Home of Today's Common Sense

Published Brownsville Herald Jan 18, 2009

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is a good premise to live by but unfortunately does not have the same result, everywhere.

In the case of religious choice the hate because of a supposed different, in fact not trusting or liking someone that is somehow different than your self is bigotry.

This bigotry is very evident when it erupts into hostility which has become very evident in the Middle East in the last few years.

In earlier years the Inquisition looked very similar.

Even within the different religious groups many segments have split off the original Christian Church and still bear some hostility.

Currently, the most dangerous conflict relates to what is being referred to as Fundamentalist or Radical Islam. In her book “They Must be stopped” best selling writer Brigitte Gabriel states that all non-Muslims are regarded as enemies worthy of death. They also believe that since any treaties are not valid they can treat them merely as tools to permit rearming. That seems to agree with the activities that we now see in regard to Iran backed Hamas.

I don’t know whether that is the case all the time but certainly worth being taken into consideration.

In the press lately, a discussion of the diplomacy being considered by the incoming President advanced carrots and sticks as motivations. The result was a rebuttal that the terms used were insults and referred to animals.

I am wondering at what the success of the U.S. diplomacy will be like with the promised policy changes in our intelligence methodology in place.

The TV Show 24 came on and Jack Bauer was being questioned by Congress about Super Secret CTU and extraordinary measures used to gather information. Then memories of the Carter Administration destruction of human intelligence activities. As many of America’s best became contractors available at the best price the administration lost much of the verifiable information in the middle east.

It would appear that the customary motivations may just not work. The idea of adopting Sharia law, which may ultimately be the only solution that these folks could accept; though certainly could not be considered in the U.S.

It might that be the politically correct position, and treating military enemies as simple criminals could again put us at risk without real intelligence. Let us consider to many of our enemies world destruction is not a bad thing and will result in the better place in the hereafter.

The Washington politicians that now deem themselves as the all knowing and most powerful genies that would decide exactly what we all need and give us exactly that.

The Congress that proudly claimed popularity in the low teens even worse than President Bush, is mostly still there. The Congresspersons whose party dominated Congress and the economy in the last two years still determine the direction of the nation. The Congress that determined to provide housing to folks, without adequate credit, at the cost of our banking system is still there.

The Republican administration, though they were not responsible for all the ills that are befalling us, certainly made a number of mistakes. Many of which were discussed by President Bush in recent interviews.

In spite of more than enough problems on all the political sides, the rhetoric and hate for all things Bush continues unabated by the same folks that determine what is politically correct for the rest of us. I would think now is the time to move on with the new administration and hopefully a more optimistic attitude of change that was promised by Candidate Obama.

At home the world we thought we could count on is no longer there. The realities of life have been revised by what is defined as political correctness. A few folks decide how we all must live and talk so that another would not become uncomfortable. Frequently, the activity may only not agree with another’s perception of truth or reality and interfere with the following an accepted practice of Religion in violation of another Constitutional Amendment. The actual change is accomplished by the threat of an expensive court action or damaging public promotion.

The traditions and practices of traditional Christianity have appeared to change and lose consistency so that many followers in Europe where secularism has bloomed now leave the churches nearly empty. Not unrelated in these countries unrest in the streets is becoming commonplace, the economies in good times is weakening. At home the same problems are popping up in the larger cities where the rules are blurring and becoming ignored more and more.

Here in Texas the elite state rulers are even trying to keep new fresh ideas from being heard by limiting those who can run for election to those anointed by the “bosses”.

Texas Representative Robert Alonzo (D-Dallas) has introduced HB 246. It would move primary elections from early March to early February, in all election years. Because the date of the Texas primary is tied to the deadline for petitions for both new political parties and for independent candidates (for office other than president) to submit petitions, those deadlines would become even earlier.

Existing law puts the new party deadline in late May, and the non-presidential independent candidate deadline in early May. If the bill is passed, those deadlines would be in April. That would give Texas the 2nd earliest petition deadline for new parties (except for states in which new parties must nominate by primary) in the nation. Only New Mexico, which has an early April deadline for new parties, would be earlier (again, except for states in which new parties nominate by primary)

A local blogger attributed the following to a prominent politician that I voted for.

“Our country requires a moderate third voice–fiscally conservative but socially liberal–because the either/or approach of the Democrats and Republicans is failing us as a nation.”

Locally, our BISD rulers are in the news. We now have a different power center so it must be time to gain influence over one cash cow or other so they have to get rid of the other guys influence in the Superintendent.

Rumor has it that the battle may be over procedural matters at special education hearings or approving the acquisition of insurance policies. I don’t know for sure but it only matters at this point that there is a battle going on that distracts from the possibility of effective education which did not seem to be a problem with any of our past Superintendants. I believe we need a stable committed leadership in BISD and feel that any Board that wants to change the Superintendent should have to have it approved at a public election vote before effective. It would seem that we can not trust the board after being influenced in the BISD Coliseum; an opinion shared in recent letters to the editor.