A Surprising Endorsement

Something I came across in my travels...

Senate Republican Ted Stevens (R) Who is a Republican from Alaska is Indicted

A federal grand jury has indicted longtime Senator Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, on charges of failing to disclose receiving gifts of services and construction work as part of a wide-ranging corruption inquiry involving public officials and corporations in his home state. (NY Times)

But Mr. Stevens’s constituents have a right to wonder why their revered senator, a Republican who has served them fiercely for four decades, ever agreed to have his home richly upgraded by someone so obviously hunting for the inside track to politicians. (NY Times Op)

Republican White House hopeful John McCain's campaign said on Wednesday the indictment of fellow Republican Sen. Ted Stevens was a "sad reminder" the next president will face a tough task rebuilding the public trust. (Reuters)

Eighty-four-year-old Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska, newly charged by the feds with corruption-related offenses, walked over to the desk of 90-year-old Democrat Robert Byrd of West Virginia yesterday morning. Byrd, in a wheelchair, clasped his friend's hands, then squinted up at him and shouted, "Say it ain't so!" (Washington Post)

Stevens is the Senate's longest-serving Republican and has been a dominant figure in congressional politics for a generation (AP)

The indictment of Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens strengthened forecasts that Democrats will gain Senate seats on Election Day. (WSJ)

Some observers think the reputation of the longest-serving Republican senator may weather this scandal. The former chairman and now ranking Republican on the influential U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Stevens is known as a master of pork barrel politics, with a record of channeling billions of federal dollars to his home state. (LA Times)

In case you missed it, Ted Stevens is a Republican.

Back in March of this year, I posted a few lines about Eliot Spitzer. It was on a whim and timely as I had a number of posts back then about government, common good, and integrity. I never mentioned his name but I did mention that he is a Democrat. Why did I do that?

First, let me say that blogging has given me an opportunity to practice those forms of speech I learned in 8th grade English class and honed in 10th grade speech class: satire, sarcasm, alliteration, onamonapea, irony, parallel sentence structure,…

Second, when the Spitzer story broke I was annoyed that I could not find a single article that listed his party affiliation. In fact, I had to search his bio on Wikipedia. So I deployed an ironic device and listed his party affiliation… which had nothing to do with the post and everything to do with the media’s inability to report this simple fact. So, I was “hiding what is actually reality in order to obtain a desired oratorical or artistic effect.”

Now for some more irony. It worked. The eight sentence Spitzer post is one of my most viewed and commented posts. I chuckled when I was gently reminded by an anonymous comment that Democrats don’t have the birthright to corruption. Indeed, that was half the point.

Corruption is truly a bipartisan issue. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Largest Drug Sweep in County History

The DA's office reported that over 100 arrest warrants were issued on Monday in a drug sweep, nearly two-thirds resulted in an arrest; the remaining are at large. At least 12 were served in Brownsville, including the Mayor's brother.

Score one for the good guys, trying to confirm if our neighborhood drug dealer was on the list.

Here is the story with all the names.

Herald Standard Story on Drug Arrests

Hope in What or Who

Our Founding Fathers were radicals, fundamentalists and zealots. Among them were men who invoked the Name of God and professed faith in Christ. They were intolerant, warmongers, and stubborn. They were the Right in men like John Adams. They were the Left in men like Thomas Jefferson. They were all patriots. They were willing to die for their country. They were willing to live for their country. Why? They had purpose, they had calling, and they had hope.

Their hope was not in government, not in the military, not in the economy, and not even in their fellow man. Their hope was in a God who provides, directs and sustains.

How times have changed! Our politicians preach hope in government, the military and the economy. Our citizens put into action the words from the pulpit (grassroots), evangelize the message (campaign) and come to the altar (of subsidy, welfare and rebate). That is the New Religion. Government is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

Government becomes God.

How times remain the same! Government is not god in the same way the ancient kings and rulers proclaimed their divinity. We are too sophisticated for that. But yet, the end will be the same.

A reminder…

Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. (Jesus in Matthew 22:21)

The Three Plagues of Pearl Street

There is an expected lack of control in life. Accepting the expected is the challenge. Life in Brownsville is no different. We are living through the Three Plagues of Pearl Street.

First there are the criminals. Specifically, the drug activity has sky rocketed with the new neighbors. They live on the next block, but why deal drugs out of your house when you can use other people’s property? They are brazen and aggressive. Just yesterday, I saw two men in an old white pick-up truck with tow equipment… the passenger gets out and meets a third man exchanges drugs for money about 10 feet from where I am sitting in my car (if you are with the drug task force, license plates detailed descriptions on names are available). That is just the most recent incident in a long string this summer.

Second are the bats. They have been breeding in the attic of the townhouses and one escaped into the living area. A tenant woke up with one sitting on her chest. Apparently bats aren’t as cute up close. We think there are less than 10 in the attic and at the quotes I’ve been receiving from the exterminator, I think I could pay someone $250 per bat to catch them with their teeth.

Third are the fleas. Not only did I have to evict a tenant for not paying their rent for three months, they left behind a gift. I walked into the unit the other day and was swarmed with over 100 hungry and lonely fleas. One day I will write about our state regulations and judicial system that protects tenant rights. At the moment, I’m either too angry or too accepting (stage two or five in the tragedy model).