An Afternoon of Reflection in Washington, D.C.

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming to an end this Sunday and the good weather making it feel more like early spring, Priscille and I, as guests of the Potomac, Maryland branch of the family, decided to drive into our nation’s Capital. Destination: the war memorials, all within easy walking distance of each other.

I wanted very much to visit those places of reverence again, because America is now at a critical juncture in its multi-front struggle against the extreme elements of worldwide, violent Jihadist terrorism.

Early in the afternoon, we paid our respects at The Vietnam War Nurses Memorial; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall; the statues of The Three Soldiers; the Korean War Veterans Memorial and the World War II Memorial.

It was my second visit to those shrines, and the one which has always tugged at me most is The Vietnam Wall: It’s all those seemingly endless names etched on black stone remembering Americans who never returned home. And the whispered silence of visitors as they walk slowly along the rise and fall of that great stone wall, stopping randomly, touching the stone at times, staring at those names, and waiting for an explanation. “Why?”

Vietnam cost America dearly in blood, money and spirit. The war against Jihadist extremists, a very real threat to the West, will cost us just as dearly if it is as badly directed from Washington as was that long-ago conflict in the rice paddies, jungles and tunnels of Vietnam.

Let’s Say Thanks

There is a simple and easy task you can do on Thanksgiving which will go a long way to boost the spirit of our troops serving in the military outposts of the Middle East. Just go to http://www.letssaythanks.com/, a Xerox website whose sole purpose is to send a personal message from you to one of our servicemen and women.

I sent one such message yesterday, as did Priscille. You will find that it’s highly professional and quick to use – just a few clicks and your message is on its way to an American warrior far from home. There is a large selection of excellent messages from which you may choose. You won’t have to worry about what to say.

Go ahead. Do it. You will love the setup of this specialized website and feel a sense of personal and civic pride for supporting our American heroes.

Thanks for reading and have a happy Thanksgiving.  Remember that this country has given each of us much more than we can ever give back except, perhaps, for those to whom you will be sending that message.

Christmas Trees and Angel Trees!

When Priscille and I visit the Bridgewater Commons Mall each year in early November, we never fail to observe how much earlier signs of the Christmas season seem to appear.

The large Christmas tree at center court in the Mall is one such harbinger. It has been up since early November, and Santa has already been quite busy greeting his little visitors, listening to their wishes, and getting them to pose with him for pictures.

There’s one group of disadvantaged children and seniors though, that you are not likely to see visiting Santa at the Mall. Some of those people will most likely not be getting too many gifts this season.

There is, however, a very easy thing that you can do to help out and to make their holiday (as well as your own!) a little cheerier. Those are the people whose names will appear on tags on each of two Angel Trees.

One of those trees will be just outside the indoor entrance to Macy’s on the main level. The second tree will be located near the  Guest Services counter on the lower level. Both trees were behind schedule this year, but they should be in place by now.

All you need to do is to select one of the “Angel Wish” tags from a tree, purchase the item indicated on it, and drop off the unwrapped gift at Guest Services in the lower level, just a few yards away from where Santa is located. Someone will be thankful for your thoughtfulness.

Photo by Dick Bergeron:  Click on it once and once again to see large, high resolution image.

Palin Derangement Syndrome

On Wednesday afternoon, when I drafted this blog post for Saturday publication, the Courier News website was running a poll in the carousel of its home page. The question was, “Is Newsweek’s cover shot of Sarah Palin Sexist?” At 2:40 PM that day, the responses were split 50/50.

Newsweek’s editor Jon Meacham – a Pulitzer Prize winning author – appropriated the cover photo of Palin from Runner’s World magazine without its permission, taking it completely out of its original context and salting it with the provocative statement, “How do you solve a problem like Sarah?” I didn’t know that “Sarah” was a problem. Did you? I can think of a lot more significant troubles facing this country than little ‘ole Sarah from Alaska.

Such media myopia brings to mind the unanswered question of why it is that some middle-age guys in the Fourth Estate – intelligent ones at that – have such a problem with females who look good and who strike such a decisive public impression.

In his Top of the Week essay accompanying the cover shot, Meacham exposes his insecurities as he discusses the potential threat of “Palinism,” calling her “… an heir to the Goldwater tradition.” It’s a very weak comparison. It was President Lyndon Baines Johnson, not Goldwater, who made a mess out of the Vietnam War by escalating it beyond control, a folly which cost him his second term in office.

Anyway, let’s get serious and reduce this thing to its essence: Which image is more likely to draw your attention more than once on the cover of Newsweek, that of Sarah Palin or that of suspiciously botoxed Nancy Pelosi? Crafty Jon Meacham knew which one would be most likely to boost circulation.

One Week to Go!

Yesterday, after glancing at the calendar, I realized – as is the case each year – that the Thanksgiving Holiday had crept up again without notice. It’s one of my favorites because it encapsulates and memorializes very well the concept of gratitude.

It’s a time to pause and to reflect upon the fact that all of us in America sit upon the broad shoulders of all the others who preceded us and who sacrificed to build the great social, economic, and religious platforms upon which this nation rests.

The European Pilgrims who landed in Massachusetts Bay would be only among the first of a long line of immigrants streaming in from all points of the globe – voluntarily and involuntarily – to cast their lot for the success of America. They would work their butts off to found this nation and to make it grow over the centuries into this expansive country which so many of us have grown to love, despite all of its shortcomings.

I only wish our President would spend as much time proclaiming the proud history of America, as he does minimizing it before other countries and apologizing for what we are and for the less-than-perfect way in which we have developed.

An attitude of gratitude is not merely a slogan. It’s a concrete expression impelling us to be thankful for what we have, and a strong incentive to remember that in this nation and world, there are others not so fortunate with needs that have not been met.

I’ll try to remember that as I weave my way through the joyous season dawning upon us.

Ted Kennedy, Healthcare & Abortion

In the course of reading The Boston Pilot, together with data culled from the Internet, I discovered a one-page letter penned by the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, dated August 3, 1971. It was addressed to one of his friends and supporters, Mr. Thomas Donnelly of Great Neck, New York. Mr. William Donohue, President of the Catholic League – a Catholic civil rights organization – vouched for the letter’s authenticity.

I found its contents remarkable, because I have always thought Senator Kennedy to have been a staunch abortion supporter. Prior to his recent illness and death, he was not only a pioneer for healthcare reform, but was also a strong advocate of abortion rights.

His letter is very striking though, because it reveals that in 1971 the Senator held a completely different position on the legitimacy of abortion.

Here is an excerpt of his original views as stated in his 1971 letter to Donnelly:

“While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life.”

Kennedy added, “Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized -- the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old. When history looks back at this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception.”

Resolving the question of Federal funding for abortion was the decisive factor in the recently successful passage of a healthcare bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill prohibits any type of funding by the U.S. Government for the procedure. That topic will continue to be a major issue as the Senate puts forward its own version of a healthcare bill.

The Lone Terrorism of a Lone Killer

I’m watching the beginning of a broadcast of the memorial ceremony for U.S. Soldiers who were killed and wounded on one of our largest military bases, Ft. Hood, Texas. The preliminary music has just stopped and I am anticipating the rest of the program, including an address by President Barack Obama.

Last Thursday, after first hearing of this incredibly heinous act of evil, I was subsequently taken aback in the following days by the official Washington response in which the word “terrorism” was never used. Instead, we heard only platitudes about how there was no evidence that the alleged murderer, Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, may have acted conspiratorially: As if anyone allegedly acting unilaterally should keep this crime from being designated as an act of terrorism.

But one stalwart Washington leader, Senator Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he will hold hearings. He is one of the few who has the courage to describe this brutal act: The senator declared, “This was an attack on American troops. You've got to see it as if 12 American troops were killed in Afghanistan." Lieberman went on to call it "The worst terrorist attack since 9/11."

Good for him.  It’s a welcome recess from a type of political correctness which has transformed segments of our population into a bunch of sops.

We in New Jersey are honored to have a direct connection with this tragedy – Private Second Class Alan Carroll, a 2007 graduate of Bridgewater-Raritan High School. A wounded survivor, he plans to return to this area, on leave to celebrate the holidays with his family.


Material for some of this post came from the Courier News, The Star-Ledger, The Nation, and The Hill

No, They Couldn’t; Yes, We Could!

Finally! Despite the last-minute Air Force One shuttles between Washington, D.C. and Trenton, President Obama’s luster simply was not transferable to Jon Corzine. Nor was the third-person candidacy of Chris Daggett which, in the end, was unable to siphon off enough votes to prevent Chris Christie from snatching the golden ring of the New Jersey governorship.

I extend our newly elected governor the best of fortune in his new job. Nonetheless, I remain optimistically skeptical: Not because I don’t trust the man and his backers, but because, in the 33 years that I’ve been in Bridgewater, I’ve seen elected officials come and go into and out of Trenton, with no relief to the tax burden which continues to grow and to weigh down the common person.

Yesterday, CNN reported a poll which showed the top concerns of NJ citizens:

• 31%, The economy and jobs
• 26%, Property taxes
• 20%, Corruption
• 18%, Healthcare

Governor-elect Christopher Christie was outstanding in demonstrating how good he is at addressing corruption. He now needs to show us how good he is at fixing the first two concerns.

Christie Moves Ahead of Corzine

MONDAY POLL RESULTS. As of 12:30 PM today in its seven group poll-of-polls average, the Real Clear Politics web site showed Chris Christie leading with a 1.2 margin over New Jersey’s incumbent governor, Jon Corzine. Friday afternoon, that same poll average had both men in a statistical dead heat.

Stockton/Zogby has Corzine ahead by 1, and Monmouth/Gannett has him up by 2. The other five polls show Christie leading with a spread of from 1 to 3 points. (Quinnipiac, which previously had Corzine ahead by 3 on Friday, now has Christie up by 2. That’s a not-so-insignificant 5 point reversal for Corzine in just three days.)

The polling is still active and the results could swing either way.

HELP FROM WASHINGTON. Yesterday, President Barack Obama and Jon Corzine barnstormed two of New Jersey’s largest cities, Newark and Camden, pinpointing them both in a last-minute push to motivate voters in those burgs to become the tipping point for the incumbent’s reelection.

You’d think that the President would have larger responsibilities to attend to: Matters such as the problem of a U.S. troop buildup in Afghanistan and the corrupt administration of that country’s president, Hamid Karzai. Or another issue such as helping to reconcile the incomprehensible 2000-page health-care bill in the U.S. House of Representatives with the Senate version. Or perhaps another minor point such as the condition of the U.S. economy.

But no, it was time to fuel Air Force One and head up to an annoying distraction in New Jersey. Why? The Obama administration’s real concern is that this state, like Virginia, has two critical governorships up for grabs and, if they both go Republican, the loss will be viewed as a specific indictment of Obama’s policies – that’s the playbook.

MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT!