January 19th / 21st , 2007

This past week was so chocked full of interesting news items that I decided to offer up a series of multiple commentaries, rather than spending time on just one item.

“Bush Build-up”

President Bush is determined to send another 20,000 troops to keep the peace in Iraq at a cost of over 4 billion dollars. No doubt, many of these young men and women will come from Fort Bragg. Bush says this will help us win the war and leave Iraq in stable condition. This assessment comes from a man who is anything but stable, and that brings me to my proposal. The 25th Amendment allows for a President to be replaced by the Vice President should the President become incapacitated. Clearly, George Bush is mentally incapacitated, so Congress should invoke the Amendment, then , after Dick Cheney takes the oath, Nancy Pelosi should invoke the same Amendment against Cheney, who has health problems of his own. I know my plan is far fetched, but I would do anything to prevent more soldiers from dying in Iraq.

“Pelosi Kick Butts”

Speaking of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, she has boldly taken steps to ban smoking in her lobby. The Speakers Lobby has traditionally been a meeting place for good old boys to stretch their lungs between voting on pork, but now they are going to have to clean up their act and the air. With this gesture, Speaker Pelosi is sending a message. From now on, she won’t allow politicians to blow smoke in her face.

“Pay As You Go”

Meanwhile, Pelosi has been busy making other changes. She has approved a new rule whereby no member of Congress can sponsor a spending bill, without first identifying the spending cuts needed to fund it. This new Pay As You Go system will help us get control of the deficit which is now over $400 Billion. My first spending cut would be obvious. Pull out of Iraq immediately and save billions.

“Hackney Needs Limits”

Orange County representative Joe Hackney is the new Speaker of the House in North Carolina. I am hopeful that Joe will restore some modicum of decency to that position, but we cannot just assume the best. That’s why the House must adopt term limits for the Speaker. Jim Black has been a disgrace, and his corrupt influences are still costing us. It’s time that we take some precautions against the possibility of future abuses of power.

“Edwards Leads the Field”

Former North Carolina Senator, and unsuccessful Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards leads all other potential Democratic challengers for President in a new AOL poll. Nearly 200,000 people participated, with Edwards picking up 28% of the vote to Hillary’s 24%, and 23% for Barack Hussein Obama. Even if these numbers hold up, Edwards still has a problem. He couldn’t even carry the State for John Kerry in 2004. And so, I believe that John will need a 50% showing here in Carolina to overcome that stigma. Of course as a personal injury lawyer, Edwards thinks he only needs to take one third.

“Husband Abuse”

NBA Star Jason Kidd has filed for divorce from his wife, saying that she has physically and verbally abused him for years. Lawyers for the wife argue that a woman who is 5 foot 2 inches tall and weighs only 105 pounds is not capable of abusing a man who stand 6 foot four. Newsflash. Women can be brutal at any size, and are increasingly taking advantage of traditional societal sympathies in order to gain an advantage in property settlement and custody cases. A man of any size can be injured or killed by flying objects, and he can suffer untold damage from continuous verbal abuse. In the past, women were often victims of spousal abuse, but were afraid to complain for fear of retaliation. That’s why new laws were enacted to give females an edge in court. Unfortunately more and more women are abusing that protection by making up false charges of spousal abuse, and then committing the abuse themselves. I am not a fan of Jason Kidd, and I know there are always two sides to every story, but the time has come for the Courts and society to recognize that wives are not always innocent.

“Terminator Offers Help”

California Governor Arnold Schwazenenggar has announced a bold new program whereby those who can’t afford health insurance will be covered for free, and he wants to start with some 750,000 uninsured children, many of whom were born of illegal immigrant parents. The plan is admirable, but the Golden State is already in financial stress because of abuses by illegals. In my view, the government needs to make sure that every American taxpaying citizen has medical coverage. Beyond that, I still favor deportation for those who break our laws and refuse to assimilate into our society.

“Have a Magical Day”

A Disney theme park character is in trouble for smacking a teenage boy in the face. It seems that Tigger the tiger struck the youth under his chin, eliciting initial outrage from the child’s father. Rumor has it that Tigger’s costume was actually worn by Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight. Upon hearing that, the father now says he is proud to have had his son assaulted by the coach, and plans another visit to Disney soon, where he hopes to have Tigger choke his daughter.