READING BETWEEN THE LINES

My views on some of this week’s news:

▪ Apparently, visiting with his mother in Williamsburg, VA, 120 days a year isn’t enough for John Hinckley, Jr. He’s waiting for the ruling for more free time from the judge who heard his plea in November.

A video has surfaced showing Junior strolling around Williamsburg. So many historic sites, so little time to see them all. So much for the not guilty by reason of insanity for shooting President Regan outside a DC hotel in 1981. He’s sane enough to want more freedom.

For now, he’ll have to settle for prowling around the grounds at Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington where he is “kept” when he’s not visiting his mom.

▪ The government is getting ripped of millions of dollars from food stamp recipients who are illegally selling their electronic benefits cards for cash—to those in the ‘Hood and online at eBay and Craigslist—and requesting replacement cards.

New rules of the game are being proposed by the Agriculture Department. The Department wants states to “demand formal explanations” from those who ask for replacement cards more than three times a year.

Consider it the equivalent of the Little League Mercy Rule, only in this case, it’s the taxpayer that’s being slaughtered rather than the team of thieves made up of the government-funded recipients of the food stamps and the smarmy retailers who swap cash for the cards. There’s also stealing among the thieves: store owners take a cut from each deal.

▪ Here’s another example of your tax dollars at work: Opportunity, NASA released a photo taken by Opportunity, it’s rover on Mars, took a photo of its shadow in March. NASA released it last week and the Associated Press playfully announced it.

It’s understandable. The little robot has been there since 2004, was in the same spot on the Red Planet for the last five months, and probably just wanted to send a postcard home. 

Twin robot, Spirit, stopped communicating with NASA in 2010. No official word on Spirit’s whereabouts or if the meter is still running.

Opportunity is moving on to explore more rocks and photo ops.

▪ Cattle call for Veep. Call 1 800 Please-pick-Me! Ask for Mitt.

▪ Obama’s campaign said Romney “is trying to move the goal posts” by reversing his position on unemployment”. Unfortunately, the defensive coach on Team Obama read the play wrong and dropped the ball by not getting the facts right.

▪ Mitt’s feeling mighty good about his chance to move to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  “Day One”, his new ad, outlines which Obama policies he’ll reverse first. No word on whether sour grapes will be planted in the Rose Garden as a memorial to Obama.

▪ No details have been released on the cause of the fire aboard the USS Miami, the nuclear-powered sub dry docked at Portsmouth for a 20-month makeover, and the investigation “will take some time” according to the commander of Submarine Group Two in Groton, CT, where the sub is based.

As soon as the smoke and noxious fumes clear, an assessment of the damage will be made. It’s likely the high priced repairs won’t be made to the 22-year-old attack sub, far from state-of-the-art, or that she’ll ever return to service.

The good news is that no one was injured, there’s little risk of another fire breaking out, and that no nuclear components were “threatened”.

▪ Lady Gaga honked off most of Thailand after tweeting about wanting to buy knockoffs from the seedy street vendors from her private jet as it cooled its engines on the runway.

She said, “I wanna get lost in a lady market and buy fake Rolex.”  Apparently, boasting about the sleazy underground shopping opportunities is frowned upon by the Thai. You can do it but you can’t talk about it. 

Despite the tweet tussle, Gaga was greeted by a screaming mob at the airport.

Wonder if she’ll come across any bootlegged Lady Gaga CDs while she’s at the illegal mall.

▪ I heard a few of Obama’s comments on Memorial Day before I could switch the channel. He was at Arlington National Cemetery talking about those who sacrificed their lives for this country “in every corner of the globe.” Someone needs to tell him the Earth is round.

▪ Did the Butler do it? Only the Pope and a flock of Cardinals know for now but the Holy See is about to part.

▪ So much news, so many signs of how close we are to the edge of the slippery slope, and so many people insisting that I “Have a Good Day!”

 June Smith is working diligently to raise one million dollars for the Ron Smith Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund at Johns Hopkins and is a columnist for Red Maryland. Her email is june@friendsofronsmith.com.

THOUGHTS ON MEMORIAL DAY

Remember when Memorial Day was celebrated on the 30^th day of May? The first Memorial Day was May 30, 1868, proclaimed by General John Logan, to commemorate fallen Civil War soldiers.

All Americans who have died serving this country are now honored annually on Memorial Day. It’s a federal holiday—debated, tinkered with, and voted upon. Thus, it is no longer observed on May 30; rather, on the last Monday of May.

As with the super-sizing of everything these days, it is now known as Memorial Day Weekend. Look for the auto maker's gigantic Tent Sale, or the Memorial Day Savings Sales, or the illegal fireworks distributor's tent—all celebrating. Sales end at 11:50 p.m. Monday, May 28, 2012. Void where prohibited, prices do not include taxes, titles, warranties, and any other after-tax-dollars that can be squeezed out of the buyers.

Other than the requisite photo op and video on the nightly news of the placing of a wreath on a grave or memorial by one of the people who keep the wars going, there are few formal observations of the meaning of this day.

I’m down with celebrating Memorial Day with a cookout for family and friends, the O’s game on in the background, and cold beer. At the very least, it is a gathering of family and friends, a rare thing for the busy men, women and children of America today.  And they are all tired. Have you noticed that? Everyone is tired all the time. But I digress...

Lots of flags are flying in this neighborhood. Banners drape from porches, and tiny replicas decorate gardens and driveways. They will all be put out again Independence Day and Labor Day, dates designated to be observed by the government.

I put mine on the mail box. The mailer carrier won't see it. She has the day off.

How ironic that the date of the day established to honor those who died in service to this country is determined by those elected by the many who serve the few after first serving themselves. Yet, the United States remains the greatest country in the world.

Let us all take a moment to remember the men and women who died fighting for our freedom—as well as those fighting on this day.

Now that Obama and his G8 pals have come up with a way to get out of the war in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the troops only have to keep fighting and dying for two years, seven months and six more days.

I pray there will be fewer dead from wars on foreign soil to commemorate on the last Monday in May, 2013.

Today’s guest columnist is The Honorable Andrew P. Napolitano, often a guest on Ron’s show. You can bet super producer Ryan would have had the Judge “booked” for Monday’s show.

What If We Have Only Memories of Freedom?

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano

What if Memorial Day reminds us of times when we had more freedom? What if freedom is dying right under our eyes? What if the memory of the past is more fulfilling than the reality of the present?

What if the federal government could write any law, regulate any behavior and tax any event, no matter what the Constitution authorized? What if the majority in Congress rejects the idea of limited government and views the Constitution as granting it blanket power to do whatever it can get away with? What if the constitutional prohibition on the government's taking of life, liberty or property without due process of law is only for show and is not for real?

What if the House of Representatives seriously considered letting the military lock up whatever Americans the president ordered the troops to arrest, without charges filed or lawyers present or a judge presiding? What if the House seriously debated this idea of indefinite military detention of Americans in America and actually voted in favor of it? What if this unconstitutional monstrosity becomes the law and your right to due process depends on whether you remain with the majority, stay silent or behave properly? What if the Constitution's guarantees are not guarantees at all, but are subject to the whims of whoever is in power?

What if the Declaration of Independence, which articulated the moral authority for the revolution against Great Britain, recognized that our rights come from our Creator and are inalienable? What if very few in government recognize the divine origin of human freedom and its natural integrity to our humanity?

What if the government only permitted freedom so long as it was exercised as the government pleases? What if the government rejected the basic values of every person's right to life and liberty and property in favor of some collective good, where the government could arrest you without evidence, ration your freedom to suit the general welfare and take your property from you and sell it at a profit?

What if the government could hire thugs to keep you safe? What if it gave the thugs uniforms and badges and sent them to airports? What if it gave them rubber gloves to wear and told them they could touch you and your children and your parents however and wherever they wished? What if these thugs touched the private parts of little babies and old ladies and intentionally restrained those who have criticized them while the rest of us just watched and let this happen?

What if the airlines did a better job of keeping their customers happy and their property safe than the thugs did? What if the government spent millions of your tax dollars to advertise what a great job it's doing? What if the government charged the airlines millions of their dollars for the illusory services these thugs are rendering? What if the government's thugs never caught a single bad guy intent on harming a flight in America? What if the government's thugs actually let weapons and bad guys onto planes because the thugs are dopes who have no competition, who can't be sued and who won't be fired?

What if the government found more dopes and dupes and convinced them that they should conspire to commit acts of terrorism? What if the idea for terrorist acts and the means for committing them came from the government? What if no real threats were involved in these games and no real weapons were used, just fake threats and fake weapons, fomented and provided by the government? What if the government created these phony crimes just so that it could solve them? What if no one was ever in danger from these government-created crimes, except those the government tricked? What if the government did this again and again and then boasted that it was keeping us safe from its own creations? What if Congress and the media and even the courts fell for this?

What if, on Memorial Day, we remember times that were more free than today? What if, on Memorial Day, when we think of those who died for our freedom, we end up recognizing that the freedom they died for is dying? What if it becomes fashionable for the government to ignore the Constitution? What if the Constitution dies because the government stops following it? What if, next Memorial Day, freedom is just a memory?

What do we do about it?

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano is the youngest life-tenured Superior Court judge in the history of the State of New Jersey. He sat on the bench from 1987 to 1995, during which time he presided over 150 jury trials and thousands of motions, sentencings and hearings. He taught constitutional law at Seton Hall Law School for 11 years, and he returned to private practice in 1995. Judge Napolitano began television work in the same year.

Courtesy of Townhall.

SOMETHING ELSE TO SAY

Thanks for the great response to the posting of the collection of Ron’s “Something to Say” commentaries. Each one is a gem.

If you have “Something to Say”, please do so. Email it to me (June@FriendsofRonSmith.com). Please include your name or “Ron Smith Show Caller I.D.” as in “Laney B from Parkton”—who is the first one with something to say.

I’ve taken the liberty of adding what Tony from Dallastown recently posted on the Talk About It page. He captured Ron’s “we’re all in this together” theme beautifully and I wanted to share it.

Laney B’s comments on urban wildlife:

Living in Fantasy Land

We live in rural northern Baltimore County.  There’s a reason for this. Though beautiful, quiet and pastoral, it’s also safe.  Safe to the point where if we forget to lock doors, we don’t jump up to turn the key, even at night.  In many ways it’s the type of secure feeling I had growing up until the age of seven-and-a-half in Baltimore City. 

In the over twelve years of living up here, I suppose I’ve ventured past the county-city line into Baltimore City fifty times or four, decimal something, times per year.  Each time I have, I’ve noted the general decay and listlessness that accompanies what I see.  Forlorn, empty buildings, sidewalks devoid of people, and the general look of something that gave up long ago is what greets me.

So when Delegate Patrick L. McDonough recently warned the public that Armageddon was near in the guise of gangs of black boys/men assaulting whites, alluding to the example of the St. Patrick’s Day 2012 beating of an innocent white man visiting from Arlington, VA, all one needs to do is contrast the city’s “renaissance” of the seventies and eighties when whites flocked to a revitalized downtown with the daily plagues of gang violence and rampant serious crime that is now Baltimore’s reality. It wouldn’t take sixteen federal studies to know that McDonough is right.

No sane person of any color who can leaves the city as soon as he or she is able to find a less threatening place to live, all the while proclaiming, “I don’t want to leave this garden of crime, dirt, dilapidated buildings, congregations of drug addicts and threatening gangs in Baltimore.”

This very red state - read: insane - with its Democrat base practicing a refutation of  reality for re-election and graft purposes refutes McDonough’s warning by way of that great leader of men, The Guv of Maryland, who snidely commented, "Delegate McDonough should come and visit [Baltimore] sometime. He might enjoy it." 

Fortunately, McDonough is rooted in the real and would only do so if he has a death wish.  As they say, ad nauseum, “I don’t think so.”

Laney B

Tony in Dallastown’s thoughts on all of us being in this together:

What it’s Really All About

I am not the smartest man in the world, but I am not dumb either. While enjoying Andy's finest BBQ on Sunday with Team Reason I managed to surround myself with some pretty dynamic women.

Getting to meet Dina and Tina was great. Having the opportunity to introduce my wife to Mrs. Reason was a true honor. All four of these women are strong, powerful, caring, intelligent and funny ladies. It would have been great to go meet some of the other men of the group, but I kind of liked my spot. We shared stories, we laughed, we were remorseful, but most of all, we got to know each other.

Isn't what this is all about? The friendships new and old, the compassion, the uniting for a cause as well as to support each other. I knew none of these people prior to Ron's passing. The only one I had ever met was wearing oversized shoes, an Oriole hat and batting gloves.

I imagine that Ron is immensely proud of Mrs. Reason and his friends who are looking out for her. True friends don't look for platitudes or recognition. Team Reason is such a group.

It is tempting to rant about everything that is wrong in Absurdistan, but we can also look at what is right. Team Reason is right, the Friends of Ron Smith is right. There are other groups as well, some more organized than others. Bottom line is that despite all of the garbage going on in the world, people are for the most part great. They care about others. They want the best for others. I choose to focus on that. Being associated with this group helps me do just that.

Be well friends.

Tony in Dallastown