Monday, November 6, 2006

Random observations

• I have very little sympathy for Kyle Snyder, who went AWOL and was returned to his unit. He signed up to join the military in 2003, when it was clear that war with Iraq was imminent. It should be expected that when someone joins the military, he could be required to go into combat, and is honor-bound to obey that order.

• Former Democratic candidate for Congress Gretchen Clearwater showed class when she endorsed her 2006 primary opponent in a letter to the editor. Jerry Bales, meanwhile, showed a lack of class by giving a contribution to Patrick Stoffers. Stoffers just happens to be facing Jeff Ellington, who ended Bales' career in the Indiana House in a primary challenge eight years ago. Bales has again proven Republican voters primary were right when they fired him in 1998.

• I've had just about enough of the whining about Mike Sodrel's statement regarding the choices young people make about health care. The fact is that some young people do choose to go without health insurance in order to have more money in their pocket. Sodrel's plain-speaking demeanor may have ruffled a few overly sensitive feathers, but someone who tells the truth is exactly what we need in Washington. We have enough polished candidates who talk a lot and say nothing.

• As I have explained before, it matters a great deal who controls the leadership of the House and Senate. Electing a "conservative" Democrat (and many of the Democrats who claim to be "conservative" are anything but) is counterproductive if conservative legislation never gets a hearing while legislation advancing a Leftist agenda gets put on a fast track.

• Rita Drescher's November 5 letter to the editor was a common logical fallacy, but is a logical fallacy nonetheless. Whether someone personally signs up to fight a war has no logical bearing on whether going to war was a good idea or not.

• Baron Hill recently claimed that he was drafted by the New York Giants. That is not true; no record exists of Hill being drafted by the team. Baron Hill claims to have set the dash record while at Seymour High School, but that is not true either. Will Baron Hill say anything to get elected? Did he really think he would not be called on these falsehoods? No wonder Baron Hill invited disgraced ex-President Clinton to campaign for him.

• If Baron Hill is going to run on his athletic accomplishments, then all aspects of his career should be on the table. After all, character is far more relevant than whether or not someone is a good athlete. The New York Times reported that "Baron Hill, a former basketball player at Furman University, said today that while he was being recruited... he was given $1,000 by Joe Williams, who at the time was Furman's head coach. 'It probably tipped the scale somewhat,' Hill said."

• John Kerry made a joke early last week regarding getting "stuck in Iraq" that he claims was about President Bush. Kerry endured a firestorm of criticism for insulting the troops for two days, and then clarified that the joke was not directed at the troops. I find it hard to believe that the joke was really about Bush. If it was about Bush from the very beginning, why didn't Kerry clarify it as soon as the criticism started coming in? I cannot think of anyone who would not make that clarification given the heat Kerry was getting.