Dead Wrong!!!

"Dead Wrong" what a chilling report from the President's Commission on WMD! 1500 American soldiers are dead because we were "wrong"! Countless innocent Iraquis are dead because we were "wrong". Osama bin Laden is not dead because we were "wrong". We don't have a clue of who has WMD or who doesn't. That's "wrong".

Bush puts on his best Bernie Ebbers impression of denying any responsibility because he didn't know. Reminds 'ol Red Dog of the Hogan Heroes character, Sgt. Schultz "I know nothing". As I recall there were plenty of naysayers about the WMD program who pointed out the fuzzy logic, but this administration had already had its mind made up on invading Iraq. They questioned the intelligence that bin Laden was going to attack the U.S. with airplanes, but jumped all over the stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons in Iraq and threw in a "mushroom cloud" scare into the American people. When you look at it now and know a little bit about the technology of a nuclear weapon and the delivery system it needs, doesn't it seem a bit ridiculous? The best technology they had was a SCUD Missle, that had the guidance system of a rock thrown into the air and could only travel about a 1000 miles on a good day.

A jury found Ebbers guilty of either lying about what he knew or too dumb to be the CEO of a company. It's a terrible analogy, to be sure, but in the Ebbers case; no one died, but he sure fooled a lot of people.

Contacting Red Dog

Those not wanting to comment publically can e-mail me their comments at weinerdogone@yahoo.com . Likewise, if you want to throw out a topic to discuss, just e-mail me and I will publish it on the Blog (if I like it). If you want others to comment, just forward them the link to this blog via e-mail.

GREENVILLE BLAHS - Trouble in River City

That's "Trouble with a "T" and that doesn't stand for trash!

Red Dog has the rare opportunity to meet with a local official to discuss what some of the problems and issues facing the city of Greenville are and what some of the solutions may be. Putting the obvious aside, there has to be some creative solutions. Like you, Red Dog has lived in other states and experienced similar challenges, but those places seem to be more progressive. I am back in Greenville temporarily, but I feel the need to, at least, try to be constructive to those that will listen.

As many of you know there is a local blog already working to discuss the local issues. I invite you to visit that site to get a feel for some of the things people are currently discussing. Red Dog even posted a letter a couple of weeks ago that woke up some people. Everyone is "anonymous" on that blog. Probably for good reason. So if you read my letter and don't agree with everything I had to say, and believe me I didn't say it all, that's fine. I can represent your thoughts in person and invite the city officials to visit this blog to see what former Greenvillians have to say. Many of you still have family living in the area. I never thought that I would be back here, but life sometimes gets in the way of our best plans.

As a refresher, the economy here is in the tank. The tax base is moving away. Industry has folded up and moved on to cheap foreign labor markets. The education system is in shambles and the infrastructure of the city itself is decaying faster than a oak log floating in Lake Ferguson. A new mayor has attempted to do something, but as young as she is, has made some mistakes and stepped on some political toes. The "major" issues being discussed on the other blog and in the paper are: frequency of trash pickup, a bodyguard for the mayor, use of city vehicles, etc. Maybe that only reminds us of why we moved away in the first place.

I hope that I can get some responses soon so that I can have a more productive session with the local official. Otherwise, Red Dog will have to go it alone.

"No Fleas"

Schiavo and the Courts

I couldn't resist the temptation to comment. I'm really sorry for the family and sympathize with them in this difficult time. Families facing life and death decisions go through many emotions, even if they agree on a course of action. It's hard to let go and it's hard to see someone who was at one time vibrant and full of life being maintained artificially. This tragedy should have been allowed to settle out among the family, but when disagreement occurs the court inevitably has to settle the dispute. The court in this case merely did its job, ruled on the law.

All the media time spent on this matter is nothing more than sensationalism and political wrangling is nothing more than pandering. Not having reviewed any of the documents or medical reports for ourselves, everything is hearsay. The court ruled on the evidence that Terri Schiavo did not want to be kept alive artificially and the husband is the one who has guardianship and can ultimately decide for her. That is the way it should be and if you want something different then obtain a living will or advance medical directive to make your wishes known.

Congress and the President made a travesty of the situation by getting involved in a civil state matter. Just because some legislators didn't agree with the ruling, there was no need to subject the checks and balances built into our constitution to an activist legislator attact. The judicial system responded in the way we should expect them to, and that is to uphold the law and judicial rulings of the state of Florida. There is no conflict with Federal statutes and the court ruled appropriately.

One more thing, many of the pundits cry hypocrisy for both democrats and republicans. I fail to see this as a democrat or republican matter. It is only a personal matter between the Schiavo's and the Schindler's and how we each internalize the situation. To be sure when pandering to a small specific part of one's political base there are risks when the majority fail to see it that way. Moral issues and legal issues are not always in agreement. I hope many of our politicians will take the time to reflect on this and in the meantime, pray for the families involved in this all too tragic situation. We should all take the time to make our wishes known to our family if we are ever in this situation and give someone the right to invoke those wishes.

About this Blog

I find myself with too much time on my hands sometimes, so I thought I would give the blogosphere a try to channel some of that wasted time. I'm willing to discuss anything with anyone. I don't consider myself an expert in any particular field and certainly not in politics. With that said, all politicians are fair game. Particularly those in Mississippi and the South in general. It's time the regular guy got a fair shake, corporations are ruining this country through our politicians and we have only ourselves to blame. Mississippi is a vast wasteland of ineptness, due mainly to politicians being unchecked. Our Federal Government becoming more and more detached from the taxpayer and hard working citizens. We all have to call their hands and make them represent us more fairly.

To anyone reading this, I hate labels, but I'll go ahead and give myself a few...Democrat (sometimes), liberal (sometimes), pragmatist and idealist. In other words, I like to think for myself and not follow any particular ideology. I can listen to others point of view and I don't always think I have all the answers. Dialogue is healthy. My opinions are strictly my own and I currently support no political candidate for any public office.

Posts other than political are also welcomed. Others are welcomed to rant here too.