Unintended consequences

Mike Castle's run as an elected official stretches back to 1966 and includes two terms as Delaware's governor. Considered a moderate Republican, the 71-year-old Castle has served his state in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1993.

Yesterday, Castle lost the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate seat once held by Joe Biden.

While we should honor his contributions, we need not mourn his defeat -- it's time he retired anyway. I mean, if we're going to get The Revolution underway, we need new faces in government. And if those professional politicians and long-toothed incumbents won't step aside, dammit, we should vote them out of office.

In this case, unfortunately, Delaware Republicans have given us a cure that's worse than the disease -- Christine O'Donnell, a 41-year-old marketing consultant and political pundit who's best-known for promoting sexual purity. Seriously.

Addressing supporters last night after her victory, O'Donnell beamed,

"You guys are the visionaries and leaders who made this possible."

By "you guys," no doubt she was referring to endorsers Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint, Michelle Bachman and (natch) the Tea Party Express.

Yikes -- that's a scary bunch of wingnuts, for sure, but I'll give credit where it's due. O'Donnell's campaign vanquished the national Republican establishment, which threw everything but the kitchen sink behind Castle and still lost. Generally speaking, I celebrate whenever one of the dominant political parties goes down hard.

Who else is celebrating? None other than Chris Coons, the Democratic Party candidate. Here's what greets visitors to Chris Coons for U.S. Senate this morning:

There's also a rather pointed statement, which begins,

"With Christine O'Donnell, we face an ideology rather than a record. One of Sarah Palin's newest 'Mama Grizzlies,' O'Donnell will fight to roll back a woman's right to choose and lead the charge against stem-cell research, falsely claiming that this ground-breaking research exploits women. She has a record of supporting discrimination against gays and lesbians, and pressing for public schools to teach creationism."

Democrats should wait 'til after the general election to break into a Snoopy dance but, given the stark choice between a centrist Democrat and fringe-dweller O'Donnell, in a state like Delaware it's all but certain that Coons will prevail.

That's the rundown -- but what's really happening here?

Citizens are righteously pissed at our dysfunctional government. We're expressing our anger by shunning incumbents, insiders and establishment-backed candidates in favor of fresh political blood. Because the American electorate can't break its addiction to ideologues, however, the transfusion is hopelessly tainted.

"Throw the bums out" serves The Revolution, in my opinion, only if the alternative is independent of mindless ideology and dominant political parties.

The Tea Party, in its early days, was on the right track. Its focus was on constitutional principles and a libertarian approach to governing -- until, that is, it was polluted by ultra-conservatives and co-opted by the Republican Party.

The result, sadly, is typified by Christine O'Donnell -- a unelectable, anti-libertarian, right-wing extremist.

In a perfect Delaware, Republican primary voters would've had an intelligent, truly independent alternative to Mike Castle. They didn't.

Even worse, it appears, they wouldn't have known the difference.

Oh, they meant well, but when they chose a nutjob like Christine O'Donnell, they signaled to a troubled nation that The Revolution may need to be postponed -- indefinitely.

Urban Resources: Firewood

Our house sits on a postage-stamp lot, a tiny patch of land in a Midwestern village. On its face, it appears to offer little in the way of natural resources.

A closer look reveals what a first glance doesn't.

I believe this post will be the first of a series I'll call "Urban Resources" -- seeking and finding materials often discarded and practices neglected. Today I'll talk about making use of a ridiculously simple source of firewood for our backyard pit or, in a pinch, the indoor fireplace.

There are but four trees on our lot -- two maples, a crabapple and a 60-year-old ash. On township property to the east are a magnificent bur oak and a catalpa, each estimated to be 180 years old, as well as a handful of tall pines and spruces. Our southern neighbor's sweetgum and poplar hang over our driveway.

Because all of those trees are relatively mature, they shed onto our lawn every day -- just how much depends on the weather. I've made an early-morning ritual of collecting fallen wood and carrying it to a semi-tidy pile I've built behind the garage.

It's not all small twigs, either. We had an arborist prune the ash of dead limbs back in May, which added some respectably large rounds, and our decrepit crabapple seems to lose a branch or two every time the wind blows.

Bucking the larger limbs requires nothing more than a pruning saw, although occasionally I resort to using a small chainsaw that operates on rechargeable batteries. I also break out my old Estwing hatchet from time to time. The tool I use most often, however, is a machete.

Specifically, it's 22-inch Collins that I've had for 27 years. The blade is stained and the edge is nicked, and the fractured phenolic handle is wrapped in adhesive tape -- that is, it's just about broken-in. A few minutes' attention with a flat file and a genuine Carborundum stone is all it takes to keep the blade brutally effective.

In four months I've gathered about one-third of a cord of imperfect firewood for my inelegant woodpile. Yes, much of it is kindling and some of it is tinder, but I figure I have enough wood for about a dozen good cooking fires -- so far -- and every bit of it was free.

In the next installment, I'll talk about a surprising source of the ultimate natural firestarter: fatwood. Stay tuned.

Where were you on 9/11?

No, not in 2001 -- I'm talking about last Saturday, on the ninth anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

Ok, I'll go first.

Where I was
As you might expect, on a football Saturday I spent my daylight hours in and around Ohio Stadium for the game with Miami.

Buckeye Nation is the heart of the Heartland and we have our priorities. Before the teams strapped on their helmets and drew first blood, we paid reverent tribute to the occasion.


The Ohio State University Marching Band unfurled a big American flag on the field and played "America." After a moment of silence -- observed by all but the classless and poorly self-policed Miami fans, who wouldn't shut up -- the National Anthem was performed by Columbus' own Rascal Flatts.

It was a stirring rendition and a significant break from tradition. As I said here two-and-a-half years ago, when it comes to the "Star Spangled Banner" I have a problem with performances:

"The national anthem is our national anthem -- it should be joined and sung by The People, not performed for The People. The People should celebrate -- insist on celebrating -- the privilege of honoring our freedom in unison."

I love Rascal Flatts and they did a spectacular job, but let's not make a habit of this, ok?

Toward the end of the first half, the public-address announcer directed our attention to the South end zone and introduced first-responders from throughout Ohio, men and women who serve us every day. Then, before TBDBITL took the field for its halftime show, another group was honored -- FDNY firefighters and paramedics, NYPD officers and other first-responders who bear the physical and emotional scars of Ground Zero.

Last to be introduced: David and Peggy Beamer, parents of the late Todd Beamer. Todd spoke the words, "Let's roll!" on United Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on 9/11.

More than 105,000, tears dimming our eyes, roared for our heroes.

Mrs. KintlaLake and I left the stadium at that point, piled into the truck and drove 130 miles northeast for my 35th high-school reunion. It was our second such trip in 24 hours -- we'd joined a smaller group of my classmates on Friday night for a tailgate party.

This wasn't any sort of 9/11 commemoration, certainly, simply a gathering of aging men and women who remember being children together. We reacquainted and reminisced, laughed and cried, poked and prodded and pretended we aren't getting older.


We're the sons and daughters of dirt farmers, steel workers, meat cutters and firefighters, so we didn't reunite in a fancy hotel ballroom for a seven-course gourmet meal. We came together in a picnic pavilion (a big garage, really) to feast on fried chicken, take-out pizza, grocery-store cookies and cheap beer in 12-ounce cans.

Returning to my old stompin' grounds and seeing the faces of childhood friends -- coming home -- was the right thing to do, putting a perfect cap on my September 11th.

Where I wasn't
I didn't travel to Anchorage, Alaska for Sarah Palin's fundraiser featuring her "buddy" Glenn Beck.


Maybe you think it's ok for public figures to exploit 9/11 to line their pockets -- I don't. The only people who deserve less respect than Palin and Beck are the simple-minded groupies who paid a minimum of $73.75 -- that's $3.75 more than a ticket for OSU-Miami, if you're keeping score at home -- and as much as $225 to see the carnival act in-person.

They're the same people who see these clowns as "thought leaders." I have a question, though -- is "thought leader" the same thing as "attention whore"?

Of course not -- the latter is closer to the truth. And after their self-serving Anchorage gig, maybe we should simplify matters and just call Palin and Beck what they are...

September 11, 2010

Today I touch the memory of ordinary lives and extraordinary bravery. It's a day to honor those who serve my community, my state, my nation.

It’s time to visit again the aching grief, to embrace my rage and to shape anger into vigilance that guards my freedoms.

Whatever else I thought I needed to say can wait until tomorrow.

Today, I remember.

Welcome to Fantasy Island II

"[The conduct of 'Pastor' Terry Jones, organizer of 'Burn-a-Koran Day'] is utterly irrational. It's pathological. There's a sickness... there's a sickness here."

"He talked with someone in New York. He did not talk with someone in New York. He was lying. And then to go from Florida to come to New York would be to put more gas on the fire. So he's still running, set the stage, and got all the media following him and now the government following him."

"I would have rather seen a group of ministers go to Florida at the behest of the White House and say, I hope he does not do it, would talk with him. It does not represent the Christian faith."

"...when you can engage the White House and they allow the secretary of defense to make a call, the secretary of defense -- I mean, Petraeus from Afghanistan makes a statement. Secretary Clinton makes a statement.

"You have given this guy awesome power. You have fed into all of his pathologies. It seems to me that somehow you must tone down the appeal to him, because, if he burns it, it does not represent the Christian faith."

"The church can isolate a heretic. The government cannot isolate a heretic. They cannot even distinguish between what's a heretic and what's genuine." (Rev. Jesse Jackson)

Welcome to Fantasy Island

"We thought about what would have to happen for us to call our event off. As we prayed about that, in the past we did have one idea.

"This idea we put out in prayer to God. That if he would want us to call this off, if we have accomplished our goal, then our thought was the American people do not as a whole want the mosque at the Ground Zero location.

"That if they were willing to either cancel the mosque at the Ground Zero location, or if they were willing to move it away from that location, we would consider that [a] sign from God."

"[Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf] has agreed to move the mosque. We have agreed to cancel our event on Saturday. And on Saturday I will be flying up there to meet with him." (Pastor [sic] Terry Jones)

"I am glad that Pastor Jones has decided not to burn any Qur'ans. However, I have not spoken to Pastor Jones or Imam [Muhammad] Musri [president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, who counseled Jones]. I am surprised by their announcement. We are not going to toy with our religion or any other. Nor are we going to barter. We are here to extend our hands to build peace and harmony." (Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf)

"I am making this offer [to buy the 'Ground Zero mosque' property at a 25% more than the current owners paid for it] as a resident of New York and citizen of the United States, not because I think the location is a spectacular one (because it is not), but because it will end a very serious, inflammatory, and highly divisive situation that is destined, in my opinion, to only get worse." (Donald Trump)

Hey, Angelenos: This is how it's supposed to work

The quote: "We don't train police officers to take knives away from people." (Chief Charlie Beck, Los Angeles Police Department, defending his officers' decision to shoot Manuel Jamines on Sunday)

The background: Jamines, a 37-year-old Guatemalan "day laborer" -- it's not hard to decipher that label, is it? -- reportedly was threatening bystanders with a knife. When police ordered him (in both English and Spanish) to drop the knife, Jamines raised it over his head and advanced on the LAPD officers. He died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Game over, drive home safely.

Since the incident, predictably clueless residents have engaged in angry protests -- not against the illegal who was swinging a knife at innocent people, but against police.

Welcome to California.

Got a match?

I'm gonna burn me some Bibles.

Why? To send a clear message to radical Christian fundamentalists. I want every one of Jesus' wacko-warriors to know that I will not bow down to their intolerance, their phobias and the violence they do in the name of their god.

Oh, I know that not all Christians are like that -- most are pretty harmless. Some are actually tolerant, even accepting of people who practice other religions. Many Christians perform good works and conduct themselves as proper American citizens.

So, to those Christians: Please don't take offense when I set fire to The Holy Scriptures, ok?

[pause]

Relax -- I'm not planning to build a Bible bonfire any time soon. I have a right to do it, sure, but I also respect my fellow citizens' right to worship as they choose.

Besides, torching a bunch of Bibles is a colossally stupid idea -- no more stupid, though, than this Saturday's "Burn-a-Koran Day" organized by Pastor [sic] Terry Jones of Dove World Outreach Center.

Jones has been all over the media the last few days -- have you seen this assclown try to defend his pyromania-for-Christ campaign? It's positively shameful (not that he and his brain-dead followers have shown the capacity for shame).

If a pile of The Holy Qur'an goes up in flames on September 11th, there will be fallout. Jones, knowing this, responds with typical arrogance:

"Let's just make one thing clear. A small church, in a small town, down a back road, burning copies of its own books, on its own property, is not responsible for the violent actions anyone may take in retaliation to our protest. Remember, Paul did not make the snake, the fire drove it out and he was bitten. If violence happens in reaction to this, the violence was not caused by us, it has just been exposed."

That's narcissistic bullshit.

Gen. David Petraeus, Sec. Hillary Clinton, et al are lining up to condemn Burn-a-Koran Day, citing the potential for retaliation against U.S. military personnel, diplomats and civilians who serve or work in Muslim countries. They're right, of course, but they're handing us the kind of "support our troops" rhetoric that gives cover to millions of otherwise-Islamophobic Americans -- not the best reason to lament the destruction of Muslims' holy book by some nutjob in Florida.

Here's a better reason: the First Amendment to the Constitution -- or, to be more precise, the principle behind the First Amendment.

People of faith should be the first to repudiate the burning of the Qur'an. Unfortunately, a growing number of radical Christian fundamentalists won't see it that way. That's their right.

If enough of those folks would be kind enough to send me a Bible, however, I'll start making a pile. Now where did I put my lighter?

The end of 'parade season'

Memorial Day and Labor Day serve as the summer's bookends. The two holidays also define what we've come to call "parade season" -- the house we've called home since May is smack-dab on our village's parade route.

We haul our folding chairs to the curb on Memorial Day, Independence Day, the last day of the annual village festival and, finally, Labor Day. There's something about these humble processions -- with their marching bands and Boy Scout troops, firefighters and law-enforcement officers, businessmen and local officials -- that epitomizes small-town life here in the Midwest.

We love it. This is home.

A couple of things linger with me from this morning's Labor Day parade. Notably, it featured more fire and EMS equipment than I think I've ever seen in one place -- and not just from our township, either, but from communities throughout central Ohio. It was impressive, quite a showing.

I'm also remembering a simple banner. Its aim was political, certainly, promoting a slogan we'll hear ad nauseum from the incumbent during the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, but the message struck a chord.


Those words crystallize the difference between a life I once lived and the life I live now. They capture the essence of a small-town parade, the spirit of a community.

They fix our position -- home.

EDC revisited

Assembling an array of EDC tools is a process, not an event. My personal choices have evolved (and will continue to evolve) as my awareness, needs and abilities change.

A Palm Pre Plus and a Victorinox Farmer are holdovers, for good reason -- they work. Another phone will replace the Pre in due course but the Farmer, which lives in a leather pocket sleeve, is a keeper.

I still carry a light on my key ring (I'm constantly amazed at how often I use it) but I replaced the cheap squeezer with a Fenix E01. I did audition two other single-AAA lights -- neither holds a candle (you should pardon the expression) to the little Fenix.

An iTP EOS A3 proved less than durable and a Mag-Lite Solitaire, while American-made and sturdy as hell, is almost laughably dim compared to LEDs. The E01, in contrast, is bright and stout. It stays.

A wristwatch is an indispensable EDC item, one that I haven't mentioned 'til now. Not long ago I picked up a Casio AMW330D-1AV Dive Chrono in stainless steel, and it's well on its way to becoming my favorite watch -- ever. It's everything I ask a watch to be -- analog, accurate, water-resistant, readable (even in low light), rugged and inexpensive (less than a hundred bucks).

When I got my concealed-carry license in April, I knew that my Glock 19 would become my EDC handgun. Just how I'd carry it was far less certain.

After some experimentation I've settled on a Kydex Comp-Tac Two O'Clock IWB holster. Appendix carry isn't for everyone, I know, and (depending on how I'm dressed) I often carry the G19 at 4 o'clock in a leather OWB rig, but right now I'm liking the Two O'Clock -- a lot.

Because two is one and one is none, I carry a spare 15-round mag, weak-side, in a simple Fobus paddle magazine pouch. My defensive round: Cor-Bon 115gr JHP +P.

I'll wrap this snapshot of my EDC inventory with the plain-edge Benchmade 556 Mini-Griptilian I've been toting since July. I bought it (somewhat impulsively) at a cozy gun shop over in Morgantown and, having come to love the full-size 551 already, the Mini held no surprises -- same great knife, downsized for more convenient EDC.

Perched

Ohio State's 2010 football season kicked off yesterday against Marshall -- on a Thursday night, of all things, which felt strange. It also was the first time in five years that my wife and I had been in The 'Shoe for a regular-season game and the first time in decades that I'd watched my Buckeyes from the thin air of "C Deck."

Our seats were (and will be for the remaining seven home games) ten rows below the rim of the stadium, roughly 120 to 130 vertical feet above the playing field. The American flag, waving atop the tallest flagpole in Ohio, fluttered at eye level.

Gulp. I mean, airplanes fly at lower altitudes.

Mrs. KintlaLake and I overcame our acrophobia enough to enjoy the annual TBDBITL Alumni reunion and the Bucks' 45-7 drubbing of the boys from Huntington, aided by a C-Deck-only breeze that made the muggy evening tolerable. (The temp at kickoff was 89°F, dropping to 86°F by the time we filed out of the stadium.)

We had a great time and, of course, it was a promising start for the Buckeyes. We'll know more a week from tomorrow, when #2 OSU hosts #13 Miami.


Observations: Security
As we approached Ohio Stadium last night, we noticed that the law-enforcement presence was more intense than we've come to expect. Now it could be, as a retired-LEO friend of mine assured me, that it's been that way since 2001 and we just haven't noticed. Still, I was struck by the veritable iron cordon establishing a 500-yard perimeter around the stadium.

Pedestrians were free to come and go from the area, but vehicles couldn't get close without weaving through "gates" created by parked tactical vehicles and maintenance equipment. At these roll-through checkpoints, SWAT and SRT officers eyed each vehicle as it passed.

I probably wasn't the only fan who came away with the impression, "Damn, this is serious."

I found the tight security neither disconcerting nor particularly comforting, though -- it is what it is. I tip my Block O cap to the pros who choose to pull such thankless duty, and I look forward to seeing them again on the afternoon of Ohio State's game with Miami.

The date: September 11, 2010.

Recommended reading for Palin's disciples

It's useful, as Marines often say of themselves, to be able to tell the difference between chicken salad and chicken shit.

Shortly after Sarah Palin burst onto the national scene two years ago it became obvious that she's the latter, not the former. The ex-Mayor of Wasilla isn't merely a charlatan -- she symbolizes the gullibility of the American electorate.

Vanity Fair's Michael Joseph Gross gave her more of a chance than I did. Gross admits -- as a journalist, believing that she may have been treated unfairly in the press, and "as a Christian" -- to being biased in her favor before spending four months around Palin, her family and her entourage.

The result, appearing in the October issue of Vanity Fair, is "Sarah Palin: the Sound and the Fury." It's not pretty.

"Warm and effusive in public, indifferent or angry in private: this is the pattern of Palin's behavior toward the people who make her life possible. A onetime gubernatorial aide to Palin says, 'The people who have worked for her -- they're broken, used, stepped on, down in the dust.' On the 2008 campaign trail, one close aide recalls, it was practically impossible to persuade Palin to take a moment to thank the kitchen workers at fund-raising dinners. During the campaign, Palin lashed out at the slightest provocation, sometimes screaming at staff members and throwing objects. Witnessing such behavior, one aide asked Todd Palin if it was typical of his wife. He answered, 'You just got to let her go through it... Half the stuff that comes out of her mouth she doesn't even mean.' When a campaign aide gingerly asked Todd whether Sarah should consider taking psychiatric medication to control her moods, Todd responded that she 'just needed to run and work out more.' Her anger kept boiling over, however, and eventually the fits of rage came every day. Then, just as suddenly, her temper would be gone. Palin would apologize and promise to be nicer. Within hours, she would be screaming again. At the end of one long day, when Palin was mid-tirade, a campaign aide remembers thinking, 'You were an angel all night. Now you’re a devil. Where did this come from?'"

Because Palin wraps herself in faith and family, Gross isn't shy about giving us some intriguing peeks behind her carefully crafted facade.

"In whatever remains of Palin’s inner circle...most people are following orders. Some details of the Palins' private life, however, suggest a reality at odds with Sarah's image. In speeches, Palin pays tribute to the man she still calls 'the First Dude.' One of the strangest passages in Going Rogue concerns post-election rumors that the couple was considering a divorce. 'That day in sunny Texas when the divorce rumors were rampant in the tabloids, I watched Todd, tanned and shirtless, take the baby from my arms and walk him back to the ranch house,' she writes, like a frontier Barbara Cartland. 'Dang, I thought. Divorce Todd? Have you seen Todd?' Locally, much speculation surrounds the marriage. Some say Todd is henpecked, and others see him as the heavy. One person who has been a frequent houseguest of the Palins says that the couple began many mornings with screaming fights, a fusillade of curses: ''F*ck you,' 'F*ck this,' 'You lazy piece of shit.' 'You’re f*ckin' lucky to have me,' Sarah would always say.' (This person never saw Todd and Sarah sleep in the same bed, and recalls that Todd would often joke, 'I don't know how she ever gets pregnant.')"

Gross exposes Palin's vitriol, her hypocrisy and her God complex. He largely avoids one particular topic -- her intellect or lack thereof -- but he does wonder aloud about a recurring theme in her speeches:

"('They talk down to us... They think that if we were just smart enough... ') To some, the message sounds like an affirmation. But is it really? Or does it seed self-doubt and rancor among her partisans, and encourage them to see everyone else as malign?"

It's the latter, of course. Like Caribou Barbie herself, it's chicken shit.

But what if he's not an operator?

"When it's all over, there's going to be one guy standing there with a bolt Mauser on top of a hill, with no armor plating on, in short pants and tennis shoes with a hundred-year-old 1898 Mauser. He's going to be the last man standing. It's as simple as that." (Louis Awerbuck, Yavapai Firearms Academy)

Reading room

As I engage in some long-overdue personal definition and reinvention here, I've been doing less writing and more reading. I've certainly had the time for it.

Last weekend's surfing brought me to two familiar articles (book chapters, actually) addressing the subject of the armed citizen. The first is "On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs," from On Combat by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, U.S. Army (Ret.). Here's an excerpt:

"Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: You didn't bring your gun; you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by fear, helplessness, horror and shame at your moment of truth."

The other article is "The Constitutional Right and Social Obligation to Carry a Gun," from Living with Glocks by Robert H. Boatman. Not only does the author pull no punches -- he demands that we not flinch:

"Anti-freedom zealots see nothing wrong with leaning on their neighbors to provide them with personal protection even though they would never consider returning the favor. They worship their effeminate fantasy of an all-powerful government with true religious fanaticism. They believe all other humans are as mentally weak, irresponsible, incompetent and self-hating as they know themselves to be. And they encourage only civilization’s most self-destructive tendencies."

I'd be doing KintlaLake Blog readers a disservice if I didn't include this gem in my preview of Boatman's article:

"The framers of the Constitution were under no pressure from the NRA when they wrote, '...the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.'"

In the interest of allowing you to form independent opinions about these articles, I'm presenting them without comment, except to urge you to click on the links and read them -- and think.

Restoring what?

I'm already on-record asserting that Glenn Beck is (probably) crazy. Still, I don't disagree with him categorically -- even a nutjob can have a good idea or two.

His "America's Divine Destiny" shtick isn't one of them. Neither, for the most part, is the "Restoring Honor" rally he's hosting today at the Lincoln Memorial.

Honor is a personal virtue, not a movement. Honor is neither political nor national. A government or corporation cannot demonstrate honor except through the actions of individuals. Honor is never collective.

Before honor comes intellectual honesty, and few public figures fail the intellectual Smell Test as often as does Glenn Beck.

Beck speaks his truth passionately and without apology, as is his right. And to be clear here, I appreciate his vigilance (until it verges on right-wing paranoia, anyway) and I join him in vigorous defense of constitutional principles (until he starts blathering that his God approves only those who share his brand of theology).

Unfortunately, his pursuit of religious and ideological purity undermines his credibility, along with his ultimate value to the task of saving our nation.

Today Beck will be surrounded (and adored) by his True Believers, exercising their First Amendment rights to assemble peaceably and speak freely. Someone should remind these folks, however, that they're throwing away their hero-worship on a cartoon character.



With that image in mind, it's not at all surprising that Beck's most disturbed disciples are suggesting -- seriously -- that he and Caribou Barbie would be a formidable ticket in 2012.

If that ever comes to pass, whatever "honor" might be "restored" today -- during what pundit John Avlon calls the "2010 Wingnut Super Bowl" -- will evaporate.

Did you know...?
Because Beck's three-hour "Restoring Honor" event is being held in Washington, DC and on property managed by the National Park Service, his website advises attendees,

DO NOT BRING ANY SORT OF WEAPON,
INCLUDING A POCKET KNIFE

The list of "Prohibited Items" includes these five bullet points:

• Firearms (real or simulated)
• Ammunition
• Explosives or incendiary devices of any kind (incl. fireworks)
• Knives, blades, or sharp objects of any length
• No firearms or explosive devices, no open fires

Two things are clear. First, the list obviously was prepared by the Federal Department of Redundancy Department.

And second, it's apparent that Glenn Beck chose symbolism over the Second Amendment.

Parallels & intersections

I don't remember exactly when I first heard these lyrics, but I do remember how I felt:

He got up every mornin'
While I was still asleep
And I remember the sound of him shufflin' around
Right before the crack of dawn
Is when I heard him turn the motor on
But when I got up they were gone

Down the road in the rain and snow
The man and his machine would go
Oh, the secrets that old car would know
Sometimes I hear him sayin'

Don'tcha gimme no Buick
Son, you must take my word
If there's a god in heaven
He's got a silver Thunderbird
You can keep your Eldorado
And the foreign car's absurd
Me, I wanna go down
In a silver Thunderbird

As Marc Cohn sang of his childhood he sang of mine, of growing up in northeast Ohio in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I walked through my youth 50 miles south of Cohn, who's two years (almost to the day) younger than me. For what it's worth, my dad drove an Olds.

Sometimes we follow music. Sometimes the music follows us.

* * *
In closing, if you'll permit me, I'll offer a recommendation.

Regular readers of KintlaLake Blog will recall that the music of McGuffey Lane has had my attention for nearly 35 years now. The band's tenth album -- appropriately titled "10" -- has been out for less than a month and it's a bona fide winner. With all due respect to McGuffey Lane's considerable body of work, "10" may be the best yet.

(The photograph on the art accompanying the CD isn't bad, either.)

If your musical tastes run similar to mine, I believe you'll enjoy it.

One in five

According to The Pew Research Center, 18% of Americans say that Pres. Barack Obama is a Muslim.

In other wingnut news, an April New York Times/CBS News poll found that 20% of those surveyed believe that Pres. Obama was born outside the U.S.

Apparently I'm not the only one who wonders about these 20%ers. Yesterday's edition of The Washington Post included a brief article noting (among other things) that one in five Americans admits to peeing in a swimming pool.

I suspect that these are the same numbskulls (18%) who are more likely to vote for a candidate if Sarah "Mama Grizzly" Palin campaigns on their behalf.

As we withdraw from Iraq

The whole "social media" thing generally gives me a rash. Every now and then, however, there's a case for redemption.

One of my wife's Facebook friends, a former military chopper pilot, posted this earlier today:

"I lost count of the dead I flew to Balad for the last flight home. I hope, my only hope in life, is that people learn not to hate.

"Please everyone remember why the Constitution is so important. Do not abridge anyone's rights to freedom. This includes the right to worship any religion you may feel represents you. I, as many, have defended that right for years. I hope my son does not see the things I have seen in the name of religion.

"Take care of those who have served and those who are willing to serve. They are a rare breed and will protect you 'til they can no longer."

That was worth getting up for this morning.

Please join me in honoring our warriors as they return, regardless of how they return. Serve the men and women who have served us.

Look who's talking

During the traditional White House Iftar held Friday evening, Pres. Barack Obama said,

"As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure."

The same people who criticize the President for policies that run roughshod over certain constitutional principles should praise him for his defense of this one. They won't, of course, roundly (and rightly) accusing him of cherry-picking the Bill of Rights to serve his purpose.

At this point, however, a mirror would be useful.

Insisting that Obama-Biden-Holder abide by the Founders' intent in crafting, say, the Second Amendment, while ignoring "the writ of the Founders" for the First Amendment raises hypocrisy to an art form.

That's what happens when principle takes a back seat to ideology.

In his remarks about the Manhattan mosque, Pres. Obama was absolutely correct. The pro-Constitution crowd -- this time, at least -- should stand up and say so, no matter how they feel about the President.

What say you?

Take a look at this TV spot promoting Sen. Harry Reid's re-election campaign:



For a moment, try to put aside the candidates and their parties -- focus on the ad's message that armed resistance against a tyrannical authority isn't among the "Second Amendment remedies" conceived by the Founders.

That's unfiltered bullshit, of course.

Almost exactly two years ago I quoted former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on this very subject:

"...the Second Amendment is not about hunting. I get so frustrated when some candidates asked about the Second Amendment, they start telling me, 'Well, I have a hunting license, and I’m a member of the NRA.' Look, so do I. It's not about the Second Amendment.

"The Second Amendment is about freedom. It's about protecting ourselves, our families, our property, and ultimately, if necessary -- I know this sounds pretty bold -- but from our own government, when they get out of control. That's what it's all about."

For another perspective, check out columnist David Codrea's commentary on the Reid ad. He got it precisely right.

Despite hyper-paranoid rhetoric from the (truly) extreme right, currently there's neither call nor cause for armed resistance. The People aren't suffering under a tyrannical federal government -- not even close. So for now, we work within the system to save our country.

But that's not the point.

When a career politician has either the gall or the ignorance to insult the fundamental intent of the Constitution -- the Constitution he swore he'd defend -- he insults me.

I call bullshit. What say you?

House rules, House fools

Free speech notwithstanding, two members of the U.S. House of Representatives have me wishing (again) that the Founders had expanded the First Amendment to include a sanity clause.

Rep. Charles Rangel, who's served New York's 15th for 40 years, is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for violating a truckload of rules. Even as a formal hearing looms, Rangel is also running for a 21st term representing his Harlem district.

You'd think that with reelection on the line he'd be trying to downplay the charges against him. Nope -- not Charlie.

Nearly every day now, he steps in front of the cameras to thump his octogenarian chest. Presumably he means to strengthen the case for his innocence -- instead, his narcissistic rants make the strongest possible argument for term limits.

Surely he knows that the last thing that besieged Democrats need, really, is an ethics scandal -- or rather another ethics scandal, since Rep. Maxine Waters (California's 35th, 20 years) likewise is in hot water with the House Ethics Committee -- but Rangel can't resist an opportunity to prance. Embarrassing as it is to the Dems, I shed no tears when either dominant political party takes it in the shorts.

That's entertainment.

Rangel proclaims, "I am not going away," demonstrating more than just personal corruption. He appoints himself the poster boy for the institutional corruption afflicting our politics, regardless of party or ideology.

Charlie Rangel must indeed go away, and he can take the rest of his power-drunk incumbent "colleagues" with him. And that, of course, will be up to The People.

I'm not holding my breath.

Republican Rep. Louis Gohmert of Tyler, Texas is a looney with a different tune. This is the former judge who took to the House floor to praise columnist Thomas Sowell as "a brilliant man" for equating the policies of Pres. Barack Obama with those of Adolf Hitler.

Well, you'll have that sort of nonsense, especially from a card-carrying wingnut like Louie. What really got my attention is something else that Gohmert said on the House floor, apparently in support of changing the Fourteenth Amendment's provision for "birthright citizenship":

"I talked to a retired FBI agent who said that one of the things they were looking at were terrorist cells overseas who had figured out how to game our system. And it appeared they would have young women, who became pregnant, would get them into the United States to have a baby. They wouldn't even have to pay anything for the baby. And then they would turn back where they could be raised and coddled as future terrorists. And then one day, twenty, thirty years down the road, they can be sent in to help destroy our way of life. 'Cause they figured out how stupid we are being in this country to allow our enemies to game our system, hurt our economy, get set up in a position to destroy our way of life."

That's right -- according to Gohmert, an unnamed former FBI agent says that unnamed terrorists are executing an evil 30-year plot to raise as-yet-unnamed "terror babies" with U.S. citizenship.

Naturally, Gohmert refuses to identify the mystery G-man or otherwise substantiate what he's presented as fact. Another Texas Republican, Rep. Debbie Riddle, also has adopted Gohmert's message, saying only that "former FBI folk" passed the warning to her congressional office.

The Bureau, for its part, has categorically debunked Gohmert's claims -- publicly and on background, officially and unofficially. Former Assistant Director Tom Fuentes, who oversaw the FBI's overseas operations, has said that "the idea that they would somehow grow terrorist babies from the ground up is ludicrous."

Yes, so-called "birth tourism" is real and growing. There's no disputing that illegal immigration is out of control. Our porous borders are, in truth, a pressing matter of national security. Still, none of that justifies making shit up as if the facts aren't scary enough.

Like the corrupt Rangel, the intellectually bankrupt Gohmert doesn't have the good sense to fall down once he's dead. That's the only possible explanation for his agreeing to be interviewed live on CNN last night. Let's go straight to the video.




Clearly, Gohmert had been coached to start a-hollerin' whenever Anderson Cooper posed a question. The host by no means engaged in a game of journalistic gotcha -- he simply (and repeatedly) asked his guest to provide evidence. Cooper didn't have to undress the congressman as a fool -- Gohmert willfully stripped off every stitch of credibility early in the interview.

If you don't find his performance shameful, you're not using the brains you were born with -- but don't worry, you're far from alone. The American electorate is dominated by mindless citizens who prefer fear to facts and favor ideology over intellect.

And that's why we'll keep re-electing the likes of Louie and Charlie -- it's the government we deserve.

Rewind: 'Duck and Cover' (1950)

I was introduced to Bert, the very alert turtle, when I was in first grade. For a variety of reasons (not all of them good), this five-minute film is worth remembering.

Liberty's difficulty

Despite the common assertion that we're "a nation of laws," often it seems that we've become a nation of sideshows. Some of these carnival acts do serve a purpose, though, nudging us back toward our true foundation.

Take California's ban on same-sex marriage. On Election Day in 2008, 52% of the state's citizens approved the ban by voting for the infamous Proposition 8. To all but the most myopic among us, it was obvious that the law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution:

"...nor shall any State...deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Marriage is a religious sacrament. A church which refuses to marry a same-sex couple is within its rights, but the state has no place prohibiting it.

That a majority of California citizens endorsed fear- and faith-based discrimination, by the way, is irrelevant -- we live in a representative republic governed by laws, not in a democracy ruled by ideological convenience. That's why we have judicial review.

Fortunately, yesterday a federal judge struck down the patently unconstitutional ban. His ruling surely will be appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which should be hard-pressed to favor California's wispy, laughable arguments over the Law of the Land.

And then there's the noisy dustup over a developer's proposal to site a mosque two blocks from where radical Islamists murdered more than 2,600 people on September 11, 2001. Opponents of the plan call it "inappropriate" and "disrespectful."

(The incurably inarticulate Sarah Palin tweeted, "Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate!" Noting Palin's use of the made-up word "refudiate," one blogger tweeted back, "If Republicans can demand that immigrants speak English, can't we demand same of Sarah Palin?" It's impossible to overstate what a dolt this woman is.)

Ok, back to intelligent discussion here. The First Amendment to the Constitution begins,

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...."

No, those words don't guarantee the developer's right to build his mosque near Ground Zero. They simply preserve one of our nation's most precious principles.

So when we say that we support constitutional principles, do we mean it or not?

In my opinion, anyone who seeks to block this mosque is flouting the constitutional principle of freedom of religion. The louder the protests, the clearer the message -- these folks show themselves to be nothing more than unprincipled xenophobes, thus confirming to the terrorists that they've gauged their target accurately.

We're better than that. Or we should be, anyway.

We find it easy to pay lip-service to our liberties when defending something we agree with. It can get downright uncomfortable, however, when a black citizen must acknowledge that a KKK chapter has a right to assemble peaceably, or when a Christian citizen realizes that the free exercise of Islam is protected, or when a heterosexual citizen has to defer to the Constitution rather than to his homophobia and allow a gay couple to enjoy the same pursuit of life, liberty and property.

Talk is cheap -- liberty has a price. Either we buy the principles we're selling or we don't.

I do.

The perfect summer

Tuesday's sun had been up for a few hours when a young whitetail doe paid me a visit. I sat on the patio behind our house, enjoying my morning coffee while she grazed on rotting crabapples. She eased within ten feet of me before trotting casually back into the woods.

The peaceful encounter happened at precisely the right moment, considering that just 90 minutes earlier I'd learned that my job had gone away.

That sobering development might seem incongruous with the title of this post -- it's not. I'd seen it coming since April, arguably even earlier than that. Although I gave nothing less than my best to the small enterprise, my efforts weren't enough to prevent the inevitable.

Life goes on from here, then, and life these days is rich beyond anything I might've imagined six months ago. My family and I are well and happy -- not without challenges, certainly, but we're creating a satisfying life in a wonderful place.

Be it ever so humble...

Readers who suspect that I remain engaged with current events would be correct. My observations simply haven't appeared here.

It's clear to me, for example, that our national economy is careening toward an even deeper ditch. The ecological damage done by oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico is obvious; the fact that Gulf Coast residents now are paying the tab for making deals with corporate devils has been under-reported.

Between the dysfunctional Tea Party and the anachronistic NAACP, the term "racist" has lost both its meaning and its impact. Mark Williams and Andrew Breitbart are equally simple-minded flamethrowers -- what separates the two is Breitbart's more pressing need for anti-psychotic medication.

Maybe Sarah Palin would be kind enough to share her prescription, since it's apparent that she's not using it herself.


The Supreme Court gave American gun owners a welcome precedent in deciding McDonald v. Chicago, and the issue of illegal immigration, brought to the fore by a new Arizona law born of frustration with the federal government's impotence, eventually will come before the high court as well. I hope that five or more Supremes have the judicial courage to uphold that law.

And so on.

Armed with common sense, critical thought and the Constitution, we battle an onslaught of mindless ideology, political correctness and institutional pussification. Should we become discouraged, we can remember this:

You can still get gas in heaven
And a drink in kingdom come.
In the meantime, I’m cleanin' my gun.

That lyrical consolation comes from Mark Knopfler. For now, I'll leave you with his video.

Lives, Fortunes, & Sacred Honor

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of
the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

'The judgment is reversed, and the case is remanded'

With those words, the Supreme Court of the United States held that Chicago's 28-year-old handgun ban is unconstitutional -- states and cities may not make laws that trump the Second Amendment.

The city of Chicago is rife with violent crime. Last weekend alone, at least 29 people suffered gunshot wounds and three died. The previous weekend, the tolls were 52 shot and ten dead. Advocates of gun control point to those stats to support wholesale banning of firearms -- despite the fact that the body count has grown under the now-illegal ban.

So sure, Chicago has a problem. The Supreme Court ruled, however, that states and municipalities must solve their problems without violating the rights of citizens under the U.S. Constitution. Sovereignty is all well and good, but now a bright line has been drawn.

It's a good day to be a citizen, especially a citizen who keeps and bears defensive arms.

'The older I get...'

My wife and I were sitting quietly on the patio at dusk last Tuesday, just as we do every evening. As we gazed out over our back yard, the fresh-cut lawn simmering with lightning bugs, I said,

"The older I get, the simpler I like it."

Less than a week from now I'll enter my fifty-fourth year. My perspective, shaped by experience, grows longer. Likewise, life's complexity becomes ever more apparent -- but it's anything but inescapable.

I make a conscious choice to listen to the chip of a cardinal, the toll of church bells and the wail of a freight train's horn as it approaches the crossing in the village. I shun television in favor of watching squirrels at play.

I admire a sharp knife and meditate on the pile of shavings around my feet. I drive past a commercial gym, come straight home and sweat for free in the yard. I appreciate "a good tired" and an afternoon nap on a weekend afternoon.

Through trials and countless errors I've found that while compassion is indispensable, labor trumps sincerity and competence demonstrated is more valuable than effort displayed. I no longer validate entitlement. I live to learn.

When life becomes complicated -- it certainly has over the last two years and inevitably it will again -- I neither resist nor ignore the challenge. Simplicity is the cadence which measures my steps.

I've had a run of good fortune lately. I celebrate that gift -- in perspective, simply.

In place, on balance

It's been a while, hasn't it? Almost six weeks since my last post to KintlaLake Blog and the time has fairly flown, at least for me.

We're in -- my family and I are settled in our new digs. Our May Day move went well and (for the most part) without incident. We now find ourselves in a spot that my wife calls "the best place I've ever lived."

I agree, wholeheartedly. I'll have more to say about this patch of land, but for now I'll simply affirm that it's all we hoped it'd be.

The last two months -- packing, moving, making this place our own and, running on the same track, keeping my job -- have been all-consuming. In the process I lost my equilibrium, reflected in my absence from this blog.

That's not good. Bringing my thoughts, observations and experiences into this space has become an integral part of my walk through the world. I've missed having the therapeutic outlet.

It's time to regain my balance.