Splitting Hairs

There seems to be some confusion, on this Memorial Day, about just what we as a nation should be recognizing. In the past several days, I have seen many shameless promotions of public "shout-outs" to "our service men and women, past, present, and future"...wait, what? In my opinion, Memorial Day is to honor those that served our country and gave the greatest sacrifice; not to be confused with Veteran's Day, which honors all that serve in the military. If I'm misunderstanding this concept, then feel welcome to correct me. I have never served in the military, but I would like to think that, if I had, I would not associate myself with Memorial Day -- it should be reserved for those brave soldiers that didn't make it back home. I hope you have a safe and restful holiday, and remember those that have fallen in honor of defending our country. I leave you with the following D-Day prayer from FDR (thanks to MND Commentary):
"June 6, 1944

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them--help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen."

The Trouble With Tiger

Well, it seems that the news about Tiger's marriage is dark, indeed. Looks more and more like his wife is about to file for divorce (if she hasn't already). Granted, from this POV, it looked inevitable, given the level of infidelity and questionable characters he was tied to during his many dalliances. As this celebrity soap opera unfolds, I am reminded of those days when it was announced he was going to marry -- many prognosticators, both professional and amateur, were surprised by the news and were wondering if he was going too fast, too soon. Now, if he was happy with it all at the time, then I was in full support of the decision, but I still had to question why he felt it was so important to do it so soon. I remember reading about Jack Nicklaus' family and how they were "challenged" by his career while he was rising to the top, and that was in the 50's and 60's, not nearly the small fishbowl that the world is now. I always wondered if Tiger took the time to look at how other champions fared in their early years, so as to maybe learn from their mistakes. Doesn't seem like he did -- or maybe he felt he was above it all and could ride through it better than they did. As Tiger rose to prominence, his world was getting larger and he was exposed to many, many distractions, both on and off the course. The off-course distractions are nothing new, really -- every professional sports era has had their own Jezebels or other vices that would take down many potential stars. Case in Point (albeit fictional) is one of my favorite movies, "The Natural": rising star, kid out of nowhere, huge upside, brought down by a mystery woman because the straight-arrow kid took an uncharacteristic step outside the lines and suffered the consequences. If I was lucky enough to have a beer with Tiger, off camera, off the record, I would ask him: "why get married so soon? Everyone knew you had all the potential to break -- no, shatter -- the existing records and forever be remembered as the Greatest Of All Time, and you could have easily done that in the prime of your life, giving you plenty of quality years (and quality money) to live out the rest of your life...what's the rush"? Tiger fell victim to one of the classic blunders of all time -- besides "never get in a land war in Asia" -- he thought he was invincible and could do it all. We see how he just loved to get his freak on, and there are many women in the world who have many talents and are "programmed" to excel at it; it's just too bad his inner circle was not strong enough to help him and guide him through it. I don't know if Tiger will ever survive this meltdown. Sports History is littered with many stars that hit their peak and then fell just as fast because they made a huge mistake in their personal lives, and it took a huge sacrifice to make it all the way back, but they lost their youth, they lost their energy, they lost their innocence, and worst of all, they lost their fan's allegiance. Good Luck, Tiger, in your comeback, but I'll be honest: As a Phil Mickelson fan from Day One (and that means the ASU days), I don't wish you too much luck. More importantly, as a fellow Dad, I hope you make it right for your kids from now till the end. You will find the true meaning of "blood is thicker than water", and your focus should be all on your kids. You can't do much with your wife anymore, you've already burned that bridge and you'll find that if you spend so much time and energy repairing that bridge, you'll be taking energy away from the time with your kids and your career. But what do I know...

You've got questions...

Larry in Liberalville: I have a problem with Arizona's new law about immigrants. I think it's racist and demeaning, and there's no place for it. I don't like the idea of LEOs having the right to pull anyone over just because they match a certain profile. I support the sports teams that are doing their part to protest this, too.
PA: First, let me start by saying I have never been in support of any discrimination, for any reason, and I believe that people should not be held back just because of Race, Color, Creed, National Origin or Sexual Orientation (to name a few), but hold the phone, Larry. Did you take the time to fully look in to the issue that brought AZ to this conclusion? Did you actually read the legislation? Did you see the explanation of Reasonable Suspicion that AZ LEOs must abide by in order to move on this legislation? If not, here it is, and after you read it, let me know if you think it's fair:

"Reasonable suspicion is someone who is approached by an officer of the law because they have committed a traffic violation or are involved in or in the vicinity of a crime. If an officer questions someone (and they always ask for ID when they question a witness, suspect, etc.) and they lack proper ID (drivers license, state ID card, Social Security card, SOMETHING) then they are suspect of being in this country illegally. This isn't just aimed towards latinos. It would involve ANY citizen. In this day and age you have to have ID. Who can function in this world of debit cards without an ID? Who can operate a car without an ID? Who can get a job without an ID? If you are legal....you would have ID.

There will be no gestapo raids, no roadblocks, no ratially-motivated shake downs. The officers of this state will go about their regular patrols and now they will have the ability to detain persons suspected of being in this country illegally. They will be suspected of this because they cannot produce ID. If I get pulled over without a license I fully expect to get in some trouble. If I give them my name they will be able to pull up a computer-version of my ID which would verify who I am.

This law will not become active until (at least) this summer. All officers in the State of Arizona will undergo proper training regarding how to carry out this new law. I have every confidence that they will be able to carry out their duties without stepping on too many toes. Did you know a lot of police offiers in this state are BROWN? Did you know that a lot of them SUPPORT this law because they see the crime that occurs within the latino communities...illegal on legal. It isn't just the "whitey" that wants this law supported. A lot of latinos are tired of the violence, crime and "line jumping" that the illegals are participating in." Credit is given to an AZ local group for posting this information.

There you have it, Larry. And I see that AZ has since tweaked the bill to the point that LEOs cannot move forward unless a crime or violation has been committed. Sounds fair to me -- does it to you? What strikes me as funny is the number of people that are quick to support the other side, without having any vested interest in it. Before jumping to conclusions, why don't you talk to the BP agents that patrol the border on a regular basis -- I guarantee you would find out things that would blow your mind and question why something hasn't been done before now, either on the state or (especially) the Federal level. Also, how about talking to people that have lost loved ones because of home invasions (many in broad daylight, and in AZ, the daylight is very bright) -- did you know that Phoenix leads the nation in kidnappings? Why do you think that is? Having lived in Phoenix metro for 22 years, I believe that I can emphasize with the locals that are being inundated with illegal immigration of criminals and other people of suspect backgrounds, and there's not enouogh help to support the good guys. You can't really be taken seriously until you see both sides of the issue, up close and first-hand. I respect all sides, and I am thankful that people are so serious about this issue; all I ask is that you take an equal look at the cause before you spout off about the effect.