on the front page.

A sex scandal is normal fare for the NY tabloids, but considering it came the day after firefighters spent and entire day and night fighting the largest fire in NY City in 10 years seems pretty odd. The city's other papers, The Daily News and NY Times, played the story prominently.

What was the Post's editor thinking? A blaze burning 15 buildings and requiring 400 firefighters is not front page news is less important then an executives sex scandal. Sexual harrassment is a terrible thing, but in the grand scheme of news I'm sorry to say it's far down the list.

John Candy Back From The Dead

I love imdb.com. I think it is one of the most creative and useful spots on the Internet. Where else could a person discove that the great comic actor John Candy was still alive and working.

Supposedly John died in 1994, but he is given third place on the credit listing for some movie or TV show called the Magic 7. He is just doing a voice, but for someone who has been dead for 12 years that is not bad work.

Now if only John Belushi would come back.

Poor Journalism

I've been a journalist for 20 years.

I don't operate at the highest level of my profession at say CNN, NY Times or The Wall Street Journal, but I am a professional and I understand what is supposed to go into a story. Objectivity, fairness and giving both sides an equal chance to explain themselves is what is supposed to happen, but what passes for reporting today makes me cringe. Everyone knows that there is no such thing as fair and balanced journalism, despite what Fox News likes to say. Every media outlet has its stance and goes to great lengths to position a story so readers or viewers are influenced in a certain manner.

I'll site an expample from today's news.

This Associated Press story that ran on CNN.com. While telling a story about people attempting to sneak into the country it fails at any point to mention that what they are doing is illegal. The illegal aliens are called immigrants, migrants and described as being forced to suffer terribly as they sneak across the desert into Arizona. They are no immigrants. Immigrants come into the country legally. They wait years, fill out paperwork and are then, rightly, welcomed into the country. The only person to state that those coming in from Mexico are breaking the law is a border control officer in a quote. One line in a very long story, that is not giving the reader the facts.

The Wall Street Journal's opinion page is spinning the immigration story the same way. However, the Journal only wants illegal aliens in the country so businesses can have access to cheap labor.

I suppose the Journal's reason for backing cheap labor is understandable since it's something its core readership wants. That does not make it right. But why does the AP or CNN gloss over a crimminal act. Would they be so kind in interviewing a Mafia kingpin or group of car thieves? I doubt it. A crime is a crime is a crime. Why ignore the fact with one group of people and not the other?

At some point there will be negative repercussions from this type of reporting. Once the public realizes that nobody right or left of the political center can be trusted to simply tell a story then the game will end.

What is still to be decided is who will pick up the slack. To this professional it will be someone from outside the industry and the medium will be the blogosphere. If someone can put together a true news gathering team that is just interested in the facts they will succeed.

Poor Journalism

I've been a journalist for 20 years.

I don't operate at the highest level of my profession at say CNN, NY Times or The Wall Street Journal, but I am a professional and I understand what is supposed to go into a story. Objectivity, fairness and giving both sides an equal chance to explain themselves is what is supposed to happen, but what passes for reporting today makes me cringe. Everyone knows that there is no such thing as fair and balanced journalism, despite what Fox News likes to say. Every media outlet has its stance and goes to great lengths to position a story so readers or viewers are influenced in a certain manner.

I'll site an expample from today's news.

This Associated Press story that ran on CNN.com. While telling a story about people attempting to sneak into the country it fails at any point to mention that what they are doing is illegal. The illegal aliens are called immigrants, migrants and described as being forced to suffer terribly as they sneak across the desert into Arizona. They are no immigrants. Immigrants come into the country legally. They wait years, fill out paperwork and are then, rightly, welcomed into the country. The only person to state that those coming in from Mexico are breaking the law is a border control officer in a quote. One line in a very long story, that is not giving the reader the facts.

The Wall Street Journal's opinion page is spinning the immigration story the same way. However, the Journal only wants illegal aliens in the country so businesses can have access to cheap labor.

I suppose the Journal's reason for backing cheap labor is understandable since it's something its core readership wants. That does not make it right. But why does the AP or CNN gloss over a crimminal act. Would they be so kind in interviewing a Mafia kingpin or group of car thieves? I doubt it. A crime is a crime is a crime. Why ignore the fact with one group of people and not the other?

At some point there will be negative repercussions from this type of reporting. Once the public realizes that nobody right or left of the political center can be trusted to simply tell a story then the game will end.

What is still to be decided is who will pick up the slack. To this professional it will be someone from outside the industry and the medium will be the blogosphere. If someone can put together a true news gathering team that is just interested in the facts they will succeed.

Illegal Immigrant Day

Supposedly millions of illegal aliens will stay home from work today to teach the rest of us a lesson. Primarily that without their hard work the United States will grind to a halt.

I wonder if the leaders of this movement ever thought that the opposite could happen. That the U.S. would go along its merry way not even realizing that these people were not out cutting lawns, washing dishes or lugging around roofing tile? I tend to think most of us will not even notice that these people have walked off their jobs. What is most likely to happen is the illegals will simply go to work as usual because something as grandiose as trying to make a political point goes against their basic need. To make money to live and send back to their families.

Perhaps if these people had the nerve to strike for months at a time they could make some inroads. One day does nothing. So your grass gets cut tomorrow, big deal. It would take months for such a strike to have any impact and my guess is many of the jobs would be filled by this country's legal residents.

It's true, few people prbbably like working in a meat packing plant, but if it's the only job you can get and you have a family to feed my guess is you would go pack meat. If landscaping costs skyrocketed because those who own the companies could no longer get away with hiring people for next to nothing, then people would go to Home Depot or Sears, buy a mower and take care of it themselves.

The illegal aliens and those instigating these protests fail to realize that there is always a way around a problem. It might be inconvient for a pizza place to get a new bus boy or a car wash to find workers, but they will.

So take a look around your town today and see if it has come to a crashing halt. See if any local citizens are out begging the illegals to go back to work. I bet you won't find out that either has happened.