May We Celebrate The Blessings of This Day.

We Remember...

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal";
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free
While God is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on!

...Betrayed

I weep…
I howl…
THIS was the future WE were promised in our childhoods reading Clarke, Asimov and Bova. The worlds of Saberhagen and Bester. The fevered martial-dreams of Niven, Pournelle and Bujold...
MylackofGod!  How could I have forgotten Robert A. Heinlein?

Instead we have a small world of false-entitlement, hypocrisy and petty-politicians with no dreams at-all. Impoverished of goals, parochial in vision…

It was to be in our generation and our children’s.

Tanstaafl.

DADT is gone...

Somewhere in Heaven Maj. General Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Baron von Steuben, the Drillmaster of Valley Forge, Chief of Staff and Inspector General of the Continental Army, author of “Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States” is smiling.

The Way Forwards

The GOP needs a leader who will hammer-home the new paradigm that it’s the Democrats who are the Party of Wall Street, Big Business and Big Labor. They don’t care about small business, the entrepreneur, or the worker at a small business who’s non-union. The Democrats don’t even care about farmers anymore…just Big Agro’ and their allies Big Pharma.

The GOP needs to drive a wedge between the struggling small business owner or small business executive who’s sweating-out a payroll…and the fat-cat Big Business exec. and his golden parachute and no sweat or sweat equity in the game. Between those who work hard and risk their own money, and the corporate-types on Wall Street, Big Business and Healthcare/Pharma who just play with “Other People’s Money” while protected by golden parachutes and government bailouts.

This has not been a failure of Capitalism…it’s been a failure of Casino Capitalization and the corrosive effects of Other People’s Money. It’s time for some GOP Leader to step forwards and deliver a “Cross of Gold” speech for the 21st-Century and revitalize Republicanism as a party of muscular activism as under Theodore Roosevelt…not as the “Party of No” against Obamaism.

The Nobel So-called Peace Prize

Yet again the Nobel Committee has lowered the bar on what ACTIONS constitute "Peacemaking" in today's sorry world. While Pres. Obama shows promise, to nominate an elected official with little-to-no foreign policy experience or stature just TWELVE DAYS after his inauguration is both premature and exceedingly shallow.
And to cite Pres. Obama's June 4th, 2009 Cairo speech when the nominations closed in February 2009 demonstrates that the Committee chose Pres. Obama without actual deeds-on-the-ground, and then wrote the citation to fit.

"Out" on the PGA Tour?

The PGA Tour has three major factors that would discourage a talented gay golfer from competing on-tour. One, there's a very outspoken and prominent fundementalist-evangelical Christainist movement within the PGA Tour locker room. And with professional golf being such a collegial-sport and business, I would think that any "out" golfer would have a real problem both with a large percentrage of the Tour and the sponsors.

Two, more-so than most professional sports the PGA Tour's wives and girlfriends are very prominent both on the Tour and in the TV broadcasts. There's always the "cute moment" on the 72nd hole where the Tour-member's greeted by the wive or girlfriend on TV, and during the Tour special events like the Ryder and President's Cup the wives and girlfriends are actually part of the official entourage with their matching get-ups and social activities. I imagine being the first male boyfriend in that gaggle of twelve bottle-blond "golf-wives".

The third is the lifestyle. While yes the PGA Tour and the junior tours visit exciting resorts, they're straight resorts not known for the gay visitors or exciting gay nightlife off-course. Plus there's no real privacy for even a closeted guy to either date or have a active relationship with someone. The entire Tour travels effectively as a group...using the same hotels, places to eat, and see each other 6-days a week sun-up to sun-down. Between the Tour-members, their caddies, the wives and girlfriends...and the PGA Tour business and TV broadcasting entourage...the rumor-mill would quickly "out" any gay carrying-ons.

...And then there's the sponsors. For a number of years there was quiet chatter about Justin Lenard until he got rather-publicly married a few years ago. His career didn't improve; but his endorsement deals certainly did. While the serial infidelities of a John Daly and his multiple marriages make him a golf-legend, the PGA and the endorsing sponsors equally fear a gay scandal like the misbehavior of CNN"s Richard Quest just this week. Especially in their Red-State, Republican TV markets.

I fear the unless a new, young towering talent like a Tiger Woods rises from the college-ranks...who was already "out" while in college...we're not going to see an out PGA Tour member. Someone with such protean-power and talent that some sponsor will take the gamble like Nike did on Tiger , and who's golf skills will frighten the bigots to keep a low profile just as they did for Tiger Woods.

Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.

- Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

Why am I reluctant?

I just spent the last 3-hours-plus going through the Log Cabin candidate-profiles, the Club for Growth's white papers, and looking at the actual candidates' sites for several of the front-running and second-tier candidates. In-part since I wanted to take a much closer-look at Rep. Paul, who Uncle Sully's been shilling-for. While I have some sympathies for Dr. Paul's "libertarian" views, his positions on both abortion and the use of the military and Iraq are just total no-starters here. Plus, there's the unelectability -factor. Tancredo and Huckabee's anti-abortion and just down-right anti-gay positions make them non-starters, and Romney's an opportunist and flop-flopper. Plus there's the still open-issue in my mind about his Mormonism vs. his conscience and the US Constitution.

That basically leaves me back at Rudy Giuliani. He's posted his Twelve Commitments on his website, with background statements on 11 of them. In going-through the bullet points in the backgrounders, I find that I can basically agree with just about all of them, and I can even live with his position on gay marriage if balanced by meaningful domestic partnership laws.

Yet I feel a general unease...I just don't trust the man...and I'm not sure why. It's the same feeling I have towards Dick Nixon or Frank Rizzo; they're all-right for 95% of the time...but watch out for the 5%, especially in the middle of the night. For some reason I have the mental image of a Pres. Giuliani wandering the halls of the White House late at-night...between crises...muttering to himself about perceived enemies in the fashion of the failed Nixon-presidency. He's whole persona's repellant, like a Mob boss or a long-time ward-healer on-the-make....and the take. I got the same "vibe" from Jim McGreevey when I'd run into him at functions back when he was my closeted-Governor; you just didn't want to shake his hand or be anywhere near him. "Danger! ...Danger, Will Robinson!"

Do you vote agenda, or character? Is electing St. Hillarybeast for 4 years safer(!!) than allowing ANY of the GOP-hopefuls near the Oval Office? I'd feel better if Newt Gingrich was running...or at-least was locked-in as Giuliani's Vice-Presidential running-mate.

It's late, and I need a drink,

Is LCR - National effective?

It would help if the LCR-Natl’ had some money to spread around like a proper “special interest”….but that’s right, they’re broke and won’t tell anyone (including the general membership) the truth about it’s finances. No-one has yet explained where the “One-million-dollars” alledgedly spent by Patrick (the First) to defeat a Republican-candidate-and-sitting-President in the 2004 general election came from in the first-place. …Smart move.

And other than a e-newsletter and sponsoring upscale ski-parties and $1500-a-person “fly-ins” to Washington DC…what has LCR-Natl. been doing? Many of the local and state chapters have been busy getting G/L Republicans involved at the local-level, but there’s no sign of any Nationally-generated grassroots political operation, not any overt lobbying on the Hill or to the White House. Oh, that’s right…they don’t have any money to spread around….

And without some financial and organizational transparency, I’m reluctant to give at the “what-ever“-level without knowing where it’s going and who authorized the budget…and who’s auditing the books.

A Mormon President?

I'm not supporting Romney for President, but not because of the Mormon past; I'm disconcerted by their Prophet and his theological authority over any faithful Mormon today and tomorrow. As a beliving Mormon and Mormon bishop, Romney does not answer to his own moral conscience; he answers to his Prophet. What pressures might a Prophet have over the decisions and actions of the President of the United States; who holds the powers of life and death over the entire planet via the Presidential "football", who is Commander-in-chief, and commands the full weight of the Federal Government. If the Prophet calls in the middle of the night, at what point does his Presidential oath to uphold the Constitution and protect the people of the United States conflict with his obedience to his Prophet over some moral, ethical or even apolcalypic crisis?
I want a President of the United States who owns and answers to his own conscience; not to his Prophet, his Holy Father, nor any any other failible third-person. The presidency is dfferent than any other elected-office in America, and requires special consideration of who has access to it's unique powers....

A First Step towards Reform

It certainly makes sense to have some-reform of the familial-ties aspect of immigration. Does it really serve the public good that once one member of a family getts residency-status or citizenship that the ENTIRE CLAN gets first-dibs on the limited number of legal slots. I can understand spouses and children, and parents where the children are native-born; but why grandparents and aunts, uncles and fourth-cousins and THEIR children....over meritorious candidates with needed skills and/or capital. As long as it doesn't turn into a education-derby. If we needed murses we allow more nurses, if we need more field-laborers allow more field-laborers. But just because the applicant has a Ph.D. in Compartive Literature or Bio-Sciences does mean he gets in line-first....especially if we need construction workers, etc...

And frankly, most "professional" credentials from foreign countries at face-value are NOT comparible to US credentials and work experience. In my own profession, there are maybe 5 or 10 international schools who's graduates are one-to-one with those of our graduate schools....and we in-the-profession still requier years of apprenticeship and testing before licensure. Our major "immigration" problem is getting/incouraging the international students in our graduate programs to return home afterwards...like they agreed-to in their visa-applications. Too-many just stay afterwards, work here, then claim "irreplaceable skillls" after-the-fact.

I'm not sure I fully-understand the part where they have to return to their country-of-origin to fill-out their paperwork. If they will already have probationary-status here, and they don't have to permanently go home and wait; why go home to do the application? I could understand if they had to go to their consulate; that would make the home-country feel some of our pain as they attempt to cope with the flood at their consulates' gates demanding consular-services help with the forms.

The Lion

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
Born: 30 November 1874
Died: 24 January 1965

Judgment Day

The Charging Rhino endorsements...

U.S. Senate for New Jersey; Tom Kean, Jr.(R)
U.S. Fourth District for New Jersey; Carol Gay (D)

Frankly both are anti-incumbent votes rather than stirring-support for the challengers. Sen. Menendez (d) appears to be yet-another ethically-challenged figure in the fine-tradition of NJ elected-officials, and is a mainstream liberal democrat. Kean will safely represent NJ's interests and follow the lead of the Republican leadership.

My pick for Congress is much more of a challenge. Rep. Chris Smith (R) has been the incumbent for over 23-years and it's time for a change. He traditionally has only one position, anti-abortion, and is quite flexible on all-others even to the detriment of the District; he's never worked in the private-sector; and I'm tried of looking at him. He just hasn't EARNED my vote. Carol Gay on the other hand, has all the requisite Bolshie credentials of a real-loser; unionist organizer of public workers, NARAL, the Unions and every anti-Iraq war group. I'm sure she'll get along fine with Madame Pelosi and the gentlewomen Representative of the People's Republic of Berkeley. We can also easily get rid of her in two years, and get a sensible Republican candidate to represent the 4th-District of whom we can respect.

If you can'st vote for 'em, vote aginst 'em.

The local County wide races I support the Republicans for the open County Commissioner and County Surrogate positions.

For the local ballot questions;
1. I see little point to redirect gas-tax monies to "mass-transit" when we don't have any effective mass-transit here in the county other than the Riverline Light-rail which is a separate agency. Running buses through an expanding suburban-zone that lacks a local hub is pointless and expensive based on passenger-mile-ridership analysis; it's the road maintenance and new town-center by-passes that are needed.
2. I support the expansion of the Green-acres and Farmland Preservation programs at their current funding-levels for another 5 years.
3. I reject attempts to plaster-over budget shortfalls by "dedicated tax" redirection in-general.


UPDATE: Charging Rhino supports and thanks Mike Fitzpatrick, PA-10th, (R).
I was going to mention this after the election, but on-reflection I thought it might be more meaningfully today....

Last night I attended a LCR gathering for Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, PA 10th (R) in New Hope PA. For those who don't know the East Coast, New Hope is an artists' colony and gay-watering hole in Bucks County on the Delaware River, that's been around as long as Provincetown located between NYC and Philly. The attendees where a mixed group of LCR locals from Bucks, and LCR members and friends from NYC, New Jersey and Philly....probably 50-60 over-all.

Several things were striking to myself who's somewhat of an outsider to PA politics being as I'm from NJ. (Although New Hope is home of my "local" gay bar.) One was the politics-as-usual attendance of the event by not only the local incumbent Republican Congressman, but also the Republicans candidates for State Assembly and the State Senate, along with the Mayor of New Hope. The Congressman was there about 45-mins, and the two State candidates were in-attendance for over an hour-and -a half.

...On the last Sunday night before the election all three made the time to attend a "gay" political gathering...and the discussions and speeches were on "Republican" themes of governance and responsibility...not "gay" issues. The sheer ordinariness of the entire event was heartwarming...it was "politics", not pandering. About how principled bi-partisan action works, and governance-issues.

Also in attendance were Patrick Sammon, LCR's new Exec. Vice President who I was very impressed-by; Jeff Cook, LCR's former Field Director who unsuccessfully challenged in the Primaries for a Congressional-seat in Upstate New York; and several of the officers from both the NYC and Philly LCR-chapters.

Rep. Mark Foley (Fl.-R) Resigns...

I would respectfully suggest that the real problem is not the "age difference", but the "abuse of authority". This is the same reason that teacher-student, supervisor-subordinate, doctor-patient, priest-penitant and officer-enlisted relationships are considered inapproprite....regardless of "touching" or comsumation. If the Representative were some 50-plus businessman chatting-up your 16-yo neighbor's son, the lot of you would not be calling for his head...there would just be a lot of "tsk, tsk'ing" and social-frowning.

I see the resignation as an acknowledgement of personal shame for inappropriate behavior and exposed hypocrisy, not criminality...so far. And I think the cry of "Pedophile !!" is yet-unjustified and politically-motivated.

What's unfortunate for the G/L community is that "we" have taken yet-another P.R. black-eye courtesy of one of elders inability to keep his (typing) hands to himself. The general public will just assume that he's been deflowering young lads on his House office-coach, and mutter "...another closet-case fag, they are ALL like that".

Time for "Roman" Methods?

Just as a question for clarification; are there any uniformed-members of the US military in “enemy hands” at-present? As I remember, the last two were castrated, gutted like sheep, their corpses multilated AND left in the Sun booby-trapped. Some independent contractors and press-members have been “kidnapped” then killed or released/ramsomed; but is the prospect of a uniformed-trooper being “captured” and treated as a recognised POW a realistic operational-outcome in this asymetric GWOT? I just don’t see the “…but their captors will be war-criminal if they are abused” as being much of a safe-guard either-way.

Or, does asymetric warfare require a return to “Roman” methods? Raise the “cost” of abusing captive uniformed US soldiers so high that the society that shields and supports the terrorists are unwilling to pay for the terrorists misdeeds. What if after the sight of US troopers dead and naked bodies being descecrated in Mogodishu heavy armor (yes we didn’t have any there, grrr….) sealed a radius of several-hundred meters and killed every man, woman, child, goat and dog withing the perimeter; and bulldozed the entire zone into a circular level-plain of barren dirt. And did so the next incident, and the next. Would the word get out that it pays to at-least attempt to follow the Laws of War when the Leviathan’s pissed?

Is there a point where being bound by the Law is pointless when dealing with outlaws? Laws are social-contracts and social-constructs with the implication that both/all sides are bound by them. The very term “outlaw” has it’s origins in their own actions placing them outside the bounds of the law…not that they were protected by the Law they broke. Traditionally, an outlaw could be slain out-of-hand, be denied hearth and fire…and even those who helped them be tried and punished. And before you say that doesn’t exist anymore…look at the rights forfeited by bail-skippers in the US ever day.

While it is a noble ideal to protect our uniformed-troops, is an oversensitivity to hypothetical situation in the Future worth ham-stringing reasonable protective and defensive actions now? We unfortunately are in an era of asymetry, not reciprocity. And the likelihood is that will be the face of armed conflict for this century; not war with China, nor maybe even the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. It’s going to be Middle-eastern religious upheavals, tribalism, and regional warlords in Africa. And just maybe there’s no room left for the Golden Rule anymore?

2486 Years Ago Today

"Go, stranger, and tell the Spartans
That we lie here in obedience to their laws."

On August 11, 480BC the Battle of Thermopylae ended.

Normandy, 1944

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the House of Commons on June 6, 1944, regarding the D-Day invasion of France:

" I have also to announce to the House that during the night and the early hours of this morning the first of the series of landings in force upon the European Continent has taken place. In this case the liberating assault fell upon the coast of France. An immense armada of upwards of 4,000 ships, together with several thousand smaller craft, crossed the Channel. Massed airborne landings have been successfully effected behind the enemy lines, and landings on the beaches are proceeding at various points at the present time. The fire of the shore batteries has been largely quelled. The obstacles that were constructed in the sea have not proved so difficult as we apprehended. The Anglo-American Allies are sustained by about 11,000 frontline aircraft, which can be drawn upon as may be needed for the purposes of the battle. I cannot, of course, commit myself to any particular details.
" Reports are coming in in rapid succession. So far the Commanders who are engaged report that everything is proceeding according to plan. And what a plan! This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever taken place. It involves tides, wind, waves, visibility, both from the air and from the sea standpoint, and the combined employment of land, air, and sea forces in the highest degree of intimacy and in contact with conditions which could not and cannot be fully foreseen.
" There are already hopes that actual tactical surprise has been attained, and we hope to furnish the enemy with a succession of surprises during the course of the fighting. The battle that has now begun will grow constantly in scale and in intensity for many weeks to come, and I shall not attempt to speculate upon its course. This I may say, however. Complete unity prevails throughout the Allied Armies. There is a brotherhood in arms between us and our friends of the United States. There is complete confidence in the supreme commander, General Eisenhower, and his lieutenants, and also in the commander of the Expeditionary Force, General Montgomery. The ardour and spirit of the troops, as I saw myself, embarking in these last few days was splendid to witness. Nothing that equipment, science or forethought could do has been neglected, and the whole process of opening this great new front will be pursued with the utmost resolution both by the commanders and by the United States and British Governments whom they serve.
" I have been at the centres where the latest information is received, and I can state to the House that this operation is proceeding in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. Many dangers and difficulties which at this time last night appeared extremely formidable are behind us. The passage of the sea has been made with far less loss than we apprehended. The resistance of the batteries has been greatly weakened by the bombing of the Air Force, and the superior bombardment of our ships quickly reduced their fire to dimensions which did not affect the problem. The landings of the troops on a broad front, both British and American - Allied troops, I will not give lists of all the different nationalities they represent - but the landings along the whole front have been effective, and our troops have penetrated, in some cases, several miles inland. Lodgments exist on a broad front.
" The outstanding feature has been the landings of the airborne troops, which were on a scale far larger than anything that has been seen so far in the world. These landings took place with extremely little loss and with great accuracy. Particular anxiety attached to them, because the conditions of light prevailing in the very limited period of the dawn - just before the dawn - the conditions of visibility made all the difference. Indeed, there might have been something happening at the last minute which would have prevent airborne troops from playing their part. A very great degree of risk had to be taken in respect of the weather.
" But General Eisenhower's courage is equal to all the necessary decisions that have to be taken in these extremely difficult and uncontrollable matters. The airborne troops are well established, and the landings and the follow-ups are all proceeding with much less loss - very much less - than we expected. Fighting is in progress at various points. We captured various bridges which were of importance, and which were not blown up. But all this, although a very valuable first step - a vital and essential first step - gives no indication of what may be the course of the battle in the next days and weeks, because the enemy will now probably endeavour to concentrate on this area, and in the event heavy fighting will soon begin and will continue without end, as we can push troops in and he can bring other troops up.
" It is, therefore, a most serious time that we enter upon. Thank God, we enter upon it, with our great Allies all in good heart and all in good friendship."

Known but to God...

....Memorial Day 2006

Congressional Office Cleaning Services

I’m wondering...since I’m politically-paranoid...if this kerfuffle isn’t actually a public shot-across-the-bow of Congress as a warning to the Democratically-controlled House launching into the swarm of “investigations” to harass the Bush administration in it’s final two years. Pelosi and Conyers have been making less-the-veiled threats to call “everyone” in on to the carpet and investigate them for any real or imagined wrongdoings. The clear message is “start looking through our trash, and we’ll send the FBI to start sifting through your's”.

Look for lot’s of sealed cardboard boxes to removed quietly between now and the Memorial Day weekend from congressional offices on both sides the Hill, and back home in the districts, as the staffs sanitize their files and ship the “offending” documents off to the same discreet storage facility that Hillary Clinton’s law firm used for her billing records. I forsee a sudden-shortage of cardboard storage boxes and packing tape at the local Beltway Staples store.