August 2007 - Political Certainty

I have been reading, with much enjoyment, the several novels by Daniel Silva involving Gideon Allon, first introduced in 2000’s “The Kill Artist”. Once a key operative in secret Israeli-intelligence missions, and the assassin of most of the Black September killers, Allon is on the run from his past, assuming a quiet life as a meticulous restorer of priceless works of art. In each of the succeeding books, the reluctant spy is brought back to his country’s service and as the novels progress, his character and past become more clearly in focus.

Allon has doubts and worries about the effects of killing are having on him. Eventually, he comes to realize that if he and the State of Israel are to survive, killing is justified, notwithstanding that he is personally diminished. He becomes convinced that no one and no nation will come to a Jewish rescue. Beset by Islamic enemies, European anti-Semitic hordes, American essential self-interest and the hunger for oil, Israel and the Jews must take responsibility for their own survival

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (2)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Baggy pants – Teen Rebellion or Indication of a Lost Generation.

August 26th 2007 13:01

When I was in high school, back in the day, we did not affect clothing or grooming styles that were out of sync with those of our parents. Since I lived a life in a small city north of Boston, I asked the Lovely Joan, who was raised in the shadows of New York City -- thus being exposed to a much less rigid culture – if her friends and she wore clothes and hair in a manner that, intentionally or serendipitously, managed to annoy teachers, adults generally, and, specifically, parents.

Her response was that these were issues that never came up. There were rules of which everyone was familiar. Girls wore skirts or dresses to school and changed into jeans after classes. Guys wore shirts and slacks to school, usually shirts with collars

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (2)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Petitioning the Government. Anyone listening?

August 23rd 2007 20:21

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is clear and unambiguous, prohibiting the enactment of any law that would interfere with the “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” There is a substantial body of case law on this right, none of which explains the content of a White House Manual on how to handle protestors at presidential speeches and appearances.

The “Presidential Advance Manual,” dated October 2002 with the stamp “Sensitive — Do Not Copy,” was released under subpoena to the American Civil Liberties Union as part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of two people arrested for refusing to cover their anti-Bush T-shirts at a Fourth of July speech at the West Virginia State Capitol in 2004. The techniques described have become familiar over the 6 1/2 years of Bush’s presidency, but the Manual makes it clear how organized the anti-protest policy really is

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Practical Federalism, Dog Fights, Pot and Essential Justice

August 21st 2007 21:08

Last June, my regular combatant, SL, asked in her always excellent site, The Political Brief, about the concept of double jeopardy in United States’ law. She raised the issues surrounding the acquittal of O. J. Simpson followed by the imposition of a civil judgment predicated on the same facts, those surrounding the death of his former wife and one of her friends.

After explaining why a criminal proceeding would be no bar to a subsequent civil damage claim, I then briefly discussed issues arising from the concept of federalism and dual-sovereignty. Under these policies, the same set of facts is, increasingly, made a federal crime in addition to the traditional power of the states to enforce its police powers

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Part I: the 2008 election

August 19th 2007 19:10

In about 14 months and a week or so, on November 4, 2008, I will go to the First United Methodist Church of Lutz, just west of the Public Library, enter the polling place designated for Precinct 591, and participate in the choosing of those men and women who assert they will perform with honesty, honor and courage. As of today, it appears that I have only one choice.

In the 13 elections in which I played a role, with one exception which will be explained forthwith, I voted for the Democratic candidate for president. I did so out of my belief in social-progressive-liberalism that I have described many times on these pages. The “exception” about which I mentioned was in 1980. Faced with a Ronald Reagan-Jimmy Carter race, one in which there was no way to choose the better of the two candidates or, perhaps, the less objectionable, I threw my vote away and pulled the lever for John Anderson, a third-party candidate, a former Republican in the later repudiated moderate wing. Mr. Anderson had no chance whatsoever and his support came from independents, moderate Republicans of the “Rockefeller Wing” of that party, Doonesbury and the Village Voice. Anderson ended up with 7% of the vote and failed to carry my, and every other, precinct in the country

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Don't be fooled. You voted or had someone vote for you.

August 11th 2007 21:40

A recent posting by PopulistConservative on these pages quite correctly reflects one problem with the United States’ prolonged campaign and electoral process. We are bombarded with campaign rhetoric and a plethora of debates, on both sides, among persons who would never become seriously considered for the presidency. Part of this is the result of having so many 24-hour news stations and networks that have a need to fill air; part is the result of having campaigns that commence the week after the last inauguration!

One effect of this constant and continuing noise is that, as my friend points out, is that we become bored and disgusted with all of the candidates and their name-calling. The worse consequence is the increasing apathy of moderate voters who do not vote at all. But they do vote by staying home. They grant a proxy to others to vote in their name, and that’s not a good thing

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (2)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

The next Inauguration Address.

August 11th 2007 20:35

Several weeks ago, I posted comments on these pages, noting that our two last major conflicts, promoted and encouraged by presidents of different parties, Johnson in Vietnam and Bush in Iraq, ended, or will end, poorly. The reason for these results is the belief that a war may be prosecuted by only a small fraction of the population and that, for the rest of us, life goes on unabated. I contrasted those conflicts with that of World War II, where the president spoke honestly and candidly about the role of every citizen in supporting the war effort and the sacrifices that had to be made and, in fact, were made.

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (1)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

The Ten Commandments, school prayer and the end of civilization. Part II

August 7th 2007 17:00

In the first part of this post, I attempted to demonstrate that the public, official recitation of prayer by school children had inherent problems and doubtful efficacy. I also tried to show that the reluctance of honorable people to embrace such recitals was not motivated by hatred of Christians, the majority faith in this country, but rather that, to many, even the form and language of the prayer was offensive and, in some instances, forbidden.

In addition to the reinstitution of public prayer, my fellow poster on this site, S.L. Bradish, has complained that we “libs” have forbidden the governmental display of the Ten Commandments which are said to be the cornerstone, the very pillars of our system of law, our very freedoms. Often, the term, “libs” is combined with “secular” to show that liberals or democrats cannot also be devout

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (5)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

The Ten Commandments, school prayer and the end of civilization. Part I

August 7th 2007 14:25

While I have been feeling sorry for myself, arm in sling and trying to decide if whiskey or pain meds would work best, I have been reading the posts and comments of a few favorite contributors to these pages, among them S.L. Bradish, a woman who is always articulate and cogent, even when she lapses into exaggeration to prove a point.

[S.L. refuses to accede to my requesting her to be “my friend” on Orble, which reinforces my high opinion of her

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (6)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Letter to Governor Charlie Crist

August 6th 2007 20:18

August 6, 2007

Honorable Charlie Crist

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (2)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Tempoary injury

August 2nd 2007 23:41

I did something really stupid the other day. Even for my history of “stupid”. We had just had a load of pine bark dumped in our front yard and, due to the heavy and continuous rain here in central Florida the past week or so, it was very slippery. I managed to trip over my own feet and fell, landing on my left arm. The result is a hairline fracture that hurts and makes my already slow typing even slower.

So, I’m going to do some reading and research for articles on my “one of these days” list. To all those evangelicals whom I goad, I ask for a quick prayer for a swift recovery

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (5)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Jim Stillman - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

January 2012

1 Posts

November 2011

1 Posts

September 2011