Dear President Obama, the loss of Glen Doherty’s life is not a fake scandal, America doesn’t take it lightly

Glen Doherty

The President referred to scandals that are plaguing his administration as “fake scandals" in his speech the other day”…As if by denigrating them; they will lose their gravity and importance.

But many Americans are incensed by the cuffing aside by the President, to what they believe are attacks on the very foundation of what our country stands for.

Using powerful and feared tools of the government to attack political opponents is a gross abuse of power by the executive branch. 

As each day rolls by, it is becoming evident the IRS was unleashed on groups and individuals that politically oppose the President.  Evidence so far goes right up to the White House’s political appointees having full knowledge of this abuse.

The wiretapping and snooping of email accounts by the Justice Department of members of the press who write unfriendly pieces about the administration, is an astounding abuse of power and the Attorney General still has not been held accountable for this.

There are many other scandals simmering and being dragged out because the administration fights investigators trying to get to the truth…every step of the way.

But what is particularly galling to many Americans, is President Obama’s brushing aside the tragic death and injury of Americans during the attack on our consulate in Benghazi Libya.

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No, these deaths and injuries are not just a “fake scandal” and cannot be swept under the rug. 

America wants answers as to why Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith and Ambassador Stevens were killed that night in Benghazi. 

Americans want to know exactly how many Americans were wounded as a result of this attack and simply, what are their names?  Even that information is being withheld from the public. Why are you forcing everyone connected with the attack to sign non disclosure agreements?

Glen Doherty’s friends and family loved him and miss him very much and want to know why he heroically gave his life. A new video with him in it was just released to the public by his family... Perhaps this will personalize it for you Mr. President.  See the video courtesy of Fox News.

Something smells bad in Benghazi Mr. President…Step up and be a leader, give us the truth, don’t hide behind underlings, executive privilege and the letter of the law.  We demand answers and so do the family members of the dead and wounded.

Detroit finally runs out of other people’s money

Bob Beckel, one of the lefties in the Fox News stable of political pundits, has slowly and grudgingly evolved to accept a harsh reality-Utopian, liberal, social engineering doesn’t always work.

Shockingly on the popular Fox news show “The Five,” Beckel admitted that well intentioned social welfare programs instigated during the 60's, have created generations of dependent welfare families. The head of household is big daddy government; the real fathers are nowhere to be found.

Welcome to reality Mr. Beckel, you are a perfect example of how long it takes for sunshine to penetrate concrete. In your case is it too soon old and too late smart? 

Beckel has been intertwined in shaping left wing social welfare policy using terms such as “social justice” during a long career as a political consultant. He was even the campaign chairman of the failed 1984 Walter Mondale presidential run.

When liberals like Beckel start to see the light at the end of their tunnel, they are just scraping the surface and aren’t quite realizing that light is a speeding train heading their way, fueled on bloated runaway government programs…from social welfare to corporate welfare and every entitlement program in between.

But let’s not expect overnight miracles out of folks who have invested their entire life in a failed ideology. Beckels admission is an important step in his path to his/our recovery; we must measure in terms of progress, not expect perfection.

So it was no surprise as Detroit announced it was filing for bankruptcy, Bob Beckels knee jerk reaction, was a call for the federal government to bail them out of their 18 billion dollar debt. Detroit has been spending 100 million more per year than it takes in. Beckel and people like him default to the bail out in order to avoid the inevitable crash of socialism vs. economic reality…..

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Perhaps this hits too close to home for him, since Detroit is the epitome of union control, one party rule that fosters corruption…. and the bottomless pit of every social welfare program dreamed up by utopians in Washington DC, since the 1960’s.

Even Joe Biden was uncharacteristically tongue tied and not able to give a coherent answer when asked about Detroit’s announced bankruptcy; he momentarily had the deer caught in the headlights look as cameras focused in on him….Because this flies in the face of every finger pointing speech he lectured us about how the Obama administrations policies work.

Unfortunately, the failed economic model that Detroit represents is not unique to American cities and states AND our out of control federal government.

Their day of reckoning will come as bondholders refuse to finance debt that just covers operating expenses of bloated/corrupt and inefficient governments.  These same governments maintain untenable union contracts with benefits…..Many cities/states pay one active workforce and three retired workforces with lifetime benefits not dreamed of in the private sector.

As Margaret Thatcher once said “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."

That harsh reality comes when investors no longer want to buy your debt at artificially low interest rates and then problems get compounded when investors don't want to buy your debt, no matter what the interest rate.

Tim Donnelly, the man who would be California’s Governor, talks immigration and the failed state on our border

Tim Donnelly, the man who could be California's next Governor

Tim Donnelly is the California Assemblyman representing the 33^rd district, which includes the town of Hesperia.  The 33^rd District is close to the border with Mexico and is in the cross hairs of illegal immigration. Tim is nationally known and has announced his intent to seek the GOP nomination for Governor of California, America’s most populous state.

Tim was recently featured on the popular John Stossel program that airs on Fox News.  Tim was interviewed as he guided Stossels investigative reporter Kennedy, along the porous border between Mexico and the US.

Some of the sections they toured showed gaping holes in a flimsy border fence, while other sections had no fence at all, leaving uninterrupted human highways entering the US.

I had the pleasure to talk to Tim about his thoughts on the pending immigration bill in Washington and what he would do if he had the opportunity to “fix” our immigration system.

On the Senate Immigration bill:

The issue is too complex and immense, this bill is too huge to try to tackle it….it’s like the 2,700 page Obamacare law. But we’ve missed an opportunity to fix key areas of borders and immigration because of this.

Border security:

 First we have to understand that Mexico is a failed state.  Due to corruption and the breakdown of the rule of law, the great country of Mexico is being destroyed.

Estimates of deaths in Mexico due to drug wars are 70-100 thousand, but no one really knows.  Compare this death toll to the Syrian civil war that has gotten the worlds attention.

Mexican drug cartels launder money in our country through legitimate business fronts then use it to pay off politicians on both sides of the border to look the other way….We need to discuss a way to take the profit out of this by the possible decriminalization of recreational use of some drugs.

But drugs and people seeking a better life in the USA are not the only ones crossing our borders, human traffickers bring over young girls to be immersed in drug addiction and to be exploited in the sex trades.

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I also disagree with the US governments estimate that only 11 million illegals are in the US.  I think we have 11 million in California alone.  The Mexican government as well as the Catholic diocese, both know more about this issue than anyone else… They estimate there are between 30 and 40 million illegals in the US.

We need to take the incentive away from entering our country illegally: No benefits! No jobs, no free money- education- food or medical care for those that come here illegally. 

Erect physical barriers wherever they make sense along our border and make sure illegals don’t build it.  Let border agents determine where these barriers should be built…Not bureaucrats in Washington.

If we don’t control our borders and our immigration, pretty soon folks coming here will come to a country just as failed and corrupt as the one they left.

Start a guest worker program

  

We need some sort of guest worker program.  If you want to seasonally come here and work, no problem, but we’re not supporting your family.  We should allow in workers only and not their families, to fill in the gaps of labor that Americans cannot fill

Of course this goes hand in hand with reforming our culture.  Our social safety net has been turned into a hammock in many cases, with long term unemployment and benefits actually incentivizing Americans not to work.  The situation needs to be turned around to where it pays more to have a job than it does to stay home collecting benefits from the government.

We are not creating a new pathway to citizenship

We already have a pathway to citizenship, it has a few glitches, but we can work it out.  Changes in the system could include not kicking out foreign students after they earn their PHD’s in science, etc.  Let them stay here and contribute to our society, let us get a return on our educational investment by letting them create jobs and wealth.

Transfer our immigration policy into a win/win situation for us and new immigrants.  Let us base our decisions on who is allowed in by what is in our national interests. Do not allow in anyone from countries that hate us and want to kill us…No more from areas like the Boston bombers came from.

Target the needs of vital industries when we consider new immigrants. Focus on industries that make our country strong and competitive.

E Pluribus Unum

America has been great because it assimilates cultures from all over the world.  I want everyone that wants to become an American citizen to cherish that citizenship.  It is a privilege to be an American and it comes with a lot of responsibilities.

Be an active citizen, learn our language and culture.  America doesn’t need to replace its culture, this one has worked well.

We still like to think President Kennedy had it right when he said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” That also means no public charge for anyone that immigrates here. Work and support yourself, America needs contributors, not more on the dole.

We can do this

We’re Americans; we’re like no one on the face of the earth.  We’re the ones everyone wants to be…Even the ones that hate us.

You can listen to Tim's speech on immigration here

Win lose or draw, Zimmerman trial exposes the failure of law enforcement to protect us from crime

When you get run over by a freight train, the cause of death is usually delivered by the locomotive…Not the caboose.

The rainy night of February 26, in Sanford Florida, Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman, neighborhood watch captain for the Twin Lakes community.  Zimmerman is the figurative caboose in the tragic tale in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

The Twin Lakes neighborhood that George Zimmerman became neighborhood watch captain had suffered eight burglaries plus other crimes, in the 15 months prior to Trayvon Martin's shooting.

One of the burglaries was a brazen, horrific day time break in to the home of Olivia Bertalan who was alone with her infant as two men broke in and ransacked her home, while she and her baby huddled in terror in a bedroom.  The two criminals left with her valuables before police arrived.

This was the final straw for citizens in the community and it was decided to organize a Neighborhood Watch because police were not preventing the crime being inflicted on them.  So the community resorted to tactics to try to defend themselves.

Perhaps if the Sanford Police Department had more resources, it could have sent extra patrols to the Twin lakes community and focused on crime abatement…Rather than citizens taking it upon themselves to enhance their protection.

The saying when danger is seconds away, the police are just minutes away, could not have been any more evident as the Twin lakes community was assailed by crime.  Time after time police came after the crime was committed; to take reports and statements….But this did nothing to prevent the crime in the first place.

The Zimmerman trial spotlighted detective work, forensic experts, medical examiners and skilled attorneys trying to persuade a jury of George Zimmerman’s guilt or innocence in the death of Trayvon Martin.

Perhaps what should be on trial is how law enforcement failed to protect the Twin Lakes community from crime in the first place and why certain steps weren’t followed by law enforcement to help the community to protect itself…The legal system turned on this community and George Zimmerman for only trying to defend themselves from crime: Zimmerman is on trial for his freedom and the Twin Lakes community had to pay a one million dollar judgement

The freight train that killed Trayvon Martin that night was the legal systems failure to protect citizens from crime.  George Zimmerman and the Twin Lakes community were only the caboose in that long train of events.

 

Michael Lohan interview-opens up about his daughter Lindsay and their battle with addiction

Lindsay and Michael Lohan

When you hear the name Lohan, you think celebrity and celebrity rehab in the same instant.  Michael Lohan’s long struggle with substance abuse has been public and painful for himself as well as his family.  It contributed to his stint in prison and helped lead to the dissolution of his marriage.

As if to magnify the  havoc addiction can wreak on a family, his daughter Lindsay has followed in her father’s footsteps of addiction to drugs and alcohol. 

The talented actress has damaged her promising movie career and her reputation, with many public and embarrassing moments over the years.  Some of this behavior has lead to legal troubles and jail time…..she is presently in court ordered rehab at Cliffside Malibu.

Following his 2011 stint on TV as a patient in Dr. Drew Pinsky’s Celebrity Rehab, Michael says he’s done a lot of reflecting.  He realized in his explosive last episode, that a switch of anger had been turned on by the dysfunction of his relationship with his girlfriend Kim.  This lead to an emotional shouting match and confrontation on television…Michael was ultimately jailed for domestic abuse following another argument with Kim after release from Celebrity Rehab. At the time Dr. Drew called his relationship with Kim, “toxic.” See Dr. Drew calls it quits in "Hollywoodite"

Michael and girlfriend Kim

Michael says he’s now clean and sober, working with others to promote a way, for not only celebrities to seek treatment for their addictions, but for those in all walks of life.  He is actively working with the Lukens Institute, expanding their services through A.I.R., Aid in Recovery. 

Recently Michael met and befriended the “Tan Mom,” Patricia Krentcil and helped her into rehab.  Known for her leathery skin due to her addiction to the tanning booth, Krentcil gained national infamy for supposedly dragging her 5 year old daughter into the booth as well, trying to tint daughter like mother.  She was subsequently arrested for child endangerment and was just recently reported to be in rehab for alcohol addiction. See catching up with Tan Mom

As I talked with Michael, the conversation easily flowed,  he was especially animated about how the Lukens Institute focuses on treating the trauma in an addict’s life. “People need to get to the root of their problems before they can address their other problems.” “They treat the trauma first, not just putting a band aid on the wound.” People have a switch that can be triggered by their trauma and it can lead them back to their addictions. 

Michaels divorce from his wife Dina inflicted a great trauma on his children, including Lindsay and that can be hard to heal. He feels that has played a role in Lindsay’s struggles with drugs and alcohol and the divorce was particularly hard on Lindsay, impacting her as the eldest child.

Lindsay Lohan

But those hurts can be healed, as Michael shared:

“People don’t realize I now have a great loving relationship with my kids including Lindsay” and “I’m the only one Lindsay wanted to have visit while she was staying at the Betty Ford Rehab Center.” She stayed at Betty Ford prior to being moved to her present facility, Cliffside Malibu.  Michael said he is happy she is as Cliffside because they treat the trauma that is at the root of addiction.

Michael is hoping his daughter will get the treatment she needs at her present facility….But grim statistics show that many thousands of people die from the epidemic of addiction in our country 

I asked Dr. William Hanna, Clinical Director at the highly rated west coast addiction treatment facility called Reflections, to offer an opinion, regarding trauma being at the root of addiction:

“It has become apparent that this increasingly undeniable recognition, on the part of myself as therapist, clinician, and clinical director; has propelled me to assist hundreds of individuals through "trauma-work".

“Once the traumatic genesis of symptoms has been established, then the meaningful psychotherapy begins.  In trauma-work, the therapist's presence is ideally that of an authentically-interested and involved and utterly reliable witness who is able to willingly hear, absorb, and accept profoundly-impactful, emotion-laden, and frequently disturbing information about the life of the resident.  Therapy for the trauma client must take place in a context of safety and trust in which the resident feels free to engage in unrestricted memory and affective experiences.  Under these conditions the trauma client is much more likely to be revealing and willing to participate in the process of disclosing, healing, and recovery.  Louise McCallion, Executive Director and myself  have carefully and strategically chosen Reflections' "clinical team", in order for us to be professionally-competent and significantly-empathic to do the deep work that we are known for.” For more from Dr. Hanna at Reflections, click here

Celebrities like the Lohans can be ridiculed for their public meltdowns and failures, but more than likely if they weren’t under the influence of their addictions to drugs and alcohol, none of that behavior would have occurred. 

Very few addicts get the national exposure the Lohans attract and perhaps through their public ordeals, there can be some triumphs that can help lead others to a new way of living.

72 shot, 12 killed in Chicago over weekend, yet media obsesses on a plane crash in San Francisco where two die - VIDEO

12 people killed due to gun violence in Chicago this weekend

San Francisco International Airport  was ground zero for national media attention as it focused on a jet crash which claimed the lives of two passengers.  

Although the crash was spectacular and captivated our attention….The very fact only 2 people lost their lives in the fiery mishap should have been enough to realize many other weighty events were happening around the country.

Miracles happened that morning that prevented a far larger loss of life and averted tragedy of mass proportions….

Yet 2,000 miles away, far more Americans were losing their lives in horrendous violence plaguing one of our largest cities.

The miracles in San Francisco that prevented far more death, were absent on the mean streets of Chicago…and there are no breathless, glamorized national talking heads reporting on it.

Out of the headlines and buried on the back pages is the fact that over the 4th of July holiday, 72 American citizens were shot and 12 of them were killed in one violent city in America: Chicago, which is starting to be renamed “Chiraq” due to the violence.

President Obama said if only one child’s life was saved due to his proposed gun control mandates, then his efforts would be worth it.  But his hometown of Chicago is the poster child for strict gun control and has the same or worse statistics for violence as a war torn 3rd world country. 

Chicago: The most difficult city in the US for a law abiding citizen to legally own a firearm.  Yet criminals rule the streets having gunfights while innocent bystanders get shot in the crossfire.

Chicago:  Under one party rule for decades and the epicenter of gun violence.  Gun crime so horrendous it skews the nation’s violence statistics.

Yes the crash of the jet in San Francisco was a tragedy, but in the whole scheme of things, it was an extremely rare occurrence and the loss of life miniscule in comparison to the daily violent meat grinder of violence that the citizens of Chicago must suffer with.

It is time for the media to turn its priorities to what is at the core of this violence in one of our biggest cities.  Because taking away guns from law abiding American citizens is not the solution.

Chicago was awash in illegal money and violence after the government declared a war on alcohol during the Prohibition era …..Perhaps it is time to examine who profits from the governments “war on drugs” and who/what is behind that violence.

Democracy on display as millions of Egyptians celebrate 3rd of July with the ouster of President Morsi

With a solemn speech and flanked by scores of leaders, Egypt’s top General announced the military has peacefully removed President Morsi from power.

The announcement was greeted by thunderous cheers from millions in the streets of Egyptians major cities. Citizens were proclaiming they do not want sharia law and a Muslim religious state shoved down their throat…. but they do want a democratically elected secular government.  Many felt Morsi was chipping away at democratic freedoms and was steering Egypt towards a religious state.

The General claimed during his speech, the military had been trying to broker an agreement bringing all sides of Egypt's factions together to discuss a new government, but Morsi rejected these efforts.

As a result the military stepped in today to remove Morsi and appoint the Chief Justice of Egypt’s Supreme Court as interim leader until new elections can be held.

Since Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood have been in power, an undeclared war on Christianity has been waged forcing over 200,000 Coptic Christians to flee the country.

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Under Morsi, poverty has massively increased, murder and robbery have risen dramatically and the economy is in a death spiral….One of Egypt’s mainstays of its economy, tourism, has tanked because visitors were not safe.

Granted, Egypt’s economy wasn’t doing well when Morsi took over, but he took a bad economy and made it much worse increasing the suffering.

What we are witnessing is democracy in action at the most basic level…people taking to the streets to protest the way their government is working. It may not be pretty, but it is the catalyst that has established change throughout the world when a government does not respect the will of the people.

Lets hope that Egypt can take this opportunity to elect a government that is looking out for the best interests of the people, in a peaceful way.

On this July 4,perhaps the leaders in Washington can take a hint from the events in Egypt and listen to the growing chorus of voices who do not like the direction our country is being directed.