Opinion Forum

Straws and Camels’ Backs

November 12th, 2009

Seems like everything is coming to a head at the same time. Unemployment passed 10 percent and is still rising. Obama and company continue their drive to create a monster and call it health care reform. Our military in Afghanistan continues to operate without proper attention from the Commander in Chief. We’d be better served to get out of that damnable place altogether.

Now we face the prospect of our military personnel being murdered here at home by Muslim terrorist/zealots who use their religion as an acceptable excuse. I note with great disdain the efforts of some to attribute the Fort Hood murders to anything less than premeditated murder. What will be done to stop this kind of incident from happening again?

I notice that our President and Congress did not let what happened at Fort Hood change their plans. Instead, he and the rest of the Democrats used the weekend following the murder of our soldiers to push socialized medicine closer to reality. The cost of this experiment, at more than one trillion dollars, will dwarf all other tax burdens being suffered by America’s working people. Considering the ever rising unemployment figures, how will we pay for it?

The folly of believing so-called green jobs can level out the jobs crisis is a total fabrication that fails to take into account the jobs lost due to industries that will die as a result of so-called green laws. The job losses in the electrical power generating industry and its effect on the coal industry will cause job losses that will take most of the century for green jobs to replace. Non-oil-based gasoline will not only cost more but will have a negative effect on our food supply as we use more grain to make ethanol. Bio-diesel, though cheaper to produce, is still diesel and not a clean-burning source of power. Once again we’re faced with job losses versus green jobs to offset those losses.

Wish it ended here, but wait — there’s much more. Most Obama supporters snicker and whisper about crazy conservatives and rednecks who see boogie men in black helicopters. Could it be that the Obama fans purposely overlook certain things that the rest of us see?

A few days ago Obama announced his intention to change the nation’s education system. In a speech that must have had the NEA (National Education Association, the teachers’ union) seeing red, he vowed to remove, in his words, the firewall that leaves teachers and schools unaccountable for substandard education of our children.

I agree with the need to grade our educators to see that they are up to the task we have hired them to do. What I don’t agree with is how Obama intends to achieve this education reform and the resulting control it will allow the federal government. Based on the old carrot and stick principle, federal funds will go only to those schools that meet federally mandated standards.

I agree that higher standards make for better education, but liberals such as the President tend to use education of young people as a way to instill social values and not things such as math and reading skills. Former DNC chairman Howard Dean warned on Meet The Press several weeks ago that Obama intended to make certain changes in how we educate our children. Stricter/tighter control of federal money for our schools will insure that Obama gets his wish.

Articles written by Larry Ennis
Tags: Fort Hood, green jobs, Obama, terrorism, unemployment
Categories: Economics, Life, Military, Politics | Comments (14) | Home

14 Responses to “Straws and Camels’ Backs”

Kevin | November 12th, 2009 at 6:19 pm

Tell me, Larry, when was the last time the level of your disdain changed an objective reality?

Here’s what I see. I see conservatives such as yourself taking every opportunity to vent your anger about Muslims who you believe use religion as an excuse for violence… while simultaneously taking every opportunity to turn a blind eye towards the flip side of the same coin – such as the recent beating of a Greek Orthodox priest by an idiot who thought the priest was a Muslim simply because he had lots of facial hair, darker features and had a poor grasp of the English language.

The abject silence about the priest beating in Florida speaks every bit as loudly about your true beliefs as does the venting about Muslims.

larry | November 12th, 2009 at 7:02 pm

Hey Kevin
Being the some what complex and exacting man you are, my answer is going to sound stupid and redneckish I’m sure but here goes anyway.
I don’t submit my pieces direct , instead I send them to Tom Carter for his approval. In the case of this one I submitted it before the beating of the Greek priest happened. Tom didn’t elect to put it on right away. You might say he uses me on the slow days.
As to your ranting a raving about my disdain for a person that defends a murderer of our military people. A Muslim man that beyond a doubt would have murdered women and children as well had not a woman poped two caps in his useless a**. If the shoe fits Kevin, you go ahead and put er on. I hope it hurts like hell. Anyone that tries to come off like you did in your little rant don’t deserve to much slack Buba. Now go a head and tell me about your First Amendment rights.

Kevin | November 12th, 2009 at 9:03 pm

So attributing the Ft. Hood massacre to “anything less than premeditated murder” now “defends a murderer of our military people”?

LOL is that your final answer?

Dude, don’t get on Foxworthy’s show. You’d get slaughtered. Even a 3rd grader could see through that sloppy logic.

Brianna | November 12th, 2009 at 9:15 pm

“‘anything less than premeditated murder’ now ‘defends a murderer of our military people'”

Since just about every piece of evidence unearthed says it was premeditated murder, and since the people targeted were active members of our military, I would actually say yes, defending Hasan is to defend a murderer of our military people.

Harvey | November 12th, 2009 at 10:37 pm

Kevin,

I really can’t understand you jumping to the defense of that crazy-a** Muslim — especially on November 12 when it’s been all but proven in a court of law that he intended that to be the last day of his life — after, of course, he killed some Infidels so he could get into his insane version of heaven.

Also, that is far beyond a Conservative/Liberal issue and is totally unrelated to the priest in Florida.

Kevin | November 12th, 2009 at 11:54 pm

Unrelated to the priest in Florida?

AP on Yahoo: When officers arrived, Bruce called Marakis a terrorist and said the priest had shouted “Allahu akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great.”

This was after Bruce had bashed the priest in the head 5 times with a tire iron and chased his bloody victim for three blocks.

Clearly Lance Corporal Bruce used what he ass-u-med to be his victim’s religion as an excuse for his actions, that’s a matter of public record. That his assumption of his victim’s religious persuasion was utterly wrong doesn’t change that fact. How is that unrelated? Isn’t your contention that Major Hasan used religion to justify his bloody massacre? Or do you mean to say that it’s unrelated because in the Florida case it was a non-Muslim using religion to justify violence and only Muslims should be held accountable for using religion to justify violence?

Kevin | November 12th, 2009 at 11:55 pm

Brianna, debating Major Hasan’s motives doesn’t in any way defend what he did. It simply addresses WHY he did it.

Brianna | November 13th, 2009 at 1:04 am

Kevin, everyone should be held accountable for violence, regardless of the justification. Nobody here is dumb enough or vicious enough to stick up for your pet ex-marine. But I really have to wonder: what kind of person are you that, when you heard about the Fort Hood shooting, your first reaction was to say that obviously Hasan was having psychological problems and the shooting was really just his attempt to commit suicide by cop.

“debating Major Hasan’s motives doesn’t in any way defend what he did. It simply addresses WHY he did it.”

There is a growing mountain of evidence that says he did it because of Muslim extremism. You will never hear me say that all (or even most) Muslims are terrorists, but for a faith that is supposed to be a religion of peace it seems to me that there are an awful lot of terrorists out there who profess to be acting in the name of the Islamic faith.

Tom | November 13th, 2009 at 3:18 am

I don’t think you’re trying to defend what Hasan did, Kevin. But you’re bending way over backward to deny what’s becoming so obvious as to be undeniable — Hasan is an extremist Muslim who embarked on his own personal terrorist jihad at Fort Hood, and there were plenty of indicators that could have been acted on beforehand, but for misguided political correctness.

I’m not sure why you keep bringing up the case in Florida, where an ignorant idiot attacked a Greek Orthodox priest. There’s no comparison. If Jasen Bruce had been immersed for years in some weird, unknown sort of Christian theology that advocated terrorism and murder, and if he had been singing “Onward, Christian Soldiers” as he bashed the Greek, maybe you would have a case. But none of that happened.

You’re also overplaying the military aspect with Bruce, like using a rank with his name. Bruce is a Marine reservist who’s never been to Iraq or Afghanistan and is living a normal civilian life. Well, he was, but now I suspect his future includes some well-deserved years in jail for aggravated battery.

By the way, here’s another interesting similarity between Hasan and the 9/11 Muslim terrorists. This dummy who had troubling finding a wife who would dress in a black gunny sack and pray five times a day was hanging around in a booby bar. According to this report, he once spent six or seven hours straight in the place, and he was paying for lap dances at $50 a pop. And he preferred blondes.

Tom | November 13th, 2009 at 5:56 am

According to The Washington Post:

Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, the Army psychiatrist believed to have killed 13 people at Fort Hood, was supposed to discuss a medical topic during a presentation to senior Army doctors in June 2007. Instead, he lectured on Islam, suicide bombers and threats the military could encounter from Muslims conflicted about fighting wars in Muslim countries.

You can read the slides Hasan used here.

I’m surprised that a group of Army officers, even doctors, would sit through this crap presentation. I’d like to be surprised that this behavior didn’t attract attention and action, but I’m not. Everyone is so concerned about maintaining a politically correct attitude that taking action against a Muslim, even when he breaks rules about promoting a religion, is a no-no. And look what we got as a result.

Brian Bagent | November 14th, 2009 at 1:51 am

Tom, it was this attitude that was a part of the reason I left police work. It’s the big, white elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about.

“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason.” We cannot call a spade a spade without being subject to censure.

doris | November 17th, 2009 at 4:36 pm

I hear you, Kevin. I believe this man, Hasan, to have been mentally ill, not just a Muslim. Shouting God is great is what all Muslims say when praying, and if I were Muslim, I would certainly say that when I was about to die. I would say something close to that, if I knew I was going to die, too. He was messed up, no doubt, and a traitor and a religious freak, but all those who blame all Muslims are just as ignorant. Killing people in the name of their religion is wrong no matter what religion it is. Killing people for any reason is just as wrong. Did you hear that freak passed up civilians to kill soldiers? He apparently had a teeny bit of humanity left, just wanted to kill soldiers, his fanatical idea of his religion’s enemy. Hate is hate, and no matter which side you are on, no one deserves to be hurt or killed because they are, or appear to be, Muslim.

Brianna | November 17th, 2009 at 8:29 pm

I am incredibly sick and tired of hearing people scream that Hasan was a poor bugger, he couldn’t help himself, we should feel pity for him, and we shouldn’t be blaming all Muslims for the actions of a few.

Hasan was an evil murderer. To pity him is to deny justice to those he hurt and killed. And since there has been absolutely no evidence that the nation as a whole has turned against its Muslim population (no Kevin, you are not allowed to wave that Greek Orthodox priest at me, one lunatic is not evidence of a nation-wide movement), hearing these repeated exhortations to not blame all Muslims for the actions of a few is getting really old.

I say again, while I do not think that all Muslims, or even most Muslims, are evil or hatching terrorist plots in their heads, there certainly seem to be an strangely high number of terrorists out there who are perpetrating their actions in the name of the “Religion of Peace”.

doris | November 18th, 2009 at 11:00 am

“One lunatic is not evidence of a nation-wide movement”, my point exactly, Brianna. I certainly don’t feel sorry for him. Just how many Christians, Jews and Mormons do you think killed for the sake of their religion? Mormons alone are responsible for a horrendous slaughter of innocent women, children and men, in a mountain pass, for the sake of the Mormon religion. The Muslims do not hold the patent on this kind of action, they just seem to be our enemy in those two useless, meaningless wars we are stupidly involved in.