Wednesday, August 28, 2013

SOME QUESTIONS I HAVE

One of the ways I entertain myself in retirement is watching television. Mostly I watch sports or History. I never watch network television unless they are broadcasting a sports event. I do, however, watch reality cop shows with my favorite being “The First 48.” This column deals with some of the questions  I have come up with from watching these shows.

The first big question is this. On almost every cop show, officers refer to a “known drug house.” Here is my question. If it is known to be a drug house, why does it exist? If the police know drugs are being illegally sold at this house, why are they allowed to continue? If in fact we were interested in stopping illegal drug activity, wouldn’t it be a good idea to close down “known drug houses?” Wouldn’t it be a good idea to arrest and prosecute persons in those houses who are dealing drugs? Seems like a reasonable idea to me.

The second thing that I have learned is that so many people who are stopped for minor traffic offenses have open and active warrants for their arrest. I wonder how many people are wandering around with open and active warrants and why are they not being pursued and arrested by the police officers we have on the job for that purpose? Now I recognize that not all traffic stops make the final cut in a television show, but even at that, isn’t it strange that so many people are running around with warrants? Could it be that the police have decided  rather than chase after open warrants, they just lie in wait for a traffic stop or some other police interaction to check offenders for warrants? That’s probably a lot easier, huh?

This then brings me to my next question watching these shows has caused.  It seems that in almost every case of a crime, the perpetrator has a record of arrest and conviction as long as your leg. I am talking about youthful offenders. I’m talking about twenty somethings or younger. Many have been arrested and convicted for all sorts of crimes. They have been prosecuted and incarcerated and yet are out of jail,  running around on the streets. Mostly these crimes are drug related and many are associated with weapons. Many include violence and assault. Still many others include armed robbery and general mayhem. How does this happen? What does one have to do in order to be put away for a long time? How could an eighteen year old convicted armed robber, drug dealer, having been convicted and jailed, be out on the street at age twenty? What was his sentence? Thirty days or thirty minutes? Whatever happened to twenty years to life?

Well the skeptic in me has developed this theory.

It seems that the judicial system in this country has become something of a cottage industry. Young thugs commit crimes, are chased down and arrested by police officers, tried in court,  judged by Judges and sent to prison only to be released early for any of a number of reasons. Many cases are pleaded down to make the prosecutor’s job easier. Most of these thugs get an early release only to go back to the streets and recommit crimes and the cycle starts all over again. To me it looks strangely like job security for members of the judicial industry. Are they telling me that there would not be enough business if they keep these punks in prison where they belong? I find that hard to believe. By the way, have you ever wondered how much the criminal justice system cost us?

I am not likely to get answers for these questions, but still I can ask, huh?

Ron Scarbro August 28, 2013

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

A SOBER DISCUSSION ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

You have all heard about the legislation being offered by some Congressmen from both parties designed to end illegal immigration and to secure the borders. Let’s consider this proposed law.

First, it would appear that the main purpose is to deal with the some twelve to thirty million illegals who are currently living here. The legislation seeks a remedy to their illegality. A road map to citizenship is what it is called. It begins by requiring these illegals to learn to speak English. Then they must pay all unpaid back taxes. In other words they must turn themselves in for violating our laws. Is it just me, or does anyone really think this is going to happen?

Let’s face it, they got here by illegally trespassing, stayed here by stealing phony identification, and instead of attempting to become Americans, tried to turn our country into the cesspool they had just escaped from. Now, because of some new law being passed by legislators whose only motive is to further their own political ambitions, these illegals are going to suddenly get religion? I guess I’m just a bit skeptical.

I am going to offer here what I believe to be a real possible solution to this problem.

In the early sixties I was a Branch Manager for an Industrial Loan company in California. Anytime I hired anyone I had to verify their legal residence in America. It was really simple. If they could not prove their legality, I could not hire them. And that was fifty years ago. What happened? When did this all change?

We are being told that this new legislation is necessary because there is no way that we could deport the millions who are here. While that is true, we could have these millions deport themselves. All we have to do is require all employers verify the legality of all their employees and then hold the employers legally liable for any employee who is employed illegally. Next, we require that no welfare of any kind, food stamps, money aid, free school lunch, rent assistance, or medical care be available to any one here illegally, period. In other words, we would treat these trespassers in much the same way Mexico and Canada treats them.

For this to work, we absolutely have to prosecute any and all employers and welfare agencies who violate this law. The penalty would be prison, not a money fine.

But Ron, who would pick the fruit and mow the lawns? We obviously need workers in all phases of agriculture, construction, as well as all businesses. Again the answer is simple. It would be necessary that we institute a “Guest Worker” program which would be closely guarded and supervised with un-copyable identification and inviolate dates of entry and exit clearly imprinted on them. Any worker here without proper ID would be arrested and put in prison. Any employer who had in his employ any employee without proper ID would also be imprisoned. The ID cards would be only for the worker, not his family. If an employee loses his job, his employer has to report that job loss and the “guest worker” has to go home.

I am pretty sure this is never going to happen. The reasons are for one, the Social Security Administration has been taking in millions that they never plan to pay out. Secondly, the politicians believe that if they can somehow legalize these trespassers, they will vote for whatever party legalizes them and continue to vote for them for life.

Remember this. Any illegal alien who is employed in this country, is stealing a job an American could have. Any illegal who receives any welfare aid is stealing it from legitimate Americans. It’s our choice. Do we continue to put up with this, or do we do something about it? You decide.

Ron Scarbro August 21, 2013


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

WHEN GENDER CONFUSION BECOMES GENDER CHAOS

I’m not making this stuff up. My imagination isn’t that productive. I wish it was.  No, this is real and I am so sorry for the people of California.

Gov. Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown just signed a new law which promises to deal with gender confusion from Kindergarten on through High School. It is really simple. Children may, under this new law, choose whichever bathroom they are more comfortable in depending on their perception of their own gender. It doesn’t matter how they are anatomically, it only matters how they perceive themselves. If a little five year old boy thinks he might really be a five year old girl, or if he just isn’t real sure, he can choose the girls restroom. The same is true for the little five year old girl. She could then choose the boys bathroom.

Let us add to this situation another layer. The little girl, let’s call her Priscilla, has two Daddies. Of course one of them is the Mother and one is the Daddy, but that is a different story. The little boy, let’s call him Bruce, has two Mommies. Again one of them is the Mommy and the other one is the Daddy. Or it could be the other way around, but I think you can understand the possible confusion. Hell, I’m confused. Why wouldn’t a five year old be confused?

So far it is just a simple fix. The idea is that regardless of how you were born, you can be anything you want to be, starting in Kindergarten.

Now we add yet another layer to this intrigue. Children grow up. Picture this. Bruce is now thirteen years old and he wants to play soccer but only on the girls’ team. He has a few friends who also want to play on the girls’ team. After all, they perceive themselves as girls, not boys. Oh, and they share a locker room with the girls and they have to shower together also. After all, we cannot hurt Bruce’s or his friends’ feelings. Can we? Priscilla wants to play football on the boys’ team as do some of her friends. They too see themselves as boys so what is the problem? What could possibly go wrong with anatomically correct teenagers sharing a communal shower?

If you are like me you might want to ask a few simple questions. Like, “What in the world are these people thinking? Are they crazy?” No, they aren’t crazy. They are just so consumed with political correctness and so-called gender equality that they cannot possibly think straight. Laws like these are the product of drug crazed hippies who somehow survived their drug addled youth to become the next generation of legislators. The once great state of California is rapidly becoming the laughing stock of the entire country. They are financially broke, morally corrupt, and politically inept. It is truly sad. It is such a beautiful place and it has no future, period.

This newest gender equality law is going to produce the biggest mess of our imagination. Smart parents will rebel. Some will take their children out of public school. Some will pack up and move to Texas. Yes, and some will stay to oversee the chaos of this latest bit of nonsense. We can only hope that they will come to their senses soon. God help us.

Ron Scarbro August 14, 2013

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO THINK?

The scandals are piling up and the president wants me to believe they are phony. All our Middle Eastern embassies are closed because of imminent threats of attack and the Congress has decided to take the next six weeks off. American citizens as well as our Ambassador are murdered in Benghazi and we don’t even try to defend them. The IRS has obviously become a tool in the hands of political operatives in an effort to sway elections and to date no one is being held accountable. Lois Lerner, their erstwhile head, has even pled the Fifth Amendment to keep from testifying in an effort to stay out of jail. The First and the Fourth Amendments to the Constitution are being subverted by our Attorney General and seemingly without penalty. The NSA is secretly listening in on our private conversations illegally and again without any restriction. Putin and other world leaders are laughing at our plight and thumbing their collective noses at us. Our medical care is being taken over by an incompetent bunch of bureaucrats who have proven time and again they are incapable of running anything.

My question is simple. What am I supposed to think? Am I supposed to believe this is business as usual? This is the way it is supposed to be? A clear majority of the American people have lost trust in our government and especially the political leadership. The Congress has an approval rating lower than the Asian Flu virus and I’m supposed to be okay with all this?

It would be simple enough to blame one particular political party or another, but that isn’t the answer. Our issues are not defined by party affiliation. Republicans have a clear majority in The House and they have to pay the bills. Obamacare does not exist if the Republican House refuses to pay for it. In fact nothing happens in this country if the Republican House refuses to pay for it. So while it is tempting to blame everything on the Democrats, Republicans own this mess too.

Well I don’t know what I am supposed to think, but I know what I do think. First, persons who violate the law or attempt to subvert our system, regardless of their position, should be held to account. Whether they be President, Attorney General, IRS head, or Member of Congress, they must be held responsible for their actions. If those actions are illegal, they must be prosecuted. Secondly, if we have enemies anywhere in the world who threaten our security or our interests, they must be hunted down and neutralized immediately. We are the strongest nation on earth with by far the most powerful military ever to have existed. We do not close our embassies and cower in the face of threats. We face those threats and take care of business. Our enemies cower, not us.

Concerning the IRS. I think we do not allow any official of that organization ever to refuse to answer any legitimate question from a Congressional Committee. If they do, they are promptly terminated and then prosecuted if they have broken any law. We do not allow civil service employees of our government to thumb their noses at our Representatives or to the American people.

Finally, we absolutely must re-establish trust in our government and its institutions. It is incumbent on those who have violated that trust to do what is necessary to overcome that trust deficit. This is America. This is not some third world banana republic.

So, regardless of what I am supposed to think, this is what I do think.

Ron Scarbro