Prickly City Cartoonist Scott Stantis does a wonderful job of portraying part of the problem conservatives have with John McCain and goes a long way to explain why he can’t be trusted.

Maybe we should all just calm down…..

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 7:32 AM EST

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The tragic killings at Northern Illinois University on Valentines Day led to the predictable media portrayals and explanations. Like the Virgina Tech case last year and the litany of other horrifying similar events, Tragedy TV takes over and shows us pictures of makeshift memorials while they jam cameras and microphones into the faces of grieving family. They show neighbors who inevitably tell us the same things; “he was so quiet”, or “he was a nice boy, no one would have ever expected this to happen!” You can probably name a few you have heard yourself. The newspapers follow suit, first with a news story and then the inevitable speculation. The media storm makes a mockery of the victims and ultimately the killer as well. It has long since quit being a task of informing the public and more of some sort of macabre ratings and circulation grab.

It is such a mystery as to what causes mental illness, how people react and why people choose to take others with them when they kill. There is no logic, there is no answer, just tragedy and aftermath. The multitudinous inquiries as to why will go unanswered because nobody knows nor can they ever know.

Others would blame it on the mere existence of guns, too much or not enough medication, or even society itself as if we willingly create monsters. Cruelty is often evident in our society but rarely do the victims of such hazing kill and take innocents with them. God doesn’t ordain or condone this type of senselessness nor step in to stop it either, he gave man a free will and we will never have all the answers until we stand before him in judgment.

In his Chicago Tribune column today John Kass stands above the rest of the media in his treatment of the story. He neither assigns blame nor tries to exploit the tragedy for readership. He treats it with the kindness and humanity it deserves, for the victims and their families, for the students who must still attend the school and for a shocked public who often finds themselves trying to make sense of that which cannot be explained.

In the Chicago Sun-Times Carol Marin lives up to the low journalistic standard that has been the norm for the last several years. Her column lays the blame on the existence of guns themselves and the perceived lack of gun control.

Whether it’s a school shooting, violence in the neighborhoods or mass murder in a mall, the common denominators are people who have lost control of their lives who nonetheless have weapons in their hands. Honestly, how many more times do we need to turn on CNN, MSNBC or the local news to hear another stunned set of survivors relive the horror they have witnessed and not conclude, once and for all, that this country has too many guns in the hands of people whose well-known derangement or criminal background makes them a ticking time bomb?

Thanks for stating the obvious Carol. Of course if the authorities were aware of said derangement they would not allow gun ownership to those afflicted. There is also laws against those with criminal backgrounds owning guns so if they possess them it is most often in violation of the law. This thought process is part of the problem. As Kass stated so eloquently it is not that we have too many or not enough guns. It is that we have inexplicable evil in our society that is not always recognized before it manifests itself in a horrible and tragic manner.

We will never understand the why, we can only to hope to limit the instances by our own vigilance and compassion for our fellow man. Life is imperfect and there will be cases where evil lives in our midst unnoticed. When it shows up on our doorstep we should never endeavor to blame as it absolves nothing nor protects us from the future. Recognize evil when you can and try to stop it before it strikes. But when it slips through we can never say why and at such times can only turn to God for the strength to deal with the answers that will never come.

Posted by Biloxi in Social Issues at 7:57 PM EST

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Call me an idealist, a hopeless purist, or a selfish piece of crap but I will not vote for John McCain to become President of the United States. Neither will I vote for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. I will however vote, as it is a deeply held belief for me to do so. Too many have sacrificed their lives or portions thereof for me to discard this most sacred privilege. It is also that belief that keeps me from voting for McCain in good conscience as I will not throw a vote away for party unity or the lesser of two evils. It is my true belief that such an outlook will bring us a continuation of what we have seen in recent years and that is unacceptable candidates who have disdain for the very electorate they claim to serve.

I have been told time and again by many on my side of the aisle that either of the two Democratic hopefuls are worse than McCain and that my vote (or non-vote if you choose that characterization) will assure victory to the socialist Obama or his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. I reject that premise on its face. The only thing that will assure a John McCain loss at the polls is John McCain himself. His past, his present and our worst fears for the future.

National Security is of grave importance and McCain is the only candidate has who has come out on the side of victory in Iraq but his stated amnesty stance would undermine that very same security by allowing millions of illegals citizenship (or whatever he likes to mischaracterize his position to be). He now comes out on the enforcement side because he claims to have heard the American people. Perhaps what he really heard was his campaign sinking and his chances of election circling the drain after he angrily dressed us all down last spring and called us bigots in so many words. He showed the same attitude recently when he told conservatives that it is time to “calm down”.

I am not a single issue voter and as such I have many disagreements with John McCain; his support for amnesty being just one. He has taken positions on government funding of embryonic stem cell research, the President’s tax cuts, global warming, campaign finance and the filibustering of judicial nominees that are anethema to my own, just to name a few. He has a hair trigger and thinks nothing of trashing his party, his President and conseratives in general. He entertained a switch to independent back in 2000 as a jab at President Bush in a little sour grapes action of his own. He accused Mitt Romney of flip flopping on “every major issue” while never addressing his very public changes of direction that seem to have come just in time for the election. His proclivity to “reach across the aisle” and adopt the position of the Democrats gives me more than a few misgivings. How do I know he will not do this on Iraq when he takes office and faces a Democrat majority in Congress? McCain is the devil we don’t know and is only predictable in that we can expect him to disappoint us often. How those disappointments take shape is the unknown. His 82% conservative rating is only accurate when we span his entire career, if we look at his most recent ratings of 65% he is ahead of only Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and Arlen Specter, three well known RINO’S.

I could go on but this would become redundant. The main issue we need to look at is the future of conservatism and the Republican Party as a home for said conservatism. If we continually settle for less we water down the platform until we are no different in viewpoint and action than the Democrats. This is not to be taken as a call for ideological purity to the point where everyone is 100% in lockstep. That is not only unrealistic but also restricting in a matter of ideology that would not allow for growth. This is a call to halt the continual slide down to the bottom of the hill as characterized by a recent tolerance for an ever increasing erosion of principle and the influx of left leaning thought process. Positions generally accepted as a way to make the Republicans more marketable to the masses. We do not defeat liberalism by adopting it and the masses will be drawn to the true Conservative stance of smaller government, lower taxes and a strong National Defense. If we continue the path of rejecting a true confidence in those bedrock principles, we may as well mail it in and accept Obama anyway. My thought process is long term and is about bringing the country back to conservatism. George W. Bush is not a conservative and it cost the party control of Congress and the confidence of the people. John McCain takes us even further away. For that I cannot stand.

Many Republicans fear that if conservatives don’t vote for McCain it will lead to a liberal in the White House. I fear that if I do we will have a liberal sympathizer there instead and it will set our country back for years to come. Stand instead of settle.

Posted by Biloxi in Politics at 4:55 PM EST

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I am never one to speak ill of the deceased and by many accounts Adeline Geo-Karis lived an extraordinary and full life. She achieved much in what was a man’s world in the mid and late 20th Century. She earned her law degree, was elected Justice of the Peace, attained the rank of Lt. Commander in the Navy, was elected Mayor of Zion Illinois and of course was elected to the Illinois Senate. Geo-Karis passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 89. May she rest in peace. The article describing her life is glowing and I would say mostly correct except for one statement:

All the while, 31st District voters from Waukegan to the McHenry County border continued sending her back to Springfield. And she mentored dozens of women who wanted to follow in her political footsteps.

One eventually challenged Geo-Karis for her Senate seat, leading to her unplanned retirement from the legislature in 2006. Geo-Karis, however, wasn’t one to hold a grudge. “I don’t regret a thing,” she said.

In all the glowing reflection of her life the reporter forgot to mention the tiny detail I wrote about in this article back in 2006. It seems Ms. Geo-Karis did hold a grudge and a healthy one to boot. In a climate where people are being excoriated for their conscience by not lining up behind an unacceptable candidate like John McCain (for the good of the party), nobody has mentioned that Geo-Karis’ last political act was to help the Democrats gain another seat by helping their candidate over the woman (her former protege’) running for the Republican seat.

May she be remembered for all of her contributions but may we also learn from the mistakes. Ego can get in the way of public service and we must be mindful to avoid such instances.

Posted by Biloxi in Illinois Politics at 10:43 PM EST

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The killing of innocents and others who disagree with their particular brand of “peace” is nothing new to the radical Islamicists but Al Qaeda in Iraq has managed an evil most could not imagine. It seems they have begun to strap bombs to people with Downs Syndrome and make them into unwitting suicide bombers. It is not enough to explode willing women and coerce children into acts of faux martyrdom, now they consider the death of the mentally handicapped an acceptable tactic in their quest to spread their repressive religion upon the masses.

Two mentally disabled women strapped with remote-control explosives — and possibly used as unwitting suicide bombers — brought carnage to the two pet bazaars, in attacks Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said sought to “turn Baghdad back to the pre-surge period.”

Those like Ron Paul who blame the violence on our past policies just don’t get the big picture, this kind of evil would have existed with our without our presence in the Middle East and without complete and utter victory it most assuredly will continue. Somebody might want to tell Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to end their “who can pull out the troops first race”. This special kind of hell can be exported and the minute we walk away it will flourish. God Bless our troops for their great work and sacrifice. May the Lord be with the truly peaceful people in Iraq as they seek their freedom and rights of self determination.

Posted by Biloxi in Radical Islam at 3:31 PM EST

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