A Salute to a Fellow American in Louisiana

LPJ readers, I want to introduce you to a fellow American, a patriot and a person who cares about her country, served in the US Army, and survived the terrible disaster of Hurricane Katrina.

I introduce you to her from her open letter to fellow Americans at her blog, False Arguments of Illegal Immigrants, hosted by WordPress …

Dear Fellow Americans;
In 1973 I served my country in the U.S. Army Reserve, with great pride and honor, when I served, my favorite song was, and still is to this day; “I’m Proud To Be An American”. But, lately, I’ve sat back and watch our elected representative officials in Washington DC take this country to places I thought it would never go; TO UTTER CORRUPTION!
Telling the WORLD and 12 million illegal law breakers it’s ok, we forgive you for coming into this country the wrong way, ILLEGALLY! Now we’re going to REWARD your crime by making you all legal citizens. … Well Enough is Enough!

You can read more of this open letter at her site under the Soldier link.

Richie Battiest Collins has demonstrated her talent by writing lyrics to the song at the YouTube video Take Back Our Country! © 2007. Richie is participating in the production of other songs to make an album.

Richie is a resident in the state of Louisiana where Hurricane Katrina struck to make it the worst national disaster since the San Francisco earthquake.

She is currently a commodities trader and she has a side kick canine she calls – Batman. Richie writes:

I believe we have to unite as one voice of opposition against all these enemies that has risen up against the American Peoples’ interest and supplanted the interest of an illegal class of people that has no plans what so ever to assimilate into this country’s way of life. Instead these people are hard down (that’s southern phrase) trying to force us to change our way of life for them. … Well, I am not going to give up this country without a fight. What about you? … To them I say go back! Volver! Vuelva!

Richie has provided comment to one of the articles here at LPJ. Take the time to read it and also visit her site.

And, to Richie, I thank you for your introduction and stand by you as a fellow Patriot, once serving our country as soldiers and now serving as loyal citizens.

Bassmaster Open Tournament Schedule and Information

For those interested in fishing tournaments and are eligible, the 2008 Bassmaster Open tournament began in January and includes three events in two divisions: Central and Southern. The top five anglers in each division after the three events qualify to fish the Bassmaster Elite Series and the top three in each division qualify to fish the 2009 Bassmaster Classic.

The Southern Division opened at the St. Johns River[i] in January, then to Santee Cooper[ii] in May, and finishes at Lake Guntersville[iii] in October. The Central Division schedule includes an April open event on the Red River[iv], followed by Kentucky Lake[v] in September, and Lake Texoma[vi] in late October. [Photo courtesy of ESPN.

Myth Blaster - The President’s Administration and Enron Scandal

Friend of LPJ sent the following email for Myth Blasting (Title: Did you know our President?) …

1. Enron’s chairman did meet with the president and the vice president in the Oval Office.
2. Enron gave $420,000 to the president’s party over three years.
3. It donated $100,000 to the president’s inauguration festivities.
4. The Enron chairman stayed at the White House 11 times.
5. The corporation had access to the administration at its highest level and even enlisted the Commerce and State Departments to grease deals for it.
6. The taxpayer-supported Export-Import Bank subsidized Enron for more than $600 million in just one transaction.
Scandalous!! But – the president under whom all this happened WAS NOT George W. Bush … it was President Bill Clinton.

 

American Politics, Part 3 - Early Republic and Its Political Establishment

After the establishment of a new nation, the task of establishing a democratic form of a republic was taken in hand by those who we have come to be known as the “Founders”. During that period and in the year of 1787, papers of discussion and planning were published. Henry Cabot Lodge, in The Federalist, wrote in New York in 1888 commentary and a compilation of those papers, which has come to be known as the Federalist Papers. …

Irshad Manji - Representative of the Islamic Reform Movement or A "Tokyo Rose" of the Islamic Movement?

It is aptly called the Moral Courage Project and the voice and spiritual incentive of the organization is something rarely heard in the world of the Muslim – a woman. Her name is Irshad Manji, which is the title of her Blog. Her theme is Muslim reform and moral courage. Irshad appears in the PBS Documentary: Faith Without Fear available on DVD in the United States and Canada. She is the author of the book The Trouble With Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith, published in 25 countries, soon to be released in Indonesia (audio version available) with free translations of her book available in languages where her book is banned: Arabic, Urdu, Persian and Malay editions. At her About Irshad page:

Vietnam War Syndrome Revisited

Here is an article that is reminiscent of the John Kerry congressional hearings of the Vietnam War era – Pentagon Holds Thousands of Americans ‘Prisoners of War’, Penny Coleman, AlterNet, March 26^th 2008 …

Sgt. Kristofer Shawn Goldsmith was one of the many soldiers and Marines, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, who gave testimony at last weekend’s Winter Soldier investigation. The spoke from personal experience about what the American military is doing in those countries. … The panel Goldsmith was on was called “The Breakdown of the U.S. Military,” so he surprised the audience when he said that he was going to talk about prisoners of war.
He was not, however, going to talk about the three soldiers listed as missing in action on the Department of Defense website. He was referring to those who have been the victims of stop-loss, the device by which the president can, “in the event of war,” choose to extend an enlistee’s contract “until six months after the war ends.” The “War on Terror” is this president’s excuse for invoking that clause. Because that war will, by definition, continue as long as we insist that there is a difference between the terror inflicted on our innocents and the terror inflicted on theirs, American soldiers are effectively signing away their freedom indefinitely when they join the military. They are prisoners of an ill-defined and undeclared war on a tactic – terrorism – that dates back to Biblical times and will be with us indefinitely. According to U.S. News and World Report, there are at least 60,000 of them.

American Politics, Part 2 - Colonial Period to Early Republic

History books and historians look at history in ages or eras. In the case of American history, for example, there is the colonial period, foundation of a New Republic, Expansionism, Age of Jackson, Wild West, the Progressive Era, et cetera. In Morton Keller’s book of political history it is divided in what he calls “regimes”[i] –

Deferential-republican, running through the colonial period and the early Republic to the 1820s
Party-democratic, from the 1830s to the 1930s
Populist-bureaucratic, from the 1930s to the present[ii]

In Keller’s introduction he correctly states:

It is widely assumed that ours is a special time in American history: of a uniquely bitter politics and disillusioned electorate; an exceptionally dysfunctional president, Congress, and bureaucracy; a highly polarized Supreme Court. Title of recent books on public affairs make the point: Dark Ages America, Politics Lost, American Theocracy, The Twilight of Democracy, Protofascism in America, The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy. Is this sense of special malaise accurate? That question requires an answer grounded in history.

Easter Mass Disrupted By "Peace" Advocates

This is a short entry today. It is a news release concerning a despicable, disgusting and disrespectful act by Iraq War protesters that took place on Easter in Chicago. Reported by Association Press and published FOX News, March 24^th 2008 …

Six Iraq war protestors disrupted an Easter Mass on Sunday, shouting and squirting fake blood on themselves and parishioners in a packed auditorium.
Three men and three women startled the crowd during Cardinal Francis George’s homily, yelling “Even the Pope calls for peace” as they were removed from the Mass by security guards and ushers.
One Mass attendee, Mike Wainscott of Chicago, yelled at the anti-war protesters.
“Are you happy with yourselves? he said. “There were kids in there. You scared little kids with your selfish act. Are you happy now?”
The group, which calls itself Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War, said in a statement after the arrests that they targeted the Holy Name Cathedral on Easter to reach a large audience, including Chicago’s most prominent Catholic citizens and the press, which usually covers the services.
Kevin Clark of International Solidarity Movement told the Chicago Tribune that he attended the Mass to serve as a witness for the protesters. …
Speaking after the service, George said, “We should all work for peace, but not by interrupting the worship of God.”
Police charged each of the six protesters with one count of felony criminal damage to property and two counts each of misdemeanor simple battery. … They have a court date set for March 31 on the misdemeanors.

See also – FOX Chicago coverage.

Well, the protesters got the coverage they wanted and at the same time will probably get jail time and a police record for their disgusting actions. I don’t think they realize that they have not furthered their advocacy – but instead turned more against their movement. One must consider the organization behind the organization - being one that takes the side of Palestinian terrorism/political violence. Enuff said.

Gideon Polya: Talented Artist but Ignoramus Blogger

Gideon Polya marks the Easter Christian holiday with anti-Semitism and pro-Islamic fundamentalist propaganda message. The brainwashed or naïve (or combination of both) article he writes spells out the mentality of the blind hate and constant blame put upon the Bush administration with the following excerpts from his “opinion” posted at Newsvine, March 23^rd, Easter Day, 2008 …

Islamic Edict May Usher in New Strength Against Islamic Fundamentalism

The Nation reports good news in terms of Islamic clerics and “moderate” Muslims who are against violence and considered a stain upon the principles and ideology of Islam. Fatwa Dubs Taliban ‘Out of Islam’ by Shamim Shahid, March 23^rd 2008 …