national news, political news

'Originalist' view is mistaken

Count me as among those who acknowledge that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is brilliant.

The man knows the law. Does he know the U.S. Constitution? Well, sure he does. He was selected by President Reagan in 1986 to interpret the nation’s founding document and he’s still on the job.

OK, I’ve acknowledged the obvious.

Now I wish to take issue with his view that the document isn’t a living one that should adapt to change in society.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/antonin-scalia-says-constitution-permits-court-to-favor-religion-over-non-religion/ar-BB75vV4

Scalia said recently that it’s OK for the courts to favor religion over non-religion. He said the founders were religious men who meant for God to play a role in government. He said the Constitution guarantees “freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.”

We’re fine, so far.

Then he said he prefers to look at the Constitution in its original form, as the drafters of it intended — in the 18th century.

He doesn’t like the “living Constitution” view, saying that only “idiots” believe such a thing.

Well.

Can’t the Constitution be adapted to the present day while preserving the principles laid out by the nation’s founders? Sure it can. The Second Amendment, the awkwardly written passage that guarantees the right to “keep and bear arms,” is an example.

Could the framers have envisioned the type of weaponry that has been developed since the Second Amendment was drafted and ratified? Could they have foreseen assault weapons that can kill, oh, 10 or so individuals in a matter of a few seconds? I’m betting they didn’t sit around and wonder: “All right, gentlemen, before we finalize this amendment, should we set aside a provision for the time when gang members will outgun the police on city streets teeming with drugs?” No, they couldn’t predict the future.

But the future has arrived and the “next future” is right around the corner. It’s left, then, for those who live in the here and now to wonder if the Constitution — as written — still is relevant to today’s circumstance.

It isn’t in some instances.

I still honor and respect Justice Scalia’s intellect and knowledge. I just dispute his interpretation of what he knows so well.

business news, national news, political news

Silence on job growth is quite telling

That silence you hear from the Republican side of the political divide is quite instructive as the nation digests the latest job-growth numbers.

The Labor Department today reported that 248,000 jobs were added in September and that the jobless rate fell to less than 6 percent for the first time since 2008.

No cheers. No backslapping. No “congrats, you guys” are coming from the GOP gang.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/september-2014-unemployment-numbers-111583.html?hp=l1

Indeed, this morning — just before the jobs figures came out — Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary during the George W. Bush administration, disputed President Obama’s claim the other day that we’re better off now than when he took office in January 2009. Fleischer told Joe Scarborough on “Morning Joe” that Obama inherited a “100-foot hole” but still has a “95-foot hole” from which the country must emerge.

What utter bunk!

The economy is growing. Every independent analyst I’ve read suggests the nation has turned the corner from where we were six years ago.

Of course, the task now is to keep marching forward and to keep the momentum going.

Today’s job numbers suggest we’re continuing to make progress.

I get that politics requires muzzles when the “other side” has good news to report. That’s the way the game is played. Democrats do it, too, when the news involved a Republican administration.

Rest assured that if the next job report isn’t as glowing as this one, the loyal opposition will awaken quickly from its silent slumber.

International news

Barack and Bibi all smiles

Optics do matter when it comes to international diplomacy.

You want an example? Let’s try the brief and smile-filled meeting between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/barack-obama-benjamin-netanyahu-111531.html?hp=r4

The men at the White House and they appeared — in public, at least — to get along well.

For a change.

As Politico reported: “Coinciding with a lull in Israeli-Palestinian violence and peace-making efforts, and amid beheadings, Ebola and other international crises, the meeting didn’t get its usual top billing on cable news channels and news websites.”

The cease-fire in Gaza has done wonders to help improve the relations between the allies. Israel managed to put down the Hamas terrorists’ efforts to intimidate the Israelis when they began firing rockets and mortars into neighborhoods. At the height of the Israeli response, tensions appeared to grow as Obama made statements that offended Netanyahu, who — I hasten to add — had struck back in self-defense.

Israel’s concern over Barack Obama’s view has required the president to state time and again the U.S.’s longstanding alliance with Israel and its commitment to support its ally when the chips are down. Obama has made those statements repeatedly during his entire presidency.

It’s not enough to quell Israeli concerns — not to mention critics here at home who keep suggesting the president doesn’t want to continue the U.S. commitment to Israel’s security.

Well, the meeting today might have put some of those concerns to rest for the time being.

At least that’s how it looks.

business news, local news

AEDC turns 25

The year 1989 proved to be a time of tumult and triumph for Amarillo.

Voters rebelled against the City Commission (as it was called then) and tossed most of its members out. Times were tough then. The economy was in the tank, the city was fighting with prominent businessman Boone Pickens, who had gotten angry at the local newspaper over its coverage of certain issues.

City voters, though, did have the good sense to approve the formation of the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation, a body tasked with spending a portion of sales tax revenue on job-creation projects for the city and the surrounding region.

Voters said “yes” to AEDC and it came into being.

It’s been collecting a half-cent of sales tax every year since, building a handsome investment fund for the past quarter century.

It has had some notable successes and some stinging defeats over the years.

The big daddy of the successes, of course, was the return of Bell Helicopter to Amarillo. Bell/Textron set up huge aircraft assembly operation next to Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport after AEDC dangled about #45 million in inducements to the company to relocate its assembly operations from Fort Worth to Amarillo. Suffice to say the good folks of Cowtown were none too pleased with what they thought amounted to corporate bribery of a company using public money.

Bell came here, began assembling the V-22 Osprey for the Marine Corps. The site has grown in the years since then, adding hundreds of jobs.

AEDC also lured Hilmar Cheese to Dalhart, another venture that drew criticism from local folks who couldn’t grasp why AEDC was spending sales tax money on something built way up yonder in Dallam County. Well, that project has been a boon to the region as well.

Not all the projects have panned out. But all in all, the AEDC has provided an innovative inducement to companies looking to expand their payrolls or to relocate from other locations to the High Plains of Texas.

Billboards are cropping up around town saluting AEDC. TV spots are airing that do the same.

All in all, the AEDC has helped the city stay afloat while other communities have struggled during tough times.

That’s reason enough to offer a good word.

local news

Giving thanks for autumn

Dear God,

You probably don’t hear this enough about this particular topic, but I want to take a moment to thank you for autumn.

Yep, it’s pretty nice in this part of the country. You didn’t bless the Texas Panhandle with a lot of scenic splendor (although Palo Duro Canyon is pretty good on the eyes), but you did give us that great big sky and those resplendent sunrises and sunsets.

You also gave us seasons, all four of ’em.

Autumn arrived a few days ago, according to the calendar, but I awoke this morning, went outside, took a whiff and thought I could smell the actual season in the air.

It’s hard to define the smell. But it’s out there.

The breeze is a bit cool and it borders on bracing.

Usually, autumn arrives with a bit of relief. Not so much this year. The summer you gave us this year didn’t produce too many “dog days,” if you know what I mean — and I know you do. We had two, maybe three days where the temperature topped 100. All in all? It was pretty nice. Our rainfall was a bit more than we’ve had in recent years and as I write this thank-you note, the High Plains are quite green considering the time of year.

Still, the season is changing and for that I am grateful. Spring remains my favorite time of the year. It brings a relief of its own. The Farmers Almanac predicts a harsher-than-normal winter here. We’re getting ready for it. Spring 2015, therefore, promises to be even more joyful than usual.

For now, though, I’ll just take in the change from summer to autumn.

Thank you for all of it.

local news, political news, State news

A new Holocaust … in Texas?

West Texas’s newest state senator might be forgiven for being quite excited about his new elected office.

Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, however, did put a disgraceful twist on what he called the spiritual struggle he says is occurring today in these United States.

He sought to compare it to — get ready for it — the Holocaust.

http://www.texasobserver.org/new-senator-charles-perry-living-holocaust-ii/

Yeah, that Holocaust. The one that killed 6 million Jews in Europe. The on-going event that destroyed families and was perpetrated by the 20th century’s most monstrous tyrant in an effort to exterminate an entire religious community.

I’m not at all sure what the new senator is trying to suggest, but drawing any comparison to what’s happening today to what occurred during Europe’s darkest time in the previous century is, shall we say, more than a stretch.

Perry won a special election after Bob Duncan left the Senate to become chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. Duncan, also a Republican, routinely was rated by observers as being among the Legislature’s most effective members. Texas Monthly routinely honored Duncan by placing him on its “Best Legislators” list.

Something tells me that Perry isn’t likely to join that list any time soon, if at all.

Here’s a taste of what he said after taking his oath:

“There were 10,000 people that were paraded into a medical office under the guise of a physical. As they stood with their back against the wall, they were executed with a bullet through the throat. Before they left, 10,000 people met their fate that way.”

Here’s more:

“Is it not the same than when our government continues to perpetuate laws that lead citizens away from God? The only difference is that the fraud of the Germans was more immediate and whereas the fraud of today’s government will not be exposed until the final days and will have eternal-lasting effects.”

This is like the Holocaust? Nope.

national news, political news

Even worse than White House fence-jumper

Good grief! The more I hear about this one, the worse it gets for the Secret Service.

And this case is far worse than some guy jumping the White House fence and bursting into the president’s residence.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/30/politics/obama-cdc-security-breach/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

It turns out that a convicted felon, carrying a firearm, rode an elevator with President Obama while the president as in Atlanta to speak to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How on God’s Earth does someone with a criminal record, packing heat, walk aboard an elevator with the Leader of the Free World without the Secret Service knowing it?

What’s more, the Secret Service didn’t even tell the president about it until several days later.

I’m more glad than ever that Julia Pierson quit today as head of the security agency.

More heads ought to roll before this matter shakes out.

national news, political news

It's still the People's House

Julia Pierson is gone from her job as head of the Secret Service.

She’d come in to change the culture of an agency beset by scandals involving agents consorting with hookers. Now, though, she’s resigned, the person responsible for a new scandal involving the protection of the White House, where the president and his family live.

A man jumped the fence and got into the mansion, running past and/or through several perimeters. What’s more, now we have learned that an armed man masquerading as a security guard at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rode an elevator with President Obama.

OK, so now we’re searching for a new permanent director of the agency charged with protecting the president.

What’s next for security at the White House?

Here’s my suggestion for what should not happen at the People’s House: Do not lock the place down and make it next to impossible for tourists to walk through it and enjoy the majesty of the place.

The knee-jerk reaction is predictable. Some might want to essentially shut down the White House to the public. They’ll suggest searching tourists as they enter the place. One thing that can be done easily is to boost the height of the fences surrounding the White House. That’ll get done; no problem there.

Let us remember, as Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson noted this afternoon, the White House is a symbol of First Amendment guarantees, where people can assemble and perhaps ask questions of their head of state — the president — on questions that concern them.

Shutting the White House off from the people to whom the house belongs would be the wrong course as this necessary review of security takes hold.

national news

Pierson quits; good deal

Bragging is so unbecoming, so I won’t go there.

About an hour ago, I posted a blog that said Secret Service director Julia Pierson needed to quit her job in the wake of the abject failure of her agency’s White House security detail to protect the place that houses the president of the United States and his family. An obviously disturbed Iraq War veteran stormed onto the White House lawn, ran into the front door of the building and then got deep into the structure before being restrained.

Just a few minutes ago, CNN reported that Pierson has resigned.

She’d been grilled intensely by House Democrats and Republicans. Her answers were insufficient.

Now it’s time to fix the problems that created this mess in the first place.

See the earlier blog post:

https://highplainsblogger.com/2014/10/01/piersons-days-at-secret-service-appear-to-be-over/

national news, political news

Pierson's days at Secret Service appear to be over

1 Comment

Given the mile-wide partisan rift between Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, it’s really saying something when politicians on both sides of the aisle sound as one in their outrage at a leading public official.

Secret Service director Julia Pierson got the grilling of her life Tuesday from the U.S. House Government Oversight and Reform Committee.

She had it coming.

http://time.com/3452979/secret-service-white-house-fence-jumper-nancy-pelosi/

Now we hear from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the chief Democrat in the House, saying Pierson should quit.

Why? It’s on her watch that some serious security glitches have occurred at the White House, the most notable of which is the one involving Omar Gonzalez, who raced across the White House lawn, broke into the building and then got deep inside the mansion after rushing through five levels of security. He finally was subdued.

Pierson got the treatment from committee Democrats and Republicans, all of whom spoke with equal outrage over the security detail’s failure to prevent the intruder from entering the White House.

That the first family was not in the house doesn’t matter. The intruder got past security in broad daylight.

Pierson didn’t help herself any with her non-answers to some quite specific questions about the breach in security.

If I were a betting man, I’d put some money on Pierson leaving this job in fairly short order.

Then we can get some needed changes installed at the Secret Service.

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