This wonderful, rousing anthem  has been banned At Virginia Military Institute,  Ole Miss and even at the Citadel…..all over the south …because it was claimed to be offensive to those who suffer from  “false memory syndrome”. It  is rarely heard anymore at public gatherings, much less in political venues. 

Ah, but what sweet music to my ears and what a great intro to another good sense, no non-sense speech from Congressman Col. Allen West.  West spoke at the Palm Beach County Tax Day Tea Party event. He is running for office again. Only this time he is running for office in a newly created 18th district in Florida against Patrick Murphy  (D).

I have some serious qualms  with some of Col. West’s congressional votes and words on other issues and fronts. But I still enjoy this gentleman’s ability to convey American patriotism and strength and on this occasion, he demonstrated a willingness to flavor his speech with all the boldness and defiance of a true son of the south.

Video is a bit slow to load and you may only want to watch the first 2.25 minutes but it is typical Col. West. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_L-BGHQgac&hd=1

John Nolte has an excellent article over at Brietbart’s Big Journalism  excoriating the network’s targeting of George Zimmerman. While the print media has been a willing partner in the malicious characterization of Mr. Zimmerman, they are also busy painting the backdrop, setting the stage, adjusting the lighting to coordinate with the scripted liberal agenda.Yesterday’s article in the Christian Science Monitor is exemplary.

“Florida lawmakers opposed to Stand Your Ground have formed a task force to investigate the law following the killing of Trayvon Martin. Among its members are prosecutors, judges, and tourism officials.” By Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer / April 5, 2012  

“Thursday in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida lawmakers convened a task force to investigate the state’s first-in-the-nation Stand Your Ground law. Task force members include prosecutors, law enforcement officials, public defenders, judges, law professors, and state tourism officials.

The effort is led by state Sen. Chris Smith, a Democrat representing Fort Lauderdale. Sen. Smith opposed the 2005 legislation, and he faults Gov. Rick Scott (R) for not acting sooner in reexamining a law that has seen a tripling of instances in which justifiable homicide is successfully used as a defense in shooting cases.”

The article goes on to say,

“In addition to gun-rights advocates like the NRA, such laws are modeled and promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative nonprofit policy organization whose major funders include billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch.

That ALEC is behind laws like Stand Your Ground and efforts to restrict voter registration (neither of which has much to do with the organization’s stated pro-business agenda) apparently is making some members uneasy. On Monday, the Coca-Cola Co. withdrew its membership.”

Read more at http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0405/Trayvon-Martin-case-Inquiry-into-Stand-Your-Ground-law-launched-in-Florida

The Florida statute under discussion is very, very well written law. There is nothing “unclear” about the language except to those who are either illiterate or who willfully seek to obfuscate the meaning and intent as it is written. The increase in the number of cases where it has been “successfully” applied to protect the noncriminal citizen from severe bodily harm or death AND to further protect that citizen from criminal and civil liability demonstrates how badly the legislation was needed.

This, of course is a bane to the criminal element in society and their enablers. Of course they want the law changed, particularly the section that limits the chance to cash in on a civil law suit once criminal charges against the defendant have been dropped (or in this case may never materialize).

The politicians like Chris Smith of Ft. Lauderdale and the anti-gun lobby will predictably join lock-step with the other grievance mongers in a chain that stretches all the way to Washington, DC. They are the inevitable detritus seeking consumers that feed on incidents such as the Zimmerman/Martin case with necrophilic zeal. This very unofficial, ad hoc “Task Force” and their pronouncements, as cited in this very slanted article, have as much authority and legal influence as the New Black Panther Party’s demand for the “Dead or Alive” capture or kidnapping of George Zimmerman.

Surely the CSM author must know Florida’s state capitol, the venue for official legislative business, is in Tallahassee, not Ft. Lauderdale. But you and your employer are on a mission. Aren’t you, Mr. Knickerbocker? I must commend you, though. You managed to strike almost every note in the liberal, progressive hymnal by mentioning the NRA, ALEC, Koch brothers and Bill Clinton all in the same article. While decrying the level playing field and fighting chance for survival afforded to non-criminal citizens who dare to defend themselves from violent felons and their enablers, you even managed to insert your anti-voter ID agenda. That was a bit awkward. But no one can accuse you of failing to grub for that “A” in Political Propaganda 101, now can they?

Wasn’t there a time when the Monitor was regarded as a legitimate journal? Maybe. Or maybe that was simply a time that pre-dates new media pulling the scales off the eyes of its readers.

The opportunities to exploit manufactured rage are various and many. I’ve written numerous posts on other sites attempting to clarify misunderstandings and blatant misinformation concerning Florida law as it is applied in the Zimmerman/Martin case. I’ve also cautioned regarding the untenable consequences should Mr. Zimmerman be charged for mere political expediency by a cowed investigative team.

Many of the disconcerting features of this case have already been posted on this site. So I will limit my diary entry to one of the lesser discussed, though no less pernicious threats riding the coattails of this case. Please feel free to chime in.

Laws written to protect law abiding citizens are often regarded as unfair and in need of change by criminals as well as those entities which derive material gain from criminal/ illegal activity (lawyers, politicians, unions, universities to name a few examples).

The gun grabber brigade has been in concert with the professional race hustlers attacking the language of Florida law which protects the rights of the non-criminal who acts in self defense from BOTH CRIMINAL and CIVIL prosecution. To be sure Holder etal would gladly seize this opportunity to advance their anti-gun agenda (and hopefully distract from the blood on his own hands from Fast & Furious).

The fact is that, under the Florida law, Mr. Zimmerman is rightfully able to live as a free man …..
(except for the pronouncements from the POTUS, members of the CBC, most of the GOP candidates, the media, Holder’s NBPP and marauding bands of hoodied hooligans and their race riot ring masters who have tried and convicted Zimmerman and sentenced him to capture, dead or alive)…..

because there was no probable cause or evidence contrary to his claim of self defense. This is very vexing to the parenthetically listed parties. Because the written law trumps their mob rule mentality….they want the law changed.

The fact that FS 776.032 dampens the chances for the Martin family and their lawyers to cash in on a civil suit, if or when their intimidation tactics fail to bring Mr. Zimmerman up on criminal charges, they quite understandably are demanding that part of the law be struck down, too.

Shamefully, but not surprisingly, the National Black Law Student Associations at several university law schools are rallying with these demands.  A flyer from a south Florida law school’s BLSA is offering a free bus ride and distributing complimentary hoodies (on loan) to undergraduate students for some sort of demonstration in Sanford,FL  tomorrow, 3/2/2012. Their most unified battle cry, “Justice for Trayvon” and “Change the shoot first laws that allow his murderer to go free”.

One must ask, at what point in the law school curriculum do the tenets of American Criminal Justice system get introduced to these gullible student shills? Is there no faculty advisor/ mentor available to guide them into discussions regarding “due process”, “innocent til proven guilty”, the history, rationale and language of FS 776.012 – 776 .032? Having read the web page of this particular student organization at this particular south Florida university, perhaps their time would be better spent on remedial writing courses and English communication workshops. Never the less, these are society’s future legislators, community organizers, judges and media legal experts. Given the level of (mis)understanding , driven by inflamed and misguided passion, one can see how the language of the second amendment can someday become nothing more than a quaint notion from a bygone era.

I’m  still trying to reconcile with the untimely suspension of Gov Perry’s campaign from the GOP 2012 race.  I don’t do politics well anyway and am still in despair over our loss as a country.  Many of you are also trying to regain focus and enthusiasm too, I know.

When the news broke, I felt anger. I really had no outlet available for venting my thoughts so I retreated into a fantasy .  Though I guess it’s more properly classified as denial,  as I so much wanted to believe that he would be able to stay the course and be proven the best and last man standing in this race, I indulged my deep disappointment by unleashing  my imagination.  Someway, somehow, there had to be a way to sustain my vision of  Gov. Rick Perry  riding to victory in Nov. 2012. …………….

It was third and long and Team Perry was in the shotgun formation. Perry drops back,  then has to scramble under intense pressure from the opposition. While maintaining  incredible composure, he sees there’s no opening and  90% of his offensive line has collapsed to the ground, assuming  a fetal position at the line of scrimmage.

Perry gets rappicacked  deep in his own territory, but not before he was able to fire off a lateral bullet to Newt Gingrich near the sideline.

Newt starts making his way forward and many in the stands have risen to their feet. Sen. Santorum, after being crushed in the mêlée was back on his feet too; and was last seen attacking the turf with his cleats as he left the field. With sheer brute force, Gingrich is breaking through an onslaught of attackers now and the crowd cheers. But wait. There’s a flag on the field.

Down field there’s mild commotion stirring  as Mitt Romney is  being led off by Erik Holder’s DOJ officials even as the ball remains in play. Oblivious to  the spectacle,  Newt continues his plodding drive toward the line of scrimmage. Whispers and mumblings, something about  off shore bank accounts,  are  drowned out by cheers from viewers in the stands and at home as the momentum is now clearly in favor of Newt.

For a time, the rumbling earth went unnoticed as throngs of ecstatic conservatives,  intoxicated by the smell of a GOP victory rallied  and roared. Not until the appearance of the  Morlock Caucus, a bipartisan alliance of beltway zombies,  did the conservative fans freeze in stunned silence. As each emerged  from the ruptured ground, their faces contorted with treachery and  deceit, their eyes ablaze with power lust, these hideous forms trained their attention on Speaker Gingrich.

Swift and savage was the attack. The throat, the loin, the liver, no organ was spared to the Speaker as victory itself was being forcefully extracted by the dreadful GOP King Makers. So it could only have been by divine providence that a flailing,  quivering arm propelled the victory orb into the air. *(Think Garo Yepremien, Super Bowl VII). But, to whom?

Standing tall at the scrimmage line is one man. The carcasses of pundits and naysayers, shallow thought leaders and summer soldiers still litter the ground around him. But with steady hands, he grasps the victory orb, clutches it to his chest and makes his way to the end zone. Rick Perry was temporarily down but not out. He is and always was the one to take Team America out of the wilderness of uncertainty  and restore decency and principled leadership to the White House……….

I put on my lab coat and make my way to class. As I approach the podium, I am back in reality and aware that it never has been my desire to be a King Maker and my sphere of influence in politics will always be extremely limited. But my role, my significance in this life has always been well defined and satisfying, if humble.  If my lessons challenge students to think more clearly, to accept that acquisition of knowledge and pursuit of truth are active and not passive endeavors, I want to think I will have contributed to a generation of responsible Americans better prepared to make good choices in all spheres of their lives.

Good choices, made with confidence, unlikely to waver or succumb to group think is what I had hoped for from the electorate in this campaign primary season. Perhaps with a little more time.

http://www.rightspeak.net/2012/01/live-feed-tonight-huckabee-forum-2.html

Was taped earlier. Santorum then Perry coming up next.

My apologies if this has already been posted. Wanted to alert as soon as I saw that at Right Scoop website, Santorum @ 30.6% (40 votes), Newt @ 29.85% (40 votes), Perry @ 29.1% (39 votes) and Romney @ 8.21% (11 votes).

If you’ve not done so, and are so inclined, head on over and express your support for your guy. In my case, Gov. Perry.

Charles  Johnson  posted an article over at Breitbart regarding Gov. Perry’s decision to continue his campaign. http://biggovernment.com/cjohnson/2012/01/04/rick-perrys-marathon-run-to-the-nomination-may-now-be-a-long-march/

It was generally positive. However,  like so many  misguided people, he included a comment that has, for some time now, made me chafe.  I had to respond.

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The author wrote, “His Texan accent will be a liability. “

My dear Mr. Johnson, comments such as this reveal a bigotry towards the dialect of southerners in general and Texans in particular which is most unbecoming for a professional writer such as yourself.

Bless your heart, I’m sure you cannot help it.  Most  likely you’re not even aware of the shallowness in your attitude because it is a learned response, cultivated by generations of misrepresentation by smug and haughty northerners and recapitulated by pseudo-intellectuals all across this land. How unfortunate that this pernicious mindset is so prevalent in this day and age.

The truly  enlightened individuals, on the other hand, are able to listen and mentally process the content of someone’s speech and are neither beguiled by high toned rhetoric nor distracted by cadence and elocution.  Truth and wisdom,  expressed with sincerity and backed up by deeds provide a more reliable index to the intellect and character of the speaker. You and your generation are well advised to take this rebuke to heart and, raise the consciousness of others who have fallen for the same maligning attitude toward certain regional dialects in America.

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