A Notable Day

Sadly, I sit here on the edge of Los Angeles, satisfying professional responsibilities, on the anniversary of my marriage to the lovely and gracious Mrs. Young, which occurred twenty years ago this afternoon at a tiny little Lutheran church in College Park, Georgia.

It is a measure of her quality as a spouse and helpmate that she has not expressed a great deal of upset over this turn of events, while also noting that she still misses me (with every shot so far?) when I go out of town.

In any case, while I rarely note or comment upon personal milestones here, I exercise a point of personal privilege to say "Happy Anniversary, dearest, and thanks for twenty great years, two beautiful sons, and boundless love and understanding!"

Now, let the snarky comments spring forth!

Welcome to BarryCare!

Well, it's nearly November, and already we're enjoying a preview of the joys of life under government-run health care, which will, if passed, be known as ObamaCare. Giving due regard for the current occupant of the Oval Office, it should be known as BarryCare.

Witness the current swine flu (H1N1) outbreak. Now, never mind that every day of every year, an average of 10,000 people get it, and nearly 100 die of it ... oh, wait a minute, that's the regular seasonal flu.

In any case, the swine flu has been much in the news lately, and it's not really necessary to relate the basic facts here.

What we do know is that the government saw this coming months ago (report dated 29 April 2009), announced a major program of vaccination, and yet, fully into the flu season --- particularly in those Petri dishes known as the government schools --- vaccine supplies are severely limited, and apparently not available at all to first-line health providers like family doctors. I'm in Los Angeles, and listen with fascination to radio reports advising people who are not in government-identified "high-risk groups" --- mainly people between 25 and 64 without compromised immune systems --- to stay away from clinics dispensing the vaccine.

Note: Currently, the demand for H1N1 vaccine is outweighing local and national supply. That’s why some Public Health vaccine clinics may reach capacity earlier than expected and need to close earlier than the posted hours. If you are not in an H1N1 Priority Group, please wait to get vaccinated until vaccine supplies increase. More H1N1 vaccine will be available in the next several days and weeks at some chain pharmacies, private health care providers, and community clinics.

So sayeth the LA County Department of Public Health.

The reason for the shortages? Well, there are plenty offered, but it clearly was known two months ago that the flu season would arrive before the vaccine. Even today, five days after President Barry declared a "national emergency" over the flu, the vaccine is mainly unavailable.

It even appears, over the last two weeks, that the Young boys have contracted it (both are doing fine, thanks, though Patrick was required to don a mask before entering the doctor's office), without ever having had a chance to obtain a vaccination!

Which raises the question: Given that the Federal government has well and thoroughly screwed this up this rather mild (at least, in a fairly healthy population), WHY are we still considering a virtual government takeover of our health care system?!?!

The answer is, of course, obvious to anyone who understands the far Lefties currently in charge of our government: the effort is not about improving American health care; it is about enabling government control over the health care system.

If these people were serious about getting more people covered, they would discard coverage mandates (requiring, for instance, people past their child-bearing years to buy plans covering pregnancy), allow insurance companies to charge higher premiums to those previously uninsured (thus creating incentives for coverage in the young and healthy), remove barriers to interstate purchase of insurance, and --- perhaps most importantly --- discard government-run health care altogether (except for the military) and simply turn over to citizens, including the elderly, money to purchase their own insurance.

Don't hold your breath. This most recent example of government incompetence to the contrary notwithstanding.

Hampden-Sydney Looks Unbeatable for ODAC Championship...

and a playoff bid.

It does my heart good to note the success of the alma mater, Hampden-Sydney College, in football this season. With eight victories, and no losses, the team finally broke into the d3football.com Top 25 this week (No. 25). It has appeared in the American Football Coaches' Association Top 25 poll for the last two weeks, currently standing at No. 20.

The team has shown a lot of character in achieving these milestone. In Week 2, a game attended by the Youngs, the Tigers were down by two touchdowns at half-time, against Gettysburg (I found myself rooting against the Lutherans), but rallied to win by a field goal in overtime (with an amazing two field goal blocks by a single special teams player). This week, the Tigers were down by a touchdown at half-time against Catholic at Homecoming (Head Coach Marty Favret's alma mater --- '84 --- his twenty-fifth reunion year), but won the game by 21-7.

Rival Randolph-Macon, however, is 5-2, and 3-0 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), whose winner receives an automatic bid to the Division III playoffs. R-MC's season is conference-heavy, with three conference games in the last three weeks of the season: Guilford; Bridgewater; and Hampden-Sydney, in The Game, the oldest rivalry in the South in college football, on 14 November. H-SC, however, has a bye week, and plays no more conference games, with only a game against non-conference Salisbury on 7 November.

If R-MC prevails over Guilford and Bridgewater, or even loses a game, it shapes up to be a conference title game when the Tigers meet the Yellowjackets on 14 November.

For Division III devotees and alums, it shapes up to be a great November weekend to be in Ashland.

Which is something this proud Tiger alum never thought he'd say.

Imagine The Hue And Cry...

if this had happened at a co-educational institution? Or at an institution which was not historically Black? Say Wabash College? Or the finest remaining all-male institution, Hampden-Sydney College?

Of course, the Morehouse College administration is exactly right. They are to be applauded.

Big Government Values v. Boy Scout Values

As I've probably noted previously, I'm an Eagle Scout. My namesake uncle was our family's first Eagle Scout; my oldest nephew is also an Eagle Scout. My grandfather lived long enough to see three generations of his progeny earn and wear the Eagle Scout badge (and pinned it on two of us). After a couple of decades away from active participation in Scouting, I'm presently the Troop Committee Chairman for my older son's Boy Scout Troop, and Pack Committee Chairman for my younger son's Cub Scout Pack.

So it's with a little more than passing interest that I've followed the stories of six-year-old Zachary Christie, a Delaware Cub Scout, who made the mistake of taking a camping tool to school to eat his school lunch (I am unsure whether it was his combo camping pocketknife, or his "Little Vittles" kit, available at every Scout Store, one of which I look down upon from my office window). Zachary was seen with this item --- he wasn't wielding it as a weapon --- and as a result, was sentenced to 45 days in a reeducation camp ... er, "reform school."

Then there's seventeen-year-old Eagle Scout and high school senior Matthew Whalen, godson of fellow Prince William blogger Riley at Virginia Virtucon. He is such a miscreant that he has already completed Army basic training, hoping to go to West Point. He keeps a sleeping bag, bottle of water, and an MRE in his car, just in case he breaks down. He also keeps a pocket knife in his car. School officials in Matthew's school decided to act upon an anonymous report to shake him down, and he produced the small knife he keeps in his glove box when asked (mistake, Matthew; should've made 'em get a search warrant). Matthew earned himself a five-day suspension, pending a hearing. Told he could submit a letter from the Army or the Boy Scouts saying he had to carry the knife, his Scoutmaster sent in a letter saying it was typical Boy Scout camping equipment. For this temerity, he got another fifteen-day suspension.

Now, when I was a Boy Scout, I carried my Boy Scout pocketknife --- or some other small penknife --- to school in my pocket virtually every day from the time I joined the Boy Scouts in fifth grade, until I graduated in 1982. In fact, one of the small knives that I carried was a beautifully engraved penknife that was a gift from my school choir director, a teacher!!!! I frequently used it, too: many times, to aid teachers in need of my small tool.

The Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared." And our government schools that are making war on these Scouts for doing so.

It's little surprise. After all, the prepared have little need for big government. Which is, of course, the point.

My Nobel Application

So the Nobel Committee has awarded President Barry the Nobel Peace Prize, apparently because of his stated goal of a world without nuclear weapons.

With this award, President Barry joins other notable prior recipients as Aristide Briand (1925; part-originator of the Locarno Pact and Briand-Kellogg Pact," which outlawed war (we all know how that one worked out)); Frank B. Kellogg (1928; part-originator of the Briand-Kellogg Pact"), and Yasser Arafat (1994; terrorist).

So, the award is certainly consistent with other damn-fool "noble" goals lacking any possibility of success for which the Nobel Committee has previously made the award. Or even not so much.

Apparently, the only thing you need to do is express pretty thoughts and seek unachievable goals. Actually accomplishing something, a la Theodore Roosevelt (1905; arbitrating peace between Japan and Russia), Mother Theresa (1979; cared for the destitute and diseased in India)? No longer necessary. On the other hand, since Al Gore won (2007; the myth of human-caused climate change), it's been readily apparent that all that is required to win a Nobel Peace Prize is to express pathologically-foolish pretty thoughts with utterly no chance of being achieved. Actually having achieved ... well, anything ... in you life? Not necessary. President Barry proves that.

Therefore, I hereby tender my application for a Nobel Peace Prize. I'd like to see a world without rape.

That has about as much chance of being achieved as a world without nuclear weapons.

The Nobel Committee has just rendered itself a bad joke.

UPDATE: Doug Mataconis is similarly befuddled.

UPDATE II: Even terminal Obamoron Lowell is surprised and believes that President Barry owes George W. Bush a thank-you note.

Who Woulda Thunk It?

Turns out the International Olympic Committee is racist!?!??

At least, by Jimmy Carter's standards.

Actually, this is entirely predictable. Chicago vs. Rio de Janeiro: which would you choose?

Legal Ethics

I rarely talk about judges or courts on this blog

Here is why.

Football Doldrums

What a depressing weekend.

Penn State loses to Iowa. Again.

The Steelers lose. Again. To Cincinnati (the Mrs. did a little victory dance around the living room over that one).

The Redskins lose. To Detroit, breaking a 19-game losing streak.

The only bright spot? Hampden-Sydney handled Guilford.

Well, at least one of the teams I care about won.

Neo-Con Pioneer Passes

Irving Kristol, former Trotskyite, American columnist, journalist, and writer who was dubbed the "godfather of neoconservativism," founder, editor, and contributor to various magazines, has passed away today in Arlington at age 89. He is widely credited with the observation that a neoconservative is "a liberal who has been mugged by reality."

He was one of the leading public intellectuals of the last half-century. His widow, historian Gertrude Himmelfarb, and son Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, are notable public intellectuals in their own right.

Condolences to his family, and legions of admirers everywhere.

RIP

There Goes The Neighborhood

As I was driving in this morning, WMAL reported that the United Mine Workers Union had just signed a twelve-year lease to move its International headquarters to Triangle, in Prince William County, about five miles from my house, and that of another Right to Work lawyer.

One wonders whether it will be located on Old Mine Road.

Anyway, there goes the neighborhood.

Perhaps we'll be seeing these on our local roads.

Moonbats For Deeds Enlist Dishonest Attacks Upon AG McDonnell's Legal Ethics

Mike@Blueweeds has favored us with a "scholarly" discussion of Attorney General Robert McDonnell's actions in In re: Multi-Circuit Episcopal Church Property Litigation, Civil Case Nos. CL-2007-0248724 et al., the dispute heard in Fairfax Circuit Court over church property in the wake of the Episcopal Church's decision to endorse sin by, inter alia, allowing practicing homosexuals to become high-ranking clergy.

Now, I don't know if Mike is an attorney. I don't even know if he plays one on TV. But if this is the quality of his legal analysis, he might want to consider a suit to get a refund of his law-school tuition. I'd recommend that he not represent himself.

Mike complains long and loud that:

Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell tried unsuccessfully to intervene in a private church property dispute on behalf of a conservative breakaway congregation involved in litigation over ownership of the historic Falls Church Episcopal.

He also asserts that:

Attorney General McDonnell obliged by filing an extraordinary Motion to Intervene the Commonwealth of Virginia on behalf of the Falls Church CANA congregation. One of the issues disputed in the trial was the constitutionality of the so-called Virginia Division Statute (Virginia Code section 57-9).

The Motion was vigorously opposed by the sin-endorsing Episcopalians.

But it's here that Mike starts to go a little ... well, wacky. His title claims that "AG McDonnell Used Office To Improperly Intervene In Falls Church Property Dispute" (emphasis added). He claims that:

The trial court did not ... allow McDonnell to intervene the Commonwealth on behalf of the conservative congregation. The court admonished McDonnell for his attempt to take sides with the conservative church congregation rather than to represent the interests of the people of Virginia, and issued an Order denying the McDonnell's Motion to Intervene....

The problem? Well, aside from the fanciful notion that defending the majority of a congregation seeking to retain its property is not "represent[ing] the interests of the people of Virginia" against a self-describedly "Christian" church which endorses activities condemned by both Old and New Testaments (a matter of opinion), the claims are false in virtually all of its factual particulars.

The Fairfax County Circuit Court initially "DEFERRED" (original emphasis) ruling on the Motion to Intervene in the very order to which Mike links, which is dated 26 February 2008. Nowhere does it "admonish" McDonnell or his office.

Now, I have not followed this controversy closely. But when I pointed out to Mike that "there is certainly an argument to be made that the AG has standing to intervene in any action challenging a statute of the Commonwealth of Virginia," he responded with this peurile little response, lacking the courage actually to post it publicly in the thread accompanying his rant:

"I discern no admonition to the Attorney General"
What a precious little pastry arguement you make. I linked to the trial docs ... go do your homework. When you're done, come back, so I can start schooling you on legal procedure.

And in fact, the Court later granted Attorney General McDonnell's Motion to Intervene, noting in a letter opinion of 16 July 2008, that "The Attorney General of Virginia has a unique interest in defending the constitutionality of the statutes of the Commonwealth," and citing the fact that the situation was rather unusual, as challenges to the constitutionality of state statutes are usually considered in Federal courts, where "a state attorney general's specific interest in defending the constitutionality of state statutes is explicitly recognized both in 28 U.S.C. s2403(b) and in U.S. Sup. Ct. R. 24(4)(c)." A link to this document is provided by another commenter; Mike neglects to mention it at all, relying instead upon the arguments made by parties opposing the intervention.

In short, Mike attempts to argue that Attorney General McDonnell engaged in legal misconduct even though the court endorsed McDonnell's effort by granting it!

I don't often discuss legal arguments in this space. But when someone like Mike alleges misconduct, his fatuous and factually false assertions must be identified.

UPDATE: J.C. Wilmore ("The Richmonder") is attempt to raise the drumbeat here, and repeats many of the same misrepresentations as Mike.

Iconography And The Cult Of Personality

An excellent discussion on the power of iconography, one which recognizes President Barry's effort to create a cult of personality:

WaPo Spike Watch: Day Two

Well, it only took two days for the Washington Post to mention Deeds position.

But let's make sure we understand this: the Post "uncovers" a twenty-year-old master's thesis by McDonnell, and it's front-page, above-the-fold, three-day story. A ten-year-old Deeds campaign position which would be characterized as "anti-gay" by virtually every partisan for the radical homosexual agenda is revealed, and the Post limits its coverage (so far, and as far as I can tell) to an internet post.

Is there really anyone who will suggest that the WaPo is anything but an adjunct of the Democrat Party?

WaPo Spike Watch: Day One

Last night, VA Blogger at TC broke the blogosphere story of Creigh Deeds' "homophobic" remarks in a campaign flyer of only ten years' vintage. I wrote about it shortly later. The Weekly Standard had a post about it late yesterday afternoon.

And yet, the Washington Post has nothing about it. It's editors are spiking* the story. Now, I realize that it was a busy news night. After all, it's much more important to reinforce the lies of President Barry. And to trash a GOP congressman for (rudely) telling the truth about it.

So now, a new feature on Skeptical Observor! The WaPo Spike Watch. The WaPo has spent a week trashing Republican former Attorney General Robert McDonnell over a two-decade old master's thesis --- a compilation of academic musings --- which purportedly trashes a few far-Left sacred cows, and the voters have yawned. Now, someone has produced a Deeds' campaign piece which rejects the radical homosexual agenda.

Until the WaPo applies similar standards to Creigh Deeds, its clearly-preferred candidate for Virginia Governor, I'm going to note it here.

Day. By. Day.

___________

*A newspaper term that means a story is killed because an editor doesn't like its politics. Famously written about by former Washington Times editor Arnaud de Borchgrave and Robert Moss in a political thriller about 25-30 years ago.

Creigh Deeds Is A "Homophobe"!

Yeah, yeah. I know. Nobody who uses the word "homophobe" should be taken too seriously. It is, after all, usually just a term to belittle those who oppose the radical homosexual agenda.

But that's what the far Left would call someone who made a statement such as this.

VA Blogger at TC has the story here.

And he asks the reasonable question: "When should we expect a front-page A1 story from the Washington Post about this?"

If enough Conservatives hold their breath waiting for that, Deeds may just pull it out.

Is This The "Hopey-Changey" For Which You Voted?

So President Barry says that the "time for bickering is over" on health care.

Another sanctimonious boob dismisses serious policy differences by belittling them.

This is "bipartisanship"? This is "reasonable discussion"?

No. This is typical far-Left arrogance.

The problem for President Barry is not that this is "bickering." It is not misrepresenting the contents of his proposals.

President Barry's problem is that the GOP and Conservatives are telling the truth about his proposals.

Moonbatosphere Moron ... But I Repeat Myself

With today's WaPo attack piece on Bob McDonnell --- surprise! The WaPo is taking the pro-homo side in the culture war --- Virginia's moonbats are engaged in an "Amen!" chorus. Or is it the other way around?

I found one particularly interesting. Now, I suppose there are plenty of reasons to criticize McDonnell on this, but Fred attacks McDonnell's dismissal of the complaints about the blocked re-appointment of a Virginia Beach judge as "irrelevant" to this race, "seeing as how Governors appoint judges!"

Uh, except when the legislature is not in session, and then only temporarily, not in Virginia they don't.

Fred, you're a moron.

Dan Snyder Is Pond-Scum

Give the guy credit, though: in a league in which Al Davis and Jerry Jones are both owners, Dan Snyder still manages to be the most hated owner in the league, and by his team's own fans. It's not that the Redskins have stunk up the place under his ownership, though they have. It's not the revolving door in the Head Coach's office, though there's been that, too. It's not even charging $8 for one beer even though a case of it should cost less than that.

It's things like this, which convince me he works at it.

And that, while I'll attend an occasional game, I will never be a season ticketholder.

Does It Have Twice The Nuts?

Pathologically far-Left Ben & Jerry's has a new flavor to celebrate the legalization of homosexual "marriage" in its native Vermont: "Hubby Hubby."

I suppose it rolls off the tongue more easily than "Fraudulent Poseurs."