Police bullying on TV

Just sitting here watching CSI Miami with half of my brain (all it deserves) and a series of thoughts popped into the other half. More and more of the police shows seem to have a common theme… Police bullying - even for those with no evidence against them, or or who seem unlikely to have committed a crime. Typically, it goes something like this: Interviewee - “Are you going to charge me with anything? Because I’m busy.” Police ossifer - “[some lame butt comment insinuating that they know you did something wrong and when they figure out what they will come down on you like the wrath of God.]“

So here are the questions. Why are these cops, endowed with state of the art equipment and the best in bright young minds, still unable to solve a crime without accusing/arresting everyone that was in the general area? More importantly, why are they the heroes? Most importantly, shouldn’t the heroes be the poor souls who have the guts to stand up to these incompetent bullies and tell them off? Just a thought…

9-11 Mastermind farce

CNN reported today (Story HERE) that the lawyer for the suspected 9-11 Mastermind - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - is worried that his client will not be able to get a fair trial, based on the techniques used to obtain his confession at Gitmo. While I am not at all convinced that the government has told us the truth (or even anything really remotely resembling the truth - see HERE) about what happened at the twin towers, I am not a huge fan of the so-called “rights” of terrorists either, especially as visualized by those that view the Geneva Convention as the end-all and be-all even at the expense of American lives. (Good golly gosh, that was a convoluted sentence, but it serves my purpose.)

That being said, every patriotic, America-first, freedom-loving denizen of this country had better hope that the confession obtained from this terrorist scum at Gitmo never makes it into the allowable evidence for this case. The reason?… Waterboarding. (Boy, I never thought I’d say that!)

The fact is, I have no problem with water-boarding, head-cracking, foot-stomping, knee-breaking, or any other necessary means to save American lives. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. The confession to the 9-11 conspiracy was taken under extreme stress… the sort of stress that will make anyone say anything! In addition, it was taken by those desperate to provide an answer, and thus vindication, for their superiors. (vindication in that they had so far failed miserably to provide the one we were told was the true master mind - Osama Bin Laden.) Thus, the real issue has nothing to do with the continued existence of this piece of murdering human filth, as he would appear to be. The Real Issue (notice the caps) is the precedent that is being established here. Before I finish explaining, lets look at a few facts.

1. As pointed out above, the “confession” was obtained under extreme duress by desperate men.

2. The Military has chosen a lawyer with absolutely no experience in death penalty cases. He is a small town lawyer - a reservist - who has no special training, and may even be unacceptable to the defendant due to his religious beliefs.

3. The Congress of the United States has passed the Military Commissions Act Which governs the handling of these prisoners. This maintains that they have the right to a lawyer and evidence against them. It also allows them the right to “appeal a guilty verdict, potentially through a civilian appeals court and perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court.” (CNN)

The first point I have already dealt with above. The second I will deal with briefly. I simply ask you to ask yourself “why?” Why would the government choose someone with no experience in this sort of case to defend the defendent? Why would they not supply him with someone that is at least familiar enough with his religion to be acceptable to him as a counselor. Indeed, why not supply him with a Muslim lawyer who can represent him as he is and as he thinks to the officers who will decide his fate? I would submit a fear on the governments part that the process whereby the terrorist’s confession was obtained would be discovered for the sham that it is.

However, the third and final point is the one that should worry us the most. Notice that there is the potential that this trial could be brought to civilian court, and possibly to the Supreme Court. Herein lies the real danger. if the military allows a confession obtained under duress to be used to convict terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, I will not lose any sleep over his conviction. In fact, I would probably pay to see him fry (the fact that he has been involved in several acts of terror is not really in dispute, here) However, if his case is appealed, and NOT upheld, there is a very real danger that a dangerous terrorist will walk free, embarrassing the entire United States. On the other hand, if the conviction is appealed, AND UPHELD, there is a very real danger that this sort of evidence will be allowed in civilian court.

At this point, and forever in US history, self incrimination under duress has never been allowed as evidence in a court of law. (Imagine a police officer beating you with a night stick until you confessed to running a stop sign, and then attempting to use your confession against you in court!) If a death penalty for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, obtained through the use of a forced confession, is upheld in the United States Supreme Court, a precedent would be set that could change the face of “Justice” as we know it forever. If it is maintained in the United States Supreme Court that confessions obtained under extreme physical or emotional duress is allowable in a court of law, this would become the law of the land. Confessions could be obtained, and allowed in court, through any extreme means necessary, as long as the courts determined that “our testimony was still reliable!” If this happens, we should all be very, very afraid.

Climbing Chimney Tops

My Brother Josh and I hike Chimney Tops in November

Memory Hole

Here is a cool cartoon sent to me by my brother…

Enjoy! (Click on it to see it full size)

I could rule the world… really, I could!!

I took this quiz at Blogthings.com, and this is the result…

You Are Destined to Rule the World

You have the makings of a very evil dictator…Which is both kind of cool and kind of scary!Will you rule the world? Maybe. Maybe not.But at least you know that you could.

Are You Destined For World Domination?

Pat on Muslim Extremism

Check out this pithy commentary on the state of the modern Muslim society in Europe!

Ideology vs. Ethics

Today President Bush once again refused to sign a bill that would allow the destruction of unborn children with the use of Federal Dollars. (See the story HERE)

Dear Senator Clinton accused him of putting “ideology before science.” Setting aside the obvious problems with the pot calling the kettle black (the ’science’ shows that adult stem cells, umbilical blood, and ambiotic fluid offer the same types of research potential) lets take a look at that statement.

If we reverse engineer Mrs. Clinton’s statements, we find that she would prefer that the Prez would place government funding of an unproven, disputed, and much-maligned experiment above following the path that the majority of his supporters has chosen for him. Apparently, Democracy is only for the Democrats. If the majority of the people vote for someone that disagrees with their views, the majority must be “un-scientific”, ergo, wrong. Consequently, she also believes that Bush places “politics before the needs of our families” Emphasis here should be be on the ‘OUR families’ since apparently we are referring to the very few American families (who vote Democratic) which might be helped by these experiments , even though another path might provide the same benefits, in a more generally acceptable way. According to the Senator from New York (or wherever she’s from this week) A few million unborn children deserve to be destroyed in order that a few ’scientists’ get their kicks off of cutting them up to see if they can come up with something useful.

I would maintain that Bush did the only thing that he could do. First, he prevented state funding of a very controversial set of experiments, one which the majority of his voters disapproved of. It is very important to point out that he did not stop “stem-cell research,” but he did reject government funding of fetal stem-cell research. The Democrats argued that government funding is necessary for the pursuit of this goal, but this simply proves Bush’s point, that the data is not sufficiently strong on the benefits of fetal stem-cell research to justify significant private funding. If the research and the data was there, the private market would be all over it.

Second, he acted according to his conscience. Bush has consistently made it clear that he could not ever agree with the abortion or death of unborn fetuses, for any reason. While Bush is hardly a Libertarian, this is the ultimate in “Liberal” thinking. The child owns its life, and until it can make the decision to rid itself of its property, it deserves to have it protected. Bush believes in protecting these childrens’ right to live, and this means that he is not putting “ideology” ahead of “science”, but putting ethics above disputable scientific experimentation. This is the same decision that many in totalitarian regimes have failed to make, resulting in many “scientific experiments” that eventually failed to pan out. (see Auschwitz or even better, see THIS ARTICLE (.pdf) that demonstrates how unquestioned adherance to a highly disputed “scientific” theory called darwinism led to the atrocities commited in Germany, the US, and other places)

We are left with the conclusion that Mrs. Clinton would place the views of whatever scientists were most in line with HER ideology ahead of ethical considerations, the majority views of her voters, and the views of others of the scientific community. This is the very essence of totalitarianistic science (Paul R. Josephson (.pdf)) While I am not a huge fan of Bush’s, at least while he maintains his ethics, such as they are, and follows the wishes of his constituents, there remains some hope for this country.

As an afterthought, I should point out that “Nancy Pelosi used Bush’s veto threat as a reason to send out an e-mail letter soliciting contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to help elect more Democrats.” (story) Perhapsif she really cared about stem cell research, she should suggest that they give money to contribute to stem-cell research. This would lead “to saving lives and to potential cures for diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson’s” if she believes her own tripe. There would be an added benefit of not forcing me to give my dollars to this highly debatable and, as some would have it, murderous experimentation.

Jessica’s Law in Tennessee?

Thanks to the Good Lord, Jessica Lunsford’s killer, John E. Couey has finally been convicted, and will go for sentencing soon. We can only hope that he will get the Death Penalty that he so richly deserves.

This human debris took the 9 year old girl from her room at night, held her and raped her for several days, and then buried her alive in a plastic bag with her stuffed dolphin. Jessica tried to push her way to freedom but was unable to free herself before she smothered to death.

Now for the really terrible part. I know that this has been rehashed ad nauseum in the media and on pundits shows, but it has to be mentioned to make my point. First is the fact that  John E. Couey was a convicted sexual molestor, and should, at the very least, been under close monitoring. He had grabbed a 10 year old during a burgulary and forcibly kissed her, he had been fired for writing a “romantic” letter to a 14-15 year old girl, he had fondled a child under 16 (nobody knows how that was resolved,) and he had been arrested for indecent exposure. Despite this, the Florida Government had no idea of where he was living, or that he was sometimes staying within 150 feet of the home of a nine year old girl. In addition, while it is good that Couey was convicted, the 3 people living in the small trailer with him escaped scot free, despite the fact that no reasonable person can assume that they were there for the ordeal and the burying without any idea of what was happening.

Thanks to the hard work of Jessica’s father, Florida passed a strong sexual offender law, as well as a law to convict those who harbour an unregistered sexual offender. At this point, 1/2 of US states have passed some form of Jessica’s Law, which calls for close monitoring of sexual offenders for life and stronger penalties and more jail time for these same offenders.

My question is, why can’t we get this law passed in Tennessee?  What is it about Jessica’s law that so scares our legislators. This law need to be passed NOW! Please visit this link and sign the petition for Tennessee to pass Jessica’s law.

In addition, Tennessee needs to pass the bill put forward by Charles Curtiss that would force out of state offenders to register in Tennessee when they move here. Currently, more than half of the offenders in Tennessee are not on this registry. (Story here.) No doubt the ACLU will fight this bill if it passes, since they will consider it “punishment” that is administered after a conviction has been served. Don’t worry, we’ve fought that fight before, and we can fight it again.

There are approximately 20 sexual offenders registeredwithin 10 miles of my present adress. According to the Knox County statistics, there could be as many a 70 that actually live in this area. Please write the governor and your congressman to help get these bills passed.

Don’t let what happened to Jessica happen to your child…

Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation

A Special Place in Hell

Several of the largest news agencies refused to cover the story of the arrest of Former President of the Virginia ACLU Charles Rust-Tierney on Child Pornography charges. (story) (These included CBS, NBC, CNN, and the New York Times) This wonderful piece of scum is a affiliated with the DC area Public Defenders office and has fought to keep complete and total free access to any material whatsoever on Library computers. Consequently, he is also a coach of 9-10 year olds in the DC Area. He has admitted to downloading and buying child porn, and the porn in his house included forced sexual intercourse with young girls who were tied with ropes and heard to be crying for help.

Two groups deserve castigation here…

First, the liberal media, who had a heyday over the inappropriate letters that Mark Foley wrote to a page, even though the page was over the legal age of consent (and was obviously consenting.) Yet, they refuge to cover a blatant and sick violation of the law when it involves a leading member of the Liberal Establishment. Explain to me one more time exactly how Liberals want to “help the children?!?” Apparently, forcibly penetrating a crying and bound prepubescent child must be good for the child, or surely the bleeding hearts in the media would jump to their rescue!

Second, the ACLU themselves. This vile and despicable agency has finally given up whatever small reputation for decency that it originally had. They have made the decision to defend NAMBLA (The North American Man/Boy Love Association) In a civil case connected to the Murder of a ten year old boy, saying that the case “strikes at the heart of freedom of speech. The defense of freedom of speech is most critical when the message is one most people find repulsive.” (story on Stop the ACLU blog) NAMBLA supports the removing of sexual intercourse age laws, making it legal for all ages of adults to have sex with all ages of minors. The ACLU is currently defending NAMBLA in the civil case linked to this murder by NAMBLA members. Remember, this is the same organization that thinks that my children should not be taught to say “One nation, Under God” in the pledge of allegiance, yet they support the “free speech” that allows NAMBLA to teach adults how to approach children sexually, and how to molest them without getting caught. “One Nation Under God” is offensive, but “Sex before eight, or else it’s too late!” is just good old fashioned Free Speech that out founding fathers would have sanctioned, and maybe participated in if they followed the path of DC area lawyers such as this swine Rust-Tierney.

Now, my opinion, in case you haven’t deduced it. As the father of a molested daughter (whose molester, thankfully, is sitting in jail as I type,) I hope that there is a special place reserved in hell for ACLU members and supporters and the members of the media that made the decision to not cover this story. I hope this place includes ropes, some very large demons, and lots of crying for help. I can be a little lenient, believe it or not, with the molesters themselves, since I can recognize that they are sick individuals. (see here) (Though I would still maintain that they should be put down the same way that sick dogs are.) But I have no sympathy whatsoever for those that support their “right” to molest, whether implicitly or explicitly, when they make this decision strictly based on politics and their intense dislike for the right side of the political spectrum.

disclaimer: (as a Christian, I would of course allow for the avoidance of the aforementioned fate by the following of the wonderful plan of Salvation laid out in God’s word. (see here) Otherwise, see above. And don’t bother telling me how I should be gentler in the way that I approach this. At least not unless you have ever sat on the other side of a two way mirror and saw your 5 year old describe to a social worker how she begged someone to stop sexually molesting her because it hurt, knowing that nothing that you would do, ever, could take that pain away from her.)

Coincidence?

I seldom watch game shows, but I watched “Deal or No Deal” with the wife and kids Monday night before work. The Player Pyong Kong, ended with $75, $750, and $75,000 on the board when he took a deal for $211,000. When he checked, his case had $750.

The strange part of this is the fact that Mr. Kong’s parents came to the states with $750 to their name. Howie made a big deal of the “coincidence” that would have those figures on the board and that amount in the case.

Everybody cried and got all sentimental.

I would just like to know the odds of this happening…