• I could have sworn that ‘Moonlight Graham’ finally died walking into the cornfield with Ray Kinsella and ‘Shoeless Joe’ Jackson but, no, he is alive and well and living in Washington, D.C.  The Republican Party’s very own version of a ‘broken clock,’ Senator Lindsey Graham, RINO-SC, is now suggesting that Congress act quickly on a climate bill.  Why?  Because.  Because why?  Just because.  Just because why?  Just because Congress failed on Social Security, failed on Immigration, failed on Health Care and, ‘darn it, Congress needs a victory.’  Well, Moonlight . . . I suppose it depends on where you’re coming from in order to judge the defeat of amnesty for illegal immigrants and the potential defeat of a government takeover of 1/6 of the American economy through ill-advised health care legislation as failures, but you keep on, keepin’ on, Senator . . . if nothing else, you are very humorous.  Oh, by the way, Senator, global warming is hooey.  And, if there is anyone who knows hooey, Senator, you’re it.
• Ok . . . did you hear that we are contemplating the expenditure of $100 million on moderate Taliban, to give them jobs and a leg-up in their oppressive culture?  Wow, moderate Taliban, hmmm.  Are the moderate Taliban the ones who stone just three women a week for looking in the direction of men?  Or are they the ones who let women start reading when they reach 21?  I hadn’t thought about it previously, but if we had only found those moderate Nazis.  Frightening and plain silly.  You don’t pay evil, Mr. President, you crush it.
• As Ben Stein so aptly put this morning, the stimulus bill was about $780 million, now adjusted up for another $85 million in unforeseen costs and the average job in America pays $50,000 per year – this means that approximately 15 million jobs should have been created (ACTUALLY CREATED, not SAVED) in this first jobs bill.  Depending on which administration mouthpiece is speaking, somewhere between 200,000 and 2 million jobs have been ‘saved’ by the stimulus bill, while the economy has bled another 4 million jobs in the same time frame.  In simple math, the stimulus bill has underperformed by about 19 million jobs – and, the president wants a second ‘jobs’ bill?!  This administration is so utterly lost, it’s amazing.
• Don’t be fooled by this alleged 5.7% 4th quarter GDP growth.  First, these numbers are based on estimates and, as soon as hard numbers actually come in, these numbers will be adjusted downward.  Second, please understand that GDP growth, as a percentage, is a function of how deflated the economic balloon is to start with.  I put a penny in your pocket which has 2 cents in it already, I’ve increased your wealth by 50%.  I put a penny in your pocket which has 10 cents in it already, I’ve increased your wealth by 10%.  You get the point.  Third, these numbers are inflated in all likelihood because inventory depletion was relatively low – this inflated inventory is a function of increased worker productivity, not an increase in employment and the validity of this 5.7% number will be tested when we see how much of that inventory is actually purchased in the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2010.  Manufacturers can build, build, build, but until consumers buy, buy, buy, these numbers mean nothing and could foretell a double dip recession if we’re not careful.

• Lost in most reports about President Obama’s appalling disrespect of the Supreme Court in his incredible mid-speech challenge of its ruling in Citizens United and Justice Sam Alito’s response is that our esteemed Commander-in-Chief was flat out wrong.  In an attempt to deflect any post-speech scrutiny, the White House released this morning excerpts from Justice Steven’s dissent to support the President’s misstatement that the Supreme Court had cleared the way for foreign corporations to donate to federal political campaigns, as follows:

If taken seriously, our colleagues’ assumption that the identity of a speaker has no relevance to the Government’s ability to regulate speech would lead to some remarkable conclusions.  Such an assumption would have accorded the propoganda broadcasts to our troops by ‘Tokyo Rose’ during World War II the same protection as speech by Allied Commanders.

Two observations regarding this misuse of Justice Stevens’ dissent to support the President’s unabashed gall.  First, the Supreme Court majority’s opinion contained no statement from which it could be reasonably concluded that Justice Stevens was properly tracking their opinion. In fact, Justice Kennedy in writing the majority opinion, expressly states that:

We need not reach the question of whether the government has a compelling interest in preventing foreign individuals or associations from influencing our nation’s political process.

Second, and far more startling for me, the White House apparently finds it objectionable that ’Tokyo Rose’ might have had equivalent free speech rights to Allied Commanders in World War II.  It’s too bad that this same White House doesn’t find it equally objectionable when it chooses to give war-time terrorists the same fourth, fifth and sixth amendment rights as everyday American citizens.

• On Hardball with Chris Matthews, Jonathan Turley in his speech post-mortem chastised Justice Alito for his “injudicious” moment.   C’mon, Professor Turley!  The President of the United States took the occasion of his State of the Union to make a classless political jab at the Supreme Court.  It is not ‘injudicious’ in the least for there to have been an inconsequential, reflexive response to the President’s disrespectful conduct towards the Court.  Professor Turley . . . you want the Supreme Court’s presence to be apolitical, then tell our President that his pontificating insults at the Supreme Court have no place in a State of the Union speech.
• So Hillary was in London last night . . . convenient.  For those that read this post, if you believe for a second that Hillary Clinton tried her darndest to make it back for this speech, but just couldn’t or was directed by the President to stay, I have a bridge in Tampa to sell you.  Our Secretary of State wanted no part in applauding the train wreck that is known as the Obama presidency.  I remain steadfast in my prediction that we may well see a resignation at Foggy Bottom by the end of this year if the economy continues to tank and White House equivocation continues on foreign and domestic objectives.  Hillary Clinton wants to be President of the United States – bottom line.
• ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ is going to end. . . yeah, and Guantanamo is going to close.  Does this president never learn?
• How bad is it for this White House, right now?  The President chastised the Republicans that he shouldn’t have to have a legislative supermajority in order to pass sensible legislation.  BUT Mr. President, you HAVE HAD a legislative supermajority, a cloture safe majority . . . and you STILL haven’t passed one single significant piece of legislation.  That’s like having a dollar in your pocket and complaining that you can’t buy the fifty cent candy bar, because your brother didn’t give you his quarter.  What???!!!

If you think that the happiest people in America last Tuesday night, on the occasion of Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts, were the Tea Partiers, think again. Scott Brown represents liberation to a select group of moderate Democrat senators, who until this time had been marching in lockstep with President Obama along his path to electoral ignominy.

Who knew that the political backbone which elected Brown could so quickly gird Senate moderates, like Jim Webb of Virginia? No sooner had Scott Brown eaten his post-victory bowl of Wheaties then did Senator Webb leap at the opportunity to declare that all health care debate should stop until Senator-elect Brown was seated. Indeed, gleeful at the prospect of the 41st vote which would practically prevent each of them from being on record as having helped pass a tragic government takeover of 1/6 of the American economy and potentially destroy health care as we know it, Democrat moderates suddenly realized they’re vertabrates, after all.

With this 11th hour re-discovery hold? Only time will tell.

Far be it from me to give a Democrat advice, moderate though they might claim to be, but the electoral safety of senators like Blanche Lincoln and Evan Bayh can only be procured by a sustained reversion to representing their largely conservative constituency. They must abandon the whimsical folly of a lost president, who is quickly cementing a reputation in Washington and even among the Democrat Senate caucus as “all fluff, no stuff.”

They must understand the critical lesson of Massachusetts – a lesson not lost on conservatives. Scott Brown’s election was not merely about a run of the mill populist uprising – it was a patriotic statement of seismic proportion on both the substance and process of President Obama’s first year leadership.

Substantively, against the backdrop of a new administration’s lurch to the political left, Massachusetts voters found in Scott Brown an opportunity to return to certain core American truths – an adherence to the American values of strong national defense against the purveyors of terror and the long standing principles of personal and economic freedom and liberty.

Procedurally, against the backdrop of a new administration’s and congressional leadership’s side-stepping a transparent and open legislative process in which representation in Washington should reflect the will of the voter, Massachusetts voters found in Scott Brown an opportunity to rebuff far-left shenanigans and reinforce constitutional primacy.

These were the central lessons of Massachusetts. President Obama has not “gotten it.” The question is, will others?

Assuredly, President Obama will strike a conservative chord in his State of the Union speech this evening, but moderate Democrats would be wise to separate fact from fiction, substantive policy from gimmickry. To sign back on to Obama’s political train of disaster would be to close the door on the second chance which Senator-elect Brown gave each such moderate last week. For the good of all America, until next November, such moderates have an opportunity to learn the lessons of Massachusetts – an opportunity to be leaders, not lemmings.

Twas the night before Christmas and up on the Hill,
All the creatures were scurrying to pass their midnight bill.
The gifts to certain states were all written in ink,
The kickbacks and greed made all the ‘rats stink.

Meanwhile, Americans were nestled all snug in their beds,
Visions of Christmas joy dancing in their heads.
And Palin in her kerchief, and Joe the Plumber in his cap,
Had settled with their families for a long winter’s nap.

When out on our lawns arose such a clatter,
Americans sprang from their beds to see what was the matter.
Away to the windows we flew like a flash,
Just in time to see them all with their midnight stash.

The bright moon above displayed for all to see,
The crew taking our presents and even our tree.
To our saddened eyes a little bespectacled man there sat,
On a sleigh made of gold, pulled by his ‘rats.

With a haughty smile, his lips curled in greed,
We knew in a moment it must be Senator Reid.
His business in our town now near complete,
He shouted the ‘rats names to urge their retreat.

“Now Lincoln, now Bayh, now Levin and Baucus!
On Nelson, On Landrieu, on, on, our ‘rat caucus!”
“To the next village we go! The next town to steal!
We must hurry to take their Christmas Eve meal!”

As the ‘rats scurried about, they took time to stare,
A country in ruin, but they didn’t care.
More adept at stealing than the greatest of thieves,
Money could be seen falling from their coat sleeves.

And, then with a cackle and a robber’s crow,
The sixty ‘rats pulled their loot through the pristine snow.
Off to the next borough or a little known parish,
Power, greed, and the time to be garish.

So, tug and pull, the ‘rats moved inch by inch,
Senator Reid looking more like the midwinters grinch.
Our Christmas lights now dimmed and our presents fewer,
The ‘rats slunk their way down the street side sewer.

When they were gone, and the snow began again to fall,
Americans wondered “what had happened to us all?”
The country we love and our liberty had just been taken,
But, then . . . just then, we started to awaken.

Take our presents, Senator Reid, and think you’ve taken them all,
But know this, America’s greatest present comes next fall.
Hurry! Take your power and money and the loot you tote,
But, neither you, nor Pelosi, nor Obama can take our vote.

Senator Reid and Boxer and Schumer have now left,
And on Christmas morning, they will celebrate their theft.
But, the ‘rats joy will be short lived and quickly turn sour,
Knowing their days are numbered, soon to be out of power.

So, as we lay our heads back down to rest in our bed,
Remember, America’s future is as bright as Reagan once said.
So, Rise up Christmas morning! Lift your voice and sing!
What joy! What joy next November will bring!!

• While our president deliberates, more and more of our soldiers die in Afghanistan.  Counseled by the likes of Axelrod, Emmanuel and Biden, our president is flying blind only by his choosing.  He has the learned advice of Petraeus and McChrystal at his disposal and yet he waffles.  It’s 3:00 a.m., the phone is ringing and no one is home.
• Searching out a new way in Iran, a new way to reach accord with our favorite Holocaust denier, our president thought that by abandoning our allies in Eastern Europe we could persuade our old communist enemy to join us in bringing pressure to bear on Tehran.  Let’s recap that – we abandon our friends and allies, so that we can try to persuade our enemy.  Oh, what a fool our president is – so we send our esteemed Secretary of State who comes home with her tail between her legs and an unequivocal message from Putin et al. – our relationship is “reset” alright – he tells us that the Russians reserve the right to adopt a doctrine of preemptive nuclear strikes and that they will not join American calls for stiffer Iranian sanctions.  In the meantime, the Czechs and Poles continue to wonder whether America is friend or foe.  It’s 3:00 a.m., the phone is ringing and no one is home.
• As part of our Afghani deliberation, our president floats the trial balloon that we might make “toleration” with the Taliban – oh, excuse me, the Tollybaan – in order to focus our efforts on Al-qaeda.  After all, the Tollybaan is really geographically limited in influence and is not the reason we are in Afghanistan.  Never mind, Mr. President, that the Tollybaan has been murdering thousands of men, women and children in Afghanistan and Pakistan for more than a decade, is borne of the same jihadist mentality as Al-qaeda, stones women to death for nothing and destroys basic human dignity at every opportunity . . . oh, I forgot . . . and has murdered more than 150 Pakistanis within the last seven days.  Yeah, you’re right, Mr. President, we can tolerate them.  It’s 3:00 a.m., the phone is ringing and no one is home.
• Just as a point of interest, does anyone know where those signs advertising the “American Reinvestment and Recovery Act” are made?  I am just aching to pull over on the highway and walk up and inspect those signs.  What a hoot if those signs were made in Korea?  Mexico?  Japan?  Canada?  Nevertheless, if they are made in America, it’s safe to conclude that the makers of these signs represent about 75% of the job growth associated with this non-stimulus, stimulus.
• Word has it that Obama is in line for this year’s Heisman Trophy after watching the Florida-LSU game last weekend.

General James Longstreet in his oft-maligned or oft-praised written requiem (depending on whose side you fall) of Confederate military history, From Manassas to Appomattox, labeled those who criticized his skepticism of Lee’s Gettysburg strategy as woeful ”knights of peaceful later days.”  Longstreet understandably bristled at the hindsight offered by some who used the benefit of time and peace to criticize how he had challenged assumptions of Lee’s invulnerability.  He equally resented commentary from others, who by circumstance weren’t immersed in the heat of battle, but deferred to a largely unrealistic and sterile version of how war, generally, should be fought.

Not much has changed in 140 years.  An intellectually vapid landscape has served as fertile ground for a brand of cheap, soundbite liberalism, spawned by groups like the Daily Kos, and its MSNBC mouthpiece, Keith Olbermann.  Their collective disdain for all things Bush has, in turn, helped elect a president whose liberal worldview is firmly rooted in a frightening naivete.  Clearly, today’s American foreign policy is constrained by the criticism and direction of those who view war and diplomacy as a largely academic exercise, while demanding safety from the peril created by the very appeasement policies they urge.

Oh, if only, these foolish arbiters of bloodless war were just “knights of peaceful later days.”

But these are not “peaceful later days.”  Regrettably, the continuing threat of terrorist attacks upon the American homeland and American interests abroad prevents labeling criticism of post 9/11 American foreign policy as innocuous musings of political backbenchers.  There are no sanctuaries from which liberal criticism of aggressive anti-terrorist policies could be called for the political propoganda that it largely is – nuclear threats to our allies in the Middle East and Europe and plots threatening American cities and towns, its subway systems, federal buildings and American schools and places of worship do not permit us the luxury of such dismissive and detached review.

And, indeed, the most discouraging aspect of this naive, armchair politics is the influence which it has had in electing a U.S. President and shaping Obama Administration American foreign policy.  In what can only be called a foreign policy ensconced in notions of appeasement and retreat, it is clear that the folly of far left wing politics has found a home in today’s West Wing.

At his core, President Obama displays a fundamental lack of understanding of the dangers facing America and our freedom loving allies around the world.  Oh, I know, one policy wonk after another, interchangeably trotted out from the Brookings Institution or the Carter Center, will tell us that Obama policies are required change for a changing world.

What changing world? 

Is Iran any less a threat to Israel today than it was a year ago?  Heck, how about two weeks ago, when American abandoned its plans for a missile shield of Poland and Czechoslovakia, ostensibly arguing that Iran’s delivery capability presented no threat to Eastern Europe?  In the last four days, Iran launched three missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads to Tel Aviv and Prague.  Oops.

Is Afghanistan any less a breeding ground for Taliban extremism and Al-qaeda terrorists today than it was a year ago?  Our generals on the ground tell us, “no.”  In fact, they tell us that the situation is sufficiently dire, that if they don’t get the thousands of troop increases promised by Candidate Obama to fight his declared war of necessity, our frontline war against terrorism might be lost.  Yet, a month after calls were first made for additional troops, we are just now “debating” a “new” strategy within the Oval Office, while our president flies to Copenhagen to win the Olympics?  How many American soldiers will die while their military superiors wait for the White House’s answer?

Is our understanding of Vladimir Putin different today than it was five years ago, such that we should now tolerate Russian retreat from democracy and its sponsorship of anti-American aggression, in its growing satellite states of Iran and Venezuela?

Has North Korea, by releasing the American journalists it wrongfully detained, given reason for renewed American negotiation on Pyongyang’s nuclear ambition?  Disturbingly, there are those within this administration who think that’s the case.

This is a dangerous world, Mr. President.  This is a time when we need leadership, not abdication.  A time when we need you to stop posturing for your liberal base, who neither have America’s interests “at heart” nor the intellectual capacity to lead America against the very real threats to its existence and its people.  Now is not the time, Mr. President, to surrender America’s survival to cable TV talking heads and their minions, whose bloviating is shaped far more by cheap opportunism than a capacity to understand the gravity of the challenges which face this country.

Yes, Mr. President, it is time for the kids running the White House to turn over the keys to the grown-ups.  The only question left, President Obama, which are you?

• Been gone for about a month – mental health break from all things Obama.  Tremendous sadness hit my family as we lost my step-brother, Marc.  He was a kind and gentle spirit, who never fully understood how much he was loved by all those he came in contact with.  But, in his final act, Marc gave the gift of life to four or five families in the upper midwest.  Please consider organ donation – it grants life to the physically condemned and grants solace to your family should sudden tragedy take you home.
• Michael Jordan, Serena Williams and Kanye West – the Triple Crown of Class or should we say the Triple Clowns of Crass.  Enough said.
• 119 . . . 118 . . . 117 days – what you say?  That’s the Terrorist Transfer to Your Back Yard Countdown Clock – you remember, right?  In his first brazen act of misguided leadership, President Obama signed the Guantanamo Shutdown Executive Order within 24 hours of being sworn in – well, in reality, it was just a executive order to make a decision in a year – and, then sent his administration officials to actually see Guantanamo.  Within hours, soon-to-be Attorney General Holder declared that Guantanamo was a well-run, professional facility – wonder if he ever expressed that he wished he had seen Guantanamo before signing that order?  What do you say, Mr. Attorney General?  Flash forward – some 250 days later and we have no plan for transfer of these hardened terrorists to our shores – that is, except for Jennifer Granholm.  Having failed at every other economic development initiative to rescue Michigan from its continuing recession, our esteemed Governor has stepped forward to offer Michigan as the permanent repository for these jihadists.  January, 2011 can not come fast enough to the people of our fair state.
• For those that missed the headlines, we have a terrorist – called the next Mohammed Atta – flitting from country to country through the Middle East on an alleged Saudi diplomatic passport, planning the next great terrorist attack against the United States of America.  When pressed by the CIA to learn more details on the nature of the Saudi diplomatic cover for this Florida educated terrorist – sound familiar? – the Obama State Department refused such demands asserting that the allegations weren’t specific enough to press for further answers from the Saudi government.  This is an absolute outrage – according to the Daily Beast’s Gerald Posner, the threat posed by this individual is grave – we aren’t talking about planes flying into skyscrapers anymore, but exploding small nuclear weapons in an American city.  And, we are worried about pressing the Saudi government, from whose shores 19 of the 20 9/11 terrorists came?  Are you kidding me?
• Michael Moore is pedaling his newest movie, which by all reports is hyper-critical of capitalism.  In considering such criticism of our way of life, a couple central truths nearly always apply – those critical of capitalism have rarely, if ever, been exposed to closed, communist societies; and they even more rarely convey a willingness to part with the economic benefits derived from the very system which they malign.  So, Michael, when you can impart to me an accurate understanding what life was like in Moscow during the height of communist oppression of the Russian people, I’ll start to listen to your complaints over the economic system which gave you that beautiful home outside of Traverse City.  Until then, Michael, spare me your hypocritical and incredibly phony indignation.

Less than an hour ago, I received a call from our National Republican Senatorial Committee requesting a pledge.  I quickly informed the initially considerate solicitor that I don’t respond to telephone solicitations, period.  In return, I was quickly informed that the NRSC telephone lines are “secure” and I need not worry.  There was an apparent disconnect and I, again, informed them that I would not respond to a telephone solicitation and would be pleased to review any written material that they would forward to me.  I was then told that they don’t have any written material and . . . would I consider a pledge now and then decide whether I wanted to contribute more or less when I received the pledge card in the mail?  I told her that I don’t make pledges and then break them.

This wasn’t good enough.  “Don’t you know that Senator John Cornyn is going throughout the country recruiting the most conservative candidates state by state to run in November, 2010?”

Seizing the moment, I said “If that were true, then the NRSC would be supporting Rubio in Florida and you’re not.”  There was no response.  I continued, “And this is where our telephone call is coming to an end.  Goodnight.”

Senator Cornyn, you want my money to support conservatism?  Then live up to your sales pitch, Senator – start supporting conservatives, first, without my money . . . and then make your “ask.”

1. Socialism – Anyone who advances the claim that President Obama is not an advocate of redistributive wealth between Americans, by means of property confiscation by the government, expanded government programming and regressive tax policy, is currently disembarking a small boat with Barbie Benton and shaking Ricardo Montalban’s hand on Fantasy Island.  By any reasonable construction, President Obama’s political philosophy finds its roots in the political philosophies of the greatest socialist agitators.
2. Guantanamo – Months and months ago, I “observed” that there was no way Guantanamo would be closed within one year.  I stand by that statement.  Only a foolish president would declare that a base for detaining terrorists, off the U.S. mainland, should close without actually having had his personnel visit the site and without creating a plan for what is to be done next with these detainees.  Bet that Eric Holder wishes he had seen the facility before they signed those Executive Orders?  Right, Mr. Attorney General?
3. Exploding debt – Drunken sailors all over the world stand in awe at the spending prowess of this administration.  Remember, the Democratic mantra – Reagan was a spendthrift!  Are you kidding me?  This president makes Reagan look like a pauper when it comes to government largesse – and, by the way, at least Reagan was spending in order end the Cold War, which he did.  Obama is spending more than $3 trillion to what end?  So the unemployment rate drops from 9.5% to 9.4% – again, are you kidding me?  Sadly, no.
4. Ideological alignment with Nancy Pelosi says all you need to say about this administration.  There is no bigger hypocrite in Washington, D.C. than the Queen of Botox.  Months ago, she leads the Congressional ridicule of auto executives using corporate jets to fly to Washington, but then seeks Congressional authorization for $500 million to purchase five jets for Congressional leadership.  And, to think that our president is joined at the hip with this horse’s patootie.
5. Nixonian – Man, can you imagine if George W. Bush had suggested on the White House website that Americans should report “fishy” activity among fellow citizens to the White House?  You would have calls in Congress for his impeachment from the likes of Frank, Kucinich et al.  Well, that’s exactly what this president did and we hear nothing.  I thought enemies lists went out with Nixon – apparently not.  And, but for Obama’s ideological bent, McCarthy would be so proud of his effort soliciting reports of ”un-American” activity.
6. Foreign Policy – In the first 200 days of this Administration, we have managed to piss off the British, the French, the Germans, the Russians and the Canadians.  And, we thought the “age of arrogance” was over.  Oh, but of course, we are now much better friends with Castro, Chavez and Ortega and we are seeking to prop up a Honduran president who wants to ignore his country’s constitution and just rule “because . . .”  Meanwhile, Iran is building a nuclear bomb, we give legitimacy to a dying North Korean dictator and the Arab allies we just reached out to are telling us to pound sand rather than join our call for renewed peace efforts with Israel.  Obama foreign policy has been an unmitigated disaster.
7. Robert Gibbs – “They call me, Mister Gibbs” is without a doubt the most incompetent White House press secretary since Moby Dick was a minnow.  Who would have thought there would ever be a spokesman for the leader of the American government who would make Baghdad Bob look both informed and on his game?
8. Health Care Debacle – You just don’t get it, Mr. President – and what’s more scary, you don’t care.  Let’s call the White House’s bluff - if Congress honestly believes that all the protest is manufactured, then vote for the bill.  And, then, start looking for a new job.  And, if you sign this bill, Mr. President – you have taken another step towards guaranteeing that you are a one-term wonder.
9. Inflation – If you think that inflation was bad under Carter, wait until we get the inevitable inflation that will result from the administration’s incessant spending, diminished tax revenue and foreign creditors calling in their chits.  Without an expanding manufacturing sector creating wealth and tax revenue, we will have no option but to print money to pay our debts, flooding our economy with greenbacks worth less and less, day by day.
10. Sonia Sotomayor – Sorry, Justice Sotomayor, but I ain’t buying the sudden conversion to judicial restraint after years of preaching a judicial activism that is so pronounced it even makes Republicans reticent about saying goodbye to Justice Souter.  And, Mr. President, if this wise Latina woman is your idea of a moderate from middle America then, sir, this Michigander from Kalamazoo is not from middle America.  And, didn’t the song hint that there was nothing more middle America than Kalamazoo?!!

We have all seen the gleeful look of the previously forlorn auto dealer in Topeka or Louisville, regaling the Cash for Clunker program.  And, assuredly, we are heartened by the swift action taken by Senator Reid and his Democrat colleagues to shore up the funding for this worthy endeavor.

But what is not told to the consumer of America’s Obama-frenzied media is the administrative disaster that is “Cash for Clunkers.”

In a word, it is a “nightmare.”

• The final rule published 7/24 required that the engine to the trade-in be destroyed at the dealership (an upfront cost of not an inconsequential amount) and the vehicle hauled away (again, not an inconsequential expense), prior to the dealership even being able to submit a request (which may or may not be granted) for payment.
• The initial appropriation of one billion dollars worked out to approximately 222,000 transactions, or perhaps 10-12 transactions per dealer nationwide.  It was not unusual, however, in the first three days of the program to have received 50 transactions at a single dealer.  To say the program was underfunded is the understatement of the year.
• Even now, there’s a legitimate question whether the additional $2 billion will be sufficient to meet the expenses associated with existing requests for reimbursement, let alone additional requests in the days and weeks ahead.  Somehow this point has escaped Secretary LaHood’s explanations.  The existing rule reads that dealers will only be reimbursed to the point where the appropriation was exhausted – so don’t be surprised if there is an Appropriation No. 3.
• The program is an administrative hell for dealerships, who are required to scan between 15 and 20 individual documents for each individual deal, then save them into 10 separate files and upload each file for every request.
• Dealerships are submitting dozens of requests, beginning last Tuesday and still have not received a single approval.  Rejections, however, have been forthcoming.  With each rejection, the dealership has to correct the application and resubmit it – with such resubmissions now at the bottom of the request “pile.”
• The “Help” line which has been made available to dealerships is anything but – simply stated, it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to get through.  Placed on hold for minutes at a time only to be disconnected and start the process all over again.

And, then there’s the whole name for the program - is “cash for clunkers” really a new program?  I could have sworn that it’s what used to be called “congressional pay.”

These guys want to run our healthcare system?  And, more than that, they want us to trust them to run our healthcare system?  Puhleeeeze.

Congressman Zack Space doesn’t know me.  There was a day when he might have, but didn’t - long ago, in 1982 and 1983.  We, then freshmen at Kenyon, knew him, though.

Zack Space was the All-American football player, a good student and a member of the football fraternity, Beta Theta Pi.

For those that don’t know, Kenyon College is a small, private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio.  Those that graduate from Kenyon come from many political persuasions – from screaming liberal to raging conservative.   During my time there, conservatives largely held sway – the era of Reagan et al.  And, as many of you might recall, the 2004 election results in Ohio were delayed because of the “thousands of Kenyon students in Knox County waiting in line past midnight to vote,” presumably for John Kerry – a curious “fact” largely because there are only 1600 Kenyon undergrads in total.

And, upon graduation, our careers are as varied as our political beliefs.  Some are attorneys and doctors, politicians and even a president – others are actors and movie producers, some community organizers fighting AIDS - oh, no – and others yet are teachers and professors.

But, two characteristics, which by design, all Kenyon graduates should share – the ability and the responsibility to “think.”  That’s right, think.  In the broadest sense, to think about the nation and world in which we live and to act responsibly in forging solutions to the many problems of the human condition.  More narrowly, this means having the ability to critically evaluate issues and the responsibility not to check our brains at the door when making important decisions.

Are these characteristics of Kenyon graduates different from graduates of many other fine universities and colleges?  Of course, not – nor, would I suggest such.  But, unless you have attended Kenyon or know someone who did, you can not contemplate how much this quality is emphasized in every aspect of college life from the moment you arrive until the day you leave - and, as importantly, how the gift of a Kenyon education (thanks, Mom and Dad) translates into an embued civic responsibility in every student who has matriculated down Middle Path.

Leadership, whether in law or medicine, in the classroom or in board rooms, in shelters or in churches, is not the exception, but the expectation.

. . .

Congressman Space, you are what they call a “blue dog Democrat” – others might say this title means nothing.  I disagree.  It means that you don’t naturally align yourself with the liberal arm of the Democratic Party, because of your proclaimed beliefs in liberty and individual freedom, of beliefs in fiscal responsibility and individual accountability.  Frankly, your ability and inclination to “think” is what theoretically should separate you from the ideologues which dominate your party.

Your responsibilities, Congressman Space, go beyond Ohio’s 18th Congressional District – your responsibilities lie to your country – to the auto worker in Michigan and to the peach farmer in Georgia; to the teacher in New York and to the pastor in Los Angeles.  You have the responsibility to think, Congressman Space – to think about what your vote will do to advance the cause of liberty in America.

As a fellow Kenyon graduate, Congressman, you have disappointed me greatly in recent weeks and months.  You, Congressman, have abandoned your thoughtful reasoned approach to politics in favor of being one “in the fold” – the fold, mind you, of the far left wing of the Democratic Party.  Whether it’s Speaker Pelosi or Congressman Waxman, you have repeatedly buckled under pressure and toed the company line - a company line of exploding deficits and the systematic dismantling of American liberty and freedom in favor of a larger, more instrusive federal government.

Have others followed your path – the path of least resistance?  Certainly.

One who has is Michigan Democrat, Congressman Mark Schauer.  Ironically, I know Congressman Schauer well – and while I like him personally, I expect little of him.  And while I do not personally know you at all, I know from where you came and, like it or not, that’s why I expect more from you.

I can only hope that the common sense people of Ohio’s 18th will give you “cause to pause” as you head home for the August recess.  Hopefully, you will rediscover the conservative roots which run deep in your mid-Ohio congressional district and realize that America’s best interests are aligned with their midwestern values, not the values of the far left fringe of American politics.

Bottom line, you were educated to be a “thinker” in the Kenyon mold and tradition.  But, you have become a follower, Congressman Space.  This is antithetical to everything you were taught at Kenyon – you know it and so do I.

Once a leader on the Hill we shared – it’s time for you to be a leader among Democrats on the Hill all Americans share.

George Perrett

Kenyon Class 1986

The Eisenhower Administration had the Great Kitchen Debate – two stalwarts, Nixon and Kruschev, locking horns in a pointed debate over the ideological divide which distinguished America from its communist adversary, the Soviet Union.  Unplanned, the debate became the symbol of the discourse which dominated post-war American-Soviet diplomacy, until the communist walls of oppression came tumbling down some thirty years later.

We, of course, have the benefit of video and audio tape of portions of this interchange – so we know exactly what was said.  While perhaps more pithy than most discussions over international politics, the ideological struggle epitomized by the Nixonian jab and the Kruschevian sickle was at least worthy of the world’s attention.

The same can’t be said of Obama’s Beer Hall Putsch held yesterday in the White House Rose Garden.  Little was it known, but this reporter was there and was able to catch most of the gripping conversation.  It went like this:

Obama:  Ok, gentlemen.  Welcome to the First Annual White House Summit on Race Relations.  Just kidding, guys. . . No, professor, you can’t sit there – we’re going black, white, black, white.  (Gates moves to the next chair.)  There you go, Skip.  Good to see you.

Really – we’re just here for a friendly beer.  In fact, I am so pleased, Sergeant Crowley, that you agreed to have a beer, because I was sure you would insist on a thermos of country club gin and tonics.  Jokin’, dude . . . really.

Joe . . . Joe. . . not so fast, Joe – wait until all the people sit down before you guzzle it.  (Turning to his guests)  Joe is just so excited to be out in the fresh air – having been in lockdown for the last week since he pissed off the Russians.

Biden:  Actually, you boys kind of took the heat off of me.  Thank God, for the Oxford police.

Crowley:  Sir, that’s the Cambridge police.

Biden:  Oxford . . . Cambridge – what’s the difference, man?! 

Obama:  Careful, Joe – you’re going to insult our British allies next, if you aren’t careful. 

Biden:  hey, HEY!!  Can we get some more suds, out here?!!  Damn help – so damn slow over here – they hop at the OEOB for me.  Wouldn’t be like this if I was president, that’s for damn sure.  (Rahm Emanuel delivers another Growling Gator Lager to the vice president.)  . . . about time, Rahmbo, Rahmborini, the Rahmman.  (Turning to Gates and Crowley).  Good guy . . . he let’s me do that, y’know.

Obama:  Ok, Joe, take it easy.  You all might wonder why I invited Joe along – well, I was in the Oval Office reflecting on my comments about you and your department, Sergeant Crowley, about how you all “acted stupidly” in handling my main man at his house (fist bump between Obama and Gates), when I looked out on the White House lawn and saw my good friend Joe on the South Lawn, turning in circles, imitating the propeller on Marine One and, I thought . . . now that’s “acting stupidly.”  Frankly, that helped me put in context what I really thought of the way you all treated my man.  You weren’t “acting stupidly” – you were just doing what came natural to you, police - being your bigoted selves.

Gates:  I am not going to say a whole lot here, Barry, because Sergeant Crowley knows what he did. 

Crowley:  I resent this.  I came here in the spirit of reconciliation to try and work through the turmoil which has upset me, my family, Professor Gates and, frankly, the entire nation.

Biden:  (With a gentle squint and burp)  Exactly.  Well stated, white boy.  (Drops his beer mug and spreads his fists to the right and left seeking a double fist bump from Gates and Obama.  None are forthcoming.)  J**** C****!  What does someone have to do around here to get a little love?!!  HEY, Rahmbo – another beer!!!

Crowley:  I am serious, sir.  I have no regrets about the way I handled matters, but I wish no ill will to Professor Gates.  Are we good, Professor?

Gates:  (Gates looks at Obama, who quietly nods.)  We’re good, Sergeant.

Biden:  (The vice president breaks out in song) “Can you feel the love tonight?  How it’s laid to rest?  It’s enough to make kings and vagabonds . . . ” (interrupted)

Obama:  Joe, that’s enough.  (Turning to his secret service detail – he points at the vice president and makes a dismissive gesture with his hand as if to say “time to take him back to lock-up.”)

Biden:  (as he is grabbed by the arm and ushered away . . . he stamps his feet)  But I want to stay!!!

Obama:  Well, gentlemen, that was a highly successful summit.  I am so pleased that we have turned this corner and, Skip, you can be assured that you will never be harassed in your home again by Sergeant Crowley and his people.  Sergeant – so pleased that you could make it.  (Stands up to leave, shakes both of their hands.  He starts to walk away . . . turns.)  Oh, by the way, that will be $10 each for the beer.  Inflation, you know.  Don’t worry about the tip, (flashing his big toothy grin)  I got it.

So went the Rose Garden Putsch of 2009.  This is Consuela Tanalotta from the White House.

Mr. President, declaring twice that you weren’t fully appraised of the Cambridge situation, that you didn’t know the details of what occurred, but then taking the liberty to declare that the Cambridge, Massachusetts police acted “stupidly” in handling the matter of Henry Louis Gates, is “acting stupidly.”

You then continued to espouse your untimely wisdom that African Americans and Latinos are often the victims of overzealous police, who use profiling to disproportionately detain and arrest minorities.

Who is profiling, Mr. President?  Who is acting prejudicially?  Who is being racist?  You are.  By labeling the actions taken by the Cambridge police as “stupid,” without knowing the facts, you have ascribed your “profile of police” to this incident and that police department and have prejudged the matter.

I abhor racism and have fought to eliminate prejudice from our community lexicon and practice for years, including time as chairperson of the local Urban League – but seldom have I encountered more blind ignorance and prejudice than that which you offered regarding the Gates’ situation.

Remember, Mr. President, brevity is the soul of wit.  A bit of advice for next time, Mr. President – it’s ok to say, “I have no comment.  When the facts are completely discovered, I have faith that the matter will be appropriately resolved.”

With enough advance planning, this could be typed right into the teleprompter.

Boldly, perhaps foolishly, I can only conclude – in a word, yes.

The honeymoon is officially over.  According to Scott Rasmussen, those strongly approving of President Obama’s performance have fallen from a peak of 45% on January 23, 2009 to 29% as of today – and those who strongly disapprove have risen from a floor of 14% on January 22, 2009 to a peak of 38% on July 9, 2009 and rests at 35% today.  The president’s approval index (% strongly approving less % strongly disapproving) has tumbled from a peak of +30 to a recurring range of -6 to -8 over the last two weeks. 

Admittedly, there is a degree of statistical irrelevance to these numbers, where President Obama’s initial approval and disapproval polling numbers, like other presidents, are artificially affected by the euphoria and goodwill which occasions a presidential inauguration.  But, isn’t that the essence of a honeymoon?

Whether presidential administrations or marriage, the afterglow of inaugurations and weddings often give equally optimistic outlooks for a second presidential term and whether John and Jane will live happily ever after.  How long that proverbial honeymoon lasts, however, is usually a far better indicator of long-term, or second-term, success.  In that regard, as the Rasmussen numbers suggest, President Obama’s post-inaugural joyride came to a screeching halt about 6 weeks after the confetti was swept from the floors of the many inaugural balls.

What precipitated the fall?  Despite White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s claims that the Obama stimulus bill saved the economy, it is apparent that the American people weren’t and aren’t convinced.  Within three weeks of President Obama’s signing the $787 billion boondoggle on February 17, according to Rasmussen, the percentage of Americans who strongly disapproved of his performance rose from 23% to 31%, and total disapproval ratings rose from 37% to 43%.  And, it’s only gotten worse since – as of today, Rasmussen tells us that the number of Americans disapproving of the president’s performance has risen to 47%.

Think about that – six months into his term as president and President Obama has nearly 1 of every 2 Americans disapproving of his performance.  By comparison, in July, 2001, six months into President Bush’s first term, Gallup recorded that 33% – 35% disapproved of Bush’s performance.

We all know that President Bush’s poll numbers resembled a rollercoaster ride at an amusement park throughout his two terms, eventually settling on a downward path which ended at about a 62% disapproval rating in January, 2009.  However, therein lies the demon for those predicting a second term for Obama. 

Undoubtedly, there has been no greater assault upon a sitting president by the national media and political party apparatus than that leveled at President Bush – yet, six months into his term – historically, when many presidents are still basking in the glow of champagne bubbles glistening through inaugural crystal, President Obama’s disapproval rating lies only 15 percentage points less than the much-maligned George Bush, with a minefield of potential disasters ahead.

What are these potholes which await President Obama?  While there are many problems which could cause the president difficulty, there is reason to believe the following five issues will create big problems for Obama in the next six months.

• Borrowing from Ford’s “Quality is Job 1″ – the economy remains job one for this president.  If unemployment rates remain hovering above 9%, without appreciable improvement in certain specific sectors of America’s manufacturing base, Administration economic advisers better start dusting off their resumes.  With elevated unemployment, the Administration will not be able to demonstrate the increased tax revenue which its abhorrent spending was ultimately designed to produce.  In the absence of such revenue and as the spending bills come due, the Administration will be forced to ease monetary policy (a second overt stimulus plan will not be approved), thereby flooding our economy with increasingly worthless money.  The result – inflation.  Sound familiar?
• Iran . . . Iran . . . Iran.  Ahmadinejad – the man spotted in grainy film from 1979 escorting American hostages through Tehran – remains a thorn in the American side amidst a continuing Iranian revolution.  Whether American hostages or nuclear missiles aimed at our ally, Israel, American foreign policy is being dictated to some measure from the bloodstained streets of Tehran.  Sound familiar?
• The American “malaise” of 1980 finds its symbiotic partner in the Obama apology tour of 2009.  If the president continues to denigrate America in the eyes of the world, treading the path of retreat – as in sending our Secretary of State most recently to convey regret for America’s role in climate change in a country which has repeatedly thumbed its proverbial nose at international efforts to curb CO2 emissions – he shouldn’t be surprised if a silent electoral majority surfaces seeking to reinforce American confidence, pride and status as leader of the free world.  Sound familiar?
• The energy crisis of 1979, which forced rationing of gasoline from Honolulu to Portland, Maine and from Anchorage to Miami and other consumer energy prices to jump sky high, might soon be outdone by an energy policy designed to eliminate clean coal production and force American industry to redesign itself under the auspice of a green economy, passing the invariable costs onto American consumers – the same American consumers who are struggling through recession.  President Obama should not be surprised if Americans reject this path, urging instead a sensible path to increase nuclear energy and domestic oil production.  Sound familiar?
• The difficulties of the late 1970s created an unease even among Democrats – America wasn’t headed in the right direction.  It is not often that a sitting president is faced with the prospect of a primary challenge at the end of a first term.  Presidents, however, ignore, disregard or disrespect such prospective challengers at their peril.  If the president does not actively involve such challengers within their foreign policy and/or domestic agenda, he or she runs the risk of a legitimate outsider coming forward to critique the Administration and advance his or her own political prospects.  Unless President Obama starts to effectively use Secretary of State Clinton as the voice of American foreign policy, he should expect that she and her supporters will renew evaluation of her political prospects to be the Democratic nominee in 2012.  Such evaluation will be expedited if it quickly becomes apparent that the cost of leaving the Administration is outweighed by the benefit of status as an outsider looking in on a presidency floundering in its efforts to pull America out of its economic doldrums.  But more than all of this, the bottom line – the Clintons are one family who likes the presidency.  Sound familiar?

How President Obama handles these issues in the next six to nine months will dictate whether a second term is likely.  Based on what we have seen so far, however, and given the American electorate’s apparent growing displeasure with his leadership, there is no reason to believe that he has learned the lessons necessary to avoid the fate of Jimmy Carter.  As Edmund Burke once stated, “those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”  And destined to repeat it, he will.  Barack Obama is on history’s path to a one term presidency.

• Let’s see, according to our president, America had not seen a worse economy since the Great Depression.  But according to our vice president last week, the Administration didn’t fully comprehend the breadth of the country’s economic problems when it proposed the oh-so-ineffective Stimulus Plan.  Hmmm . . . now, wait a minute, Mr. Vice President, how much more do you have to understand about the economy to know it’s in bad shape?  How do we explain these divergent views on the economy within the Administration?  There can only be one answer – Keith Olbermann.  When the president said the economy was in “worse” shape, the vice president knew that in PMSNBC lexicon, this left “worser” and “worst” yet to be played – hence, his comment.
• The country is at war with terrorists seeking to destroy our country and new enemies are springing up around the globe, threatening the free world each and every day.  But rather than strengthening American resolve to defeat these adversaries, our president turns his focus to shutting down detention facilities, moving terrorists to the American homeland, providing Miranda warnings to enemy combatants and prosecuting, not the terrorists, but Bush Administration officials whom he and his Attorney General claim violated the law on torture.  The only thing that is torturous is the Administration’s feigned claims that it has America’s best interests at heart.
• Nancy Pelosi has just announced that health care reform will be voted on by the House before the August recess.  Let’s see it’s July 15th – this means that there is at least 16 days for the House to actually show the American people the bill which is being considered.  But, don’t bet on it!!  No – if the past is prologue, Republican leadership should expect the bill for its review just hours before the House votes in the greatest health care tragedy to hit this country since college bars in Ann Arbor stopped selling the French Tickler to wayward eighteen year old males in the lost era of free love - or so I heard. One thing’s for sure – only the pay or play legislation which will likely result from such Pelosian shenanigans could make the Canadian health system the envy of Americans, akin to Molson, the Red Green Show and hockey.
• Those formerly muted voices in the Clinton camp – and, oh, don’t think for a minute, there isn’t a Clinton camp - trumpeted this morning that Hillary is going to reassert herself on the world stage in the weeks and months to come. Such a move is to make sure that everyone knows that Hillary Clinton is still a player in Democratic politics and does not bode well for our new president. This has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton trying to be the best Secretary of State she can be and everything to do with Hillary Clinton wanting to be the first female President of the United States. Try as the president might to muzzle the Cankle of Chappaqua . . I’m sorry, that’s terrible . . . I couldn’t resist . . . Hillary will not go quietly – nor should she. She still is identified by a significant portion of the Democratic electorate as their preferred leader – the same electorate which is less than thrilled at the treatment she has received from the president. The next six months are critical for the White House – all other things being equal, either make Hillary super content with her role at Foggy Bottom and put her prominently on the world stage, or don’t be surprised at all that there is a resignation in store by June 1, 2010 and then look for a primary fight come 2011-12. And, by the way, all bets are off if the economy continues to hit the skids through 2010. A bad or worsening economy and the Clintonistas will know that a primary fight against the president may be likely from other camps and, as long as there is a primary fight, then it makes sense for Hillary to join the fray. Despite her cabinet post, the advantage Hillary has at State is that she can’t be directly tied to the Administration’s missteps on the economy and the Clintonistas know that an early, clean break could still position Hillary as an outsider looking in on White House miscues.

It was like most any morning, at least like those mornings he had experienced over the last two years.  The only difference for Judge George A. Woodruff, from the morning before and invariably from mornings to come, was that it was his birthday – July 4, 1863.

Judge Woodruff was a yankee doodle dandee – honored to share his birthday with the country he loved, but on this day a certain melancholy muted the celebration.  And no measure of distraction would likely restore the joy which usually accompanies such occasions.

Judge Woodruff had three sons – his namesake, George, William and Montgomery.  All three were serving the Grand Army of the Republic, gone from home to distant states.  George, a 1861 West Point graduate, was serving the Army of the Potomac, Second Corps, as a lieutenant in Battery I of the 1st U.S. Artillery.  William, George’s older brother, left a relative life of peace serving an Episcopal Diocese in the deep South to return home and serve as an officer with the 1st Michigan Infantry, Company D.  Montgomery, then serving the Episcopal church in Missouri, enlisted as a sergeant with Merrill’s Horse and was eventually promoted to 1st Lt on Merrill’s field staff.  Cousin Frank Woodruff, whom Judge Woodruff has raised as his own and who was then enrolled at the University of Michigan, soon enlisted as a sergeant with a colored regiment at the Union encampment near New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Woodruff commitment to the Union cause, to the American cause could not be questioned.

In the early years of the war, George and William had each written to their father as often as time would permit, accounting for their movements with their respective units.  By contrast, Montgomery was not as prolific a writer.

In recent weeks, both George and William had indicated that they were on the march, taking a parallel path with the enemy northward.  However, the letters had stopped and Judge Woodruff had not received a letter from either in more than a week.  There was no comfort in the silence.  He had never spent his birthday – a July 4th – occupied with so much prayer.

Days later, word reached Michigan that the battle which had been fought on the fields of Pennsylvania was the most significant yet in the continuing national struggle.  It was not known at that time that the thousands of men, dressed in blue or gray, who were killed, wounded or missing on this the greatest of American battlefields would soon be eulogized in one of the most memorable speeches in human history.  No word, however, had been heard from either of his sons and so Judge Woodruff waited.

Less than a week later, in a tattered envelope, postmarked July 7, 1863 from York, Pennsylvania and simply addressed in soft pencil to “George Woodruff, Marshall, Michigan,” Judge Woodruff read the words he dreaded would some day greet his eyes.

“Gettysburgh,
July 5, 1863

Dear Mr. Woodruff,
     With a sad heart I avail of just an instant to communicate alas bad news. Your son Geo. A. Woodruff was mortally wounded at the battle of this place on the 3rd. He died yesterday, and I have just buried him. I would have sent him home if I could but it was impossible for me to do so. Every thing that man could do was done for him. May God console you and your family. We are moving after the enemy – and as soon as possible I will write you all the particulars.
     Should you wish to take the body to your home, Go to Gettysburgh, take the Baltimore and Gettysburgh pike and keep it for a mile and a half till you come to a road turning at right angles to it (the pike) Go up this road about a quarter of a mile and on the right hand side of the road you will find a school house called the Granite School House. On the north side of the it, beneath a large oak tree you will find your noble, noble son’s grave . . . My dear, dear sir, please accept my sympathy. Heaven knows I loved him as a brother and should my brother have fallen as he did at my side I could not feel keener agony . . .

Your Son’s Friend,

John Egan
2nd Lt 1st US Arty
Company “I” Arty Brigade
2d Corps Army Potomac”

The word of his son’s death hit him like no other news ever received; nor was it lost on Judge Woodruff that his son, George, had died on his 56th birthday. Compounding this grief was the worry that accompanied news that George’s brother, William, had also been wounded at Gettysburg.

Indeed, Judge Woodruff made arrangements to go to Gettysburg to retrieve George’s remains. And, before President Lincoln had consecrated this field with the Gettysburg Address in November, 1863, George was laid to rest, again – this time in the small family plot in Marshall. Befitting the humility which characterized his life, George’s grave was marked by a simple stone, with George A. engraved across the top and no hint of the valor he displayed at Ziegler’s Grove defending against Pickett’s Charge.  All that need be known was that he was home.

By war’s end, Judge Woodruff would suffer loss again and again. As his birthday approached on July 4, 1864, Judge Woodruff received post from 1st Division Hospital, 5th Corps, Near Petersburg, Va, giving word as to his son, William, as follows:

“Mr. Woodruff

Dear Sir,

By the request of your son, I take this opportunity of informing you that he is seriously wounded in the side, the probibility is he will not recover, he leaves to night for City Point and from thence to Washington, should he arrive at that place he will telegraph you . . .

Hoping for the best I remain
Your obed’t Servant,
P. Rowden
Chap 1st Mich Inftry”

The best, however, was not to come. On June 28, 1864, at an army hospital in Washington, D.C., William Woodruff died. His death was announced to Judge Woodruff by another letter from Chaplain Rowden, arriving shortly after the first. Within days a third letter came and Pastor Rowden described his last conversation with William,

“. . . I consequently acquainted him of the true state of affairs as gently as I could, and asked him in the event of his death how he felt, his reply was I have tried to live so as to be prepared for this hour, he states his trust was in Jesus. His greatest anxiety seemed to be to reach Washington before he died, so that he might be able to telegraph to you. . .”

The confusion of the moment prevented Judge Woodruff from promptly retrieving his son’s remains. This delay resulted in William later being one of the first men buried at Arlington National Cemetery.  Set along the southern side of the rose garden next to Lee’s beloved Arlington House, his gravestone faces what would in the time and distance become America’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

In the midst of his heartbreak over losing his oldest son, Judge Woodruff’s grief was multiplied by further tragedy. Word came from New Orleans that Captain Francis G. Woodruff, of the United States Colored Troops at Port Hudson, Louisiana, had died one week after William on July 5, 1864. In a highly unusual move, to honor those he served with, Frank Woodruff, a white officer from Michigan, was buried in the “colored section” at the Port Hudson cemetery.

From that moment on there was little doubt that Judge Woodruff’s birthday would be less associated with American independence than the loss of three of his four “sons.” And for the better part of the remainder of his life, Judge Woodruff dedicated all idle time to preserving the memory of his sons and those with whom they served on behalf of the United States of America.

Judge Woodruff was a man whom had endured so much, whose family had sacrificed so much, yet his character was ensconced in a deep patriotism and love of country, a private and public morality, and a charity for others – all values he instilled in his sons from the moment they were old enough to observe and learn.

When he died in 1887, his tombstone was inscribed with a Latin recitation of the 1st Psalm, translated:

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked . . .”

Judge Woodruff never walked in the counsel of the wicked, and he sacrificed a lifetime with his sons to advance the noble cause that America should end its walk with the counsel of the wicked, end the immoral practice of slavery.  As he once explained to a young Felix Robertson, his son’s West Point classmate and later Confederate General, America’s promise lay not in preserving “a way of life” for southern states, but in advancing the cause of human rights, of individual freedom for all Americans, irrespective of the color of their skin.  Every American, in his eyes, must enjoy the opportunity to experience the American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And he knew that America’s obligation to advance the cause of human dignity didn’t end at our shores, but extended to all corners of God’s creation.  America should become that beacon of light to all inhabitants of the Earth who, in time, could and would look to our nascent democracy as the temporal hope of the free world.  This meant that wherever human indignity might occur, America must assume the mantle of leadership among all nations to ensure that such condition not persist.

Knowing that his sons gave their lives to the preservation of an American nation re-dedicated to these ideals provided a measure of solace to Judge Woodruff – the same measure of solace that millions of American families, over the course of the last two hundred plus years, have undoubtedly felt when one of their own has given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the greatest human experiment in world history – American democracy.

Today when we celebrate the birth of our nation – please stop to remember the sacrifice of these American families, which have lost so much for the sake and cause of American liberty.  Take time to thank a service member for his or her service, shake the hand of a veteran and shed a tear for the millions of souls who have given their lives for you and me.

Then, look forward – commit yourself to making the American ideals of human dignity, liberty and freedom realities for your family, your neighbors and your world.  Get involved in political life, empower and hold your representatives and your president responsible to strengthen the America we love – the same incredible America loved by Judge Woodruff.  In so doing, this great American experiment and the genius of our Founding Fathers will endure long after we are gone.

As for me, I will also remember Judge Woodruff.  I have and will always marvel at his strength and clarity of character.  And, as his great, great, great grandson, George, . . I proudly and simply say “Happy Birthday.”

Rant No. 5 – Republican Senate Leadership – As we head into Senate consideration of Cap & Tax, Republican Senate leadership gives me no confidence that we will successfully filibuster this bill to death.  As Yogi said, “it’s deja vu, all over again.”  Flashback to the anemic Senate leadership of Mitch McConnell during the stimulus fight and it is difficult to muster any confidence that he will prove more able to stop the largest tax increase in American history.

Rant No. 4 – Republican Acceptance of Global Warming Hooey – Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Republican challenge to Waxman/Markey was the inability or unwillingness to significantly challenge the global warming hysteria which underpins this Democratic effort, which will invariably destroy large segments of the American economy.  Despite EPA squelching of “unhelpful” reports or analysis of recent climatological information and further evidence that the Earth is, in fact, cooling, only Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) has been a consistent voice of reason amidst the sea of irrationality which has taken over Capitol Hill.  Other Republicans have been regrettably, but not surprisingly mute on this issue – presumably, for fear that the major media will paint them as loons for a refusal to accept Mr. Gore’s “inconvenient truth.”  We have become a party of cowards.

Rant No. 3.  Governor Mark Sanford’s Incessant Confession - Repeatedly, I have vowed not to judge ad nauseum the governor’s act of infidelity, although there is little doubt that the entire episode has been tragic for his family and the State of South Carolina.  However, I will not hesitate to judge his actions since he disclosed the existence of his affair with “Ava Peron.”  Governor, you have lied, misled and embarrassed yourself, your family, your political allies and party and your state’s citizenry.  It is time that you “just go away” and, if you refuse to go away, then “shut up.”  Your actions in the last few days have, as Tammy Bruce noted yesterday, shown you as much a “child” as your four sons.  The continuous diarrhea coming out of your mouth is insulting to your wife, who should have the courtesy of your silence, and leads me to question whether you have any concept of your responsibilities as a father to your four sons.  It is TIME, Governor Sanford, to stop thinking of yourself, stop publicly lamenting your forbidden love, and start acting like a MAN, a HUSBAND, a FATHER and, finally, a GOVERNOR.

Rant No. 2 – Presidential Hypocrisy.  Any rational and studious observer of the recent presidential campaign was given ample opportunity to hear Obama’s criticism of Bush Iraq policy, including the incessant critique over the futility of the surge and America’s unnecessary involvement in an emerging Iraqi civil war.  The campaign record is replete with Obama’s arrogant pronouncements of all things wrong with Iraq and President Bush’s leadership.  Undoubtedly, such empty rhetoric played into the media’s infatuation with assigning blame to the previous administration for all earthly and out-of-earthly matters, from the sun rising in the east to the moon’s gravitational pull on the oceans.  Filling out the attack on President Bush was frequent Democratic criticism of our troops as agents of terror in the Iraqi night and murderers at Haditha.  So . . . color me a little bit nauseated when I hear our President stand yesterday to laud the incredible sacrifice of the American military and civilians who brought Iraq through the mire of conflict – as if he had been with them all along.  What guile!! Mr. President, you are a phony and a hypocrite of the first order.  Funny . . . amidst all of the accolades showered among his former objects of scorn, there was nary a comment of appreciation for President Bush, who withstood Republican and Democrat criticism in order to stand with his military leaders in their call for a changed Iraq policy.  President Obama may have been remiss in such an oversight, but I will say it, nevertheless.  Thank you, President Bush.  Job well done.

Rant No. 1 – America is No Longer a Beacon for Freedom, Nor a Shining City on the Hill to Millions Around the World.  Picture this: Iranians, vested with the same inalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness as you and me, marching in the streets of Tehran seeking FREEDOM - the right to speak freely, the right to associate and the right to have their vote count.  Then: An Iranian government crackdown, led by a mullah who supports the election of a madman, Holocaust denier, leading to blood in the streets of Tehran.  Where’s America? . . . a deafening silence.  For five days, muted criticism and a pledge to stay out of Iranian internal affairs.  Only after a video of a woman dying in the streets hits the internet does our president feel sufficiently moved to express that America is “appalled and outraged.”  Sorry, Mr. President, but “outrage” five days after the fact ain’t outrage.  Millions of Iranians having every bit the courage of Patrick Henry now are left to wonder – is that it, America?  While the executions gather momentum in the recesses of Iranian streets, America resumes its silence.  Yet, simultaneously, when a Marxist who is attempting to subvert the constitutional limitations on his power is forcibly removed from office in Honduras, America leads the charge to see that international support coalesces around the deposed Honduran president.  There’s no five day wait to voice America’s outrage at the actions of freedom-loving Hondurans – no, rather, American scorn is immediate and substantial.  And Hondurans, who have supported a constitutional democracy with their courage and blood, are left to wonder – is that it, America?  While the deposed president does the talk-show circuit with fellow Marxists, Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chavez, America trumpets his legitimacy.  The examples go on and on – America unhesitatingly tells its staunchest Middle East ally, Israel, to stop building settlements in the West Bank, while Obama reaches out to Arabs indicating that America will not overstep its bounds in dealing with the Muslim world.  America is shrinking, ladies and gentlemen.  Obama is urging upon America a status as a second-ranked, “has been” power, which will shy away from advancing the cause of freedom and promise of liberty in deference to despotic leadership.  We are exhibiting a national cowardice never seen before in the history of our republic and the cause of human dignity, the cause of America’s role in human rights is now seriously in question.  And, for that we have only one person to thank . . . President Barack Obama.

You need not tune into MSNBC to hear Keith Olbermann’s shouts of glee cascading through the hallways of Rockefeller Center – nor, tune into the Morning Joe to detect the cackling coming from the Huffington Post and Tina Brown. So loud is the collective secular chortle that one might casually hear it amidst the hustle and bustle of a warm Vegas night or in the deepest recesses of the Appalachian Trail.

Growing up in Ann Arbor – and, yes, we do everything weird in Ann Arbor – my parents had close friends who would annually celebrate “Christmas in July.” In a scene reminiscent of such benevolent excess, it seems Republican national leadership has adopted its own mid-year, Chanukah in June, but the gifts are being opened not by grateful constituents, but by political opponents who rightfully note the glaring hypocrisy in conservative declarations of family values by daylight and prurient cat calls by night.

On Tuesday, June 16th, the first candle on the metaphorical menorah of political disaster was lit by Senator John Ensign – acknowledging his version of marital indiscretion, leaving unresolved rumors concerning how his paramour and her husband exited stage left only to land in cushy jobs peripherally related to the Ensign fundraising apparatus.  Then, on the eighth day, the last candle was lit in a staggering display of self-immolation by Governor Mark Sanford – acknowledging his version of marital indiscretion, leaving unresolved questions concerning how this bright shining conservative voice could leave his state government rudderless while he was off ‘crying for Argentina.’

In the Book of Matthew (Matthew 7:1), we are told to judge not, lest we be judged. And, so it is – I am certainly not in a position to judge given my own fallen status. So on a personal level, as I have prayed for myself, I will pray for these men that their actions be mercifully judged only by Him and that we, their broader constituency, are embued with the redemptive gift of forgiveness. My Judao-Christian upbringing tells me that their walk to atonement is ultimately a private one and that we should let them have their peace as they seek to reconstruct all that they have invariably damaged.

But reflecting on their actions, beyond the personal and upon the justified ridicule from the left concerning ostensible hypocrisy, raises a broader concern regarding these events for all politically active persons of faith – one which, to give due concern for our faith, we must answer. What role should our faith play in our politics?

Secularists would and do often suggest that faith should play no role in our public politics. And, ultimately, depending on how persons of faith receive this question, secularists may be right, but for the wrong reasons. For secularists, the disconnect between faith and politics is inevitable, not by conscious choice but by default – the absence of a declared guiding faith renders the question moot.

Let me suggest that if persons of faith can’t live up to their faith, then it should play no role in our public politics – not because it makes us worse politicians, but because it damages the cause of faith.  And, to all persons of faith, this should be our principal concern.

Erick Erickson has suggested that elected politicians may suffer from an absence of a core support group to keep their moral compass in sync.  And, there is certainly some truth to this – I can reflect on my personal experience that politics (even at the local level) is a heady business – arrogance and hubris become the currency in which those involved often communicate.  Such an environment is unhealthy and leads to poor decisions affecting people whom have little ability to influence outcomes from the outside - like spouses and children.  But, ultimately, I think the loss of guiding faith among our politicians finds its cause in something more basic than just the absence of a bible-based support group.

Conservative politicians, who for their own electoral benefit find themselves linking faith with politics, better start realizing that, for example, to be a “conservative Christian” is a lot more important than to be a “Christian conservative.”  A skewing of priorities between our politics and our faith permits us to advance the cause of our politics on the backs of our faith.  Simply stated, this is wrong.

As a movement of faith-based conservatives, if we prioritize faith and family, first, and politics, second, we will mute secular criticism of our faith via our politics.  And, as importantly, we will never again be lighting candles in June.

• Back from a week taking my wife and our kids to Washington, D.C. for the first time – while I have been there many times, this was a first for her and the children.  What a terrific week!  If you will indulge me this bit of recollection – we drove to Gettysburg last Sunday and Monday morning spent the time touring the battlefield with a personal guide.  (For those interested, this is definitely the way to do it – just turn over the keys to the guide and let him or her show you the way.)  Only by visiting this hallowed place can you appreciate the sacrifice of one’s ancestors and all of our forefathers in the struggle to preserve this Union.  Then Monday afternoon, off to D.C.  There is something magical as you drive past Lafayette Park and point through the trees, saying “there it is” – as they spot the White House for the first time.  Not having a hotel to check into quite yet, we drove around, ran through Georgetown and then back to the White House just in time to see the president fly in on Marine One.  That was something!  Tuesday was occupied by the beauty of Arlington and the wondrous monuments of the Mall.  Wednesday was Smithsonian Day and a trip to the Supreme Court and the Capitol – short tour but Gallery passes made it worthwhile.  Thursday morning and it was off to the White House for a tour and then to the Holocaust Museum for a somber review of evil in our time, with more Smithsonian in the afternoon.  Friday and it was off to the Supreme Court Library – I am a member of the bar – so I took my son with me as we toured it mid-renovation and then we hopped over to Capitol for a little more Senate watching.  An afternoon trip to the zoo and a little lunch in Adams Morgan (dang that subway escalator is long) and back downtown.  Up early this morning for a long drive back to Michigan.  What a great week!
• For you Reese Witherspoon fans out there, my wife was pleased to report that she spotted Ms. Witherspoon on location in D.C. this week, filming an upcoming movie with Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson.  This alone made my wife’s week.
• For me, I saw a sundry of recognizable House Members and Senators – yeah, no big deal.  But a couple presidential motorcades were pretty cool, as was spotting Justice David Souter from about 8 feet being interviewed by Brian Lamb of C-Span.  Closed my week with a gratuitous “enjoy your work” to Jeffrey Toobin, who politely acknowledged my comment as we walked by each other.
• To show you how insular the life is in D.C. – I didn’t even know about Senator Ensign’s Tuesday confession until late Thursday.  So commonplace is the loss of one’s moral compass in Washington, that admissions of this sort scarcely gather recognition inside the Beltway.
• Equally unspoken about was Secretary Clinton’s unfortunate fall at Foggy Bottom last week, necessitating surgery yesterday at GWU Hospital.  I hope that she makes a quick recovery as it sounds she will.  But the bigger tragedy for her is that this was the most newsworthy thing she has done in five months as secretary and even then it wasn’t well publicized outside her circle of friends.
• Finally, in closing, to those Republican leaders out there who preach Christian family values during the day, but stray like cats at night – STOP!!!  Yes, we are all fallen people and, certainly, but for the love of Jesus Christ, I would have remained lost myself.  As I learned, Christ’s repentance starts with your personal repentance.  Don’t tell us your “sorry” and are moving on and don’t dismiss the damage you have wreaked on others.  Truly and privately repent and realize that if you are ever to return to a position of genuine public influence, it will only be done on Christ’s terms and not yours.

• Can’t help but being struck by stinging irony in yesterday’s tragedy at the Holocaust Museum.  In reporting on this despicable act, the major news media rightfully focuses in on the assailant’s crazy, hateful views on Jews and his incredible disavowal of the Holocaust – declaring him to be nothing short of a madman.  Yet tomorrow, that same media, carrying the pail of appeasement, will be right back at it – urging U.S. engagement and dialogue with Iranian President Ahmadinejad (presuming he remains in power) without precondition, supposing him to be mildly reasonable, despite him being every bit the madman as the now infamous, James von Brunn.
• In another touch of irony, thankfully less stinging and more humorous – as the Obama Administration catapults our country towards socialism, liberal newspapers throughout America should be thriving, enjoying their heyday. Instead, many are sending out termination notices.  For those conservatives who grew up in the People’s Republic of Ann Arbor, like National Review’s Jay Nordlinger or me, we do take some measure of humor in the thought that Pravda West, also known as the Ann Arbor News, won’t be around to report on Obama’s foray into universal healthcare.
• Obama’s speech in Cairo was aired as an overture to Muslims – designed to increase understanding and reduce the effects of violent extremism, including the prospects for further terrorism here and abroad.  It occurred to my wise father-in-law, and I think he’s right, that Obama’s speech will likely do just the opposite.  First, extremists don’t listen to reason – in fact, the audience which might positively respond to Obama’s overture is already disinclined to engage in any terrorist act and understands that our opposition to terrorism is not reasonably construed as principally a challenge to Islamic theology.  In other words, Obama was largely preaching to the choir. But, further, by attempting to ostracize Islamic terrorists from the communities which they have typically infested and by challenging their status within the broader Islamic world, Obama may likely have forced them to expedite and enhance their planned attacks against Israel and the West, as a declaration of relevance if nothing else – such declarations, however, are deadly – ah, the sage advice of a father-in-law.
• Speaking of the aforementioned National Review , Rich Lowry and Romesh Ponneru have recently written a piece, “Beyond ’No’ ” (June 8, 2009), challenging the GOP to provide common sense, reform solutions in order to build a robust middle class. While I don’t disagree with the notion that connecting with a strong, prosperous middle class will prove helpful in re-establishing the GOP’s relevance in national politics, I get the “heeby jeebies” every time I hear conservatives, whom I have traditionally admired, start preaching the mantra of reform. And, yes, I am prompted to retort with my typical response – the GOP’s problem hasn’t been the message, it’s been that the messengers forgot the message. And, with due respect to Messieurs Lowry and Ponneru, please stop telling me that the simple message of limited government isn’t and won’t be of “interest” to a majority of prospective middle-class voters.  It meant enough to my middle-class father in 1980 to prompt his vote for Ronald Reagan, against the backdrop of Carter liberalism, and it will soon mean enough to my daughter to prompt her vote for a conservative ten years hence, after years of disastrous Obamaism. Conservatives, like Lowry and Ponneru, do an admirable job identifying worthy targets for our conservative message, but they need to remember that in an era where the contrast with liberal, big government largesse could not be more starkly drawn, we need not reinvent, or “re-form,” the conservative wheel to bring back the GOP.
• A couple other comments about so-called reform conservatism.  First, I have written that reform conservatism is ultimately neither.  But apart from that, let me make one other observation – while it is one thing for David Frum and his cohorts to argue the merit of reformist proposals on issues from a green economy to tax changes encouraging small business growth, it is quite another thing to persuade voters to your cause.  Voters want straightforward messages – not esoteric, “wonk speak” to wade through in evaluating candidates, whom are less likely to adequately articulate such reform as might Frum et al.  Intending no disrespect, there is some electoral merit to “keeping it simple, stupid.”
• Hillary . . . Hillary?!! Where are you, Hillary?!!