Fatal Month for Police

14 Police Officers Killed in January

Two St. Petersburg Florida Police Officers were shot and killed Monday, and a US Marshal shot and wounded when they were serving a warrant on a long time criminal with prior convictions for armed robbery and sexual battery. The suspect was also listed with the state as a sex offender and had failed to register with authorities in December.

January 2011 has started as a violent month for Law Enforcement with 14 Police Officers being killed.  During 2010 a total of 162 Law Enforcement Officers were killed nationwide.  Statistics maintained by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund http://www.nleomf.com/ provide detailed information on Law Enforcement fatalities and other Law Enforcement statistics. 

During 2010, more officers were killed in Texas, 18, than in any other state; followed by California with 11; Illinois with 10; Florida with nine; and Georgia with seven. The two law enforcement agencies with the most deaths in 2010 were the California Highway Patrol and the Chicago (IL) Police Department, each with five. Eleven of the officers killed nationwide in 2010 served with federal law enforcement agencies. Six female officers died in 2010, compared to only one in 2009. On average, the officers who died in 2010 were 41 years old and had served for 12 years.

Opinion

"We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions." - Ronald Reagan

While I love Ronald Reagan and his philosophy, I very reluctantly must now disagree with the above quote, not because society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker, No, on the contrary, but because society is to blame for allowing the criminals to commit the crimes. Our society has allowed the mostly violent repeat offenders to continue to commit violent crimes against our citizens and in doing so have enabled the criminal justice system to be overburdened, overcrowded and abused to the point where victims of violent and sexual related crimes are given Life Sentences for being a victim, while the criminals are given short sentences, probation, and opportunity to repeat their prior crime again, and again.

“We must now accept the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty. Society is guilty of allowing those appointed and elected to let criminals repeat their previous crimes, and guilty of failing to protect those who appointed and elected them. Society is guilty of once identifying those who committed crimes against children, allowing then and giving them opportunity to do it again. Society is guilty of continuing to allow itself to be victimized and not demanding that the rights of victims override the rights of the known and convicted criminal.”   

Society should, like it does for causes like saving the forest and animals, petition to save our society from predators and criminals, and reverse the cycle of sentencing victims of crimes to sentencing the criminals.

Vote for Jacob Netzel

A Very Special Memorial Built by Eagle Scout

(Re-posting from previous date: VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!)  

Recently I did a post on the story of Jacob Netzel and his efforts to build the 3^rd Special Forces Memorial Walk at Fort Bragg North Carolina. Jacobs efforts has been making news in the military community and drawing attention.  The attention has grow and national recognition may upon Jacob for his work.

This year marks the 150^th anniversary of the Medal of Honor being signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.  As part of the celebrations of what the Medal of Honor represents, the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation invited the Boy Scouts of America to nominate an outstanding scout for the prestigious American Spirit Award.

This award recognizes one or more individuals who demonstrate extraordinary skill, professionalism and a spirit of excellence in a challenging situation. In response, the editorial staff of Boys’ Life conducted a national search of Scouts and their achievements and selected Jacob Netzel and three other Scouts as potential recipients of the American Spirit Award.

Please pass this on to friends and go to this link and vote for Jacob Netzel: http://boyslife.org/americanspiritaward

Nomination submission

Jacob Netzel: Persistence Goes a Long Way
Occoneechee Council

Jacob, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout from Troop 40 in Fayetteville, N.C., knew his Eagle project could take a long, long time. But nothing could stop Jacob, who spent four years raising $40,000 and then constructed a memorial for fallen soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Group headquartered at nearby Fort Bragg.

“I was very optimistic in the beginning,” Jacob says. “Then I got discouraged when the cash was coming in slow. But it never failed: If we had a slow month, we’d get a big donation from somebody and things would pick up.”

In addition to the fund raising, Jacob had to get approval from seemingly everyone in the U.S. military, including the Secretary of the Army and the three-star general and commander of the installation where the memorial would be built.

The end result was 28 headstones honoring the memory of 3rd Special Forces Group soldiers killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom.
Jacob says he hopes to someday become an engineer.

Check the blog archive or go to link for original blog post and other links: http://pointofviewbyyou.blogspot.com/2010/12/military-memorials.html

Facebook Page for 3^rd Special Forces Memorial Walk:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/3rd-SFG-Memorial/223230520745

Payton Manning Targeted for Assassination?

Rhetoric, Rhetoric and more Rhetoric

Crazed Gunman Shoots Congresswoman

A catchy headline “Payton Manning Targeted for Assassination.” If we were to follow and believe the logic of those who have made the Arizona shooting a political and agenda geared event, then logic would dictate that the New York Post newspaper is responsible for putting out a hit on Payton Manning, an NFL quarterback.  The Post cover on the same day as the Arizona shooting had a picture of Payton Manning with crosshairs target on him. 

 

According to the political and media attention getters to include some media outlets, Sarah Palin may have been responsible for the Arizona shooting because a map used by one of her websites used target crosshairs to identify Democratic Party congressional areas.  The shooting apparently had nothing to do with a random act of violence by an individual who allegedly had issues with the Arizona Congresswoman since 2007.  In a press conference the father of the nine year old girl killed in the shooting made a statement that in his opinion the shooting was a random act, a statement that will likely cause him to suffer the wrath of the left for his disagreement with them. 

"We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions." - Ronald Reagan

  

The target crosshairs symbol and image has been in use for ages, and although associated with rifles it has also been associated with numerous other things to identify business, sports and other targets in the related industries.   

The use of the target symbol in no way means that its intent is to kill someone, except in the minds of those caught up in the latest frenzy.  We can now only assume that like the use of the “N” word in Mark Twain books, the target symbol will soon be eliminated and companies like the retailer Target will have to change their name and logo. 

  

t is a shame that those on the political left cannot allow a tragic incident to go by without making it about them and their political agenda. To take the death of six, wounding of fourteen including a Congresswoman, and attempt to make political and agenda gains from it is beyond words, and an example of the nature, beliefs and lack of sincerity and concern those involved have. 

We can only hope that the American people will take notice of those who show their true colors in times of tragedy, and remember them for the self serving lack of caring individuals that they are.   

  

Vote for Jacob Netzel

A Very Special Memorial Built by Eagle Scout

Recently I did a post on the story of Jacob Netzel and his efforts to build the 3^rd Special Forces Memorial Walk at Fort Bragg North Carolina. Jacobs efforts has been making news in the military community and drawing attention.  The attention has grow and national recognition may upon Jacob for his work.

This year marks the 150^th anniversary of the Medal of Honor being signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.  As part of the celebrations of what the Medal of Honor represents, the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation invited the Boy Scouts of America to nominate an outstanding scout for the prestigious American Spirit Award.

This award recognizes one or more individuals who demonstrate extraordinary skill, professionalism and a spirit of excellence in a challenging situation. In response, the editorial staff of Boys’ Life conducted a national search of Scouts and their achievements and selected Jacob Netzel and three other Scouts as potential recipients of the American Spirit Award.

Please pass this on to friends and go to this link and vote for Jacob Netzel: http://boyslife.org/americanspiritaward

Nomination submission

Jacob Netzel: Persistence Goes a Long Way
Occoneechee Council

Jacob, a 17-year-old Eagle Scout from Troop 40 in Fayetteville, N.C., knew his Eagle project could take a long, long time. But nothing could stop Jacob, who spent four years raising $40,000 and then constructed a memorial for fallen soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Group headquartered at nearby Fort Bragg.

“I was very optimistic in the beginning,” Jacob says. “Then I got discouraged when the cash was coming in slow. But it never failed: If we had a slow month, we’d get a big donation from somebody and things would pick up.”

In addition to the fund raising, Jacob had to get approval from seemingly everyone in the U.S. military, including the Secretary of the Army and the three-star general and commander of the installation where the memorial would be built.

The end result was 28 headstones honoring the memory of 3rd Special Forces Group soldiers killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom.
Jacob says he hopes to someday become an engineer.

Check the blog archive or go to link for original blog post and other links: http://pointofviewbyyou.blogspot.com/2010/12/military-memorials.html

Facebook Page for 3^rd Special Forces Memorial Walk:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/3rd-SFG-Memorial/223230520745

The Liberal Reckoning of 2010

The year voters saw the left's unvarnished agenda and said no.

It is refreshing sometimes to find someone in the media that writes it as it is. I found an article in the Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com , and think it pretty much states what a majority of us believe to be true concerning this past November election and the performance of the Congress during the past two years, a performance that earned them a 13% approval rating.  So the following is a posting of the WSJ article and worth the read.

Re-post from WSJ. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent out a press release last week headlined "111th Congress Accomplishments." It quoted a couple of Democratic Party cheerleaders calling this the greatest Congress since 1965-66 (Norm Ornstein) or even the New Deal (David Leonhardt), and listed in capital letters no fewer than 30 legislative triumphs: Health Care Reform, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a Jobs Package (HIRE Act), the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Food Safety, the Travel Promotion Act, Student Loan Reform, Hate Crimes Prevention, and so much more.

What the release did not mention is the loss of 63 House and six Senate seats, and a mid-December Gallup poll approval rating of 13%. Never has a Congress done so much and been so despised for it. 

While this may appear to be a contradiction, it is no accident or even much of a surprise. The liberal wing of the Democratic Party had been waiting since the 1960s for its next great political opening, as we warned in an October 17, 2008 editorial, "A Liberal Supermajority." Critics and some of our readers scored us at the time for exaggerating, but in retrospect we understated the willful nature of that majority. 

Democrats achieved 60 Senate votes by an historical accident of prosecutorial abuse (Ted Stevens), a stolen election (Al Franken) and a betrayal (Arlen Specter). They then attempted to do nearly everything we expected, regardless of public opinion, and they only stopped because the clock ran out.

The real story of 2010 is that the voters were finally able to see and judge this liberal agenda in its unvarnished form. For once, there was no Republican President to muddle the message or divide the accountability. The public was able to compare the promise of 8% unemployment if the government spent $812 billion on "stimulus" with the 9.8% jobless result. They stood athwart liberal history in the making and said, "Stop."
 

Note well, however, that the Democrats still standing on Capitol Hill remain unchastened. In her exit interviews, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she would do it all the same way again, and her colleagues have seconded her lack of remorse by keeping her as their leader despite their November thumping. Her consolation to defeated Democrats was not to invite them to the House caucus meeting when she denounced President Obama's tax deal with Republicans.

Note, too, that the organized left and its media allies are also beginning to rewrite the story of the 111th Congress as an historical triumph. The same people who claimed that ObamaCare was a defeat because it lacked a public option are suddenly noting it will put 32 million more Americans on the government health-care dole. It won't be long before liberals and the press are defending the 111th Congress's every achievement as historic.

There is a lesson here both about modern liberalism and for Republicans who will soon have more power in Congress. For today's left, the main goal of politics is not to respond to public opinion. The goal is to impose the dream of an egalitarian entitlement state whether the public likes it or not. Sooner or later, they figure, the anger will subside and Americans will come to like the cozy confines of the cradle-to-grave welfare state.

This is the great Democratic bet with ObamaCare. The assumption is that once the benefits start to flow in 2013 the constituency for "free" health care will grow. As spending and deficits climb, the pressure for higher taxes will become inexorable and the GOP will splinter into its balanced budget and antitax wings. A value-added tax or some other money-machine will pass and guarantee that the government will control 40% to 50% of all economic resources.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she would do it all the same way again.  If the price of this bet was losing control of the House for a moment in time in 2010, Mrs. Pelosi's view is so be it. 

You have to break a few Blue Dog careers to build a European welfare state. Liberals figure that as long as President Obama can be re-elected in 2012, their gamble will pay off and the legacy of the 111th Congress will be secure. The cheerleaders will write books about it. 

The lesson for Republicans is to understand the nature of their political opponents and this long-term bet. The GOP can achieve all kinds of victories in the next two years, and some of them will be important for economic growth. But the main chance is ObamaCare, which will fundamentally change the balance of power between government and individuals if it is not repealed or replaced.

While repeal will no doubt founder in the Senate in the next two years, Republicans can still use their House platform to frame the debate for 2012. They can hold hearings to educate the public about rising insurance costs and other nasty ObamaCare consequences. And they can use the power of the purse to undermine its implementation.

***

The difference between the work of the 111th Congress and that of either the Great Society or New Deal is that the latter were bipartisan and in the main popular. This Congress's handiwork is profoundly unpopular and should become more so as its effects become manifest. In 2010, Americans saw liberalism in the raw and rejected it. The challenge for Republicans is to repair the damage before it becomes permanent.