Sunday, June 29, 2008

ON THE SUPREME COURT


Personally I have a problem with anything man-made being called supreme. That will be fodder for a different essay however. Today I want to talk about the recent rulings handed down by this august body.

The Supreme Court made news this week in a long sought ruling regarding the second amendment. The news they made was that in this group of nine otherwise intelligent jurists with over five hundred years of combined experience and education, we find that apparently four of them cannot read. It is difficult for me to believe that anyone with basic reading skills could not find with the majority in their five to four ruling regarding hand gun ownership. What second amendment were these four reading? The troubling part of this is that rulings from the so-called Supreme Court are little more than political opinions based on the Judges’ personal political philosophy. While I wasn’t there when the rules were being established for this country, I’m pretty sure that the Supreme Court was to be an apolitical body. Fortunately this time they got the opinion right. That is good for them and it is good for this country.

It also now appears that the mayor of San Francisco doesn’t believe that this ruling affects his city. Why would I think any other way since this same city won’t even allow members of the US Military on their streets. Mayor Gavin Newsom is about to get a rude awakening. Whether he believes it or not, San Francisco is a part of the United States and is subject to the same laws as everyone else. As of this writing, the NRA has already filed a lawsuit against the city and their hand gun ban.

The second ruling I want to comment on is the finding that a child rapist cannot be executed unless someone is killed in the process. To them, the Jurists, that would appear to be cruel and unusual punishment. I thought long and hard about this one and have come to the conclusion that they may be doing us a huge favor. This is what we should do with child rapists. When they are convicted by a jury of their peers, and sent to prison, make sure they are required to serve their time as a member of the general population of the prison. Don’t allow them to be hidden away from other convicts. Secondly, make sure everyone in the prison knows what they were convicted of. We may find that prison justice is much swifter and a lot surer than justice handed down through our courts. It would for sure be a lot cheaper than what goes on now when a person is sentenced to death.

Most crimes, I am convinced, are crimes of arrogance. The arrogance that allows an individual to take from you what is yours without having to work for it. The arrogance of taking someone’s life because they chose to. The arrogance of rape because someone wants to feel power over someone else even a child. On the grounds of most prisons, I’m pretty sure that child rapists do very little bragging.

Our system with all its flaws is still the best system available on this planet. Justice is usually served at some point in time. Perfect justice, however, awaits us all. That, for me, is a comforting thought.

Ron Scarbro June 30, 2008

Monday, June 23, 2008

TO DRILL OR NOT TO DRILL


I just saw the results of a nationwide poll today asking the question “To drill or not to drill?” 70% favored immediate drilling wherever oil might be found. 20% did not and the rest were not sure. 54% favored the immediate opening of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge for drilling. I hope our lawmakers are paying attention. Those who choose to defy the vast majority of the people in favor of a few loud mouthed financially well healed contributors do so at their peril.

We all would like to see alternate sources of energy. I wish I could operate my car using fuels other than gasoline. That will probably be a reality in the future. But it is not reality today. If left unchecked, energy cost will continue to rise until our very standard of living is threatened. Heating our homes, feeding our families, flying across country for business or pleasure, delivering goods to all parts of the country, the mail, anything and everything is being negatively affected. That would all change if our Congress gathered up some courage and opened up the necessary areas for oil exploration.

So who is standing in the way of this vital opening up? Who stands to gain if America is brought to her knees? How is it possible that a few morons in Congress who are financially beholding to the environmental lobby can so negatively affect our country? Right now most of them are hiding. With the poll numbers now available, an accounting will soon be made however. They will no longer be able to hide.

What is the argument for keeping the status quo in Alaska? Some say the caribou will die off. Absolute nonsense. Today with the Prudhoe Bay pipeline, caribou are flourishing. They have even chosen to do their calving near the pipeline because it is more comfortable for them. They argue that this is a pristine area of the country. It is pristine in the same way the surface of the moon is pristine. It is pristine in the same way the floor of Death Valley is pristine. It is pristine because it is uninhabitable. Ask any Alaskan what they think about drilling in ANWR. They will quickly tell you to get at it and soon.

This essay seeks to pose the question, “What is really going on?” Rarely are things as they seem. Especially when it comes to the Congress.

Is this an environmental issue or is it strictly financial? Is there a movement afoot to bring America down? Who owns these congress people who would stand in the way of our very security? What do they stand to gain? Do people really think they can turn this country into Europe and everybody would get around on bicycles? Do they see the future as cities swarming with people but with no exhaust fumes? Do they see the mountains as quiet streams and trees solely there for their pleasure?

I have a big reality for them. This is not and never will be Europe. If Europe is so great, why are their citizens trying to escape and come here? Our cities are not built in circles around the train station. The vast majority of our citizens cannot walk or bike to work. We could not begin to provide public transportation sufficient to handle the numbers of people it would have to move.

Are these liberal congress people who would defy the will of the majority of U.S. citizens in the pockets of the oil companies? I don’t know. I just know that something is definitely wrong with the system as it is right now.

To those who say that even if we did start drilling today, it would take ten years for the oil to reach the market. That is probably true but if we started today, oil prices would tumble until all of the speculation was eliminated from the price. OPEC can’t drink their oil and they also can’t stand the competition of our producing our own. If you care about the future of this country, put some heat on your Congress person. There are no more acceptable excuses. The new mantra is open it up and start drilling now.

Ron Scarbro June 23, 2008