Standards and Grudges

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State Sen. Russ Decker was caught drunk driving on Tuesday. In today’s Wisconsin State Journal there is an article about it. Lisa Schuetz reminds everyone that this is the fourth state politician (Frank Boyle, Shirley Krug, Peg Lautenschlager & Russ Decker) in just over a year to be caught drunk driving. Lisa left out one important point. All four of these politicians are Democrats.

Way to set the example Wisconsin Democrats.

And way to drop the ball MSM. Almost had the story nailed, but you let it slip away.

Here are some of my favorite photos that I took during my deployment.

This photo was taken right outside the building I worked at. All the trailers loaded with ready munitions are put under a large sun shade where they wait to be taken to aircraft. We had free reign to write messages on the bombs. We weren’t allowed to write on missiles though. I worked in the Precision Guided Munitions section. We worked on all sorts of smart bombs and missiles for F-15’s and F-16’s.

Luckily we didn’t have to spend the entire deployment stuck on base. I went into the city twice. This was a really nice area. It was very modern and had a beautiful waterfront.

Every now and then even barren desert can amaze you. Sundown and sunset were usually interesting, but I was suprised by this in the middle of the day.

I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say which base I was at. I keep getting conflicting word on that. Before we went and while we were there, we were told not to discuss where we were, but the store on base sold shirts with the name of the base. That didn’t make much sense to me. The holiday greetings that were broadcast back here also gave away our location.

Mark Smith wrote an editorial in the La Crosse Tribune. He defends his proposal and responds to the threats made against him.

A Madison Alderperson, Mike Verveer is pushing for stricter regulation of panhandling. The new rules would allow panhandlers between the light poles and the curb, 12 feet from a building, 25 feet from an intersection and 50 feet from ATM’s. Some complain that these rules are unfair and go too far. I believe anything less than a complete ban is too little, but I’m willing to compromise. Verveer’s proposal is a good start.

I’m opposed to panhandling for several reasons. The most important reason is because it is not a solution. It’s a scam. There are many programs in the area to help the homeless. If they truly want to get back on their feet, people will help. Many choose to remain homeless panhandlers because all their needs are supplied with little or no effort on their own behalf.

Many panhandlers are complete frauds that exploit the compulsion of some to give money to panhandlers to achieve some sense of helping the less fortunate. When I worked at the Subway restaurant at East Washington and Stoughton Road there was a girl that would beg at the corner. Throughout the night I would see person after person hand her money. At least one in ten cars gave her money. She was making more money in three hours of begging than I made working my eight hour shift. When she was done begging, she would come into the restaurant, get a sandwich, call her friend on her cell phone and wait for him to pick her up.

The people that give money to panhandlers should instead donate that money to a reputable charity.

Liberals have been screaming their heads off about Tom DeLay manipulating voting district maps in Texas. This is nothing new. A former campaign warhorse already sounded the alarm in 2003. He was actually an invaluable tool for getting Clinton into office and for dealing with the troubles of his first term. If you hadn’t figured it out yet, I’m talking about Dick Morris. Dick is best described as an issue-centric moderate, but liberals love calling him a White House mouthpiece because he is a FOX News consultant. Anyone that has bothered to read his books knows he holds no punches against either party, which brings us back to redistricting.

In his book “Off With Their Heads” he discusses the political manipulation of voting districts. It’s a great read. It outlines a few examples of how powerful incumbent representatives, Democrats and Republicans alike have manipulated the redistricting process to eliminate competition for their seats. Iowa is the exception. In 1981 they enacted rules to prevent such abuses, which is why House seats are competitive in Iowa. Dick outlines rule changes, similar to Iowa’s process that would bring competition back to the House of Representatives.

Undo the reapportionment of congressional districts in your state and require a new set of lines by the election of 2006

Require that the reapportionment be handled by a nonpartisan bureau, as in Iowa, and that the politicians have no say in the outcome

Forbid the bureau from considering incumbency, party, or voting patterns in the districting

Require that the districts be compact and contiguous

It’s probably too late to change the district maps before the 2006 election, but it’s still possible to get a redistricting referendum on the 2006 ballot. If that referendum should pass, we would see competitive races for the House in 2008. The only way this can happen however is if the voters put their partisan differences aside and unite on the issue. It’s in their best interests. The House is supposed to be the most representative branch of our government. It should reflect mood swings in society. It can’t do that however if the district lines are manipulated.