I did not vote for Trump (I chose Gary Johnson) and I do not agree with a lot of Trump’s actions but his recent decision to privatize the ATC (Air Traffic Control system) is an outstanding idea. My longtime friend and senior fellow at the Reason Foundation, Bob Poole, has been championing this idea for nearly 30 years but the entrenched bureaucracy always won, until now. Our ATC is outdated and technologically backward and inefficient (like anything run by the government). As a former military pilot and current civilian pilot, I welcome the coming efficiencies. Our growing economy will prosper even more.
I do not claim to know how the current investigation into dealings with Russia or the Clinton emails or the conversations with President Trump will turn out but FBI Director Comey has already earned hero status in my book for standing up to the President over spying on American citizens (sorry for Republicans that it was George Bush). Both President Bush and President Obama lied to the American people about the extent of the eavesdropping but it was Comey, when he was Asst US Attorney, who took the extraordinary action of refusing to sanction the extralegal action, even at the behest of President Bush. When Bush surrogates tried to go around Comey by sending people to the hospital where Attorney General Ashcroft was near death, Comey beat them to the hospital so he could explain to Ashcroft that the Bush surrogates were trying to pull a fast one.
I value integrity so much that, for this action alone, Comey will always be a hero to me.
Sen Flake does not walk a tightrope
Recently on NPR the announcer stated that Sen Flake had just returned from a controversial meeting and that he would now have to “walk a tightrope.” This reflects the bias that NPR reporters believe all politicians try to keep their finger in the air and then “walk a tightrope” with the results in order to please as many voters as possible. This, unfortunately, may be the strategy employed by most politicians but it is NOT Senator Flake’s strategy. Flake does not put his finger in the air; he simply does the right thing. What an amazing concept.
Taxpayers in any jurisdiction where light rail is proposed need to be watchful if they care about getting their road repairs. Light rail is hugely expensive (and hugely wasteful) but, once construction starts, very difficult to stop. Whereas road expenditures are much more flexible. The most recent glaring example of this problem is in Mesa where their light rail extension just came up short about $22 million. Guess where the bulk of the extra money will be taken from: you got it; road repair and construction.
Last August Phoenix voters authorized a massive increase in taxes, mostly for light rail, but the measure passed because of promises made to all travelers, with a large portion for roads. However, I predict that, as soon as the billions authorized for light rail come up short, there will certainly be attempts to take the funds from road construction, just as Mesa is proposing. Taxpayers beware.
I recently watched the Brad Pitt Netflix movie “War Machine”, which was loosely based on the time that Gen Stanley McChrystal spent as commander in Afghanistan. It’s a terrible movie, less than one star. Brad Pitt should be embarrassed to have had a leading role. But my point is not to criticize the movie but rather to object to the emphasis in the movie on Gen McChrystal’s criticism of President Obama in Rolling Stone Magazine and his subsequent firing. This is a very superficial incident that has been blown out of proportion by the media coverage. The rah-rah enthusiasm of some members of the military over Gen McChrystal’s “standing up” to President Obama obscures a much more significant part of McChrystal’s career that should have led to his termination (and maybe to his court martial).
This was McChrystal’s role in the cover up of the friendly fire killing of Cpl Pat Tillman. McChrystal not only contributed to the cover up (so that Tillman could continue to be used by the Army as a recruiting tool) but McChrystal also signed off on the award of a Silver Star to Tillman. It goes without saying that our nation’s highest combat awards are not given to men who are killed by their own troops. Thus, McChrystal not only committed one of the most egregious acts of dishonor in military history, but he also demeaned one of our nation’s most important recognitions for combat heroism.
This point should have been included in the movie. It might have given the movie a few redeeming qualities.
There must not be anyone in existence who is “Far Left.” Even though members of academia and members of the media are both politically left of center, probably over 80%, we never hear these members talk about anyone as “Far Left.” On the other hand, only 20% of those professions are right of center but we continually hear them talk about the “Far Right,” always in a disparaging manner.
Why must there be racial and ethnic discrimination in jury duty? Recently I received a summons to serve on a jury and I was instructed to complete a questionnaire online within ten days. I dutifully went online and began the questions. But when I came to the question that asked for my race I got mad. The only possible reason for this question is that someone in the jury selection process wants to discriminate based on my race. I resent that. Besides, race is a very ambiguous and poorly defined characterization. Since I have never had a DNA test I really do not know my race. Since all of us trace our history back to Africa, and since I do know that I was born in America, the only race I can claim for sure is African American. But this question did have an “escape” because I could choose “other” so I elected that choice. I was not happy with that decision because I would have preferred to answer “unknown” or “refuse to disclose.”
An aside; I went back and checked my own birth certificate and saw that there was not a category for race but there was a category for “skin color.” Mine was listed as “white” although I think my actual color is closer to “light brown” or cream colored. I would still prefer that such a question not be asked but, at least, skin color is something that can be visually determined. (On such basis, I presume that light skinned people like Michael Jackson and Lena Horne would have also been classified as white.)
Back to the form: a few questions farther down, I was asked if I was Hispanic. Once again, I resent the fact that someone in the jury selection process wants to use my ethnicity as a discriminatory factor. That should be illegal in a country that prides itself on treating people as individuals, not as members of some racial or ethnic group. However, for this question there was not an option to answer “other” or “unknown.” I tried to submit the questionnaire without the race/ethnic answers but the computer program would not allow that. I was stuck. There was a telephone number on the form for questions so I called the number and explained that I did not want to answer questions about my race or ethnicity. The customer service person was somewhat exasperated and told me that I had to answer the questions and that I would be expected to complete a paper copy of the same questions when I showed up for jury duty.
This all makes me wonder why we can’t just treat people as individuals. I can understand why the actual choices I make in life, such as my religion or my political party, might give some indication of my prejudices but not my race or my ethnicity, two characteristics over which I have no control and which, therefore, should not be assumed to affect my decisions.
Jury duty should not be a vehicle to spread racism.
We are now past the annual “Holocaust Remembrance Day” activities and editorials. It seemed to me that there were fewer “remembrances” this year. Maybe this is inevitable. I wonder how long it will take before this horrible event is completely forgotten. How important is it to remember? What lessons should we learn? Even in years when there are many remembrances, there is very little said about HOW the Holocaust could have occurred in what was arguably one of the most advanced nations in the world. This is the real answer to the question of why it is so important to remember this event. How could intelligent and well-educated people commit such atrocities and why did so few speak out? Naturally, I want to offer my own answer, an answer which is as simple as it is frightening: the unchecked growth of government. Once power is centralized in the federal government there is a disincentive to criticize its actions for fear that you may jeopardize some provision of the law that benefits you or your friends.
Can it happen again? Can it happen in the United States? Look at our own federal government. Each day our government’s power over the people increases, both through the maze of “entitlement” programs and through the increasing number of special interest laws, rules, and regulations. And our education system (the government schools) teaches children that government is good and that we should obey our government “leaders,” (he who pays the piper calls the tune). Therefore, the graduates of this system are not instinctively inclined to question the actions of the government.
The way to prevent a Holocaust from ever happening again is to remember that government has only one proper function, the protection of our liberty. We should keep it limited to that function. Eternal vigilance is the price of that liberty.
April 22 was the 13th anniversary of the friendly fire killing of Cpl Pat Tillman, a football hero and man of honor who gave up millions in potential earnings to serve his country. I watched the documentary movie “The Tillman Story” as I do every year on the anniversary of his death. The movie uses actual footage from that time and interviews with key people involved. It documents Tillman’s death and the beginning of a massive cover-up of the real reason for his death. The cover-up involved several senior military officers and, possibly, the President. The reason I devote attention to this incident is because I believe we have lost moral high ground in our country and that senior members of the military, especially those who graduated from our service academies (where those highest standards of honor are incorporated into strict honor codes), should be expected to exemplify high standards of honor and be leaders for the rest of our nation.
Sadly, I am concerned that we are failing at this. There is currently no obvious reason to expect that, if an incident like the Tillman killing were to occur today, that our senior military leaders would not make the same decisions they made in the cover-up following Tillman’s death. As for service academy grads, the only rigorous studies that have been done suggest that our service academies are failing to enforce their honor codes. Survey research by Air Force Academy graduate Fred Malmstrom shows that the percentages of service academy graduates who admit to having committed honor violations while they were students has been steadily rising for over 30 years and now includes well over half the graduates.
We need to do something different.
One more study has emerged showing the economic benefits of immigration and this time there is a letter to the President signed by 1400 economists. Once again, this is disingenuous. No sane person questions the benefits of LEGAL immigration and the letter signed by 1400 economists does not address ILLEGAL immigration. As a matter of fact, I have never seen a study on immigration benefits that is limited to ILLEGAL immigration. I assume the reason is that it is not likely to show economic benefits.
roymilleraz 