Wading In

Three deaths of notable persons all resonated with me. The passing of former President Gerald Ford resonates with me because he was the first president I was aware of. When I was a kid, I remember there was stuff on TV about Watergate and I had no idea what a Watergate was. I was only like 7 years old. But I remember Ford being president. For some reason, my brother Orvis had a big poster of President Ford. At some point, he was going to throw it away and I asked him if I could have it. Gerald Ford was my introduction to politics. I was young but was fully aware of the 1976 election of Jimmy Carter. I was sad that Ford lost. So how much did I really know about him at the time or Republicans in general? Not much. I knew he was a Republican. I knew he hadn’t been elected. And he was the first president I’d ever known. One could say that poster of Gerald Ford got me hooked on politics. As I grew older, I grew appreciative of Ford’s role in limiting the damage to government in par...

The Iraqi High Tribunal appellate court upheld Saddam Hussein’s death sentence and stated that it must be carried out within 30 days. What are they thinking? The solution to the whole Iraq mess is right in their hands and they’re about to squander it. It’s obvious that George W. Bush stepped in Shiite when he chose to invade Iraq . It’s been a basketcase ever since. Looting, shooting, IEDs and maimings, as well as a US death toll greater than 9/11 has proven the mission was never accomplished there. The solution is simple. We say, “Oops! We had no idea y’all were so dysfunctional. Our bad.” And we put Saddam back in charge and bring our troops home. What have we been trying Saddam for anyway? Killing his own people back in the 80’s? C’mon, we didn’t care at the time. Have those people’s lives suddenly acquired meaning to us? We’ve stood by while African nations have hacked themselves to pieces. Surely we can turn a blind eye while Saddam straig...

Column originally published 12-28-06 Obama's book offers a new perspective While watching Barack Hussein Obama's electrifying keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention, I, like many Americans, thought I was witnessing the future first black president. After reading Obama's bestselling book, "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," I'm convinced. This week a poll from the Concord (N.H.) Monitor showed Sen. Barack Obama tied with Sen. Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical match up in the Democratic primary. Polls also showed Obama beating Sen. John McCain and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani in a general election. Of course, 2008 is a long way away and frontrunners like McCain in 2000 and Howard Dean in 2004 often go nowhere. But setting aside the presidential hype, "The Audacity of Hope" is a good read at this time in our history. However, Democrats or liberals hoping to find a tome full of red meat wit...

Barack Obama recognizes that his popularity right now is mainly fueled by his being a stand-in. He's the embodiment of hope. If you ask even passionate supporters of Barack Obama what his position on CAFTA, social security reform, Medicare reform, taxes, or American foreign policy was, they probably couldn't tell you. They're responding to a gut reaction. I'm not saying it's invalid. But even Obama recognizes that he's riding a wave of hope. He brings a history of bridging gaps and compromising. Being a fierce partisan satisfies your base but it doesn't get anything done. Obama is untainted by Washington. His relative inexperience means he's also inexperienced at corruption and selling out. His history is compelling and he's a brilliant man. In the book, he relates this story of a black Illinois State Senate colleague (let's call him Frank) who is blasting the Senate on a matter of race. A white colleague of Obama's tells Barack, "Yo...

THE RIDICULOUS CHRISTMAS DEBATE Time to "wade in" to the Christmas culture war. Can’t we just stop this whole Christmas vs. holiday nonsense? The article in today’s DR about how local schools handle Christmas made me want to hurl. Let me show you how absurd it is. Did you hear about the Christmas tree fiasco at the Seattle Airport? The Seattle airport has had Christmas trees in the terminals at Christmas time for years. Now a Rabbi complained saying he wanted a menorah on display or else he was going to sue. The airport removed the trees. They put them back after a public outcry. Religious folks are claiming it as a victory for religious Christmas celebrations because the trees are back. Excuse me, it’s a victory for secular Christmas. A Rabbi wanted to include a religious item alongside secular Christmas trees. We’ve got school principals who get nervous when a parent shows up dressed as Santa Claus? Why? Perhaps he or she is worried about violating the se...

My mother's house was recently sold. It was what she wanted and what all the boys agreed to do following her death. At the same time, it's difficult saying goodbye to the family home. There's so much history within those walls. It's hard to imagine another family living in our rooms, cooking in our kitchen and eating in our dining room. Someone will make memories of their own in that space. I wanted to take a look back at the house and the family that resided in it. Times have indeed changed. I'll miss it.

Originally published 12-21-06 Saying 'good-bye' to the family home By Kelvin Wade It’s the end of an era this holiday season. Our late mother’s house, the Wade family home, has been sold. This will be the last Christmas at the Wade compound. We moved to Fairfield in 1976. This four bedroom, two bath house with a massive backyard was the first home we’d owned, having lived in navy housing on both coasts until then. The new owners might wonder what that huge concrete patio is for in the backyard. It used to be the basketball court where I spent countless hours schooling my brothers and our dad in the art of hoops. The new owners should be thankful the 3 feet of chicken wire no longer rides atop the side fence. Our dad installed the eyesore to prevent Tony’s bricked basketballs from bouncing over the neighbor’s fence. It was in this house that countless games of Spades, dominos, Monopoly, chess, checkers, Risk, Balderdash, Scattergories a...

It wouldn't come this week. Sometimes I have weeks where nothing interests me. No topics. It's frustrating but I don't panic. I pride myself on the fact that I've never missed a deadline in 14 years of writing my column. This week, I dusted off something I wrote a couple months ago. I've been waiting for the right time to run it. I like it and I think it's amusing. It centers on a horrible crime that took place at my house. I'm not going to give too much away because I think you should experience it the way it was originally intended. Also, I had a little to say about one of the stranger aspects of a new Wal-Mart being located in Fairfield. And I think, if you look, you might see something I wrote about an incident involving a mall Santa Claus in Fairfield. Take a deep breath. Enjoy...

Originally published Thursday, December 14, 2006 Murderous rumblings in the home By Kelvin Wade It was a horrific crime. I'm a seasoned investigator of these types of homicides, but even I was shaken by what I saw. The body was found wrapped in a blanket on the bed in my spare bedroom. The blonde girl was nude, and she had no arms or legs. On the back of her head was the marking "2002 TM R & C" and on her back was simply the word, "CHINA." I recovered a shredded skirt and a tattered jean jacket nearby. I left the scene and spoke with a 9-year-old girl (name withheld). She identified the body only as "Cloe." So as of now, she's known as Cloe Doe. The witness appeared a bit unnerved by the fate of her friend but answered my questions. She'd last seen Cloe days before her disappearance. They'd been playing together. When I asked her if she knew anyone who'd want to harm her, she answered, "Theo." She told me that he ...

WAL-MART'S SECRETS ON COMPETING WITH WAL-MART As part of the deal that brings a Wal-Mart Supercenter to the old Mission Village site, Wal-Mart has to sponsor two seminars to teach local businesses how to compete with a big box retailer. The City Council is proud of this requirement. It’s like requiring the San Diego Chargers to hold practices to teach opponents how to compete against them. C’mon, what incentive would they have to actually impart useful information to the other teams? (Of course they could give the Oakland Raiders their entire playbook, snap counts, hand signs and game plan and the Raiders would still find a way to lose by two touchdowns. I say this as a 30 year Raider fan!) Having Wal-Mart hold these seminars is an interesting little concession on their part. The fact that they’re so eager to do it might make me a wee bit suspicious if I were a retailer on N. Texas St. It’s like the heavyweight champion of the world training his opponent for an u...

What the heck was going through the mind of the man playing Santa Claus at the Cherry Hill Photo booth at the Solano mall in Fairfield? Did you read about this story? The Santa asked a black woman if she’d be offended if he called her a “picaninny”. When she said she would, he asked her, “What about a coon?” The insulted woman went to management and the Santa was fired on the spot. Later this genius wrote to his manager that he didn’t intend for the questions to be offensive. That could be. Maybe the fellow didn’t have any African-American friends to ask. Perhaps he had no access to dictionaries or the internet to divine the derogatory nature of the words. Perhaps he’d been living under a rock or was new to our planet. I say this because this fellow apparently couldn’t think of anywhere else to obtain the answers to these burning questions except while on the job talking to a stranger while dressed as Santa Claus. Now it would’ve really been something if he’d asked these questions ...

Fairfield council OK's plan for Wal-Mart By Daily Republic staff FAIRFIELD - The Fairfield City Council reversed a Planning Commission decision early today, paving the way for Wal-Mart to build a supercenter at the Mission Village shopping center. The 5-0 vote came at about 1 a.m., following six hours of debate and discussion. In November, the Planning Commission turned down the application, but the retail giant appealed the decision to the council. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I'm glad Wal-Mart was approved. Unanimously even. Fairfield needs this. Cheap bastards everywhere need it. If they'd voted this down, I would've excoriated them next week. I would've filleted them.

This week I wrote about an incident that happened with the Fairfield Suisun Unified School District school board. Don't roll your eyes yet. It's not that boring. At a meeting, the Superintendent showed a risque' picture on an overhead projector as an icebreaker. It didn't go over that well. I wanted to comment on it. Also, I wrote about the Bush presidential library. Did you hear about this story? George W. Bush wants to raise a half a billion dollars for a presidential library. I couldn't resist. I had to go after him on something like this. My punching bag in my garage is broken so he'll do.

Originally published 12-7-06 An innocent mistake by Carter Sparks may fly at tonight's school board meeting centering on the joke that Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter unveiled at an administrative meeting last week. At the meeting of 65 administrators, Carter showed a picture of something purported to be the "Swiss Army knife of sex toys." It featured a sex toy that could be used as a cell phone, lipstick, nail file and even delivered a tampon. Carter intended it to be a humorous icebreaker. But in the aftermath, it seems it broke ice like the Titanic. Carter has since apologized to anyone offended by the picture. Fliers featuring the picture and calling for Carter's dismissal have been distributed throughout the community. Who knows how many outraged (or feigning outrage) teachers and parents will show up at the meeting? I look at it like this: Almost every day most of us receive forwarded e-mails with humorous content. We often forward these e-mails to peopl...

Last week, I read something truly hilarious. George W. Bush hopes to raise five hundred million dollars for a presidential library. He also wants to open a conservative think tank at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. The idea of a George W. Bush library is like a Martin Luther King military base or the Michael Richards-Mel Gibson School of Tolerance. The editors of Webster’s dictionary are probably amending the definition of oxymoron as you read this to include “George W. Bush library” as an example. I’ve been trying to figure out what would be in this President’s library. Of course, Bush’s library would not be complete without a copy of Siegfried Engelmann and Elaine C. Bruner’s Reading Mastery II Storybook 1 featuring the presidentially endorsed story, “The Pet Goat.” A friend suggested that among the presidential papers in his archives there should be coloring books, copies of Mad magazine and perhaps connect-the-dot books. (...

Since the middle of June I've had the opportunity to take care of my girlfriend's grandkids, Lauryn, 9, and Kawika, almost 2. It's been quite the experience. Sometimes it's been hard....wanting my privacy, wanting some adult conversation, stretching my patience thin. But it's been rewarding, too. And for the first time I believe I could've done this. I could have done the daddy thing had I decided to go that route in life. It's a huge task and I can see why weak souls run out on it (not that I condone it). It's hard being consistent. It's hard alwyas doing the right thing. It takes strength to discipline. I can't say that it hurts me more than it does them but kids don't realize that you'd much rather be having fun with your kids than scolding them. I realize that parents want to give their kids everything and I don't think the kids even realize that. It's hard for parents to have to say no. At least it's hard for me sometime...

Hello there. This week's column is on Wal-Mart. More specifically, the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter for Fairfield. The City Council has given no indication of how they will vote and I want to keep the pressure on. In any debate about Wal-Mart, there's always talk of traffic, pollution, noise and the crushing effect it will have on other businesses. This effect on other businesses we used to call capitalism and the marketplace, but now we want to artificially protect mom and pop stores from competition. Look, I get it. I used to rent movies from a nice little video rental store called Popcorn Video. It was great. They didn't used computers to track movies. If you were late with a movie, half the time they didn't charge you anything (unless someone wanted the movie). A Hollywood Video moved in across the street and Popcorn Video couldn't compete. I miss that little store but do I hate the bigger selection offered by Hollywood Video? No. I know Wal-Mart is a ruthless ...

Column originally published 11-30-06 A couple of years ago I walked into my pharmacy expecting to pick up a prescription for an antibiotic. I found out that the antibiotic wasn't in the insurance company's formulary chart and would require prior authorization. The pharmacist told me I could buy the pills out of my own pocket. How much? I don't recall the exact dollar amount the pharmacist said, but I do remember breaking out into a cold sweat and could hear muffled screaming coming from my wallet in my pocket. Expensive prescription drugs are something that most everyone can relate to. Along comes Wal-Mart to save the day. This week, the retailing giant expanded its $4 generic prescription drug program to California. The retailer will offer a 30-day supply of a generic drug for $4. They offer 331 generic drugs and 14 of the top 20 prescribed medications in the country are on the list. So now Fairfielders will be able to save money on those hefty prescription drug bill...

THE N-WORD AND THE DEATH OF DECENCY In the aftermath of Michael Richards’ shouting of the N word onstage at hecklers at a SoCal comedy club, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rep. Maxine Waters (D) and others are urging rap and hip hop artists to stop using the racial epithet. It’s puzzling to me why Michael Richards’ outburst is the catalyst for this new campaign, but I can’t object to anyone trying to get people to be more responsible. But let’s be clear about black folks using the N word. If I hear another white person say, “How come it’s OK if a black person uses the word and not a white person?” I think I’m going to go Ike Turner on someone. This isn’t hard to understand. The gay cast of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” has no trouble using an offensive term for gays in the title but probably would object to someone angrily calling them a queer on the street. Ronald Reagan sometimes put Irish jokes in his speeches, something he got away with because of his Irish ancest...

I hope everyone has a wonderful day today. Enjoy friends and family and plenty of good food. My column this week isn't the usual Thanksgiving column. There was just too much I wanted to say on current events this year. Plus, if you read down past this week's column, you'll find additional thoughts on O.J. Simpson. Now enjoy that dinner but don't eat a hound's bait and a dog's farewell. That's a sin, as my mother would say. Happy Thanksgiving.

Column Originally Published Thanksgiving Day 2006 Richards' rant reveals an ugly side By Kelvin Wade Michael Richards' meltdown on a Laugh Factory stage last weekend where he spewed the N word at black hecklers and made reference to lynching is but the latest in what I refer to as talking while under the influence of stupidity. Richards' apology on the David Letterman show was painful to watch. It conveyed his embarrassment and shame regarding his coarse behavior. But then he uttered the dreaded words "I'm not a racist." Mel Gibson belched up similar words when he proclaimed he wasn't an anti-Semite after making anti-Semitic remarks. It was reminiscent of when newly installed Republican Minority Whip Trent Lott informed us he wasn't a bigot after making bigoted remarks at a birthday party for Strom Thurmond. Virginia Senate loser George Allen swore he wasn't a bigot after using bigoted language during his campaign. Please. Yo...

THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS ON O.J. SIMPSON Thanksgiving usually marks my rather fluffy Thanksgiving column. But this year, there were two juicy topics I had to comment on. If I saved them for next week, they would’ve been long past their expiration date. But no fear, my column and blog will surely see plenty of mindless fluff in the future. For now, I give you these remarks on the now canceled O.J. Simpson book and interview. News Corp, the parent company of Fox, scraped together enough shame to cancel the O.J. Simpson “If I Did It” television interview and book. Of course the project was in poor taste. How does O.J. Simpson, a man walking around free who butchered two people, not do anything in poor taste? There’s no way O.J. could satisfy the majority of the American public unless he darn near cut his own head off. Still, I’m sorry that Fox folded under the pressure. There have always been projects steeped in controversy that caused a public uproar. “The Reagans” and “...

I've remodeled the blog. I figured it was time to give it a new look. Same content, though. Just my musings and columns all day long. Enjoy.

Okay, so I'm writing about Wal-Mart again this week. I can't believe how much I've written about and supported this store. Some people think I have stock in Wal-Mart or something. If I did, would I be so bold about supporting them? No, the truth is simpler than that. I'm a CHEAP BASTARD. Wal-Mart goes to the trouble of giving jobs to Asian toddlers to produce goods that I can buy at a fraction of the cost of an American made product. I know....globalization is evil. Wal-Mart is evil. They're the phantom menace. I know they're accelerating our decline as a superpower. I imagine some huge rapidly expanding open air bazaar which got its cheap goods made from slaves and barbarians called Wal-Maximus is probably the true reason the Roman Empire fell. But whatever... If I can buy a case of soda for $3.98, I'll risk the death of the republic. Mission Village has sat vacant for like 9 years. It's an old rotting strip mall. Boarded up buildings. Fairfield needs t...

Originally published 11-16-06 Fairfield a loser without supercenter By Kelvin Wade Not many things cause my jaw to drop. Stepping on the scale, the play of the Oakland Raiders offense, some of the things in the Borat movie come to mind. But when I read that the Fairfield Planning Commission rejected the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter at Mission Village, I felt my chin touch the floor. While I'm not going to question the integrity of the members who voted against the project, I do think they owed the community a fuller explanation of why they voted no. But the ball is in the Fairfield City Council's court now and hopefully they'll do the right thing for Fairfield. To be honest, I was a bit concerned when I read that the commission received 40 replies about the supercenter and they were mostly negative. Whenever public input is requested for any project in town, the response is anemic. Most of us can't be bothered to write a letter, make a call or show up for a me...

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to it's true principles . It is true that in the mean time we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war & long oppressions of enormous public debt. " ----Thomas Jefferson I love it. I love it. What a great week. To see the Dems take over Congress, Bush get chastised and Rumsfeld get the boot? It's delicious. It's about checks and balances and accountability. The President is not an Emperor. And for too long, a Republican Congress was more concerned about money and lobbying than carrying out their constitutionally mandated duty to provide a check on the executive branch. That's all changed now. Let the investigations begin. I'm not vindictive. But Congress needs to investigate a variety of things to ensure that the Constitution hasn't been violated and that our in...

Column originally published 11-9-06 Democrats owe a lot to the GOP By Kelvin Wade What an ignominious fall. The national Republican Party should receive the newly minted Foley-Haggard Award for self-immolation. The Democrats took back the House and probably the Senate in what President Bush described as a “thumpin’.” President Bush spoke Wednesday but all I could hear was, “Quack, quack, quack!” from this lame duck. While his words were congratulatory and conciliatory, his tone was defiant. And borrowing from the Dixie Chicks, I don’t know if after years of one party rule the Democrats are “ready to make nice.” The election finally forced the President to sack Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Eight retired generals had called for his resignation. Contrary to Bush’s praise, it’s been obvious that Rumsfeld has done a lousy job handling both Afghanistan and Iraq. Bob Woodward’s excellent “State of Denial” paints Rumsfeld as a deeply resented mi...

This week's column is certainly provocative. However, it may seem familiar. I reworked something I'd written before and posted to this blog. I'd debated whether or not to go with the column and decided to recently. It retains the flavor of the original. No, it didn't pass through my editor's hands without a nip or tuck. But I'm satisfied for the most part with the result.

Column originally published 11-2-06 The Right to Revolt By Kelvin Wade "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. ... what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?" -- Thomas Jefferson Fourteen-year-old Sacramentan Julia Wilson received worldwide attention last month when Secret Service agents pulled her out of class for questioning about an anti-Bush MySpace page she'd set up with the words, "Kill Bush" on it. Her passion about politics crossed the line into what could be construed as a threat. But didn't Jefferson muse about toppling our leadership in the above quote? And doesn't the Declaration of Independence say that the government is formed by the consent of the governed to promote life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and goes on to say, "Éwhenever any form of government becomes destr...

This week’s column began life over a month ago. The first incarnations I discussed with friends who advised me not to pursue it. I was struck by the percentage of Americans who genuinely believe that the President had something to do with 9/11. Anyone reading this knows that I disagree with President Bush on most things, but I think it’s crazy to think he had anything to do with 9/11. But many believe it. And I was thinking that if you really believed the President would do something like that, then you’d have to want to see him overthrown by any means necessary. And I thought about all of the changes our country has been through since 9/11. I disagree with many of those changes. So I wrote this column speculating about what could be done about such a regime that would lead us down this sordid path as a nation. Friends warned me not to do the column for fear that the Secret Service would be knocking on my door thinking I was some kind of threat. Then the girl in Sacramento w...

My column this week is on the proposed Wal-Mart supercenter in Fairfield. The city is coming closer and closer to approving the project, which I think is vital to Fairfield. I've had a couple people ask me if I was affiliated with Wal-Mart in any way because of the columns I've written supporting a Wal-Mart at the Mission Village site. The implication is that I couldn't possibly have come to the conclusion that a Wal-Mart supercenter would be good for Fairfield on my own. I must be on the take. Well, no. I have no connection to Wal-Mart. In fact, I've had my difficulties with them and boycotted the Chadbourne store for six months and encouraged my friends to do so after an incident where I felt I was treated unfairly. So, it's not as though I love Wal-Mart. I've seen Robert Greenwald's documentary, The High Cost of Low Price. I've visited anti-Wal-Mart websites. But Fairfield passing on a supercenter is not going to hurt Wal-Mart. But it w...

Column published 10-26-06 Wal-Mart Supercenter a good deal By Kelvin Wade The final Wal-Mart Supercenter study has been released with minor alterations. The gist of the report is that potential problems would be manageable. The Fairfield Planning Commission recommends the city back the proposal. (Insert applause here.) While there has been some opposition, most of the issues raised have been addressed. What are left are the professional Wal-Mart haters, who see the company as an evil empire that pays its employees Malaysian wages, fattens the Medi-Cal rolls, buys products made by Chinese toddlers and kicks puppies for good measure. Fairfield resident Judith Kahle stated the opposition viewpoint well in a letter to the editor this week. Kahle thinks the city should require Wal-Mart to offer a living wage and health benefits. Do other employers have to offer a "living wage" and benefits? Is that what local businesses want, more regulation? And why single o...

Please continue reading past the column this week. I have more musings on the election. And beyond that, for the first time, I present a rough draft of a column idea I've been working on for some time. It's about regime change here in America. It's a little controversial. I hope it gives you food for thought.

Printed on: Thu, Oct 19, 2006 Here's my picks on election day By Kelvin Wade Here are my picks for the 2006 election. If you're stumped and don't know how to vote, just memorize this column. Or better yet, clip it and put it in your purse or wallet. Measure J is a keeper. It's not by accident that Solano County cities are separated by rolling hills and large stretches of greenbelt. We've chosen not to look like a homogenous interconnected suburban wasteland. And while I have qualms about doing anything other than a mortgage for 30 years, Measure J will help keep sprawl to a minimum and allow growth (like a new Wal-Mart supercenter in Fairfield) within city limits. As for the propositions, 1A is a yes. It limits the government's ability to raid transportation taxes. You can be assured that the taxes you pay at the pump go to the projects they're supposed to. As for 1B, 1C, and 1D, they're all lovely ideas. Who wouldn't want bette...

I'm torn about the whole proposititon thing. I understand it's a great tool for the public to have. If our issues or needs aren't being addressed by our representatives, we the people can petition to have our issues voted on by the general public. It's democracy in its purest form. By the same token, we have representatives for a reason....to represent us. And if they're not addressing our needs, we should vote them out of office. Many of the propositions on the ballot every election are too arcane for the public to follow. And of course, half of the problem is that most voters don't take the time to read the propositions. So they make this huge decision based on a thirty second TV ad. Like I wrote this week, the propositions were hard calls. Who wouldn't want better infrastructure, schools and housing for the disadvantaged? Those are all worthy causes. But I think with California in the shape we're in, it's best if we don't mak...

The following is not a column that appeared in print in any newspaper. It, however, is one that I wanted to run but chose not to. I've been advised by a couple of people not to run the column. I realize some may misconstrue it into thinking I'm advocating the assassination of the President. I'm exploring why a young girl or anyone for that matter, could think the union is so threatened by the current direction of the country, that they might believe extreme action should be taken. Or at least...extreme rhetoric in order to wake the masses. I'm presenting it here in my forum. If you don't hear from me again, check Gitmo. Or maybe I've been rendered to a Middle East country for torture. For the record, I don't want the President assassinated. I do want the regime held accountable for the havoc they've wrought.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. ... what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. " -- Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787 14 year old Sacramento resident Julia Wilson received worldwide attention last week when Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security agents pulled her out of her high school for questioning about an anti-Bush MySpace page she’d set up with the words, “Kill Bush” on it. Her passion about politics crossed the line into what could be construed as a threat. But didn’t Jefferson muse about toppling our leadership in the above quote? And doesn’t the Declaration of Independence say that the government is formed by the consent of the governed to promote life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and goes on to say, “…that whenever any form of government become...