Opuscula Democrat Beggars: Dumb and dumber

TODAY I RECEIVED A NICE EMAIL with Reaching out to you personally, John... as the Subject line.

I do not recall giving license to address me so informally, but

The email was from marketeers for Florida U.S. Senate candidate Val Demings (info@electdemocraticwomen.org) who is running (assuming she survives the primaries) against incumbent Republican Sen. Marco Rubio (assuming he survives the primaries).

Ms. Demings is not the first dumocrat to seek my vote.Previously, candidates in Ohio and Michigan ask for my vote and begged for my money.

I am a registered Republican in Florida.

At least Ms. Demings is running in Florida.

 

I’LL GIVE Ms. Demings marketeers credit (no cash): they get right to the point, i.e., my wallet.

Screen capture from dumocrat candidate’s begging email

Because I am a nice guy, I wrote Ms. Deming a nice letter explaining that I never support leftists/socialists in the mode of (Hillary) Clinton/Obama/Harris-Emhoff.

I suggested that the people of her party (it was her marketeers, but as the last decent Democrat said¹, “The Buck Stops Here” so it is her responsibility to monitor the marketeer’s actions)

Were they “(a) too lazy to check voter registration lists? I am a registered Republican.

Or (b) to ignorant to READ the registration lists?

Or (c) just too stupid to know asking for donations from a long-time Republican is a waste of bits and bytes.

Or (d) -- as I suspect. -- ALL OF THE ABOVE.”

I wonder if the dumocrats would beg for my dollars if they had to waste postage. (Ms. Demings, who currently represents Florida’s 10th Congressional District has franking — free postage — privileges.)

The Response

In response to my email (in response to the begging letter), I received in short order the following auto-response (right).

My comments should be obvious.

On 8/6/2021 7:29 AM, Info Elect Democratic Woemn

– This is an automated response -

Thanks for reaching out!

Elect Democratic Women is a grassroots organization committed to taking back Congress for Democrats by electing more pro-choice women. Elect Democratic Women was formed by Democratic Congresswomen who understand that Congress cannot and will not address the urgent needs facing women and their families by a Congress where less than one in five representatives are women. 

If you’d like to support our movement, please consider making a contribution. Just $1 goes a long way:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_edw_fr_2018_homepage  WORKS OK

If you'd like to receive less emails and only our most important emails, please use this form
https://go.electdemocraticwomen.org/page/s/less-emails   DOES NOT WORK

If you’d no longer like to receive emails about our mission, you can unsubscribe from our list here:
https://go.electdemocraticwomen.org/page/unsubscribe  DOES NOT WORK

If you're having an issue with an online donation you've made or are trying to make, please contact ActBlue immediately:
info@actblue.com  DOES NOT WORK

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I tried each of the links.

The only link that worked was the one to make a donation.

Being a nice guy, I returned the email with the boldface comments shown above.

If anyone cares to try, cut-n-paste the links in your favorite browser and see if anyone
Read my response (probably not)
Acted on the response (fixed the links) — again, probably not.

What is “ActBlue”?

Just for “kicks” I did a web search for “actblue.”

According to its self-identification on Twitter (which, unlike former President Trump is not banned), We're a nonprofit fundraising platform for campaigns and organizations and the small-dollar donors who support them! #IamASmallDollarDonor (https://twitter.com/actblue)

There is a caveat for actblue that Contributions or gifts to ActBlue are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. (https://secure.actblue.com/signin)

I did not see this disclaimer on Ms. Demings’ beg missive; perhaps it does not apply to political contributions.

It is, for me, a non-issue.

Actblue advertises itself (ibid.) As a nonprofit, we’re driven by the belief that our democracy works better when more people participate in civic life and when our campaigns and nonprofits are powered by the people they serve. That’s why we’ve built a powerful online fundraising platform for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot, progressive organizations, and nonprofits. Our tools make it possible for anyone to build a grassroots campaign or movement and give donors an easy and secure way to support their favorite candidates and causes

On the other hand . . .

Axios Media (https://www.axios.com/) reports Dem fundraising platform ActBlue boots Cuomo (https://tinyurl.com/wypjszk)

The Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue has removed a donation page that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's campaign committee used to solicit contributions, the company confirmed to Axios.

Driving the news: ActBlue is the lifeblood of grassroots Democratic fundraising. Its decision to cut off Cuomo following damning allegations of sexual harassment and assault deals a body blow to what's left of his political future.

ActBlue donation pages for Cuomo's campaign and PAC were no longer active on Thursday afternoon.

Apparently, if the beggar falls out of grace with the company’s philosophy, ActBlue, drops the client like the proverbial hot potato.

Granted Cuomo fils has been facing complaints of indiscriminate behavior toward women for several years. Cuomo called for the investigation leading to the cited report.²

The Cuomo flap suggests — at last to this scrivener — that Ms. Demings probably is the mold of Clinton/Obama/Harris-Emhoff, a mold that won’t work for me.

I just wish the dumocrats would remove my email from their beggars’ lists.

I complain, but apparently ignoring people of a different point of view is a growing dumocrat trait.

That bodes ill for America.

---

 

 

Sources

1. Harry S Truman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman)

Harry S Truman and “The Buck Stops Here” desk plaque.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman)

2. NPR: Sexual Harassment Charges Against Gov. Cuomo Are Detailed In Scathing 165-Page Report (https://tinyurl.com/dpurzeyf)

 

 

 

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

 

 

 

Comment on Democrat Beggars

opuscula World power’s End caused By no win wars?

Donald Trump started it.

Joe Biden and Harris-Emhoff will finish it.

“It” is America’s exit from Afghanistan.

 

Right or wrong, American soldiers have been involved in Afghanistan since 2001 following the Muslim attack on 11 SEP 2001 that brought down two buildings in New York, punched a massive hole in the Pentagon in Virginia, and — thanks to brave passengers — plowed a furrow in a Pennsylvania field. (https://tinyurl.com/4chsxesb)

Over the more than two decades of U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, more than 2,300 U.S. military personnel have been killed. (https://tinyurl.com/3t2nutmz)

Since World War 2, the U.S. has gone from war (Korea) to war (Vietnam) to war (Iraq 1 & 2) and numerous skirmishes.

All of the wars since WW2 were “no win” for the U.S. and its occasional allies.

True, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was eliminated, but Iranians and their proxies soon filled the vacuum, a vacuum left by the Geo. H.W. Bush presidency. (https://tinyurl.com/6khnm2cm)

More than 4.500 U.S. military personnel lost their lives in Iraq between 2003 and 2020. (https://tinyurl.com/fetx49hu)

Americans are tired of “no win” wars.

Americans are tired of being the “world’s policemen.”

It is not fear; most of the men and women in uniform are brave enough.

It is simply knowing that the politicians allegedly “running” the wars don’t finish the job.

Harry S Truman was the last president to “finish the job.” (https://tinyurl.com/nxbn28jy)

 

”Allies” worried

America’s “allies” and “friends,” especially the Muslims, are concerned that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan will allow the Taliban to recover and, in turn, will help the so-called Islamic State, in its various incarnations, to reconstitute, therefore threatening the U.S.’ Muslim “fair weather friends.”

In addition, China (https://tinyurl.com/4dtnuyd6), England (https://tinyurl.com/4r7mekpy), and Pakistan (https://tinyurl.com/khh7a4e6) must be concerned about the resurgence of Islamic State.

Islamic State had operations in Muslim-dominated countries around the world.

In Iraq and Syria, it used many of those countries' existing governorate boundaries to subdivide territory it conquered and claimed; it called these divisions wilayah or provinces. By June 2015, IS had also established official "provinces" in Libya, Egypt (Sinai Peninsula), Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Algeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and the North Caucasus. It received pledges of allegiance and published media releases via groups in Somalia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines, but it has not announced any further official branches, instead identifying new affiliates as simply "soldiers of the caliphate". (https://tinyurl.com/59fdj4)

The question remains: As Islamic State reconstitutes on fertile ground (ibid.), will U.S. politicians volunteer Americans to contest Islamic State and its followers?

The alternative seems to be China.

That begs the question: Will the Biden/Harris-Emhoff regime allow China to spread its hegemony in an area the U.S. has for many years considered, rightly or wrongly, is own sphere of influence. Biden allegedly already has a financial stake in China.

In an opinion piece by the Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board, the publication contends that A May 2017 email thread that includes a discussion about “remuneration packages” for six people as part of a business deal with a now-defunct Chinese energy titan, CEFC China Energy. The Chinese company was international news a few years ago, after the U.S. government charged a CEFC-funded organization with money laundering, and its CEO was detained by Chinese authorities. CNN reported in 2018 that “at its height” CEFC was “hard to distinguish” from the Chinese government.

According to the emails, both Bidens were in line in 2017 to benefit from a deal with CEFC. One email appears to identify Hunter Biden as “Chair/Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC.” It also refers to financial payments in terms of “20” for “H” and “10 held by H for the big guy? (https://tinyurl.com/zjx2tcep)

China currently has a “One Belt, One Road" Initiative that extends, via land and sea, between China and Europe (see map, below). Toward that end, China is buying control of marine ports and offering to build railroads that would eventually expedite shipment of goods to and from China — as well as giving the Communists a financial and political foothold in all the nations on its routes.

What this might imply for U.S. military and naval operations is anyone’s guess.

Map of China's "One Belt, One Road" Initiative (https://tinyurl.com/53kzztry)

 

America passe’?

There is a notion that a nation can remain a “power” for a finite number of years.

British Empire (1707 – 1914)
Greek rule (776 BCE to 323 BCE)
Roman Empire ( 27 BCE – 476 BC )

While the U.S. was “just another country” until World War 1, it has been a “world power” only since 1917.

Will the withdrawal from Afghanistan and reneging on agreements, combined with the emergence of China as a contender, and the demise of the Soviet Union and Russia’s influence, signal the beginning of the end for U.S. influence around the globe.

Will the renminbi (RMB) with an image of Mao Zedong replace U.S. dollars bearing the features of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln?

Chinese renminbi and U.S. $2 bill

Wars contributed to the demise of former powers.

No win wars may prove to lead to the demise of the United States as a world power.

 

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

 

 

 

Comment on No win wars

Opuscula Alfred E. Neuman Is the only decent Candidate in 2020

THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION leaves me with three choices:

1.  Donald John Trump

2.   Jos. Robinette Biden Jr.

3.  Alfred E. Neuman

Of the three, two are unworthy of my vote.

The third is a cartoon character from EC Comics’ Mad Magazine.

 

 

Trump lost my vote when he opened his mouth at his rally in Tulsa OK.

There was absolutely NOTHING “OK” in Oklahoma.

Trump’s answer to the rising number of positive tests for the Chinese virus: Stop testing!

Given the ease at which the virus spreads, testing is the surest — albeit admittedly not with 100% accuracy — means of identifying carriers. Carriers can be isolated and treated.

I did not see one — NOT ONE – person wearing a mask at the Trump rally.

I also did not see any evidence of “social distancing.”

Since their “leader” refuses to wear a mask — despite several White House staffers who tested positive for the virus — it is not surprising that the Oakies at the rally followed their leader.

I do NOT plan any trips in the near future to Sooner State.

He threatens to being the GOP convention to Jacksonville FL.

Jacksonville has a huge Navy presence. I suggest he order at least one of the Navy’s hospital ships to tie up at Naval Station Mayport.

If the convention is typical of political conventions of both major parties, the proverbial “drunken sailors” should remain in quarters until the drunken conventioneers leave town.

Trump is, in my opinion, a disgrace.

His tweets are provocative and insulting.

His foot-in-mouth gaffes are without either number or redeeming social value.

He needs a script writer and someone to make certain he follows the script.

He HAS tried to keep his campaign promises. The Democrats have thwarted him at every turn.

On the other hand, working for POTUS is a revolving door. Trump apparently only wants sycophants; he reminds me of the Hans Christian Andersen story of the Emperor's New Clothes — tell me what I want to hear or, to borrow from the Queen in Louis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Off with his head!

 

Cartoon by Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star Tribune 15 FEB 18 (https://tinyurl.com/yc3ynmnc)
Minnesota is the state that gave America a great orator, Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. , and in recent days, the racist Ilhan Omar.

 

Jos. Robinette Biden Jr.

Biden is a confirmed loser.

This is his third or fourth run at the White House.

The media, even the liberal, leftist media points out his confusion when he ties to make a point; a point he often forgets before his finishes the preamble.

 

Candidate in action
Watch https://tinyurl.com/y6vkh4oq

 

Biden’s second biggest handicap; his first being definite signs of senility at only 77 years of age, is being Obama’s vice president.

Obama is the reason Trump is president.

Never mind that BOTH candidates have been accused of disrespecting women and minorities. (Both candidates deny these allegations.)

 

Is this the best we can do?

If Messrs. Trump and Biden are the best America has to offer, it is no wonder that the nation is rapidly becoming a laughingstock.

It did not start with Trump, although he has certainly added fuel to the fire. His predecessor did more damage to America’s image than anyone previously. Ms. Clinton’s lies as Secretary of State and post-election antics, coupled with the constant attacks by a far-left Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, along with the mutterings of “The Squad” of anti-American racists have farther reduced America in the eyes of the world.

 

I’m Mad about Alfred E.

This will be my 18th presidential election.

In ever previous election, I voted for the person who I though could best serve the country. The nation has survived this long despite some presidents who this scrivener is glad served only one term. The last good president, at least in my opinion, was Harry S Truman. Some others were “OK”.

Presidential sex scandals don’t raise eyebrows in Europe where sexual peccadilloes are commonplace.

But stupidity.

Senility.

These are things that disgrace the nation.

No matter who wins in November, America loses.

For the first time in my voting career I will vote for an imaginary candidate: Alfred E. Neuman.

 

Mad Magazine cover for July 1968. How many pols can you identify ?
(https://tinyurl.com/ydz8d4cs)

 

Alfred E. was a creation Harvey Kurtzman and was introduced to the world via William M. Gaines’ MAD magazine in 1952. He's as qualified as either Trump or Biden. He is at least 35 years old. He was “born” in the U.S.

He even has a campaign slogan: “What, Me Worry?”

I think maybe Trump has taken that slogan and applied it to the Chinese virus, since neither he nor his followers don masks or maintain social distancing” Presidents should set a positive example.

Trump does not.

On the other hand, Biden may forget how to get to the Executive Office from the presidential bedroom.

For America, it is a lose-lose election.

No matter who wins, America loses.

Can America survive these candidates?

Will America recover from their occupancy of the White House?

Others also wonder. The Dry Bones blog (https://tinyurl.com/rrrd6uk)

 

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

 

Comment on Election 2020

Opuscula Netanyahu And Trump: Mental twins

ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump are two of a kind.
They surround themselves with, take your choice, sycophants, toadies, lackeys, flunkies, minions, stooges, kowtowers, grovellers and other synonyms for “yes men” (and women).

IT A CABINET MEMBER disagrees with Trump, that Cabinet member is either allowed to resign or, as was the case of National Security Advisor John Bolton, is fired. (How Bolton left is open to debate.).

If a minister disagrees with Netanyahu, the prime minister removes the person from the post and assumes the ministry for himself.

Never mind the individual’s popularity and never mind that in some cases, the dismissal will come back to haunt the chief executive.

Netanyahu would be king, but he may be deposed by a woman, Ayelet Shaked (right), who was given short shrift by the PM. Shaked left the ruling Likud party and, with others, formed a new party that might end Netanyahu’s reign as PM. (It is unlikely it would keep him out of the Knesset.)

I do not expect John Bolton to form a new political party and a jump to the liberal Democrats is not going to happen — I suspect neither wants the other — but he could throw his support to one of the few brave Republicans willing to run against the incumbent, normally as foolish a thing to do as spitting into the wind. Still, with Trump’s knee-jerk tweets and what appears to be an “I’m ALWAYS right” attitude, there may be hope for challengers.

Netanyahu whines that anyone who is not with him must be against him, suggesting that Shaked and other right-wing politicians are liberals who want to surrender Israel to the PLO.

Trump is proving something similar.

Bolton (right) was a hawk who recommended that Trump act forcefully against America’s real or perceived enemies. Trump, who apparently sees himself as King of Negotiators — and he might be — took exception to the advice Bolton is said to have offered.

By the way, Bolton is — was — Trump’s third national security advisor.

My Way or the Highway

More and more we are seeing leaders around the world who operate with the “My way or the highway” mentality.

In the U.S. this seems relatively new.

President Harry S Truman (right) fired Gem. Geo Patton for in­su­bor­din­a­tion.¹ He had strong disagreements with his first Secretary of State, James Francis Byrnes, but kept him on. Byrnes resigned² and Truman appointed Gen. Geo. C. Marshall whom he later named Secretary of Defense, replacing Marshall with Dean Acheson.

Both Marshall and Acheson were against U.S. recognition of Israel but Truman prevailed. Neither man was dismissed by Truman.³

Before Bolton’s resignation/dismissal, Trump had replaced⁴

* Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen
* FBI Director James Comey
* Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
* Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin
* White House counsel Don McGahn

In the case of the VA boss, the dismissal came after multiple reports of mismanagement at VA facilities. While Shulkin may not have been responsible, as President Truman noted: “The buck stops here.”

Apropos of nothing

An amusing side note to the Bolton exit is a headline from Fox News.⁵

Tucker hails firing of John Bolton: He was 'fundamentally a man of the left'

Left? LEFT?

The Fox News report opened with:

Tucker Carlson hailed the firing Tuesday of White House National Security Adviser John Bolton, calling him a "man of the left" whose exit should be celebrated by young service members.

“It is great news for America. Especially for the large number of young people who would have been killed in pointless wars if Bolton had stayed on the job. They may not be celebrating tonight, but they should be," said Carlson, noting that oil prices dropped on the news of Bolton's firing, since global investors "knew for certain that Bolton planned on launching another Middle Eastern conflict that would inevitably spike energy prices."

Will Fox soon declare that Trump is a “man of the left” joining the likes to Pelosi, Tlaib, Omar, et al?

The Fox piece is worth a read, regardless of left, right, or in between.

---

Sources

1. http://tinyurl.com/y4tm6z9d

2. http://tinyurl.com/y4p7w7yp

3. http://tinyurl.com/yyecshef

4. http://tinyurl.com/y6n8hked

5. http://tinyurl.com/y4efjhbl

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on

Comment on Mental Twins

Opuscula Hillary Clinton Dumb & dumber

IF, AS HARRY S TRUMAN famously said, “the buck stops here” (with the president) than Hillary Clinton must accept responsibility for her tv advertisements.

Proving, at least to this scrivener, that she is not qualified to lead the nation, she “approves” the message shown throughout the day, including “prime time” that shows her opponent setting a “terrible example for children.”

View the Clinton advertisement at http://www.thewrap.com/hillary-clinton-campaign-ad-donald-trump-not-good-role-model-for-children-video/

QUESTION: If Trump’s behavior is so bad children should not be exposed to it, why is Mrs. Clinton repeatedly putting it in front of the children she allegedly is trying to protect?

You can call it an oxymoron or, if your computer centric, you might say “it does not compute,” but either way, she is blatantly showing SHE cares nothing for the sensitivities of our children.

This is a person who wants to lead our country?

Unless her opponent actually is paying for this advertisement, the Democrat seems to be blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other.

It is an unfortunate truth that American voters in recent years have had to choose the lesser of two evils rather than the better of two good candidates. The 2016 elections will be a continuation of that sad state of affairs.

Mrs. Clinton, who already and repeatedly has shown very bad judgment, is in her attempt to damage her opponent, paying to air a commercial showing her opponent saying things she contends children should not see or hear.

It might be acceptable for late night television, but the commercials run in the afternoon and during so-called prime time; times when children are out of school and have access to the tv. (True they ought to be doing homework or, if too young, watching altogether too violent cartoons. I have a five-year-old grand-daughter so I have some firsthand knowledge of the cartoons’ contents.)

I’m not happy with much of Trump’s behavior, but in my opinion, he still would be a better president that Mrs. Clinton.

I thought Harry S was a pretty good – and honest – president. I liked Ike. LBJ was progressive where it counted. Nixon made too major mistakes: he opened up trade with China – and now China owns the U.S. – and he stuck by his people even when they acted without his knowledge (Watergate). Most presidents would have quickly distanced themselves from the burglars.

It should be clear to both left and right that when it comes to who resides in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I base my choice on the person, not the party.

Based on Mrs. Clinton’s “terrible example for children” tv advertisement, she is NOT fit to take up residence in the White House.

Perhaps Trump also is unfit, but he is less “unfit” than Mrs. Clinton.

Opuscula "PC" on a field Of bovine feces

 

IT IS NO WONDER THAT "The Donald" (Trump) has such a following.

Under liberal Democrats, political correctness and "all others' rights" rule.

Case in point: A federal DEPARTMENT (Justice) is telling states that they must allow transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.

WHAT ABOUT MY RIGHTS?

As a white male, my civil rights have been limited for years.

Females must be admitted to male-only domains and organizations, but males can be - and are - banned from female domains and organizations (think Shapes; it advertises "Shapes Total Fitness locations are exclusively for women.")

Female reporters voyeuristically wander males' locker rooms to get a story; has anyone ever heard of a male reporter being allowed in a female athlete's locker room?

Now, a federal department - not Congress, not a court, and not even Obama with his penchant for executive orders that run roughshod over the constitution - has ordered states to let transgender people - those who consider themselves a sex other than their biological sex - entry into any public- accessible bathroom regardless of their biological sex.

For the record, when I learned English, "sex" was a male and female identifier for humans; "gender" was for everything else. Many non-English languages apply "gender" to objects such as tables and anatomical parts such as eyes. Even in casual English, couples have "sexual relations," they don't have "gender relations."

Mrs. Clinton, if elected, promises to keep up Obama's good work, to sustain his legacy, a legacy that her husband called "awful." (There goes HIS shot at a cabinet position.)

And then there is that nasty word "terrorism."

It seems almost nothing is "terrorism" any more, and never, never are the words "Muslim" and "terrorism" allowed to be uttered together. In Germany a Muslim attacked people with a knife at a train depot while exclaiming "Allah is Great."

"Allah is Great" it the battle cry of Muslim terrorists around the globe.

But if a mass murderer is a Muslim he - or she - obviously cannot be a "terrorist." Saying that, even in the face of clear evidence that yes, the attacker IS a Muslim and a terrorist is not "PC." Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist; the Unabomber was a terrorist. But neither was Muslim so calling them terrorists is OK, it's PC.

AND THEN WE HAVE the U.S Agency for International Development giving Hamas - which the U.S. considers a terror organization and with which it has no official relations - $50 million for an aid program for the Gaza Strip.

This $50 million is on top of $5.4 BILLION pledged at a donor conference meant to raise funds to rebuild the Gaza Strip. Qatar, which is close to the enclave’s rulers, offered the most. (To be fair, Robert Turner, the Gaza head of UNWRA – the UN agency for Palestine refugees – said that “virtually none” of the pledged funds had reached the territory.)

Who will monitor the fund the American taxpayer is giving to Hamas, considered a terrorist group not just by the U.S. but by a number of other nations as well? The watchdog will be Catholic Relief Services.

Does anyone have information on how Hamas treats non-Muslims, in fact anyone other than its Sunni brand of Islam? How does Hamas deal with Christians in Gaza? The Rescue Christians.org web site has an article titled Christians In Gaza Have Faced Increasing Persecution Since Hamas Wrested Control that gives a "clue" how the Catholic Relief Services will be greeted and tolerated. The Gatestone Institute also discuses the The Disquieting Treatment of Christians by the Palestinians. I could have cited the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs article The beleaguered Christians of The Palestinian-controlled areas but it might be considered biased, at least by the politically correct.

Even the UN's Blue Bonnets cower from Hamas' militias and allow Hamas to use UN facilities as points to launch rockets into Israel - and places to hide when Israel retaliates.

Asking U.S. taxpayers to rebuild Gaza following damage inflicted by Israel in response to continued Hamas attacks is "PC" as is condemning Israel for the"chutzpah" of defending its citizens from Hamas attacks.

Interesting to note that while Americans are giving Hamas $50 million, there are those in Gaza City who don't seem to be suffering, at least not according to a YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbKxiQbJ9U0.

What America needs is not "a good five cent cigar" but a leader in the mold of Harry S (no period) Truman (remember the Berlin Airlift?)

Opuscula Companies fined while Executives unpunished

The Boston Globe headlines an AP article by Eric Tucker Toyota case shows it’s hard to prosecute execs that basically tells readers what they already suspected: organizations are fined for misdeeds while the organizations' executives are unscathed by any penalties.

Or, put another way, the stockholders and - in the case of merchandise, future purchasers - pay for the executives' folly. In many cases, the executives who headed the organization while it failed its customers are rewarded by the organization's board with often extravagant bonuses.

While the AP article focuses on Toyota, it could be almost any major corporation.

According to the article, the Justice Department socked the car company with a $1.2 billion penalty but brought no criminal charges against individual executives, an unsatisfying resolution for consumer activists who say prison is the best deterrence for corporate malfeasance.

Prosecutors say they had little choice, in part because of constraints with evidence and the challenge of gathering testimony and information from witnesses abroad.

Still, court documents accuse Toyota of intentionally withholding information about problems.

Toyota, however, is an organization. It is an organization managed by real people, people who made the decision to put other people at risk and who, in Toyota's case, KNEW their product could - and did - kill.

True, guns also kill, but that is their purpose. An automobile's purpose is to move people from Point A to Point B, not to kill is occupants.

The American Lawyer Web site notes that Sen. Arlen Specter recently drafted legislation that may become the next battleground in the tort reform wars. The bill would impose criminal penalties on employees who "knowingly and recklessly" allow defective products into the marketplace, imposing up to 15 years if a death results. Larry Fineran, VP of the National Association of Manufacturers, says business leaders are "appalled" that they could face jail time for making fundamentally subjective decisions about risk. (Unfortunately the former senator from Pennsylvania died in 2012.)

A search of the WWW for executives who were jailed for faulty products turns up only a few cases where any jail time was ordered.

The most notable is that of a breast implant company. According to an NPR article titled French Court Sentences Executive For Selling Faulty Breast Implants, states that A French court has sentenced Jean-Claude Mas, the founder of Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), and three colleagues for the sale implants found to have a high rupture rate.

Mas was sentenced to four years

A U.S. Justice Department release bragged that Thomas Higgins, 55, of Berwyn, PA, Michael Huggins, 54, of West Chester, PA, and John Walsh, 48, of Coatesville, PA, all former executives with Synthes, Inc., and its subsidiary Norian Corporation, were each sentenced to prison today for charges related to illegal clinical trials of a medical device without the authorization of the Food and Drug Administration.

Higgins and Huggins were each sentenced to nine months in prison; Walsh was sentenced to five months.

In another DoJ case, Marc S. Hermelin, the former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of St. Louis-based KV Pharmaceutical Company, pleaded guilty and was sentenced today in a case involving KV’s production and distribution of oversized morphine sulfate tablets, the Justice Department announced. U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber of the Eastern District of Missouri ordered Hermelin to pay a $1 million fine, forfeit $900,000 and serve a sentence of 30 days in jail.

With picayunish incarceration penalties - from 30 days to nine months - there is little to encourage executives to actually do "due diligence" on the products for which they have responsibility.

Harry S Truman, the U.S.' 33rd president, accepted the responsibility of his office and reminded visitors of this with a desk plaque reading "The Buck Stops Here."

We need more executives with Truman's mentality.