Forward Observation Post – Vermillion

Views and Vents from the Frontline of the Culture War

Archive for September, 2009

Polanski in the News

Sep 30

Posted by FOPVermillion in General | No Comments

It surprises me at how much controversy there is over Roman Polanski’s arrest in Switzerland earlier this week.  The guy plead guilty and fled the country before sentencing.  It seems pretty straightforward to me.  If you are a fugitive, when you get caught, you go to jail.  Just because you evade getting caught for a long time doesn’t mean you should be allowed to avoid your sentence in my book.

Now for the details of the case this is all new to me since Roman has been on the run for most of my life.  Fortunately, Patterico has done excellent work laying out the case and filling in his readers on all the details (Part 1 and Part 2).  Even though this is not part of his work for the District Attorney’s Office, he knows the details that many have forgotten over time.

I have read more of the ongoing debate, but the important part which are the facts.  Roman committed a crime (rape of a minor in addition to other charges), plea bargained down, PLEAD GUILTY, fled the country prior to sentencing, and is now caught and faces jail time.  Sounds like Roman needs to go to jail and based on the crime, I will not feel bad if they throw on some extra days for his 30-year run from justice.

- FOP Vermillion

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Good News on Another Set Back

Sep 29

Posted by FOPVermillion in Politics | No Comments

Good news.  The Senate Finance Committee has voted down the public option in their version of the health care reform bill.  This is certainly progress.   Knowing the majorities are there in the House and Senate and how much time and energy the President has invested, it is an uphill battle to slow down this takeover  attempt of one-sixth of the U. S. economy.  The more I see, the more hope I have that this legislation will die.  Time is on our side.  I expect that the elections in November could go poorly for the Democrats.  If that is the case, the fervor for passing legislation that is unpopular with VOTERS will be dampened.

Let’s hope for continued cold showers and cold feet on the the major legislative initiatives for this year.  Remember, when it comes to Congress, gridlock is our friend.

- FOP Vermillion

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Opening the Lock Box

Sep 27

Posted by FOPVermillion in Economy, Politics | No Comments

I saw this article about Social Security having problems because of the economy.  The points about cash flow and how people are dealing with being laid off are all reasonable and I will not argue them.

However, I have real problems with how the writer glossed over the issue of receipts being less than payments in the next two years.

The deficits — $10 billion in 2010 and $9 billion in 2011 — won’t affect payments to retirees because Social Security has accumulated surpluses from previous years totaling $2.5 trillion. But they will add to the overall federal deficit.

Sounds good, right?  If Social Security was a business that had $2.5 trillion in investments to draw on when things are tough it would be no big deal.  The thing is this is the government and not a business.  There is no savings, no surplus, and no Al Gore lock box where money is kept for a rainy day.  Next year and the year after that we will spend $19 billion more than we make.  That means that unless Congress runs a surplus during these two years, we will add to the deficit every year we have to draw from the accumulated surpluses.

If we are honest about the accounting gimmicks, we have $2.5 trillion in debt that is getting ready to be called in as people retire.  We are in a difficult position and pretending we have until 2037 when the “surplus” runs out to solve the problem is not productive.  Denial is a time honored political strategy when it comes to the third rail but we do not have eighteen years to come up with the ideal solution.

I do not expect we will have a solution right away especially considering the failure of the Bush Administration’s attempt to change Social Security.  However, we do need to be honest about the situation we are in and point out misrepresentation in the press and elsewhere when we see it.

- FOP Vermillion

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In Their Own Words

Sep 26

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I came across this interview by Hannity of these two protesters at the G20 meeting this week in Pittsburgh and I just wanted to scream at the screen.  They seem like nice women but they are awfully sheltered.

I have problems with their views at several points through the piece.  Some of the more memorable points were:

  • They won’t condemn the violence.  They would not participate but they don’t think it is wrong (at least no more wrong than the war on terror).
  • All the wealth should be collected through a “tax” and we all would get about $44,000 each, or almost $200,000 for a family of four.
  • It’s not fair to have to pay for medical care.
  • People don’t need to be able to earn more than $500,000 a year.

It saddens me that these two who are well educated, one is working on her PhD., have so little respect for achievement and ownership.  I don’t want to put words in their mouths so I allow the video to speak for itself.

- FOP Vermillion

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Injustice or Measured Response

Sep 26

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I think it is interesting that the protesters are complaining that the police were very active in deploying non-lethal force this week at the G20 conference in Pittsburgh.  The complaint is that the police overreacted when the actual violence was happening somewhere else.  Now I am sure non-lethal force is no fun to be on the receiving end, and the protesters didn’t like it.  I am sure they would have preferred for law enforcement to stand on the sidelines and let things go until events got out-of-hand.  The problem is this was not some random protest on Main Street USA.  It was a protest at the G20 and there is some history there.  If you asked me to free associate and gave me the word G20, I would respond withe either protests or riots.  The wackos out there use the G7/8/20 meetings as an excuse to riot and cause significant damage in the host city.  At this point, they have been so successful in demonstrating, but not so much in communicating, that I am very familiar with the results but not what they actually want.   Knowing this, if I was a leader at a city and offered to host one of these events, I would try to find an honorable way out and leave the headache to someone else.  With that in mind, I can’t blame the Pittsburgh police for being quick to employ non-lethal force.  When you know things will escalate quickly, people will get seriously hurt and significant property damage is likely, it is a good idea to act at the first sign of problems.

I would also like to see some more ownership from the leaders of the protests.  There are ways they can try to get their message out there without violence always erupting.  Also, if they helped turn in those who were trying to cause trouble, it would go a long way towards lowering the intensity of the response of the government.  If the police KNEW that any violent elements inside the group would be expelled and dealt with, there might be less riot gear in sight and more cooperation.  The response is proportional to the action.  Orderly and peaceful protests normally go the entire protest without the single use of a bean bag or flash-bang grenade.  Maybe the question should be asked, “What are we doing to cause this?” rather than complaining about the impact on civil liberties by the response.

- FOP Vermillion

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Even a Blind Mouse…

Sep 25

Posted by FOPVermillion in General | No Comments

…finds some cheese every now and then.  I was checking out the news and I saw an article at BigGovernment.com and I made the shocking discovery that I agreed with the French.  While President Obama is trying to make the world safer by disarming everyone, President Sarkozy is actually warning that we need to be living in the “real world”.  This is an amazing turn of events that the French are being tougher and more realistic than we are, which makes me shudder.   To be fair, it is easy to bash the French but they do tend to take action when needed.  They just are more selfish about the timing than many of our other partners in the world.

Given the news that Iran has another nuclear site reinforces that people determined to get weapons will find a way and convincing others we will be nice is not going to change the way things are.

Viva la France! (Or at least Sarkozy)

- FOP Vermillion

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Sarah Palin Speaks in Hong Kong

Sep 23

Posted by FOPVermillion in Politics | No Comments

It was interesting to see the news today about Sarah Palin speaking at a CLSA event in Hong Kong.  Drudge linked to three articles here, here, and here that while they all discussed the same event, the versions were very different.  It sounds like the speech itself was fairly moderate with nothing that I saw as overly controversial.

I am a Palin supporter from the 2008 campaign so I admit I am biased.  I think what I read was a good start and it is going to help her standing with conservatives who may have been concerned she was lacking experience and gravitas.

Good start.  Keep it up Sarah and I may be on the 2012 bandwagon.

- FOP Vermillion

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Love Fest at the U. N.

Sep 23

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I have an overall low view of the U. N. in general since it is mainly a forum for corrupt governments to strut their stuff on the world stage and bash the United States.  Of course, the U. N. is also home to the oil for food scandal and somehow has human rights abusers sitting on the human rights counsel.  So with all this in mind, the love fest we witnessed today with Obama’s visit was very disturbing.  I think the “leaders” at the U. N. have low character so when they think the president is the best thing to ever happen to American politics, it is not a good thing.

Remember our president is the one who wants to be judged by the company he keeps.

- FOP Vermillion

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Apocalypse……. Coming Soon! Part 3

Sep 22

Posted by FOPVermillion in Apocalypse . . . Coming Soon, Environment | No Comments

“Time is running out.”  “irreversible catastrophe”

Could we have more drama about the end of the world?  The president goes to the U. N. and we have more hype about global warming.  Can we have some science to go along with all the end of the world talk?  Let’s take some time to actually understand what is going on before we make changes that will undermine the global economy for the sake of a “theory” that is quickly becoming proven false.

- FOP Vermillion

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Save Lives and Walk Away

Sep 22

Posted by FOPVermillion in General, Millitary, War on Terror | No Comments

The word continues to leak out that General McChrystal will be asking for approximately 40,000 additional troops in Afghanistan to successfully complete the mission and make sure that it is no longer a haven for Al-quaida to try and kill us.  At the same time, the White House continues to stall for time not wanting to address what they referred to as “the real war”.  Due to frustration with the pace of support, friends of the general have leaked that he will resign if he does not get what he needs rather than be set up to fail (my words not his).

I am glad general McChrystal is sticking by his guns and demanding what he needs and I believe the mission in Afghanistan is the right one.  We need to help make the region safer, kill those who would try to kill us, and build a better image of the US in the area.  If we will not stand up for ourselves, who will?

However, based on the administrations current stance, please do us all a favor and PULL OUT THE TROOPS.  I would willingly put my life on the line for our country and to take up the cause for freedom and lives will be lost in the cause.  If the prize is worth it, we will make the sacrifice.  I suspect that this is not the attitude of our current leadership and it is just a matter of time before they find a reason to pull the troops and come home.  Well I don’t want to see a repeat of Somolia where we see dead American soldiers in the streets and then we pull up and go home.  If you don’t have the spine or stomach to do what needs to be done and commit the blood and treasure required to win, pull out.

Do everyone a favor and be honest with yourself and us and get out and save countless lives.

- FOP Vermillion

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