No...it's not a hunting column.  Well..maybe it is in a way, if you're hunting for corporations that harbor an underlying anti-American sentiment.  Cases have been made against many companies, but usually it has to do with what they sell and where it's made.  This one runs a little deeper than that, and it involves Target, the department store that we've all shopped in at one time or another.

I must be naive, I guess, because I'm constantly surprised by stuff that seems not to surprise other people.  This is such a case.  A friend brought to my attention that last Christmas, Target refused to allow Salvation Army bell-ringers in front of their stores.  In and of itself, odd but not a deal-breaker for me.  When it comes to folks who collect for different charities outside the entryway to major food or department stores, I admit I sometimes feel a little put out.  It's like the guy who jumps in front of your car to get the windshield, whether you want it washed or not, and then waits for his dollar.  You feel like a jerk if you drive off, and feel "had' if you donate.  After all these years I still end up feeling "had".

But the Target story runs deeper than bell-ringers.  Dick Forrey of the Vietnam Veterans Association claims they recently asked the local Target to be a proud sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during their spring recognition event.  According to Forrey, he received the following response from Target:  "Veterans do not meet our area of giving.  We only donate to the arts, social action groups, gay and lesbian causes and education."  Hmmm...sounds fishy, right?  Why would a store go out of their way to alienate veterans?

Forrey, no doubt inspired at this point, sent an e-mail to Target U.S. Corporate Headquarters.  Their response was just as firm.  It is their national policy not to donate to veterans groups.  As it turns out, they also will not allow Marines to collect for "Toys for Tots".

Forrey dug deeper.  Target, it seems, also would not allow families of employees who were called up for active duty in the military to continue their insurance coverage while their loved one was at war.  Nice.  All of this considered, Forrey was not surprised, as I was, to learn that Target is a French-owned company.  Interesting, because, is there a country on the face of the planet that owes more to the American soldier than France?

I don't know about you, but after considering all of the above, and the obvious additional fact that tons of profit in American dollars spent at Target end up in France...I can safely say that the last time I shopped at Target, was the last time I'll ever shop at Target.

We have a new addition to the list of "things you barely ever hear" which includes, with credit to Steve Martin, "it's the Banjo player's Porsche".  I like to imagine a member of Navy Seal Team 6 telling his pilot to "leave the chopper running", as they lowered themselves into the compound of Osama Bin Laden.  I also think we should have kept the body, sent it to a taxidermy shop, and had him stuffed...crouching behind an ottoman with a really surprised look on his face.

To give credit where credit is due, President Obama deserves kudos for making a tough call.  It could have gone horribly wrong and been a political disaster for him, a deadly disaster for the Navy, and a psychological nightmare for the country when we need it least.  Instead, a military maneuver straight out of Hollywood, and one for the history books, yielded a captured and killed Osama Bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attack on America.  It has been a long time coming.

There will be plenty of time to discuss the details.  The bounty of intelligence that is being culled from the "take" at the compound.  Imagine the information we will garner from this haul.  Already we know that indeed, OBL was still in charge, and actively involved in planning and dispensing terrorist attacks.

We also know that the Pakistan government is not our friend.  It is possible that many officials didn't know that OBL was living down the street for the past six years.  It is implausible that nobody knew.  This compound was only 300 yards from a major Pakistani military base.  The compound was unique in the neighborhood, with high walls topped with barbed wire and no internet or telephone service.  All household trash was burned on-site.  It's the old..."he was a quiet man..." neighborhood response.  Particularly quiet in this case.  He never left the building.

There will be time, because the media will be discussing this for weeks on end, to talk about the damage to our military secrets by having left behind large portions of a stealth helicopter.  There was some technological leakage there, but a small price to pay for bringing in the world's most wanted criminal.

One thing that can't, or shouldn't, wait, is to give credit to former President Bush and his team for the policies they put in place that allowed for the garnering of the information that led to the capture of OBL.  It is a bit painful for some of us, able to remember how the Bush administration got hammered by the same Press that is now busy throwing rose petals on their President, when he tried to explain why we needed enhanced interrogation, wiretapping, and other forms of intelligence gathering that so rankled the Left.  This is not to take away from Obama's big moment, but without the adults who go to work, make money and pay the bills, there is no Christmas Tree for the kids to have their magic.  It was the hard work, the ability to make unpopular decisions, and a more pragmatic view of our enemy, that was the Hallmark of the Bush administration...in other words...the War on Terror...that gave us the courier, that led us to Bin Laden.

Let's not forget,also, all of the military, men and women, soldiers from all countries, that have fought this war for the last ten years...all with a common goal.  All of those injured, those who died, the enormous cost of this justice.  We are reminded, too, that there is no other military force on Earth the could have pulled this off.  Truly, truly courageous and masterful beyond belief.

Finally, once located with a 99% assurance that they had their man...a decision had to be made.  And how many choices were there?  Drop a bomb?  You lose the body and the intelligence in the compound.  Not practical.  Capture him and bring him out alive?  Too much work for too little payoff and the political nightmare of where, when and how to bring him to trial.  Uh-uh...no way.  So it was a Special Ops mission almost without question, so in that sense, it must have been a bit easier for the President to make the call.

Let's enjoy the moment, because when the euphoria wears off, there is unemployment, a tanking economy, foreclosures and four dollar-per-gallon gasoline waiting for us.  Nonetheless...like dozing off on the couch...it was nice while it lasted.

Crazy like a fox, as they say.  That may best describe Donald Trump, loquacious New York business mogul and recent visitor to New Hampshire.  Look...for pure entertainment value, this guy is priceless.  Would I want him for President?  Ask me in six months, when I see who else is running, if gas has crested six bucks a gallon, how much closer this country is to the cliff we are approaching in a high-speed cloud of dust...and I'll have a better idea.
 
Meanwhile, it would be hard to dispute the absolutely fascinating occurrence of his ascension in the polls.  To be sure, among Independents, he is near the bottom and polling around 9%.  In other polls, he is at the top, above Romney, Huckabee, Palin and everyone else.  Incredible.  He's not even running, and I don't believe he will run.  But even if he stopped right now...zipped it...said it was all a big mistake and moved to a cabin in Montana, he has provided Republicans with an invaluable lesson.  He has demonstrated, without question, which issues resonate the deepest with the average American. The economy, corrupt government, government spending, jobs and a Great Nation on the verge of fiscal and moral collapse, to name a few.
 
He vacillates between cartoonish and Reaganesque, at least to me.  That makes it hard to pin him down.  He did, I think, cause the President to finally produce his long form Birth Certificate, an issue I have always found wanting in importance.  I guess I never really doubted that he was a citizen and, really, if not, what are we going to do...deport him?  I found it to be in the "911 Truther" league...a little wacky.  Still, Obama finally feeling compelled to produce it, is pretty astounding.  It raises the question...why did he let it simmer with so many people for so long?  See the "Handbook of Chicago Politics", Chapter 1, Verse 1.  They used the issue to keep that certain segment of "Birther's" alive, well, and looking crazy to a large portion of the country.
 
Imagine, too, that the President had to vie for media coverage over Trump.  Obama's announcement, and Trump's little speech from the tarmac at Pease, were equally lofty news pieces and one could easily call "Trump-1, Obama-0" on that one.  Again, incredible.
 
When Trump calls for an investigation into Obama's grades and an analysis of how he landed at Harvard, he seems a little too edgy for me.  On the other hand, remember how the Press hounded Bush over his attending Yale?  Similar stuff, although Trump is hinting, I imagine, at Affirmative Action, and the implication with Bush was simply that he was an idiot who made Yale on his father's coattails.
 
But when Trump says of Libya, and the effort to oust their leader and back the freedom-fighting rebels..."I want 5 billion bucks just to take the phone call...", well, that actually makes sense to me.  Realistic? Probably not, but I like, and so do a lot of others, the politically-incorrect, shoot-from-the-hip approach.  Those kind of quips remind me of Reagan. There is a similar sentiment.  Think Governor Chris Christie on steroids and with really bad hair, and you have Trump.
 
Who knows where this will go, but in a Presidential race that will soon be heating up, and with a field of rather lackluster contestants at this point in time, maybe Trump is worth it just for the half-time show.  He has struck a chord, though.  "America has become the laughing stock of the world and we are in a serious decline".   Pretty hard to argue with that.

Listening to the President lambaste Republicans, and particularly Rep. Paul Ryan and his budget plan, in his recent speech, really lit my fuse.  Obama would have us think that conservatives would leave the elderly dying on the streets and autistic children lying in snowbanks.  How old and tired is this stereotype?  Has the "Left" noticed that the overwhelming majority of Americans are not buying it? Ryan's plan faces the difficult truth of our predicament, and would help avoid a scenario where we are all starving 20 years from now.
 
I'm increasingly incensed at hearing "we" and "you" used in these arguments, and how "we" are all going to have to share the "pain" of getting America back to financially solid ground.  Sure...just like I'm anxious to help my neighbor bail his nephew out of a fourteenth arrest for meth production.  It implies that everyone is to blame for the nation's debt crisis.  Not so.
 
The Administration would have us believe that we have all been naughty and now it's time to pay the piper, when in fact, the federal spending binge that got us here has little to do with most Americans.  I can tell you that I have not been on any kind of spending and credit binge over the last few decades.  Instead, I've been struggling to keep a small business afloat, keep heating oil surging through the furnace, and to keep something resembling food on the table of a family of five.  It's not been easy.  Most people I know have paid their bills, lived within their means for decades, and not had anything to do with the financial crisis facing this country.
 
Like most Americans I love this country and pay my taxes willingly...at least until recently.  But now I'm wondering if the sky is indeed the limit, or if the federal government will vote to raise the limit of "the sky" as well, in terms of how much money they are willing to extort from the working public.  When they finally want more than fifty cents of every dollar I earn, I've got to put on the brakes.  That's just income tax...it doesn't include the myriad of other taxes and "fees" we all pay in our day to day lives.
 
Is it any wonder that the gap between us is growing to an insurmountable breadth?  There are two Americas now.  The income-redistribution crowd that wants everyone beholden to the government and the same amount of chicken in every pot, and the rest of us that understand you can't take everything from the "can-do" crowd to give to the "won't-do" crowd.
 
The assault on "the rich" has become so tired and wanting.  America was built on the shoulders of those who wanted more...who worked harder...who were inspired to want the most of life that they could get.  Let's be honest...some of us work harder than others.  I've owned a small business since 1981.  Eighty hour weeks were the norm, but I worked those weeks to carve out a better life for my family, not the family down the street.
The government now wants to level that field, and then, to add insult to injury, they want half of the half after I die as well.  I heard someone defending the death tax by saying, "you don't want to spoil your kids, do you?"
Well...I'd rather spoil my kids than yours.
 
I'll tell you one thing, the more I hear "we" and "you" coming from Washington, the more nervous I get.  I have a hard enough time paying for my own mistakes.  I don't want to be paying for everyone else's, too.

With all of these Air Traffic Controllers falling asleep on the job, I only wish it had happened on one of the tax-payer funded flights that carried Nancy Pelosi and her entourage of family, in-laws and groupies.  Not that I would want them to die in an aircraft accident, just get roughed up a little bit, or maybe a couple of go-arounds in mild wind shear and weather down to the minimums.
 
According to the Judicial Watch Verdict of 2010, Volume 16, Issue 12, the following numbers apply to Nancy Pelosi and her use of Air Force aircraft between March 2009 and June 2010.  The numbers are made available under the Freedom of Information Act, otherwise you can bet they'd be buried deeper than Hillary Clinton's weightlifting records.
 
Remember, now, this is the diminutive crow of a woman who stood watch while the federal government spent more...in two years...than in the two hundred years preceding them.  All the while, blaming the Bush administration...still...for the ever-deepening recession.  And...advising the rest of us to tighten our belts, accept higher taxes, and continue on an entitlement binge.  This is the woman who proclaimed...and I'm not making this up...that unemployment benefits were one of the best stimuli for the economy because those people spent the money right off.  Fantastic.  And that would be true if the "money" she was talking about grew on trees or fell from the sky like snowflakes or could be squeezed from oranges like juice.  The problem, of course, is that the "money" comes from the paychecks of the rest of us...and then we can't spend that money "right away" ourselves.  Indeed...we don't get to spend it at all.
 
Imagine, then, that this same insipid bubble of a person spent in that 15 month period a little over 2.1 million dollars on Air Force aircraft.  Over 85 trips during a 68 week period, aircraft hours just under 500 hours, or, as it averaged out, $27,715.00 per trip.  Oh...that's not all though.  There was the booze bill for these flights which almost always included family of some kind. A little over a hundred grand altogether, but averaged out at $1,193.00 per trip.  Not a lot when you consider what she demanded be available on the aircraft.  Are you ready?  Johnny Walker Red Scotch, Grey Goose Vodka, E & J Brandy, Bailey's Irish Cream, Maker's Mark Whiskey,Courvoisier Cognac, Bacardi Rum, Jim Beam Whiskey, Beefeater Gin, Dewars Scotch, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Jack Daniels Whiskey, Corona Beer...I'll spare you the Wine List.
 
What's more amazing than this?  That across the country, it is the "left", the devout followers of Nancy Pelosi and her philosophy, that are becoming so angry, vile and vitriolic at demonstrations.  The Tea Party folks continue, by and large, to keep their cool.  That's amazing...because when I read how much of our money that corrupt woman...that nasty piece of work, spent keeping that massive ego of hers afloat...well...it makes it seem like the folks on our side should be the ones yelling and screaming.

I found a certain sense of relief not long ago when I stopped imagining our Capital, our Congress and Senate, as remarkable, stoic enterprises, and began to accept them more as a ditzy blonde on a bowling team.  Affable, not that bright, well-meaning and mostly harmless, and adorably, blissfully absent of any sensible notion regarding nearly  any subject.
 
Consider the "budget crisis" we just endured in Washington, D.C. .  Never mind that the Obama administration has had since October to hammer out the same details that now had to be plowed through in another "faux" emergency.  Now, with Republicans holding some sway, and the nefarious Tea Party bearing influence in untold sums, agreement on spending and cutting became hard to come by.  Many argued that the 60 billion or so that was holding things up was indeed a small percentage of the overall budget, but there is also a growing sensibility that dictates that no amount is too small to forgo scrutiny.  I am with the latter group.
 
So naturally, rumors grew about the possibility of a "Government Shutdown".  We all know that means practically nothing because government never "closes".  We should be so lucky.  No..it is simply an increasingly popular gimmick to add pressure to hold-out votes.  We soldiered through a brief government shutdown under President Clinton and nobody noticed.  Granted, this one was to be a little more consequential, but it was still little more than "non-essential" workers being told to stay home, and probably still get paid.  I would point out here that only in government could the phrase "non-essential worker" even exist without snickers and guffaws.  For those of us in the private sector, that sounds silly. "I'm here for the non-essential job. I know you don't need me, but I'd still like to show up everyday for 35 years and then leave with a huge pension and health benefits.  That is...if you don't mind...".  Problem is...the taxpayers are starting to "mind".
 
This is why Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan, which was alternately heralded as brilliant or evil, was, if nothing else, radical.  And needed.  Liberals howled that old folks would be dying in the street, and the less fortunate would be left to die as entitlement programs were hacked back and thrown to the States.  This is where they belong, though.  States and communities can do what the Federal Government(the ditzy blonde on the bowling team) cannot...they can discern.  They can discern the needy from the lazy and greedy and we need to do that. There isn't enough money to help the needy...and THEM too.
 
States and communities can get more for each dollar because the programs are not enveloped in federal government lard.  If you give fifty bucks to a needy person...they get the entire fifty.  Boom.  You give that same fifty bucks to Washington, and by the time they get it to that needy person...it's twelve cents.  That's the problem.
 
So Ryan's plan, or one like it, is painful for everyone but it reflects the true need of the country. It isn't wishy-washy, it is serious and reflects the urgency that every American should feel about getting federal spending under control.  We can continue on our spending spree and run the entire nation off a cliff.  Or we can get serious about the pain that is going to be inevitable, and begin getting it out of the way.  I'm with the latter group.

I stumbled across an article recently about this small town in the Czech Republic, Pilsen, and the rather remarkable citizens that live there.  Actually, what is most remarkable about the people of Pilsen is that there are not more like them, and even more remarkable...why such a moving story is not retold more often.

They have a celebration in Pilsen (Plzen) every five years, on May 6th.  A "Liberation Celebration" which includes a parade, various festivities and a solemn prayer at a very unique monument.  In this granite monument, carved and brilliant gold letters reads: "Thank You America! On May 6th, 1945, the City of Plzen was liberated by the U.S. Army". More precisely, General George Patton's 3rd Army.  How touching.  Simple, yet heartfelt and sincere.

The parade includes vintage U.S.Army vehicles and uniforms.  Children seek out the autographs of U.S. Soldiers who may be in the crowd, visiting for the event.  One native pointed out that the "United States soldier is the 'rock star' to our young people".  Pictures show, indeed, young Czech children seeking and acquiring said autographs and the looks in their eyes bears out the statement by their elder.  They gaze upon these guys with the wistful, dreamy look of a teenage American girl watching The Beatles in 1965.

The story of Pilsen, their liberation and their own history, is entwined with our own history there.  This was the town, the place, where Lt. Virgil P. Kirkham, a USAAF pilot, was shot down and killed.  Lt. Kirkham was the last recorded pilot killed in Europe during World War II.  It was Kirkham's 82nd mission...and one that he volunteered for.  He was 20 years-old when his P-47 Thunderbolt went down.

A 14 year-old Czech girl, Zdenka Siadkova, remembers the crash.  She remembers also being liberated, and was so moved by the sacrifice, that she vowed, then and there, to care for Virgil's crash site and the memorial that is there.  She is now 79 years-old and has kept her promise for the last 65 years.  The crash site and memorial are near her home.

Here, Czech children are taught in school about America's sacrifice for their freedom.  Here, the Brian LaViolette Foundation established The Scholarship of Honor in tribute to General Patton and the American Soldier.  Each year the Foundation pays tribute to an American Soldier.  In May, 2011, that recipient will be Lt. Virgil Kirkham.

As we look at world affairs today, we should all remember the efforts and sacrifices this great nation has made on behalf of so many oppressed people.  It is reassuring to see a place where the expression of gratitude is volunteered with such enthusiasm.  Thank you, Pilsen.

Next time you're standing in an airport security line with your pants around your ankles, wondering if it all makes any difference, let me tell you now that the answer is "not much".  Are we marginally safer because of all of the security nonsense we put ourselves through?  I suppose so.  Disasters have been averted, or so we are told, and I have no reason to think otherwise.  But at what cost?

It would be impossible, I imagine, to put a dollar figure on what we have spent as a nation on "security" in the wake of 9/11, but it has to be an enormous number.  Think of time lost at work, the general interference with productivity, the cost to airlines and every form of travel.  Consider the cost of the security personnel themselves, the agencies, vehicles and administration.  It is simply nuts and I have to wonder sometimes if we'd be better of just winging it.

I'd like to see one airline say "we're going to fly our airline as though 9/11 never happened and you are welcome to fly with us, or not.  If you do, we'll be asking for your participation in common-sense efforts to suppress terrorist activity, and urge you to subdue at will any passenger that presents a threat to the safety of the flight.  You will arrive at the airport, check your luggage, get your boarding pass and fly."

I would fly that airline in a heartbeat and, hopefully, enjoy the lower fares they could offer as a result of their increased efficiency.  We live in a free country where people come and go at will.  Surviving each day is a roll of the dice.  Most important, I have no faith that the people who slow us down in the interest of keeping us safe...are keeping us any safer than we would be without them.

In Detroit, outside a federal building that houses the FBI as well as the offices of Senator Carl Levin and the Social Security administration, a package was left.  The package was left there...outside the building...in February.  A security guard noticed the package and brought it in and placed it in the "lost and found" bin.  Fair enough for a civilian...but a security guard?  The package sat, incredibly, in the lost and found bin until mid-March when another security guard noticed it and called the Detroit Police.  The package was a bomb.  The Detroit Police Bomb Unit removed the device and detonated it.  The design was intended to detonate upon opening.  Let's be grateful no kids, or curious adults, were snooping around the "lost and found" bin for treasure.

The guard who ultimately discovered the package and reported it was part of a union.  The contract guard who found the package outside originally was not.  So this, of all things, has become the focus of the story.  The brunt of the story for me is human error, coupled with the impossibility of watching everything in a country the size of the United States, as vivacious and alive as the United States, and as free as the United States.

At some point, we will have to decide how much money and energy we are going to spend trying to do the impossible.  We can't inspect every package.  We can't even inspect every suspicious package.  And it is only a matter of time before we have suicide bombers here and begin to enjoy the kind of terrorism that has been plaguing Europe and the Middle East for decades.  It's coming.

That said, I find myself more and more inclined to remove the net.  We're on the high wire, like it or not, and it's not the long drop that kills you anyway...it's the sudden stop.

I'll probably be dating myself by using this reference, but I remember a song...one of the early punk songs I guess you'd call it, by The Vapors, called "Turning Japanese".  I couldn't tell you what it was about, but I think it centered more around the rhythm of those two words than anything else.
 
In the wake of the horrific earthquake, then tsunami, that has rocked Japan, it has become more than a song title for me.  I'm even considering making it a goal.  Not to physically become Japanese, but simply to become more like them, I guess.
 
We have all seen the graphic footage of what occurred there, and there is some heartbreaking video.  Think also about all the scenes of devastating loss that were not captured on film.  I read an account, just days after the event, of a woman describing being washed away, and how she "felt her daughter's hand slip away" from her, how she could not hold onto her any longer, and her daughter...age five, was swept away.  The reporter described how the woman folded into agony just after the statement, as though hearing herself say it, probably for the first time, somehow made it real for her.  I simply can't imagine it.
 
We tend, also, to dismiss loss of property as being subjective as long as the property owners survived.  There is certainly truth to that, but I would not be so quick to diminish the emotional devastation of watching your home be swept away in current, break apart, and vanish in front of your eyes.  Swallowed up.  During one particular piece of video, you can hear the residents, watching from a nearby hill, wailing, crying and screaming in horror as they literally watch their town disappear in front of them.
Think, for a moment, about your home.  Where you have raised your children, perhaps, and shared holidays.  Your sanctuary from the wind of the world, where you read your children to sleep when they were young.  Photographs, belongings, favorite things...all gone in seconds.  I wonder if, after witnessing that, one feels at all blessed to have survived the event physically.
 
What struck me most, and a lot of others too, is the demeanor and discipline with which these people handled themselves in the wake.  Every news organization and radio talk show has covered it, but it took us all only hours to notice it.  No looting, no stealing, no hoards of people leaving with widescreens and furniture.  Grocery stores that were without power were left untouched.  One woman offered a prominent journalist a handful of rice.  The journalist was taken back, telling the woman that they needed it more than she did.  Imagine?
 
When asked about the stellar behavior, the woman replied that if anyone were to steal in this situation, or any other for that matter, they would be looked upon "with shame" by their neighbors and community.  If only that were enough to keep Americans on the straight and narrow.  One can't ignore the glaring difference in, say...the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the aftermath of the earthquake in Japan.  Frankly, it should be cause for many Americans to take pause, and a long look in the mirror.
 
It would be unfair to call it a "silver lining", but it wouldn't hurt us to consider the monstrous difference here.  I understand Japan is a much more singular culture, they don't have the vast diversity in culture that we have here.  But is that reason enough to explain the difference?  Is it reason to pass it off as an anomaly?  There was a time in this country, I'm thinking at least more than 50 years ago, when most Americans would have behaved the same way the Japanese are now, and for largely the same reason.
 
Whether or not we'll ever see those days again is a different question.  It has created, at the very least, a "teachable moment" for the next generation.

When you stop and think about it, our justice system has, for decades now, operated more like a used car lot than the lofty dispensary of justice that we imagine it to be.  Still the best system in the world? Maybe, but something went wrong somewhere along the line.  Maybe there's just plain too much crime in this country to adequately deal with using our current infrastructure of police departments, courthouses and prisons.  I think we're in pretty good shape as far as lawyers go.
 
Maybe our parsing and interpreting of every RSA has gone overboard, our studying of the minutiae replacing common sense.  Think back to the O.J. Simpson trial...I mean...really...is this what the legal system has become?  Laughable presentations, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of guilt, turn the "trial" into a contest between defense and prosecuting attorneys.  It really is a contest between them...who can do the best for their client, and in turn up their own worth in the arena of law as sport.  Watch the defense lawyers associations scramble any time a piece of legislation turns up that mentions "mandatory sentences."  You would have to unleash killer bees to see overweight men move this fast.  But mandatory sentences, even as codified under "Jessica's Law", the law drafted in memory of Jessica Lunsford, the nine year-old Florida girl who became famous in death after being molested, then buried alive, by a serial child predator just released from prison, strike fear into the hearts of defense lawyers.  Why?  They negate the possibility of plea-deals, that's why, and force judges to impose minimum, mandatory sentences.
 
Lawyers and courts will argue that plea-deals save the legal system, and hence the public, money.  They often negate the need for lengthy trials, the assembly of juries, the calling of witnesses the use of courtrooms, etc. and the sometimes uncertain outcomes of those trials.  There are times when it makes sense. When there is questionable evidence, unreliable witnesses...maybe not enough to ensure a prosecutor that he or she is going to get what they, and probably society at large, consider a suitably lengthy incarceration.
 
And then there are times when the evidence is strong, and the crime is so heinous, that a trial may be the only way to ensure a suitable punishment is handed down.  Indeed, there may be times when a plea-deal is used as enticement to the victim's family not to have to endure the pain of a trial...testimony...graphic details and pictures...it is easy to imagine wanting to avoid that.
 
It sounds as though that is what happened to John Foreman in 1983.  His son, Jason, at age five, went missing.  That was in 1973.  It wouldn't be until 1982 that Rhode Island police would find themselves searching the home of Michael Woodmansee, who lived just up the street from the Foremans.  There...wrapped in plastic and a rug, they found the skull, ribs and some bones that would turn out to be those of Jason.  He had been murdered, and the flesh removed from his bones in what police believe was a cannibalistic ritual.  Sorry for the details...but you've got to imagine what this father went through.  All of this after...after...enduring 9 years of having know idea what happened to your five year-old son.   A neighbor.
 
Woodmansee was convicted and sentenced to 40 years...under a plea deal which the elder Foreman now blames himself for. "Stupidly, I accepted a plea-deal so we would not have to endure the agony of a trial...".  Well...then maybe we, as a civilized society, ought to find a better way to afford justice to a family like the Foremans.
 
Michael Woodmansee, only 16 at the time of the crime, and now 52, will be released in August after serving only 28 years, earning early release for "good behavior".  I recall the Massachusetts parole board that voted 6 - 0 to release Dominic Cinelli from a 3 life-term sentence, citing his "strident improvements" while in prison as grounds for his release.  Months later he shot and killed a Woburn Policeman during an armed robbery.  Woodmansee's release, though, has a black cloud hanging over it.
 
That "black cloud" is John Foreman, who told a radio host at WPRO in Providence last week that he will "find Woodmansee and kill him".  He sounds like he means it, too.  I wish him happy hunting.
 
Now, I'll wait for the emails about how two wrongs don't make a right and how we have to live with our justice system because "it might be bad but it's still the best one in the world...".  Or how John Foreman never should have agreed to the deal, or if he kills this man then he will go to jail and he becomes the "second victim".  Yet...I'm a parent, and I listened to this man recall the details of his sons death, sobbing heavily some 37 years later.  I try to imagine that pain, and I can't, but I can certainly understand him wanting to kill that jerk.
 
Moreover, I'm left wondering...exactly what...what...does one have to do in this country to get a true life sentence?  Abducting, molesting, murdering and then eating a five year-old boy is not enough?  That fact is far more of a crime than anything John Foreman may do to Michael Woodmansee.  Justice was not served...but I've got a feeling it's on the way.

Imagine trying to use an old rotary phone dial on a new cell phone, or Ford Model A tires on a new BMW.  Sometimes, this is what I feel we are trying to do, when adapting notions and laws from over 200 years ago and trying to apply them to a society gone slightly mad.
 
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church, a small group of lunatics known best for disrupting the funerals of soldiers by congregating with signs such as "God Hates Fags" and "Dead Soldiers are Good Soldiers".  I have already had several animated conversations with friends who side with the Court and take, apparently, the right of "Freedom of Speech" to be an absolute.  They see the caveat to that right, that one can't yell "Fire" in a crowded theater, as not an analogy but a specific exception.
 
To me, it is clear what our forefathers had in mind.  That the freedom to express one's opinion shall not be squelched by any government, and in particular the right to speak out against said government.  The theater exception says, in theory, that there is an exception to free speech that incites violence or creates an unnecessary danger to other people.  I see no difference in that scenario and the egregious act of displaying such hateful signs, and yelling equally hateful slurs, to families burying loved ones.
 
The folks that cry "Freedom" at every turn seem to hold themselves in high esteem.  That they are above it all, on a higher intellectual level than the rest of us, willing to endure such unpleasant folks as the Westboro monkeys, in the name of our high ideals.  Yet...do not the freedoms afforded to us as Americans come with any sense of discipline?  Is an absolute free-for-all what we're looking for?  Is there anyone who thinks that the thoughtful men who drafted our Bill of Rights and Constitution, would support the Westboro Baptist Church?
 
Look...I'm not saying their opinion should be muffled or denied, just moved to a less antagonistic venue.  Their actions seek violence from those they speak against.  It strains the good nature of people who know better than they, and eventually it will cause an act of violence.  I can tell you without hesitation, I would not tolerate their presence at the funeral of one of my loved ones and would do whatever necessary to remove them.  Have your opinion, have your posters and signs, but have them a good distance away from a funeral service.  People have the right to an expectation of privacy and respect at a burial.
 
We are a country awash in our own sense of "freedom".  It seems as though it's never enough.  Is there anything...anything...that is off limits in this country?  We have become a nation that tolerates everything in the name of political correctness.  I have to believe that if an anti-gay crowd was gathering at homosexual funerals, the Supreme Court would have gone another way.  At the very least, there would be hoards of opposing views at those same protests, and the ACLU would be tripping over itself getting lawyers to the scene.  Imagine a group that hates women showing up at any funeral of a female and espousing similar views against women.  How about a pro-rape group assembling at the funerals of victims of sexual assaults?  Maybe a small contingent of pro-child molesters arriving at funerals for children?
 
Watch now, as the Westboro Baptists flaunt their new found power bestowed upon them by the high-thinkers on the Court.  Yes...we are a nation built on high ideals...ideals paid for with blood and treasure, and because of that high cost, we owe it to ourselves and our culture to take a long, hard look at the possibility of drawing a line in the sand now and then.  Ironically, it is these very soldiers who defended the "right" of a group like Westboro to congregate and promote whatever warped view of the world they have taken on.
 
I believe our forefathers would gladly return quickly to their graves if they could return momentarily and see the country as it is today.  A visit, by the way, I would not wish on anyone from that long ago.

One of my favorite songs, and covered by everyone from Van Morrison to Kermit the Frog..."It's Not Easy Being Green", takes on an entirely new meaning when applied to saving the planet.  Before I get accused of being a knee-jerk naysayer, let me remind the reader that I have espoused my views on "Global Warming" in prior columns.  In short...I'm not sure what's happening to the atmosphere or who is to blame, but I'm of the opinion that something is happening, and I'm in favor of erring on the side of caution.  That means...we need to be better stewards of the planet.  It just bothers me to see it politicized and corrupted.
 
Speaking of politicized and corrupted, here's a good example of how the effort to be "green" can be expensive in addition to "not easy".  The city of Nashua, NH, under the guidance of Mayor Louzeau, decided it would like ten new garbage trucks that ran on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which burns clean and is relatively inexpensive.  It requires little refining between source and retail and this plays a major part in keeping the cost low.
 
Consider, though, that each new truck costs an extra $40,000. above and beyond a normal diesel model.  Whoa...that's pushing a half million bucks in extra costs for ten trucks.  That fact alone would slow down most buyers, but Nashua found some help with the cost.  That "help" came from the State of NH Department of Environmental Services.  This is the agency that licenses and oversees everything from septic system design and installation to hazardous environmental issues.  They also levy fines over a large array of violations from wetlands to gas stations.
 
Yes...the D.E.S., even as the State struggles with budget cuts and red ink,found there was four hundred grand lying around to help a single city achieve a single dream.  Unbelievable.  Every taxpayer, I'm sure, will be getting a little "thank you" note from Mayor Lozeau.
 
The silliness doesn't end there.  You may already have asked yourself..."where do you fill up with CNG?"  Well...nowhere, at the moment.  There are roughly three...yes...three CNG stations in the State of New Hampshire.  I think two of them are owned by the State and do not sell to the public, or to cities who may just have purchased new "Green Garbage Trucks".
 
Naturally, as with any ill-fated project being driven by politicians and governments, the obvious solution is for Nashua to have its own CNG filling station.  A brand new one that will require the purchase of land, permits from the D.E.S., and of course, construction and then staffing.  No word yet on whether or not this will be a "public" station, or just another facility for the City of Nashua to maintain.
 
You see...there's nothing wrong with the idea.  Green, eco-friendly trucks.  The mistake is getting the taxpayers involved.  If there is a market for it...and I bet there is...let a private company buy those trucks and make a go of it.  Find customers willing to pay a little extra, and I bet you could, to dispose of their trash with the services of said company.  If it doesn't work, then we'll all know the market wasn't ready for it.
 
It's another example of the "Two Americas".  The one with common sense...and the one without it whose mistakes are always funded by BOTH groups.

Every now and again we are offered a glimpse of a more perfect world.  It's different for everyone, but I think in every journey through life, occasionally we see something, meet someone, read something or in some other way experience small epiphanies along the way.
 
One of the hallmarks of the Tea Party movement is a desire for smaller government.  A governing body more representative of what many Americans interpret the original desire of our founding fathers to have been.  I don't see how anyone could argue persuasively that we have not moved far away from that.  We can all disagree, to a degree, on what the intent of our forefathers was, when drafting the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, but it is very clear that limiting the power and scope of government was a prominent concern.
 
In the last two years, under the Obama administration, the tentacles of the federal government have thickened and multiplied.  The result of that effort lies before us now, and the unmitigated disaster that government-controlled health care will be is just beginning to unfurl.  These are just a few of the reasons that, last week, the State legislature in Maine gave me a small glimpse of hope.  A fleeting wisp of a more perfect world.
 
Last week the political powers in Maine had before them the weighty issue of whether or not to name the Whoopie Pie as the State Dessert.  Yes...the venerable Whoopie Pie, long dismissed as the pastry of "white trash" and excluded from the pastry carts at high-end beaneries all over the world.  Snorted at, and looked down upon, the calorie-laden treat, consisting of two thick wafers of chocolate cake with an enormous dollop of white, frosting-like filling between, has been discriminated against and ridiculed for decades.  Now...finally,,,thanks to a profile in political courage unrivaled in recent history, the W.P. will finally find it's place in Maine...and American...history.  Even Amos Orcutt, President of The Maine Whoopie Pie Association...no, I didn't make that up...is delighted with the prospect of their little cake assuming such a powerful position in the dessert world.
 
Laugh if you will, but hours were spent on modifications to the Bill.  First, an amendment had to be made to allow, vanilla, red velvet, and pumpkin cake to be allowed into the fold.  Naturally, many variations of the Original W.P. have been developed over the years.  Try spending a winter in Northern Maine and eventually you will be reduced to recipe experiments as a last resort activity to keep yourself from going nuts.  And so it is, a multitude of cave flavors will be accepted, but the construction of the treat, the 'blueprint" if you will, must remain the same.
 
What is most heartening to me in all of this, because I don't care for Whoopie Pies though I have nothing against them and would allow them in my home, is that finally a government body has recognized its limitations and decided to act within them.
We should all hope that this same sensibility would spread to Washington.   It's perfect. Name the State Bird, pick a flower, go ahead and pick out a license plate theme.  Also, kick in a little for National Defense and highway maintenance and construction...but as far as the rest of it?  Pour yourself a glass of milk, have a Whoopie Pie, and get out of the way.

Let's just say that the recent CPAC convention was not exactly a "9" on the Richter Scale.  The gathering of conservative political activists most always portends future political winds.  All eyes were on this year given the high stakes of the 2012 Presidential campaign for Republicans.  Mitt Romney spoke, still not admitting that he is running.  Tim Pawlenty, kind of the same.  A surprise speech by Donald Trump shook things up more than anything, served with a cherry when Trump announced that "Ron Paul can't win an election...".  This vibrated the room as the event is routinely stocked with hoards of Ron Paul supporters. It is one of their hat tricks and gathers no more attention than migrating geese.
 
The more noticeable quake came from outside the event...in the form of a just-released poll that showed President Obama beating proposed front-runners like Sarah Palin and even Mike Huckabee and not by just a little, either. One has to wonder screwed up things have to be before a pragmatist can get a foothold in this race.  The New Hampshire Primary is less than a year away.  Usually...and you'll notice I didn't say "normally", things are less fluid at this point.  Something weird is happening.
 
At first glance, given the overwhelming win by conservatives in November, the 2012 Presidential race would seem like a given.  The economy is in shambles.  Obama has failed to come through on nearly every campaign promise.  Even the Crown Jewel...Health Care Reform...is in jeopardy and may well end up before the Supreme Court.  And yet, there is a "you go first" air about the candidate field.  There is the lingering question of whether or not the Tea Party and the Republican Party will become "one".  Or are they "one" already?  Depends on who you ask.  Michelle Bachman insists that if you abhor the philosophy of the current administration then you are a Tea Party member.  Simple as that...and I like that call.
 
Still...it doesn't appear as though it's going to be that simple for others.  I sense a division and, worse, I see a lackluster field of hopefuls.  Romney has the failed Massachusetts Health Care Reform hanging around his neck like an albatross.  He's got a lot of appeal otherwise, but I don't see him getting around that.  Pawlenty?  Sharp cat. I like him a lot, but I don't know if he's got that "certain something" that a President really needs to have.  Magnitude.  Presence.  I don't know exactly what it is...but it's missing.  I want to see him get hot...lose it a little.  I want a President with a bit of a temper and who is innately impatient.
 
Mike Huckabee...been there, done that.  I like the guy a lot, I think he'd make a fine President.  But we have to WIN this one.  It's not so much about liking someone this time around, I want to like what they stand for...and I want someone who can win.
I'd vote for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in a heartbeat on style points alone...but...who knows if he's running and he's another one that makes me nervous in the "likelihood of winning" column.
 
Interested to know what you think...but as of right now...I get a lot more heat from a Marvin Gaye ballad than I got from anyone speaking at CPAC last week.

Hey! Son of a gun...who knew it was a breeze to purchase firearms at a gun show?  O.K...calling it "a breeze" may be a little overboard, but I think it's pretty general knowledge that gun shows have, for a long time, been known as a place to purchase firearms with less scrutiny than at a typical gun store.  For anyone who didn't know that, or disagrees with the premise, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg sent a task force to an Arizona gun show and they came back with some pretty revealing tape.
 
My first thought was...what is Bloomberg doing looking for gun show loopholes in Arizona?  To be fair, he does head up a national organization that investigates and analyzes the general problem of too many guns in the wrong hands.  The tape brought back from Arizona shows an undercover agent approaching various dealers and asking to buy a gun, while asking if there is a background check required and claiming that he "probably couldn't pass one."  That declaration did nothing to slow down the dealers shown in the undercover tape.  They remained ready, willing and able to sell this person a weapon.
 
I believe firmly in the right to bear arms.  I also believe, however, that we are negligent as a society if we do not at least examine the rather extreme amount and variety of violence we have in this country.  I think the NRA does itself a disservice when their reaction to something like the Bloomberg investigation comes in knee-jerk form.  They are always quick to overreact.  To enact some kind of limitation on firearms and their purchase and ownership, is a long way from going door to door and confiscating weapons.  This is always the extreme example that is leapt to.
 
On the other hand, Bloomberg's trip to Arizona wasn't about gun safety at all...it was political.  Just some posturing in the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson.  Otherwise, I would think, that same task force would show up at any of a number of similar shootings that happen on a pretty regular basis around the country.  Workplace massacres barely make page 5 in the newspaper anymore. Old news.  Husbands come home and gun down an entire family.  Barely a column inch given.
 
Furthermore, as a culture, we seem less than enthusiastic about keeping violent people in jail.  Even the rather small percentage of violent people that are caught, and then successfully prosecuted, and then clear the hurdle of actually receiving a long-term sentence, seem somehow to find themselves back on the street.  Look no further than Worcester, Mass., just a few weeks ago, where a career criminal, paroled from a 3 consecutive life-term sentence, fatally shot a Worcester Police Department veteran during an armed robbery. I would be much more receptive to a deeper look into gun shows and who is buying weapons there, if, we had a justice system that was serious about keeping seriously violent people off of the streets. We don't, and so investigating the sales process at gun shows seems like minutia to me.  It says, "we are serious about guns and violent crimes in America."  Until it comes to punishment...then we're not serious at all.
 
So the gun-show-loophole is a tiny piece of the equation.  It's just a bit like examining the hinges on the barn door long after the horse is gone.  The problem isn't the hinges, they're just part of the door.  The problem was leaving the barn door open in the first place.