Sheets

Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn) praised a colleague recently. He said that he would be the right man, as Senator, at any time during our history be it the founding of our country or the Civil War. There is only one problem, the man upon which Senator Dodd heaped this praise is a former Grand Kleagle of the KKK. I'm not surprised you didn't hear much about this is because Robert Byrd, who is a Senator from West Virginia, is a Democrat. We are all well aware of the media firestorm that was created by Trent Lott's address to Strom Thurmond on the occasion of his 100th birthday.

Is Chris Dodd a racist or just an idiot. You decide.

Post Script: During the late 1800's, the KKK was a militant wing of the Democrat Party. In 1871, Republican President Ulysses S. Grant (The successor to the Republican who ended slavery in the U.S., Abraham Lincoln) declared the KKK an illegal terrorist organization. He then empowered federal troops to arrest 5,000 of these thugs. Around that same time, the Republicans introduced the first civil rights act in the country (an Act that southern Democrats fought vehemently). The Republicans also supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act in much greater numbers than the Democrats. Moreover, during the long hot summers in the 1960's when government sanctioned racism ran rampant in the South, not one federally elected official there was a Republican. Now that the South is a much more tolerant place, its politics lean strongly toward the Republicans. When George Wallace stood in the school house door refusing a federal mandate to segregate the schools, he was a Democrat. Some of his fellow travelers on the left include Ernest Hollings (D-SC) who, as Governor, first raised the Confederate Flag above the South Carolina Statehouse and J. William Fullbright who is the rabid segregationist and personal hero to Bill Clinton. Clinton even bestowed a Presidential Medal of Freedom on Fullbright. Yet, Democrats still claim to be the party of minorities. Go figure!

MIRROR LAKE

Mirror Lake bears that name for a reason. Surrounded by peaks, it is often so calm that you can see the glint of red and brass as your lure sails above the water. I was eleven then as I sat next to my father. Both of us had lines in the water. His line, as usual, was the last to get wet. Before he could fish, he always carefully prepared the poles of several children (Dad has 10 in all). As he tied on weights and hooks, he would teach as he tied saying, "The rabbit runs five times around the tree, then back down the hole". He made sure to use language that a child would understand so that, someday soon, We would be able to rig our own poles.

Suddenly, my line went taught. I sprang to my feet and began reeling feverishly. In a flash, the line went slack and the trophy trout that I had envisioned was gone. I collapsed back to the ground. Fishing takes great patience, something that a child doesn't have. After what seemed to be and eternity, to have a fish on and lose it was devastating. My Father simply reached over and pinched my cheek saying, "I guess you must have just nicked him but we'll get the next one".

I will never forget that moment and hardly a day goes by that I don't call it back to mind. However, it took years to fully understand all the lessons that my Father taught that day. The most wonderful thing about Dads is that, with so few words, they teach us so many things without our even knowing it. I like to regard myself as a person with great perserverance, patience, strength, joy, good humor and intelligence. All of those gifts, amongst many others, come courtesy of my father.

As I raise two children of my own, his legacy props me up. So often I hear people say, "If I could only be half the man that so-and-so was...". I don't look at life that way. I know that I will be a good man and a great father because my Father showed me how.

OUT OF COMMISSION

This week, the 9/11 Commission released a preliminary report of their findings. In it they stated that they could find no evidence of Iraq's involvement in the 9/11 attacks. All of the partisan media immediately jumped right on this claiming that it was a huge blow to the credibility of the Bush Administration. John Kerry, of course, piled on saying that this was proof that the President misled the American people. There is just one problem with these responses. Not one single person in the Bush Administration (certainly not the President) has ever claimed that Iraq was involved in the attacks. President Bush even categorically stated that he had no evidence that Iraq was involved. What the Administration has pointed out is that Iraq and Al Qaida have had a relationship for years. The 9/11 Commission itself has admitted that, for a decade, meetings between top Al Qaida leaders and top members of Saddam's regime have taken place in Sudan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Again today, the commission said that they have no conflict with statements made by the Administration. Once again, John Kerry and the Democrats have placed both feet firmly in their mouths. However, I am sure the partisan media will be there to aid in the extraction by refusing to report on the hypocrisy and politcizing of the War on Terror by those on the left.

DRIVING MR. DUKAKIS

In virtually every Presidential race, there comes a moment in time when it becomes abundantly clear that a certain candidate is absolutely unfit to be the Commander-in-Chief. It isn't necessarily lights out. Instead, it is more like the third and final notice from the power company. This point in time manifests itself in some sound bite or video image that seems innocent enough when first revealed by the media until consumed by the voting public. By then, the thin line between the night before and the morning after is crossed. It is too late to take the image or sound back and every person who is paying even scant attention has a clear demonstration of the pathetic shortcomings of the candidate. Without a doubt, the most notable example of this phenomenon is the 1988 Beetle Bailey ride of Michael in the Abrhams tank. As he motored along, his helmeted head bouncing about, his handlers had to know in their hearts that this was a big mistake. He didn't look like a President but instead resembled our enemies.

From the Dean-key Hee-Haw, to Gore's claim to have invented the Internet, to Dole's hip-crushing fall from the stage, to Mondale's promise to raise taxes, to Carter's entire presidency; the media has always been there to witness these moments of slow motion implosion. However, the handling of the current presumptive Democrat nominee has been much different. Perhaps the partisan media learned a lesson from the failed campaign of the first liberal son from Massachusetts (I mean Dukakis, JFK was not a liberal). They have ignored what would previously have been campaign crushing behavior.

John Kerry went snowboarding recently. After crashing into one of his Secret Service detail on his first run, he jumped up shouting a string of obscenities at the man who had sworn to take a bullet for him if necessary. Unfortunately, there was no media present to witness this event as they had agreed to give him a warm-up run wihtout media coverage. No substantial reporting of the event has since been logged. On Memorial Day Weekend, during a visit to the Vietnam War Memorial with a group of school children, candidate Kerry made a vulgar hand gesture to a Vietnam Veteran. This too, of course, did not make any news cycle.

Clearly, either of these could be a campaign crushing moment for Kerry if fairly reported. However, the media is not taking any chances. They have ignored the Kerry Campaign for fear he might say something stupid (or better said, they may have to report the stupid things he does say). Meanwhile they have been relentlessly bashing the Bush Administration. I just wonder how they will handle the debates. Can they refuse to cover those too?