Ted's Still Dead, Guess Who's Back

With Ted Kennedy's passing, the family must be looking around for a new patriarch. But who is the logical choice for male head of the family?

Ideally wouldn't it be another forceful political personality with a solid political record and good name recognition?

I know...It's well-known Republican Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger! Oh, the irony!

Hasta la vista, Baby!

Ted's Dead

U.S. Senator Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (February 22nd 1932 - August 25 2009) has died from a malignant brain tumor at the age of 77.

This certainly marks the passing of an era. Ted Kennedy was the last of the four Kennedy boys born to Joseph Kennedy Sr. and Joan Fitzgerald Kennedy. Joseph Jr. died serving his country during World War Two when the airplane he was piloting blew up, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 during the presidential campaign. Senator Kennedy is survived by his son, Patrick, who is a member of the House of Representatives. But I think the political tour de force that was the huge influence the Kennedy family had on politics in America for more than five decades is pretty much over.

I cannot say that I agreed with much of Senator Kennedy's liberal political views. He supported many anti-Second Amendment bills that threatened the right of a free people, as individuals, to keep and bear arms.

In 1969 at Chappaquiddick, Kennedy's car ended up in the river, and Mary Jo Kopechne died. It seems to be generally agreed that the incident, with all the questions that surrounded Kennedy's actions at the time, nixed any real chance he may have had to follow in his brother John's footsteps to become President. But Kennedy did go on to a long career as a U.S. Senator, where he championed many worthy causes to benefit the individual rights of Americans (except for the right to own a gun, of course, and despite the fact that at least some of the time he was protected by people with guns).

Personally, I believe that Chappaquiddick prompted Kennedy to champion many worthy causes, such as civil rights and universal healthcare as some sort of atonement. Nobody can accuse him of being a slouch in the Senate.

But whether we agree or disagree with Senator Kennedy's politics, he was undoubtedly an icon.

Socialists get a Taste of Their Own Medicine

In a recent Fox News poll, 52% say that "...the noisy protesters at town hall meeting are expressing authentic outrage. Some 52% think it is real outrage by concerned citizens--significantly more than the 29% who think the protestors are fake mobs planned by lobbyists and other opposition groups."

I've been saying for a couple of decades that the way to beat socialism is to use the same tactics against socialists that they use against us. Conventional wisdom says that conservatives don't protest in public. Generally speaking when you see a noisy rally on TV it's a group of people with left-leaning political views.

But now we are seeing huge numbers of middle-aged and senior people protesting publicly, and noisily by going to these town hall meetings to protest socialist healthcare. We saw a similar thing on Income Tax Day (April 15) when thousands of people, old, young, Republican and Democrat, organized the Tea Party rallies to protest big government.

Conservatives are behaving like socialists. They are protesting noisily, they are shouting down elected officials when they feel those officials are lying to them. In short, they are applying the tactics of the Left against the Left.

Is it any wonder that some socialists accuse these people of being part of fake mobs? After all, fake mobs, rent-a-mob, has been a tool of socialism for decades. So when socialists see the same tactics used against them, they automatically assume that those people are faking their anger and frustration.

The truth is that the genie is out of the bottle. Once people understand that the things they have worked for all their lives are about to be taken from them, they get angry.

Fake? I don't think so. More like the tip of the iceberg.

This Guy is One Tough Parachutist!

One of the most exhilarating things I've ever done is a parachute jump with the U.S Army Golden Knights parachute display team (click here to read my blog story). These soldiers are true professionals, and excellent ambassadors for the Army.

Today, a former member of the Golden Knights, SFC Dana Bowman made a special parachute jump onto the grounds of Walter Reed Hospital. This is one of the Veterans Administration hospitals for our service people and veterans.

What makes Dana Bowman's jump even more significant than usual is that he lost both legs and his partner in a skydiving accident in 1994, when the two Golden Knights teammates collided in freefall at a combined speed of about 300mph. But within five months of his accident, Bowman went back up and made another jump. After the accident, he created a new career for himself as a motivational speaker, and he jumps regularly to demonstrate that the right mindset and attitude can overcome just about anything.

In case you're wondering about how SFC Bowman lands on two prosthetic legs, it seemed to me, watching the live coverage on Fox News this morning, that he lands on his butt!

Journalists Freed!

I think most people breathed a sigh of relief when the two American female journalists touched down in California on Wednesday after being freed from detention in North Korea. Kudos to former president Bill Clinton for flying out to North Korea to meet with dictator Kim Jong Ill, and making sure that the release took place. It's for situations like this, that we are fortunate to have a few ex presidents on hand. They understand diplomacy, they have credibility around the world, but they are not directly connected to the current Administration, so there isn't much room for the other side to criticize them, or expect any concessions.

No, President Clinton was undoubtedly the right man for the job. Who is better qualified to pick up two young women--perfect strangers--and take them home with him?

Nobody should have to endure twelve years in a North Korean prison for straying across the border in what seemed to be a fairly innocent mistake. I mean, come on, when millions of illegal immigrants deliberately come across the U.S. border, we don't lock them up for twelve years, we argue about whether or not they are entitled to free health care!

Anyway, all kidding aside, I'm sure we are all glad that the two journalists are home.

Bill Clinton Goes to North Korea

No, the former president isn't emigrating to avoid higher taxes on the wealthy. He's doing what I criticized Al Gore for not doing a few weeks ago: trying to secure the release of the two female american journalists who accidentally strayed across the border into North Korea, and ended up with a twelve year sentence to a labor camp.

CNN reports that while the visit is a private trip on Clinton's part, it has the blessing of the White House, because Clinton is also carrying a letter from President Obama to give to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. We can only speculate about the contents of the letter, but I think there are only two likely topics, either a request for clemency for the two journalists, or it's a request for North Korea to resume talks on ceasing its nuclear weapons program.

Lets hope that the former Prez is successful in bringing these two journalists home. But it does beg the question, why didn't the Secretary of State go? Remember back in the '90s when Bill and Hillary were running for the presidency? They said that if elected, America would actually get to-for-one, implying that Hillary would be a politically active First Lady.

How ironic that, now Hillary is Secretary of State, it's her spouse who is the other haf of the Secretary of State team.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Unless you've been living in a cave in Afghanistan, you probably know that President Obama hosted a beer bash with black Harvard law professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge Massachusetts police officer Sgt. James Crowley, who arrested Gates. All three are seen here, presumably on their way to knock back a few cold ones. I wondered if this photo might have been photoshopped but it appears on the White House blog, so I'm assuming it's genuine.

I could ramble on about my interpretation of body language, but really, once you look at the photo you either get it or you don't.

A Fallen Hero Receives the Medal of Honor

Our nation's highest military award for conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty, the Congressional Medal of Honor, has been awarded to Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti of Raynham, Massachusets, who was killed in action on June 21st, 2006 during a firefight with Islamist terrorists.

SFC Monti was deployed with the Tenth Mountain Division in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. SFC Monti had already rescued one wounded soldier when he was shot and killed by Taliban forces while rescuing a second soldier.

Since 1861, the President of the United States, on behalf of the Congress has awarded more than 3,400 medals to individuals from the five service branches of our military. At least SFC Monti is in fine company.

The presentation of the Medal of Honor will be made on September 17 at the White House to SFC Monti's parents. A memorial scholarship fund has been set up in SFC Monti's name. Donations can be made by clicking here.