Gag Reflex

Perhaps it is a run of bad luck, but I have hit three books in a row on my summer reading that are absolutely horrible.

The first is THE KILL CLAUSE that is nothing more than the STAR CHAMBER with deputy marshals instead of judges and an extraordinarily trite ending.

The second is THE ROMANOV PROPHECY that contrives a plot about the return of the Tsar to modern day Russia. Thrillers are supposed to get tighter as you reach the end. This one just gets s-l-o-w-e-r and s-l-o-w-e-r.

Finally, I tried THE BIG SECRET (the title should have tipped me off). This book turned on a plot device akin to Deux Ex Machina for every significant development. It is simply horrible.

I recognize that the book business is spending most of its money on big name best sellers and self help books. But if they hope to develop new talent, they are going to have to think about what they are shuffling out for a product.

Something positive for a change

It is hard to believe, but the U.S. Senate (the world's most dysfunctional body) actually had a vote and got something done. S-397 is the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act and it passed 65 to 31 with the usual suspects voting no (e.g. Teddy, Hilllary and John [did-you-know-he-served-in-Vietnam] Kerry).

One of the tactics the gun grabbers have used is to sue gun manufactures, importers, ammunition makers, distributors, dealers (and anyone else they could find) for product liability when some knuckle head shoots somebody. The effect is to attempt to bankrupt the industry.

This law shields people from this abusive practice, while still holding gun makers in check for basic liability issues like the gun not going BANG when you trip the trigger.

The companion house bill H.R. 800 has 257 cosponsors so it should sail through okay.

Something in the water

Do members of the Senate voluntarily sign up for frontal lobotomies? Or perhaps it is Potomac Fever--that insatiable urge to run for president.

The latest query relates to Bill Frist, who decided to show his independence from the right wing by breaking with President Bush on embryonic stem cell research.

NEWS FLASH: The vast majority (kind of like the vast right wing conspiracy) believes that human embryos are potential people. Republicans do not endorse people who screw up on the life issue.

So off goes another lemming, eh I mean Senator, shuffling over the side of a cliff called presidential ambition.

Blame suicide on someone else

Yesterday, Arthur Teele went down to the Miami Herald and shot himself in the head. Evidently Mr. Teele had gotten into trouble and a lot of bad press followed in his wake. Okay, that's one way to clean up local politics--not something I endorse, but an approach.

Today Helen Thomas (short, plumb White House Reporter that looks like she just swallowed a bowl full of lemons) declared that if Dick Cheney runs for President she vows to kill herself. Chances are she'll just fall over from old age before the Vice President has a chance to make an announcement.

I realize the left in this country is beginning to implode, I just didn't think they'd be violent about it (good vibrations, make love not war and tye-dye T-shirts).

Brain Dead Federal Judges

As if we needed more evidence as to the collapse of the federal judiciary, Judge John Coughenour sentenced Ahmed Ressam to 22 years, including time served.

Ahmed Ressam? This was the Mohammed-Atta-wannabe, who attempted to drive a carload of explosives across the Canadian border on his way to LAX. His intention was to make things go boom and kill lots of people.

The Keystone Kops Clinton administration later claimed they were hot on Ahmed's trail in December 1999, but in reality, it came down to good police work by a couple of border guards.

I can only conclude Judge Coughenour is brain dead. Ahmed wanted to kill American citizens! He failed, but he attempted mass murderer. I wonder if Ahmed will get time off for good behavior.

We handed down harsher sentences to the knuckleheaded guards at Abu Gharib.

We sent Bernie Ebbers to prison for the rest of his natural life for the WorldCom scam.

So I conclude forcing a known terrorist to dress up in women's underwear is worse than attempting to blow up a chunk of LAX.

We're not perfect

The second-guessers are out in droves. Regrettably, a British security officer shot the wrong guy--five bullets in the head.

It turns out the victim was from Brazil. Perhaps, he did not speak English or he made a habit of running from the cops. Regardless, the cops thought he had a bomb in his backpack, and they stopped him when he didn't stop.

Wars are messy affairs. The wrong people get killed. There are no perfect solutions. I am quite sure the trigger-puller is somewhat devastated at killing the wrong person. However, people would be hailing him a hero if the backpack contained batteries wired to detonators wrapped about a C4 stick.

Nothing good comes from needlessly poking at the peole trying to keep us safe. Let them do their job, and give them some slack when things go wrong. After all, the bad guys aren't playing by the same rules--they just want to kill everybody.