America's finest
I have stood in the ashes of the World Trade Center at Ground Zero with my eyes filled with tears and my heart filled with rage. I have stood at attention on the parade grounds of Fort Bragg as the 82nd Airborne Division marched in review, my heart bursting with pride. I have looked on with disgust as the Congress used the people's house to conduct their petty business.
Recently a solemn ritual took place in Dover, Del. This ritual has been repeated all too often in my lifetime. With great sorrow, irreconcilable and incomprehensible grief, the warriors of SEAL Team 6 had come home. These warriors have earned a final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery if that was their wish.
I no longer care for what reason we are in the Middle East. It is not worth one more drop of the precious blood of America's finest, bravest and best. Beneath my sadness is a cauldron of anger. We have brought a battle to the Middle East that has no end in sight. It is time to bring the troops home. As we leave, not one brick should be left standing. Let them buy their own weapons and fight their own wars.
I apologize for my bluntness and anger. My heart aches for the men of SEAL Team 6. May they rest in peace; their watch is over. May their families find tranquility. May God by any name bless them, their families and the United States of America.
PETER F. THOMSON
Winston-Salem
We did it
Everyone's whining about the debt ceiling opéra bouffe.
But we elected social ideologues (government should serve people like them), economic ideologues (unregulated, untaxed capitalism solves everything) and political ideologues (government can't work, and they'll prove it). The budget is another hammer to drive their agenda.
We refused to regulate business. It has imagined every possible idea to pick our pockets. Asked how we put money into our pockets, its silence is deafening.
People earn less than their parents. Without disposable income driving the economy, business pushes usurious credit, transforming America into a giant company store. Yet, we glibly demand government be run like business?
We refused to confront our wealthy. They sucked up all the money but refused to pay while America sank into debt. Their wealth bought elections and toadying politicians. Millions tossed at charity cannot offset the fact that they, many of whom produce nothing, are greedy parasites. Still, we cling to the obvious delusion that 5 percent of society taking 95 percent of the money is sustainable prosperity? Or that taxing billionaires is unfair or unwise?
We appeased the militantly ignorant. We pretended nonsense was common sense. We accepted their "right" to their own facts and logic. We gulled ourselves into believing their bigotry and hypocrisy were honest disagreement, on which we should work with them.
If anything, voters got what we deserved. After decades of fatuous ideology, voodoo economics, wealth worship and civilization's most militantly ignorant electorate, what did we expect? A shining city on a hill?
ANDY G. MILLER
Kernersville
Everything in compliance
Your Aug. 25 editorial ("UNC should admit it blew it with closed meetings") raised concerns that a recent orientation workshop for incoming and returning members of the UNC Board of Governors violated the state's Open Meetings Law. This informal session, facilitated by a fellow from the Association of Governing Boards, offered the 16 members who had yet to be sworn in and the 16 continuing board members an opportunity to get to know one another better, to learn general principles of good governance and to consider how they can work together most effectively in support of our university system.
At the outset, the UNC general counsel distributed and reviewed clear guidance on the university's duties and obligations under the Open Meetings Law and took great care to ensure that the workshop discussions didn't stray into university business. All associated costs are being paid from private funds donated to the university.
As executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, I was an early supporter of the creation of the North Carolina Coalition for Open Government and remain committed to transparency and openness when doing the work of the public. As an attorney who spent 17 years on the bench, I believe deeply in the rule of law and am committed to doing my absolute best to ensure that it is followed in every respect. I am confident the university and the board of governors fully complied with the law during both the pre-meeting workshop and the official board meetings that followed.
THOMAS W. ROSS
PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
LTE1: I feel the sorrow and anger, but we need to leave a few bricks standing. There are innocent bystanders over that way.
ReplyDeleteLTE2: TB screed. The same can be said about the other side, changing a name here and there. We had social ideologues and unions' trained seals whom government was to serve. Regulations have been relaxed on unions and legislation issued on their behalf by unelected appointees. We have a union-dominated Administration, and what has it done? Note the unemployment rate and the Administration's priorities up to now. Oh, we'll hear a speech on unemployment this week. Better late than never.
LTE3: I profess ignornance on this
Morning Stab....
ReplyDeleteLte 1...understandable feelings. Things are always bad in the Middle East. Things can always get worse in the Middle East.
Good AM, WW!
ReplyDeleteME Murphy's Law, I see.
Lte 2..we had a financial collapse in 2008 so everything budget based is now front and center and out in the open, at least more than prior years. Take heart, we are now 2 trillion dollars deeper in debt.
ReplyDeleteWe have elected every kind of "ideologue" to congress it seems? When large numbers of citizens don't bother to vote election cycle after election cycle...something will fill that gap. Failure of citizenship is our fault.
Our budget is a hammer? There is no budget currently for fiscal year 2011 which ends in 28 days. I doubt there will be a 2012 budget at this rate.
We refuse to regulate business? Business is highly regulated and getting worse.
People now earn less than their parents? People ignored their parents and have borrowed unbelievable amounts of money to buy on credit.
Confront our wealthy? I figured that was coming. It always does.
We appeased the ignorant and called their nonsense "common sense"? You have described 60 years of Keynesian economics. And these clowns in the White House still want more?
As to your last paragraph, mercifully after all this, we at least have you.
In the Middle East, Murphy would be an optomist?
ReplyDeleteFor a time, then a corpse.
ReplyDeletePoor Murphy
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: There is a deadline in effect for withdrawing troops from the region. The loss of any soldier is a tragedy, but that was a risk they willingly undertook when deciding to enlist. Compared to the over 50k US soldier deaths in Vietnam, the ME death toll for US soldiers has been remarkably low.
LTE 2: Yes, we do indeed earn the type of govt we elect. Unfortunately, the choices for the general election are drawn from primaries where the majority of voters are TB's who wind up voting for TB's. Of course, campaigns from both sides are paid for by special interest groups who then drive the legislative process once the new session begins. Leonard Pitts in an article earlier this week stated it was past time for a third party for those of us put off by the left and right wing TB's who run the existing parties. People may be getting to the point where they are ready to implement that idea.
LTE 3: Not familiar enough with the rules to know what exactly constitutes university business as to make it subject to the Open Meetings Law, but apparently there is a difference of opinion in the matter. Mr. Ross seems to have sufficient knowledge of the subject to know the described "workshop" did not meet the criteria.
Mr. Ross is a former partner with the firm Craige, Brawley, Liipfert & Ross, a former judge, former executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and now president of the University.
ReplyDeleteI have known him for years. If he says something it is the truth. I doubt if he knows how to lie.
I don't know why a person of Mr. Ross' stature would worry about what the WS Journal writes in one of its editorials. Most educated people know that the Journal is little more than a well-funded, English version of 'La Raza'.
ReplyDeleteOnly if they are "educated" by the Murdoch spin machines commonly known as Fox "The Spanish Inquisition" News and The Wall "between the super rich and the rest of humanity" Street Journal.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness we have Fox. If we didn't, we wouldn't have a clue of how much corruption our government is involved in..........
ReplyDeleteAndrew...you're not one of those 'socialists' are you?
I hear there is a new app for 'smartphones'. It gives a ticking clock to indicate how much time is left in Obama's presidency.
ReplyDeleteWhat Senor Buckman DOESN'T know about politics would fill a whole wing of the Library of Congress.
ReplyDeleteWell....Well....Rush is here. I thought you'd be out in a bar banging them down with your liberal buddies.
ReplyDeleteSenor Buckman forgets that "banging" is his department.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, OTRush, the more Bucky posts, the more the real Bucky shines through. Did you notice the posting he made last week, saying he is ready for "new meat" in DC?
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious what he's thinking....
Funnily enough, the rest of us could give a toss about his preferences, it's only Bucky who insists on the charade.
NOT TRUE, lol, I hope to hell he's not gay.
ReplyDeleteI KNOW! I'm so sorry, Coach Bob! There's no other explanation.
ReplyDeleteI only recognize Bucky's problem because I have a similar one: every time I go in the store I try on the size 6 clothes... and squeeze and squeeze and squeeze... and convince myself that clothing manufacturers have gone downhill.
As someone so adroitly stated, DENIAL is not a river in Egypt! :-)
Reille....what am I going to do with you? Since your boyfriend,'Johnny' got indicted, you've gone down hill. You used to be a size 2.
ReplyDeletePlease don't make anymore of those sex tapes. I don't think you'd want to appear in a video tape in your current bodily condition.
You're free to koooo at the boys in here though. You'll soon be lonely when 'Johnny' goes off to the slammer.
I'm not sure why you keep calling me Reille and insisting my boyfriend is Johnny.
ReplyDeleteYou don't know my thoughts about John Edwards.
Bucky, Rielle Hunter found herself a married man and ruined a marriage. Sharon and Jason, both single, found each other and made a marriage. Aside from being ill-mannered, the likening of Sharon and Jason to Rielle and Johnny is far off the mark.
ReplyDeleteWell, Sharon, the Banging Buckaroo has many serious perception problems. He seems to think that I am some old pal of his called Kit. Perhaps he is thinking of that old banging buckaroo Kit Carson...maybe imagining himself snuggled up in the saddle behind old Kit, riding across the plains on a bucking buckaroo.
ReplyDeleteMy manners deserted me in the previous post: good evening all!
ReplyDeleteHi Staballoy! Thanks for your kind remarks, and greetings, I hope you and the lovely Mrs. Staballoy will have some fun time this weekend!
ReplyDeleteOTRush - I'm roaring with laughter!
Little known fact, courtesy of my best friend, the local historian...
ReplyDeleteKit Carson's family was from what is now Iredell County. Tradition has it that when they left in a wagon train for New Mexico Mrs. Carson was pregnant and that the bouncing of the wagon induced early labor and that Kit was born in the middle of the road in Hamptonville in Yadkin County.
This same friend had family that went west about the same time. Years later one of his cousins was "born in a tent on the plains" in New Mexico. His best friend growing up was Kit Carson's grandson.
It is, as always, a small world after all.
Hi Sharon!
ReplyDeleteMrs. Stab and I were in Panera Bread when I made those comments. Her neighborhood had lost power, so we repaired to PB for supper and Internet access.
We have a busy weekend, she with school prep and household duties. I am helping with a Habitat for Humanity build tomorrow, and Habitat for Mrs. Stab work to do as well. We will take Labor Day off. I hope you and Jason do likewise, relax and sample some of his designer beers :)
Sharon, I should mention that I loved your story about your cat catching the bird. I have seen cats do extraordinary things over the years.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite cat moment: we had a "friend" who had a large dog that had killed several cats. We had always told him never to bring the dog to our house, but he was not the brightest boy in town.
One day our younger cats were out hunting in their personal jungle and our oldest, about 16-17 years old, was snoozing on the back porch. Our "friend" pulled into the driveway and out pops his dog, which makes straight for our old cat.
Old cat seems to be frozen and I am thinking that we are going to witness a slaughter. At the last second, old cat rears up on his hind legs and goes 1-2-3 with his open claws. Killer dog flees for the car going yi-yi-yi, blood streaming from his nose. I am told that he never went near a cat again.
What does old cat do. Yawns, curls back up and resumes his snooze...like "I do that every day." He continued to rule the roost at our house over the younger cats and our two large dogs til he dropped dead one day at age 20. His funeral under the apple tree was attended respectfully by all, humans and animals.
Stab...I'm not sure why I'm the one that gets all the lectures in here. Without me, you guys would be talking about whether or not Chaz Bono is going to be wearing boxers or panties when he/she/it appears on DWTS. I, at least, bring serious issues to the forum. Jeez.
ReplyDeleteI still bet Chaz has one of those air pump devices though. When you hear the swishing sound, you know the sex is over, right Chaz?
It's like a flat tire, and everybody knows, when you've got a flat tire, you ain't going nowhere.
Goodnight all.