Big Dogs Weblog

What is it About New York’s Police Leaders?

by Big Dog on Dec 12, 2004 at 16:50 Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment

When the President announced that he selected Bernard Kerik, a former New York Police commissioner, to head the Department of Homeland Security I was skeptical. I live in the state of Maryland and Baltimore City has recruited former New York Police leaders to be the commissioner of the Baltimore City Police Department. One of them moved on to become superintendent of the State Police (thus requiring a new commissioner who was recruited from New York).

The first guy was Edward Norris. He came down here and took over the Baltimore Police Department. Problem is, there was a slush fund for the commissioner that Norris dipped in to in order to entertain some lady friends that were not his wife. He spent money on sexy gifts for them, trysts with them, you know, all the things one would expect a police officer not to do. After Norris accepted the job as superintendent the investigation brought all this to light. Norris had to resign the position and ended up getting convicted and going to jail for six months. He got as much time as Martha Stewart and he was supposed to uphold the law.

The next guy they bring in from New York is Kevin Clark. It appears as if he was not particularly well liked by the rank and file. They were a little upset that outsiders kept getting selected over qualified officers from the department. Anyway, one night some time ago, the police get called to Clark’s house for an alleged domestic dispute involving him and his girlfriend. The police reviewed this and the Mayor decided to have another jurisdiction conduct an investigation. The findings were sealed and all they would say was that there was no wrong doing. If you or I did that a judge would have to make that decision but if you are a cop then you don’t really have to follow the law or go by the same rules as the rest of society. As it turns out, the report was released and it was pretty long. I don’t really know what it said but there seemed to be a lot of contradictions, at least according to the news. Not all that unexpected when you consider how the police look out for each other. Turns out, Clark had some problems with domestic issues in New York. All the attention to this was finally too much for the boy mayor of Baltimore and he released Clark. Now Clark is suing the City for around $60 million. He believes he was wrongfully dismissed.

When Kerik was selected I though Oh no, not another New York Cop. I am sure there are many fine police officers there and across the country. The problem is the police have to uphold the law all the time. If they don’t the people lose confidence in the department. Think about this, if some twit Sheriff’s Deputy made a bunch of bogus stops (claims you are weaving even if you are not) so he can check more people for drinking and driving to beef up his arrest numbers then pretty soon he and his department lose credibility. Is it any wonder that people riot when they believe the police have done wrong? No, the people have lost confidence in the police and their ability to execute their duties without passion or prejudice. As I said, I was worried about Kerik but figured they must have checked him out pretty good. Now it appears he might have had an affair with a subordinate, employed an illegal immigrant, and not paid taxes on the immigrant’s salary (or paid insufficient taxes).

I am dismayed about the whole thing. Someone over at B4B stated that he had hoped there would be more discussion but was happy with the selection. Well, now we see that more discussion was needed. It is unfortunate but at least the guy had the sense to bow out before the confirmation hearing. Then it would have been more than ugly.

Advice to Bush administration: Stay away from career police officers, especially ones from New York. Try looking at some recently retired military officers. They might be your best bet.

Tags: General

Amazing How Some People Embrace the Party Line

by Big Dog on Dec 11, 2004 at 16:56 Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment

I was away on business for a week. I spent time in Kansas City Missouri and I must say that it is a nice place. I also saw a lot of W-04 bumper stickers, oh yeah, Missouri is a RED state. Strange thing though, the people I met seemed to be professionals, not at all like what the blue staters would have you believe a red stater should look and act like.

Any way, I checked over at Lost Adam’s place and he was up to his usual Noonan bashing (Mark Noonan at Blogs for Bush). Noonan made this comment in a post at B4B:

The response from Adam is right in line with the donk talking points and shows that some people will believe what they are spoon fed. People who believe the government should provide for them will believe anything that those who make the promises say. The unfortunate part is that people who think the government should pay for everything do not realize that the government does not pay for ANYTHING. The U.S. tax payer foots the bill. It is a matter of property redistribution. The government acts as a middle man by taking what you have and then spending it on something someone else wants. In addition, this kind of system allows the government to spend it on things the other people believe they are entitled to such as abortions. The people paying the bills might not want their money to go for that but it does not matter, as long as those deemed so entitled get what they are unwilling to earn on their own.

I will try to address each of the comments Adam made.

This is absolutely hilarious to me. I can form a quick list right off the top of my head that are big issues for the GOP.

When GOPers talk about partial-birth abortion, they are talking about late term abortions, which in no way involves birth…

I am sure that Adam is not a medical professional so when you take advice from him do not take it seriously. In the first place a late term pregnancy stands the greatest chance to live or is what we call viable outside the womb. This is the definition of partial-birth abortion from Merriam Webster’s Medical Dictionary:

In addition, the bill President Bush signed contains this language:

I am not a doctor. I am however, a registered nurse. The definitions above should make, even to those without an education in medicine, aware that partial-birth abortion involves being partially born.

When GOPers talk about the 2nd amendment right to bear arms, they are talking about the right of a state militia to be armed…

This is the Second Amendment. I copied it right from my pocket copy of the Constitution of the United States (everyone should have one).

For the uneducated, uninformed, or mislead, this means that only the militia may keep and bear arms. Those who actually read this will see that there are two separate and independent clauses here. The first clause is “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State.” This could be reworded to read “A well regulated militia is necessary for the security of a free State.” The second independent clause is :The right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Notice that this clause does not state the right of the Militia. It also does not state that the people are given the right by the Amendment. It is clear that “The right” already exists and that this Amendment makes it clear that the right will not be infringed upon. This was, and is, necessary. The militia comes from the males in our society and the founding fathers realized that they were the ones who would have to take up arms in the event of an emergency. The Amendment simply states that since we need to be able to form a militia for our security the right to keep and bear arms will not be infringed upon. I think it is pretty clear. I will say that if we take it Adam’s way then the country is not following it in that regard either. This is because the militia, as defined in Title 10 United States Code, Section 311, is all men ages 17-45. Therefore, these men should be keeping and bearing arms.

When GOPers talk about vouchers, they are talking about giving money to private religious schools to take kids out of public secular schools and further divide the nation between the godly and the ungodly…

The GOP actually intends to give vouchers to parents, not religious schools, so they can decide where to send their children. This includes sending them to non-religious schools as well. The public school system is not as successful as private schools, in large part, because of the teacher’s union. DC spends about $10,000 a year per child in the public school system and they are a huge failure. On the other hand, private schools in the DC area spend about $3500 a year per child and have much better success. Something is wrong with the public system and throwing money at it will not help. The GOP wants to give lower income families the option of sending their children to private schools. They want the lower income people to have the same options that the higher income folks have. Clinton’s kid-private school, Gore’s kids-private school, Kerry’s kids-private school, Edwards’s kids-private school. Perhaps the donks don’t want the children of lower income families to get the same breaks because they are afraid of losing their constituency.

When the GOPers talk about banning assisted suicide, they are talking about taking away an American’s right to release themselves with some dignity from the grips of terminal illness…

Suicide, assisted or otherwise, is a crime. This is not just a crime because some religions say it is, it is a crime based on the law of the land. Assisting someone in committing suicide makes one complacent in the breaking of the law. Naturally, people who are successful are not prosecuted. Those who attempt it are usually considered in need of mental health assistance. I am pretty sure I have seen a hell of a lot more people die than Adam has. I know it is not the best of times and in some instances it can be horrific. A lot of times pain is controlled and the person can die with dignity. Suicide is not death with dignity. Kind of strange the left is upset the GOP wants to enforce the law??

When GOPers talk about the environment being a responsibility issue and not a regulatory one, they are talking about letting corporations pollute all they want and not be regulated…

The environment is an issue of responsibility. We need some laws to keep people from over polluting. Politicians from both sides of the aisle are not immune to allowing companies from their states pollute. Clinton had Tyson’s dumping chicken parts in the Arkansas River. Gore’s family farm had an area where they dumped all kinds of stuff. Living things generate waste. Just about any process generates waste. We need smart ideas on how to handle the waste. What we do not need is one party acting like it has members who are not part of the problem. By the way, Mt. Saint Helen’s probably caused more pollution than most other industries in the country and she only had a few months in which to surpass everyone else. Maybe the donks can start backing cement trucks up there and cap her off.

When GOPers talk about privatizing [anything], they are talking about taking it out of the hands of the public and putting it into the hands of private corporations that don’t give a damn about the American public…

I think he means taking it from the government and putting it in the private sector. If something is in the public sector (as he argues) then I agree the government should leave it alone. Health care is in the public sector. Hillary Clinton tried to take it over and regulate it when she was the co-president. John Kerry wanted to take it over and provide health care for all. These are the kinds of things Adam argues the GOP wants to do but the very same things he espouses to when he supports those people. What the GOP wants to do is take some things the government runs and make them, or part of them, private. Take Social Security. It is a crime that people in this country are robbed of their money as a mandatory retirement. It is more of a crime that the money is immediately spent on those drawing from the system right now. In other words, we are not saving our money, it is being taken to pay other people’s benefits. We should have choices in how our money is invested and it should not be used as a bank account for politicians to keep poking into and leaving IOUs. I believe that a portion of the money taken should continue to fund Social Security so those on it continue to get paid. We should be allowed to take the balance and invest it as we see fit. After all, it is for OUR retirement. Most workers in this country could amass much more wealth and live a good life in retirement. When we get to the point that we are no longer paying other people’s benefits we could knock down the amount that goes to that fund. This way there would still be money for the unfortunates who are unable to work or save. Perhaps the left opposes because it might make more people who are less dependent on the government. It would also mean that eventually that big corporation known as the Social Security Administration would be downsized and mostly unnecessary. Oops, now we ticked of the federal employees, another large base for the donks. Most things should be privatized. Name one thing the government has ever run that made money. The Post Office used to but is no longer profitable. Perhaps that should be privatized too. The government is a consumer, not a producer. It consumes the tax payer’s money. About the only thing it produces is social programs to appease its constituents.

The thing about the left is that they speak from a sheet of talking points. They do not think things through or attempt to validate what is being spoon fed to them. They know that they are right and everyone else is too stupid to understand. Guys like Adam will tell you that republicans got more votes because the donks did not make their positions clear. I think they made all their positions very clear. That, of course, is exactly WHY the republicans got more votes.

Tags: General

Tommy Thompson Has Senior Moment

by Big Dog on Dec 5, 2004 at 09:41 Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Drudge reports that outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson stated he does not know why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply.

The exact quote is:

This has got to be about as boneheaded as it gets. This being Sunday during the football season let’s suppose the Eagles, who have been playing pretty good, made an announcement that they are surprised the other teams do not throw into the right side of their secondary because the defensive back is injured and can’t run very well. I think we would see Brett Farve of the Packers throwing to the right from the onset of the game.

How about if a commander in Iraq said, I’, surprised they have not attacked from the West because we are not defending it. NOTE: This is an example and I am sure the military is protecting itself quite well. I’ll bet the terrorists would attack from the West in a day or two.

Whether it is a game or the real thing, you don’t show your hand. By pointing out your own weaknesses you allow the enemy to exploit them. In a game it could mean a loss, in the real world it could mean a catastrophe!

Thompson has given the other side a valuable piece of intelligence. That is the problem in the world of today. Too many people say things without thinking and they help those who would harm us. In World War II the saying was “loose lips sink ships.”

Here is my saying for today’s world: Keep your mouth shut!
We are not fighting stupid people. They read the news, the internet, and they watch TV. They are aware of this and will probably act on these comments. I think the nuclear scenario is a little less important to them now.

I felt OK in writing this because Thompson told the world and the terrorists already know. Plus, I don’t get many visits to this site!!

Tags: General

Lost Adam Tries to Bite the Big Dog

by Big Dog on Dec 3, 2004 at 21:27 Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Adam over at Lost Adam has taken me to task for the last post. He attempts to refute my issues with his post. I will address his “concerns”.
This is his post:

The use of humiliating acts (except for extremes like sexual in nature), solitary confinement and temperature extremes are probably not well defined as torture. Torture is what the Viet Cong did to our warfighters while John Kerry was aiding and abetting them. Our women POWs were raped by the Iraqis. Now that IS torture. The Red Cross did not say we were beating them, shocking them, raping them, or any of a number of other methods of torture. They were being inconvenienced, if in fact these acts are taking place.

Maybe wounded Iraqi fighters were driven over by tanks. Was this a deliberate act? Did the drivers see them. We moved through awfully fast. There is no evidence that the American warfighters took deliberate acts to drive over wounded Iraqis. We shot people holding up white flags. Maybe so, but these are the same people who held up white flags and then opened fire on us when we approached them. There is no evidence to suggest that the people driven over or shot while holding white flags were civilians. They could have been fighters. Someone assumed they were civilians or did not take into account they could have been fighters. It makes for “better” news when those who relate stories assume the worst.

I did not say the Iraqi people were not important. They are just not as important to me as Americans are. There are more schools, hospitals, and services now than before the war. There is more electricity supplied (about 5000 megawatts) than before the war (about 4400 megawatts). Schools are now just that, not weapons caches and havens for terrorists. Iraq was not directly responsible for 9/11. The fact that Hussein met with bin Laden to curry favor and provided safe haven for terrorists makes him culpable. George Bush said if you harbor terrorists you are as guilty as the terrorists themselves. He also gave Hussein the chance to leave. Hussien decided he was against us and that was his mistake. What will it take for people to realize that you have to stop a threat before it manifests into something bigger and more dangerous? In case it is not clear, we are fighting in Iraq because they were a breeding ground for terrorists. Hussein paid families of suicide bombers. We did not invade their sovereign nation saying we were going to liberate them. We went in because intelligence said there were WMD. While we have not found them it is clear they were there. It is also clear that it is easy to say we should not have gone in because there are no WMD AFTER we went and did not find them.

The agenda would appear to be a liberal posing as an Independent who is upset with the results of the election and who will, through his posts, will attempt to take away the legitimacy of Bush’s Presidency and denigrate our Armed Forces. Blanket accusations about our warfighters based on isolated incidents is irresponsible.

The references to Clinton are simple. He was the last President and the left likes to claim that we had eight years of peace and prosperity under his tenure. Adam alluded to no major wars during that time. Fact is Clinton deployed the military on dozens of occasions. He struck Iraq several times with guided missiles and there were 130 strikes for violations of the no fly zone. There was Bosnia, Serbia, Sudan, and Afghanistan. All places where Clinton used military force. By the way, there were lots of civilian casualties during these strikes. The shame is, our men and women were put in harm’s way on several occasions to take America’s mind off the Presidents sexual woes. Adam states he was a teen at that time and did not pay close attention to politics. Be that as it may, he stated he would have voted for Clinton. This means he would just blindly vote for a democrat (he did not pay attention to politics) or he has researched the politics during his youth and made an informed decision as to Clinton’s worthiness. The fact that Adam says he would have voted for him makes the subject fair to address. There are a number of posts at his site praising Bubba. I did not say he made the posts, just that his site was full of praise for Clinton. As for prosperity. The economic numbers are about the same now as they were when Clinton was in office so things are not so different.

I did not make assumptions about Adam. I merely addressed what he wrote as did he about what I wrote. Adam sounds like a smart guy who, in my opinion, is misguided by his anger and bias. It is hard to take a guy seriously when he reveres people like Michael Moore (a lot of that there too). I know he apologized for the moron remark about Bush supporters. His anger is still evident in the way he refers to Noonan (crazy, lunatic). I wish this guy a lot of luck. He is a college student, probably near graduation. I would suggest he try to keep his feelings about Bush and dislike of the military (I believe he does not like the military by what I have read at his site) from clouding his judgment. BTW, I found his site interesting to say the least.

Tags: General

Adam’s Rib

by Big Dog on Dec 3, 2004 at 13:14 Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Mark Noonan posted at Blogs for Bush about the Red Cross report on Gitmo. I think he makes some good points but I have to admit some of the statements are a bit over the top. I think that prisoners held at Gitmo deserve humane treatment whether they fall under the Geneva Convention or not. I, however, do not think that lack of sleep or being held for long periods of time is an act of torture. These people are being treated better than they should expect. We honor their religious beliefs (they get prayer time and we told them which way Mecca is) and provide them with the necessary staples. Hell, they probably eat better in Gitmo than at home! I do not believe that criminal acts on their part gives us the right to commit criminal acts. I do believe that we have a right to do what is necessary to keep our country safe and that includes the use of nuclear weapons.

Having said that, I must comment on the response to the article by Adam at Lost Adam. He calls Noonan a right wing lunatic. This guy Adam wants everyone to believe that there is widespread abuse of prisoners and that we are raping and killing them. I know there were instances of abuse at Abu Grahbe but these acts have been dealt with and the guilty have been or are being punished. This Adam likens us to the savages who are cutting off heads and killing innocent civilians. I know some innocent civilians have been killed but we are not targeting them. That still makes them just as dead but there is a matter of intent. The terrorists intend to kill non combatants, we do not. I think Adam wants us to let them go. The others who have been released were captured or killed while fighting against us again!

This will give you some insight into the mind of Adam. In another post on his sight he makes this statement:

Perhaps it is just me, but the part about more importantly the Iraqi people rubs me the wrong way. As an American, I feel there are no more important (you could argue just as important) people than Americans. I also would like to know where he thinks the 3000 people who were savagely killed on 9/11 fit in. Where is his anger at the number of Iraqi people who have been killed by Hussein? This guy is really out there. His premise is that the report shows the radicals don’t hate us for our values, they hate our policies. Well to freaking bad. I could care less what the rest of the world thinks about our policies. They do not run our country, we do. Also, this numbnuts has an objection to the war on terror. I can understand that people are opposed to war in general and there are people who are opposed to the war in Iraq. They are entitled to these beliefs. I can not understand how anyone who witnessed the attacks on 9/11 could be against fighting those responsible.

I think this lefty donk (who I believe claims to be an Independent) has Post Election Stress Disorder. He does not like Bush or Republicans and is distressed over the election results. There are posts at his blog about election fraud and how terrible Bush is. They rationalize the county-by-county map and denigrate the people who live in the red areas. There are comments that basically call the people who voted for Bush morons. I think we can see his agenda. I would like to know where his moral outrage about war was when Bill Clinton was deploying our troops all over the world. Clinton put them in harm’s way dozens of times while cutting them to the bone. Where is this donk’s ire at how we bombed other countries on Bill’s watch? You probably will not find it. The site is laced with hugs and kisses for the former pervert in chief. Well, Adam is from Arkansas so I guess he has to love Bubba.

Lost Adam is a great name for this guy. He is lost.

Tags: General