[COLUMN] Labor unions: United, they continue their fall
If last week's silly strike against General Motors Corp. taught us anything, it was that the era of unionized auto manufacturing has outlived its purpose.Today's United Auto Workers union is nothing but a dinosaur about to implode because of its self-indulgent and irrational behavior. Union negotiators, indeed, most union members, seem to have lost touch with economic reality. They have taken a shortsighted approach, concerned only with how fat their wallets are today, ignoring the ever-growing possibility they will be collecting unemployment in the future because they have destroyed the American auto industry.
The facts are simple.
General Motors continues to lose market share and in the last two years has seen losses of more than $12 billion. GM already pays workers $73.26 an hour in wages and benefits, making for an estimated $25-per-hour labor cost gap between GM and Japanese automakers with U.S. factories.
Still, its workers decided to shut down the factories like the little child who took his ball and went home.
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Free speech means free speech
It's refreshing to hear someone defend free speech, even when such speech is going to be universally despised. Columbia University's Latin American historian and acting dean of the University's School of International and Public Affairs, John Coatsworth, told Fox News that Adolph Hitler would have been invited to speak at Columbia, if he were willing to engage in a public interrogation of his position. Those who criticize the university's decision to allow Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak today at the university are striking at the heart of freedom. It appears to me that perhaps they fear his words and have no confidence in their own. There is nothing Ahmadinejad can say that those in attendance at the forum will be unable to respond to and show the fallacy of Ahmadinejad's beliefs.
I also find it distressing that New York City officials are trying to prevent him from visiting Ground Zero. Let him see it. He can cause no harm. We should not engage in petty little games. That is merely stooping to his level.
Hat tip to: Cliopatria blog at George Mason University's History News Network.
[COLUMN] Black leaders lack moral clarity
I am referring to the spectacle in Jena, La., last week.
In case you had something more important to do than read about Jackson and Sharpton - you know, like watching grass grow or anything else that does not involve listening to a couple of hypocritical blowhards - I will quickly recap the events for you.
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[Column] Arguing wrong points on Iraq
With all the attention last week on the Iraq War, thanks to the long-awaited congressional hearings on the progress of the war, it became abundantly obvious that Americans, as they do on most issues, are arguing the wrong points.
It was clear from the questioning of Army Gen. David H. Petraeus by members of the Congress as well as the debate on the blogs and on talk radio that Americans seem fixated on the question of whether the administration's policy in Iraq was achieving some level of success.
However, the level of success in Iraq is irrelevant in considering whether the occupation should continue. Still, that seems to be the benchmark by which many are basing their arguments in favor of continuing our illegal, immoral and unjust occupation of Iraq.
So let's briefly consider what Petraeus and other supporters of the occupation are claiming.
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Only thing worse than Republicans are Democrats
The Democratic Party has jumped into bed with Moveon.org. While the Republicans are bad for America, the Democrats are much worse. Remember this when you go to the polls next year.
Something fun for you
Just found this. Not sure why I found it humorous. Hopefully you will too.
Life's demands interferring with blogging
Sorry if I have been less than active on the blog the last couple of weeks. I have been working to strike a balance between law school, work, drive time (three hours a day to and from Toledo) family time, fun time (not that family time is not fun time), me time and all the other demands on my life. I think I am finally settling into a routine.
The hardest part has been organizing my school work because I have not been in a classroom in 15 years. I think I am finally getting a grip on that. I had to purchase a new laptop for the cause, though, because my old one, which has literally been through war with me, was not up to the task. Hopefully, with the laptop and with having my classes organized and my routine settled, I should be back on track with more active blogging. The wireless card in this laptop is so much better at finding and connecting to networks than my old card. Ironically, though, I can't connect to the wireless network at work. Odd. I think it is a Vista issue, but our intrepid tech guru seems to think it is a driver issue. He assures me he is researching the issue and I am confident he will resolve that issue so I can do more school work in the breakroom at work while I am on my lunch break.
Thanks for bearing with me! 
[COLUMN] The real tragedy of Sept 11: U.S. reaction
U.S. government photograph
This week, the nation will mark the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist acts on American soil. More importantly, September will be a month in which the nation will be focused on the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars as well as the war against terrorists.
As the nation pauses to reflect on the last six years, we should hang our heads in shame.
America was dealt a tragic blow on that fateful Tuesday morning. That much is certain. However, how we as a people have dealt with that tragedy will forever be a black mark in the annals of history.
Following the attack, we rightly invaded Afghanistan.
According to the Department of Defense, 372 U.S. military personnel have been killed in and around Afghanistan as of Sept. 1. While every life is precious, that is certainly an acceptable figure from a military standpoint in conquering a nation the size of Afghanistan. That is fewer than were killed in the liberation of Kuwait in 1990-91.
Because the Afghan government allowed the terrorists to attack us from its soil, it was properly held accountable for the attack against the United States. While we toppled the government, we have still not found the man responsible for the attacks and we continue to run into opposition from the Taliban, the former rulers of that country.
Then came Iraq.
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Cronyism destroyed Bush’s legacy
Bartcop.com
In politics, loyalty is fleeting, usually.
That is, for the most part, a good thing because unwavering loyalty can be a dangerous thing in a free society.
Let’s take by way of an example former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. His unwavering loyalty to President Bush bordered on the obscene.
Some of the legal claims put forth by Gonzales as a way to defend Bush’s illegal and unconstitutional actions were simply ridiculous. His legal analyses of things like search warrants, habeas corpus, domestic spying, the power of the executive branch to wage war, separation of powers, etc., are about as compelling and convincing as that of a first-year law student’s. Using his logic, American freedom exists only on the benevolence of the Oval Office and the White House has the fundamental power to restrict liberties at will.
That is certainly a position at odds with the intent of the Founders.
Let’s face it; Gonzales was not driven out of office because he fired a few federal prosecutors. He was driven from office because he put his loyalty to the president above his duty to the U.S. Constitution. Bush once considered this man for a possible seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Thank Providence that did not happen. Can you imagine the state of American jurisprudence with Gonzales sitting in Washington, D.C., as one of the nine robes? I shudder at the thought.
Don’t forget that it was Gonzales, in 1996, who managed to keep Bush from serving on a jury in a drunken-driving case. This action kept Bush from having to tell the court about his own 1976 drunken-driving arrest, which remained a secret from the public until November 2000.
Gonzales is just one outward sign of the disease that infects this administration.
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