The Envelope please ...... and the award goes to

It was the middle of September 1971 when at age 10, this budding young history buff and political junkie first took pencil and paper and wrote to then president Richard M. Nixon. i was fascinated with the world of politics and wrote asking probably way too many questions regarding his views on public policy both within the US and around the world.

Back then i wrote to almost every elected official and as many conservative and liberal think tanks and groups as possible getting their various views on different pieces of legislation or asking what they thought about different subjects ranging from who would win the sports crowns to social security, the Vietnam War, taxes, poverty, the space race ... you name it i probably asked everybody about it.

I was also one of those who kept up with every twist and turn of the 1972 campaign, the break-in, and the entire Watergate scenario as well as the on-going war in SE Asia. The war, mostly due to my dad traveling over in that part of the world on a semi-regular basis, and everything else because i was so caught up in wanting to become a US Senator myself (hey i was young and foolish what can i say).

I was also one of those who cried when Mr. Nixon resigned -- not because i thought he had done nothing wrong ... i was just sorry to see him go out like that ... it seemed such a waste.

Like everyone else i have done my share of speculating in regards to the identity of "Deep Throat". my best guesses were that it was either Ron Zeigler or Henry Kissinger. Kissinger because i believed he was just Machiavellian enough to think he could pull it off and play the part of power broker and Zeigler because he seemed like such a sincere and honest guy who seemed ill at ease having to trot out the same balderdash day after day... well today i have been proven wrong.

Yes the best kept secret of the last 30 or so years has finally seen the light of day. "Deep Throat" has been unmasked as W. Mark Felt, formerly the #2 man at the FBI. Boy was i off-base, but i always figured that it HAD to be someone within the White House itself. Its a good thing i wasn't in the intelligence business back then .... OY VEY!!!!

As secrets go this was one of the all time greats ... attracting almost as many conspiracy buffs and theories as the Hoffa disappearance and just as many that were totally nuts too.

Now truly, the game is up and all of us who in our spare moments kept digging and searching to try and find the "last great clue" to this particular "hunt for the grail" will have to find other secrets to pursue ... ah well it was great fun while it lasted.

In the grand scheme of things seen from 30 or so years in the future now.. who "Deep Throat" really was does not seem that important -- AND IT ISN'T -- compared to the war on terrorism, the great and growing problem of illegal immigration and out of control federal, state and local spending of tax revenues without a seeming concern in the world for the ultimate consequences.

It did however serve its place in our national psyche -- a little light jazz so to speak in an evening of classical symphonies. I shall miss the friendly and sometimes not so friendly debates on the merits of this or that possibility .. but most of all i shall miss the mystery of "Deep Throat" much more.

While it is in some ways nice to finally know for certain who it was, i feel also a great sense of sadness that the mystique and passion of the search for the "Deep Throat" grail has also ended.

For me the best part of not knowing was that at any day you could discover the final clue that proved it was or was not your "guess" ... and in a way almost reminiscent of an Olympic athlete at the end of their career ... it is the "game" I will miss most.

For some Richard Nixon will always be the epitome of evil; for others he will always be a beacon of hope and possibilities ... for me i will always remember him as the first president i ever talked to via mail and while he was a flawed man in many respects, he had many many moments of greatness as well .... and so as this last and hopefully final chapter of the Watergate saga comes to a close let me end with this as my parting to a decent but deeply troubled soul ... who touched a part of a young boy's life with words of kindness and encouragement; advice and a bit of humor.

May the roads rise to meet you.

May the wind be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

The rain fall soft upon your fields

And,until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

May the lilt of Irish laughter Lighten every load,

May the mist of Irish magic Shorten every road,

May you taste the sweetest pleasures That fortune ere bestowed,

And may all your friends remember. All the favors you are owed.

Thank you, Mister Nixon for inspiring what still is a most avid and important part of my life today ... way back there in 1971.

Update 6/2/5 - Having now been asked by numerous people to comment on the hero/villian status of Mr. Felt i give my personal opinion.

As a sworn official of a Federal Law Enforcement Agency he should have followed established procedures for reporting of wrong-doing through official channels which as always have included going to the congressional committees which oversee or relate to the ares of business. If Mister Felt was of the opinion that he could not approach his superior (Attourney General John Mitchell), he should have at the very least made contact with the commmittee chairman and ranking minority member of either the Senatorial or Representative committees dealing with or having to do with the Department of Justice to explain his concerns or evidence of wrong-doing in accordance with lawful rules and governing regulations.

To circumvent the established procedures and disclose confidential or sensitive material to persons not needing to know such material (unauthorized disclosure) was then and is now a serious breach of trust, not just to the person being circumvented but also to the American people as a whole.

If i, as a member of the Armed Forces, had done such a thing i would have been subject to a courts-martial even if there were mitigating circumstances involved. Such mitigating circumstances, while they may be used in the determination of punishment rendered, do not make the breach of rules and regulations any less unlawful.

There is a right way of doing things and a wrong way of doing things. Mister Felt chose, in my humble opinion, the wrong way of trying to right a wrong. He should not be lauded for his intentions but rather rebuked for his actions. In doing what he did in the manner he did it he became a law-breaker just as much as Mister Nixon was for what he did. We are after all a nation of laws which are and of right ought to be equally applicable to every citizen.

In summary, good intentions coupled with wrong (and unlawful) actions do not make a right situation any more than bad intentions coupled with wrong (and unlawful) actions do.

Memorial Day, Part Two ...

unknown soldiers

and remember to take some time today and say a prayer of rememberance and thanksgiving in memory of those unknown and unheralded whose blood has bought your freedom as Americans...

Memorial Day 2005

Old Glory

I am a proud veteran of the United States Air Force. Memorial Day has always held special significance to me from the first time i can remember going with my dad to McClellan AFB where he worked and especially after i joined up in December 1979. My father was a civilian but he spent quite a bit of time in Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand during the Vietnam war as part of the rapid aircraft maintenance team. I have always been a proud supporter of the men and women of the military since i was very young .... and it continues today as today's armed forces men and women, our true heroes along with fire and public safety and law enforcement men and women, are the best of the best of the best America has to offer. It is for these fallen heroes, men and women such as Iven Kinchloe, Glen Edwards, Chesty Puller, the crews of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, the astronauts of Apollo I, for men like Walter Reed, and the incredible "bastards of Bastogne", the men of D-Day and those of Chosin Resovior, Ke Sanh and the A Shau valley, it is for the memory of the marines of Lebanon 1983, the brave men of the Iranian Hostage rescue attempt, of those from Son Tay, Grenada, and the wilds of the Argonne Forest. It is for every fallen winner of the bronze star, the silver star, the purple heart and the Medal of Honor .....
This day is for remembering all of our heroes .... those that everyone knows by name .. men like Lance P Sijan, Gus Grissom, Leonard Wood, Pat Tillman ... men who lived and died fighting for what they believed was the right and what they believed was best for America ...
and for me it is also a day for remembering those that no one knows about ... men like Sergeant Stephen "Fess" Parker, Lt Ron Periard, Capt. Mark S. Makowski ... men i served with and knew who also gave to their country the fullest measure of devotion ... their lives.
and for me it is also about those men and women who served bravely and honorably who still are among the living .... for my best good friend Mike Meyers, and Rudy Zayas, for my MTI Ron Ash; for Ben Bailey and Sue Colon and General John Farrington, Colonel Marlan Kitchen, TSgt Jim McClain and Jimmy Deaux ... for Betty Jean Poos and Diana Boudreau, and Elizabeth J. McNeil-Moore and Charles Moore, for everyone of my former compatriots in arms .... this is your day the day when i as a grateful citizen pay my respects to each and every one of you from the Revolutionary War right down through today's heroes in Iraq, Afghanistan, those serving on ships at sea, at lonely listening posts in the hinterlands or the wilds of downtown Los Angeles. To each man and woman who has ever served or are still serving ... from this proud veteran and from my heart i say THANK YOU .... God Bless You and Your Families .... and may God continue to bless this great land of America.

Its Memorial Day .... America be thankful and proud of your sons and daughters ... and may we never forget the TRUE MEANING OF THIS DAY.

Action ... This Day! Action!

sometimes it seems that the "free-er" we think we are the less free we actually are. Do we really as Americans believe that we are as free as we think we are or do a lot of us just pretend we are because to admit that we are not as free as we think we are would be to deny the basis of everything we think we believe in?

our whole society is built on the concept of freedom (supposedly) and yet every day we compromise on that freedom either by direct choice, by default, or by representational choice.

As an example i believe that everyone should be free to be whatever and whoever they want to be so long as it does no one else any direct harm .... yet i restrict my own freedom by choice through belonging to groups and associations that have set standards of conduct or standards for membership or standards of whatever else (dress, behavior, temperament, age, etc. [You fill in your favorite restriction here] .... and i do all this by direct choice because as i determine within my own mind, the benefits of compromising freedom of action or thought etc. are more valuable (or perceived to be more valuable) then insisting upon my total freedom of action or thought.

we also agree by default to limit our personal freedom to do as we wish (again within the stricture of "first do no harm") by not taking a more active role in public policy debates or by taking personal action regarding things we care deeply about. Most of us tend to belong to the vast grey muddled-mass who live by the "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil and do the same with the good too" philosophy of "if it doesn't directly affect me -- don't involve me" theory.

i am more and more tempted to try to live more like those of whom Theodore Roosevelt spoke so eloquently when he penned the words:

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

"Man in the Arena" Speech given April 23, 1910

and again in the same vein:

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. "

too often it is the fear of being seen as different, the fear of ridicule, the fear of being cast out or reviled that keeps even the seemingly mightiest of us standing silent on the sidelines of life imprisoned by those fears and limited by them thusly in our freedoms and because not everyone will approve or perhaps no one else will approve of our actions we remain chained even at the price of our own personal happiness.

too often as well we as Americans are wont to exclaim as did the Pharisee's and leaders of the Jewish nation in New Testament times (and i will contextually paraphrase for our times) ...

"but we are Americans and have always been free .... and have never been slaves of anyone."

Yet we are slaves to fashion, slaves many times to "keeping up with the Jones'", slaves to the telephone, the television, the computer, the commute, the [_________] (you fill in the blank). and despite knowing deep in our hearts that we are so enslaved we keep on fooling ourselves and rationalizing it away because we are safer and comfortable just being .... not rocking the boat or making waves or forbid making a determined stand regarding things we care about without FEAR but rather acting upon our principles ... still we sit patiently for someone else to do the hard work of making the first move or starting the ball rolling while we test the current and prevailing winds of fashion or opinion before deciding if we will get on the bandwagon or watch it roll on without us and meekly accept whatever outcome is ultimately decided upon.

Sir Winston Churchill, i believe, said it better than most ...

"The price of greatness is responsibility. "

"It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required."

as also did his contemporary in time Franklin D. Roosevelt:

"First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. "

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."

"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds."

Truly the only freedoms worth having are those which are worth fighting for, striving for, working for and yes even dying for....

so what is it that is most important to you??? freedom of thought, freedom of action, freedom of [_____________] (again you insert yours here).

Is is worth putting your time and effort into it even if not a single other person in the entire universe agrees with you?

If it is not then continue as at present ... unimpeeded and unencumbered.

but if it is, then there is but one course that you MUST take .... ACTION THIS DAY!!!!

The Carnegie Course in Reverse or How NOT to win friends and influence people

There will be no disclaimer in this blog entry. I AM OUTRAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Freedom to speak our minds is a God given right of all citizens however there are occasions when one should follow the advice of Mister Lincoln and "...remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."

I have for very many years enjoyed the wide variety of products produced by the PepsiCo company; however as an extremely OUTRAGED and INSULTED AMERICAN VETERAN i will NEVER DRINK A SINGLE DROP or otherwise spend ONE SINGLE PENNY of my money on ANY of their products so long as Ms Indra Nooyi remains connected in any way (active or inactive) with them.

You want to see America give someone the middle finger Ms Nooyi? I believe you are going to see MANY OUTRAGED AMERICAN CONSUMERS DO JUST THAT TO YOU AND YOUR COMPANY.

a brief aside to the CEO of PepsiCo .... fire her within minutes or get her resignation within seconds and you may survive .... do nothing and you will LOSE MILLIONS of customers... of dollars ... and most importantly of hard earned public respect.

Ms Nooyi's commencement address at Columbia University's School of Business can only be described as boorish, incredibly arrogant and patently offensive. Is America perfect??? NOT BY A LONG SHOT. Is America literally and figuratively giving the rest of the world the middle finger? NOT BY A LONG SHOT EITHER.

To say that the only impression that we give to the rest of the world and the only thing we care about doing is giving them that middle finger as she so eloquently states as her main point in address is as ludicrous as far right extremists insisting that ALL MUSLIMS are EVIL or extreme leftists insisting that EVERY ONE who wants to limit illegal immigration are RACISTS. Its not true and she KNOWS it or should ... Especially given her position as CFO of PepsiCo.

HOW MUCH HUMANITARIAN AID HAVE PEPSICO'S AMERICAN EMPLOYEES GIVEN LAST YEAR TO VARIOUS CHARITIES MS NOOYI????

The fact is, that if AMERICA IS GIVING SUCH A HUGE MIDDLE FINGER TO THE REST OF THE WORLD HOW COME EVERYONE WANTS TO BE HERE AND BE AMERICAN????

The fact is WHO ELSE BESIDE AMERICA GIVES MORE AID TO EVERYONE IN NEED??? The answer may surprise you Ms Nooyi ..... NO ONE!!!! ... not even all those other finger continents combined have ever matched the kind, amount and willingness of AMERICA to HELP OUR FELLOW HUMANS.

I spent 10 years in the USAF and have been involved in many humanitarian relief missions and I AM OUTRAGED THAT YOU MS NOOYI CAN WITH ONE HAND TAKE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN PAY AND BENEFITS FROM AMERICA, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE GREATEST EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM WORLDWIDE FROM AMERICA and with the other hand give you own MIDDLE FINGER SALUTE to us in return.

No, Americans are not perfect (no one no matter what country they are from is); yes i have personally seen many many instances of UGLY AMERICANS throughout my ten years of traveling around the globe; but i have also seen MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE kindness, generosity, assistance, aid, food, medicine, and personal sacrifice from AMERICA then anywhere else too.

Ms. Nooyi, you have every right to say what you believe, you have every right to feel any way you wish; but if you were honest with yourself and TRULY BELIEVED that AMERICA IS JUST A BIG MIDDLE FINGER STICKING STRAIGHT OUT SAYING [Expletive deleted] TO THE WORLD, you should give back every dime you have earned, refuse to be a part of it ANYMORE, resign your cushy position and find a place to live in one of those other GOOD FINGERS.

Come on i dare you ..... put your convictions and words where your money is ....

PUT UP OR SHUT UP. BUT DONT EVER BITE THE HAND THAT GAVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU HAVE

and

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE EXTREMELY OUTRAGED AMERICAN CONSUMER.

The letter that started it all ...

Speaking of Tolerance ...

As a service to whose who may not yet know or realize this Web-blog now presents the following historical, completely accurate and overtly truthful Public Service Announcement:

The Constitution of the United States of America - Preamble

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Notice that it does not say "we the people who think other people should agree with us or shut up, or get out or stay away" nor does it say "we the super educated and highly intelligent people" or even "we the people who only care about what interests us and to heck with the rest of you" but rather "WE THE PEOPLE" (inclusive of everyone -- even the idiot that lives next door to us who voted for the "other" guy the last 100 election cycles).

"Bill of Rights - Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

and again Notice that the amendment is very specific in that NO LAW shall be made regarding establishment of a particular religion -- so that EVERYONE can have whatever religion they want even if they don't want ANY -- especially if they don't want any i might add. and yet it also protects those that do want a particular religion or set of beliefs for THEMSELVES. as regards speech again NO LAW shall be made which abridges the freedom of ANYONE and EVERYONE from saying what they feel or believe even if they are complete ninnies in your (or my) estimation. Freedom of speech is not just something we have and others can have if they agree with us but rather it is , should be and MUST BE for everyone -- NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!

By now, i am sure that some of you are saying "What in the world has gotten under his bonnet?" well its very simple .... my home town newspaper yesterday in the letters to the editor section contained a letter so filled with hatred and mean-spiritedness regarding what the author of the letter determined was an episode of "hate speech" that it made me very angry.

Did the letter writer have the right to say what he said? ... yes by all means they have the complete freedom of speech to say anything and everything they wish about a subject or person (within the court-ruled upon exceptions for libel and slander and hate speech as well.

and so my anger is not that he can say it but that he said it. As i read his diatribe (see picture accompanying in its own section for details). what got me so angry is the fact that he believes the subject of his letter should NOT have the right to say what he believes or feels because it so vehemently disagrees with the letter writers point of view. As a consequence of this blatant disregard for the rights of others to do the same things we are free to do i have taken the unprecedented step of writing my own letter to the editor (which i may and probably will post later as well).

It pains me greatly that we as plain old ordinary people to say nothing nothing of being proud free American people have gotten so entrenched in our ways that we cannot even politely agree to disagree and still remain committed to the common cause of AMERICA with those who have differing viewpoints than ourselves without resorting to name-calling and spewing vitriolic words at each other via print or in person.

I realize that non-religious types have a real problem with "being hit over the head with religion" in their estimation and i will grant you that some religious people i know are WAY WAY WAY over the tops sometimes (in my estimation) however if we take the time to try to look at the situation from the other persons view we might discover that the religious person has a deeply-felt calling to "proclaim the gospel in all the world" which means even you mister non-religious; and the religious person may discover that miss non-religious is just as serious in their NON-BELIEF in religion as they are in their BELIEF and perhaps just perhaps they could agree to disagree and let it end at that.

that is the wonderful thing about freedom .... everyone is entitled in our system to the right to life, liberty and the individual pursuit of THEIR PERSONAL HAPPINESS whatever that might be to them ... to pursue without fear of ridicule, intolerance, hatred, violence and forced behaviors. GOD BLESS AMERICA because of this and even if you are reading this and you don't believe in GOD ... he is still to be blessed because without that enduring belief in HIM this country would not exist as it is today.

there is only one reason that untold millions continue to try by whatever means possible, legal and illegal (more on that later too), to come to America .... its because we above all other nations and all other peoples have agreed for more than 225 years (almost 229 to be exact) that FREEDOM is worth living for, fighting for, and dying for. I will say again, the proudest moments and years of my life were those i spent in the US Air Force helping to defend my country ... and still today the greatest Americans i know are those who continue that service.

and so my fellow Americans ... its high time we quit with the harsh rhetoric, the acidic backbiting, the shameless affrontery of "one-upsman-ship" and remembered that like it or not we are all in this together and if we cant agree to at least peaceably disagree we will in very short order lose EVERYTHING that past generations so graciously gained for us with their blood, sweat, tears and as Thomas Jefferson so aptly put it "pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor" to ensure for this and all future generations as well.

may we all agree that America is worth saving and put aside our petty bickering and even put aside our SERIOUS DIFFERENCES and work to ensure that Lincoln's nation "of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth."