One Particular Harbour
Thoughts about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness from Dave Darby.
All posts in politics
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John McCain – Wrong Again Sir
May 5, 2010Posted by Dave Darby
Read more »Bending the laws – I’m sorry, this is bad for criminals but most certainly bad for politicians.
Here’s a quick story. A middle-aged man, fresh from drowning his troubles gets behind the wheel of his SUV. There were warning signs that those around him missed. His wife who considered his drinking a bothersome, but untouchable vice. The bartender who served this man drinks night after night knowing that he left the bar impaired but after so many nights, apparently not bad enough to cause any trouble. The liquor store clerk who week after week watched as this already inebriated man comes in for his home stash just before entering the lion’s den.
But one night, something changed. That bus of kids coming home from camp late at night was not usually there. In fact, there was NEVER anybody at this annoying red-flashing light. So he does what he normally does – blows through it. But on this fatal night, he doesn’t make it.
The drunk driver’s t-bone was enough to kill 3 kids on impact, but the worst of the accident was when his SUV drove the bus into oncoming traffic in which a semi-truck cut straight down the middle of the school bus leaving all but 1 dead. The lone survivor was the drunk driver whose SUV was peeled off the bus by the semi-truck and sent into a wild spin in which the SUV landed safely in a ditch. That driver, in fact, would climb out of his SUV unscathed and disoriented by the spin, having no idea what even happened as he could not make sense of the wreckage and smoke 300 yards away. There are no screams left to hear. All he sees is the badly damaged front-end of his SUV buried in a ditch. So he starts walking the last 1/2 mile home alone in his continued troubles.
In his wake, 24 kids, a retired bus driver and a semi-truck driving father of 3 all lost their lives because there was never enough alcohol to drown one man’s troubles. And when the police trace the vehicle later that night and show up to arrest him, his wife has disbelief, but not surprise in her pained eyes. When this drunk is awakened, the first thing the officer in charge does is READ HIM HIS RIGHTS.
You see John McCain, whether born here or naturalized, a citizen of the United States has unalienable rights. And while it’s tempting to play to national fears about terrorism, you continue, as George W. Bush did, to walk along the slippery slope.
Government must NOT overstep our unalienable rights – good, bad or indifferent. And I quote from Thomas Jefferson – ‘A government big enough to supply you with everything you need, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.’
You see, fear and terrorism tactics have worked in this country since perfected during the cold-war with Russia in which traveling salesmen did their best to put unnecessary bomb shelters in the back yards of Main Street USA. And they justified their parasitic income and lives as a national duty. In fact, more people will die EACH YEAR because of tobacco sales, car sales, alcohol sales, firearms sales and, let us not forget, medical malpractice and pharmaceuticals than would ever die in a crowded New York City car bomb attack. But you and your lobbyist bedfellows will work tirelessly to promote your agenda and work to market and teach and manipulate Americans to believe that these all too common domestic/corporate deaths are part of life, while the rare terrorist deaths are outrageous and require reshaping our Constitution. You are wrong.
And the worst part? Is that every election cycle, you come begging to our doors, our televisions and our emails for more money to keep selling us this fear. The fear we should have is of people like you who pander to the lowest common denominator in us all in hopes to maintain your lifestyle and the fear of people – like you – who prey on our collectively short memories.
Well, I don’t forget my history, not the history of this great nation, and certainly not the history of man in which there always has been and always will be strife, poverty and pain. Nor will I forget those that will ignore the real threats and propagate the false. For those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.
So go on, you non-Maverick you, tuck your tail between your legs and after you lose your upcoming election, go bunk up with W. and start touring the country with hate and fear-riddled speeches. The rest of us are moving on – moving on to fight terrorism where needed, moving on to get our economy back on track and moving on to trying to protect ourselves from the enemies from within who surround us in the form of politicians, Wall Street executives, the hospital/insurance/pharmaceutical triad and lets not forget those OTHER lowly, cowards who ALSO take from unsuspecting families, parents and spouses what is not theirs to take – drunken drivers.
This low-life group, along with domestic, nationalized terrorists should be read their Miranda Rights. Then, after a public trial by their peers, if found guilty, they should all be brought to a very public execution in which we place the fear where it should be. The fear that any greedy, ignorant bastard who puts himself above the law or above society will pay the consequences of justice as created and guaranteed under our Constitution.
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A New Dawn in America
Jan 20, 2009Posted by Dave Darby
Read more »We’ve been through 5 pregnancies and 5 births and never did it get old. Not once did it seem routine. Nor was the significance ever lost.
Today with the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America - I feel the same.
It is a time of renewal. A time for broken barriers. A time for hope. And as our new President outlined in his campaign, as his time as President-Elect and in his inaugural address, it is a time for discipline, reflection and time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
We have a country to repair. We have legacies to rebuild. We have relationships to renew.
Today is a great day. It will be more significant than any of us realize.
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Advice for the new Secretary of Defense
Dec 22, 2006Posted by Dave Darby
Read more »The new Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates , is gathering options to report to President Bush on increasing our military size – i.e. recruiting. Here’s a thought. It’s cheap – in fact free and it works.
Offer our military personnel 72 virgins to greet them in heaven and be at their disposal. Oh, and don’t forget to throw in personal martyrdom and historical significance/remembrance.
According to media polls and research and what I’ve ascertained from media outlets, the American military forces are stabilizing if not decreasing and terrorists forces are increasing.
Why? Hell, all our military personnel get are pensions, badges and sometimes imprisonment with conjugal visits maybe every 3 months while their terrorist counterparts get laid and remembered for all eternity. Oh, and nobody scrutinizes the terrorist for how his/her bomb went off, how deadly it was or how humane it was.
WWI and WWII veteran (and by his own accounts a veteran of Caesar’s Roman army) and former Olympic athlete, General George S. Patton is remembered as stating that ‘No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.’
Perhaps Mr. Gates could utilize that wisdom – let’s take the best of Americana to win the war against terrorism. How about a little dose of Hollywood, with a splash of Walt Disney, a pinch of General Patton and a whole lotta CNN.
If these poor bastards want to die for their cause and kick-start their orgies, let’s help. Let’s set up a theme-park in the middle of Iraq – it can be a Disney-Alladin-themed ‘Arabian Nights’. We can utilize our Hollywood FX and explosive experts to setup buses with real-life looking people on board. Then mix in a little Patton and offer explosive vests at the gate (Tuesdays can be a two-for-one deal and Thursday is bring a date night). CNN can be there to record their epitaph alongside 20 or so make-believe virgins (perhaps Miss USA contestants who either lost their crown or are in rehab) and post it on a special blog section of their website.
See Mr. Gates – your new job will be much easier than being a university president.