Something to Learn from Canadians & Their “Highway of Heroes”

See what a grassroots movement has become as Canadians honor their lost Warriors along the “Highway of Heroes.”

Link in this Blog:
U.S. media pays tribute to ‘Highway of Heroes'

Vets Are Not Forgotten In This Heart

“The Nation That Forgets Its Defenders Will In Turn Be Forgotten”

Integrity is Not a Word Applied to the LA Times

Do journalism schools teach that a journalist writing on a news page is free to mix the reporting of facts with their own opinion? I thought that news and opinion were supposed to be clearly separated. Isn’t that why there are delineated areas in newspapers for news and commentary?

I ask because I am not a trained journalist, and I write pieces, like this one, injected with personal analysis, which is a nice way to say that I write opinion bolstered by alleged facts.

I gave up reading the LA Times because I was disgusted with the consistent presentation of opinion in news pieces. In that kind of environment, how can a reader of a news article have any confidence that he is reading objectively reported facts?

Every once in awhile I glance at the LA Times headlines on the Internet. Yesterday this news headline caught my eye, Sarah Palin returns to a chillier Alaska. 1

Throwing caution to the wind, I plunged into the article and found these gems by LA Times Staff writer Kim Murphy.

Gem number one:

But wait -- what fairy tale is that? After several months co-starring with its governor in one of the hardest-fought presidential campaigns in modern U.S. history, America's 49th state bears little resemblance to the friendly, folksy place Palin left in August. 1

“But wait -- what fairy tale is that?” Say what?? And, because Sarah Palin was absent from Alaska for 3 months, the place went to hell in a hand basket? It’s a good thing Palin did not become the Vice President. It doesn’t sound like Alaska can exist without her. I wonder how they got by for all those years before she became governor.

Gem number two:

With her vice-presidential carriage turned back into a pumpkin…1

Hmmmm, no bias here. Just good solid, objective reporting.

Murphy quotes Sarah Palin’s Alaskan approval ratings as if she thinks that they buttress the mendacious piece:

Palin's approval ratings in Alaska, once in the stratospheric 80% range, have tumbled to a mere mortal 65%. 1

Mere mortal? Most politicians would be more than pleased with such a mortal rating.

A report out of Alaska yesterday states that Sarah Palin is fully vindicated in the controversy over the firing of the Public Safety Commissioner. Coupled with Murphy’s obvious bias, why should Murphy be afforded credibility for this statement?

A minor dust-up over the firing of her former public safety commissioner has blossomed into two full "Troopergate" investigations, with some lawmakers threatening to lead off the coming legislative session by sending some of Palin's senior aides to jail.1

Can anyone find a good reason to continue reading Ms. Kim Murphy’s scholarly journalistic work? Of course, it just struck me! I don’t know why I did not think of it earlier. It must be a mistake by the paper’s layout people. Murphy’s piece was supposed to run either on the Op-Ed page or as an official column but somehow it ended up in the news section. You just can’t get good help any more. No wonder the LA Times is bleeding red ink all over its financial ledger.

The LA Times was a great newspaper until it devolved into a partisan rag by letting their news writers’ personal opinions leak into the news pieces and for their selective publishing or not publishing to the advantage of their political preference.

The LA Times is not exceptional among the liberal news media where integrity no longer seems to be a foundational characteristic. I accept that the majority of the mainstream media is blatantly biased in the liberal direction. So naturally, I don’t expect them to treat conservatives with a balanced perspective. But in truth, they don’t treat out-of-favor liberals much better. Consider what the liberal press has done to Joe Liberman and Hillary Clinton. Hillary was their darling until Barack Obama showed up. Hillary is no different than she has ever been, but now she is treated like yesterday’s ripening garbage. Actually, I don’t think that the mainstream media, nor many of the Democratic Party power figures, ever liked her. But, you wouldn’t know that until she became expendable with the arrival of Obama.

Link in this Blog:
1. Sarah Palin returns to a chillier Alaska

The Prez Elect Wants You to Get An Ass Whoopin’

Sheepdogs are used to getting physically banged around whether it is on the streets or in training. I’ve been no exception in my career, but that is not to say that I have sought it out. It damn well happens at the most inconvenient times. When violence raises its ugly head, you better be prepared to protect yourself. Consider the opinion of this unknown author

Why I Carry a Gun

My old grandpa said to me, "Son, there comes a time in every man's life when he stops bustin' knuckles and starts bustin' caps and usually it's when he becomes too old to take an ass whoopin'."

I don't carry a gun to kill people. I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don't carry a gun to scare people. I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don't carry a gun because I'm paranoid. I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don't carry a gun because I'm evil. I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world. I don't carry a gun because I hate the government. I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don't carry a gun because I'm angry. I carry a gun so that I don't have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don't carry a gun because I want to shoot someone. I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don't carry a gun because I'm a cowboy. I carry a gun because, when I die and go to Heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don't carry a gun to make me feel like a man. I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don't carry a gun because I feel inadequate. I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don't carry a gun because I love it. I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

"Police Protection" is an oxymoron. Free citizens must protect themselves. Police do not protect you from crime; they usually just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.

Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'.

It is no secret that Barack Obama is staunchly anti-gun. The populous would be well advised to not let him get away with fulfilling the leftist desire to disarm law-abiding citizens. If someone wants to disarm you, it might be prudent to ask why.

The unknown author is correct about the oxymoron of “Police Protection.” What is that statement about prying my guns from my dead, cold fingers?

The Entitlement Society has Spoken

Shame, Shame, Shame!

Thoughts on the Eve…

On the eve of perhaps the most important U.S. Presidential election of our time, here are some bits and pieces that come to mind.

If the other side’s guys win, I won’t hate them.

If my side’s guy and gal win, the other side will hate them.

I saw a car today with an Obama sticker on it. It didn’t think much of it until I saw the driver, a female black. I realized that if I had seen her without the sticker it would still have been a good bet that she’d vote for Obama. If I’d seen Condi Rice, and not recognized her, I’d have lost my bet.

I saw a car festooned with American flags and stickers. Incongruently, there was an Obama sticker on the car as well. Why incongruent? Go to any heavily liberal city, San Francisco or Santa Cruz for instance, and see how many American flags you see. The other side’s champion, Barack Obama, refused to wear an American flag pin until the political heat got to him.

I think that Obama is basically an honest guy forced to conceal his true nature to get elected.

The mainstream media sold its soul to the devil of leftism.

Tomorrow night I will be either relieved and happy or sad.

Tomorrow night the other side will be either ecstatic or seething mad and flinging accusations of racism and theft of the election.

When the sun rises on Wednesday morning, it will rise to the reaffirmation of traditional American values or to the steady footfalls of socialist storm-troopers and the growing vulnerability to fascist forces intent upon the destruction of the greatest country the world has ever known.