https://redstate.com/author/jmlubecky/feedConservative News & Politicsen-usThu, 23 Apr 2026 20:21:37 -0400<![CDATA[I love everything about space, which is one of the reasons why I became a Marine Corps Aircrewman. Needless to say, I was very excited about President Trump’s executive order to reactivate the National Space Council, with Vice President Mike Pence as its new chairman.]]>Mon, 09 Oct 2017 11:30:01 -0400<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2017/10/09/can-trump-make-space-great-again-n78004<![CDATA[As the SC05 Congressional race between Republican Ralph Norman, a Real Estate Developer and SC House Member, and Democrat Archie Parnell, a Tax Attorney and former Attorney for the DOJ, heats up, things have gotten interesting. This morning the Chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party Trav Robertson sent out a press release questioning Ralph Norman’s votes concerning Law Enforcement and Veterans.]]>Wed, 07 Jun 2017 21:07:14 -0400<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]><![CDATA[PTSD]]><![CDATA[South Carolina]]><![CDATA[Veterans]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2017/06/07/life-imitates-simpsons-ralph-ptsd-n72910<![CDATA[Law Enforcement exists to “Serve and Protect” in the United States, which is different from much of the third world where Law Enforcement exists to exert the political will of their masters, or their own political will on their opponents… but this is South Carolina.  South Carolina’s State Law Enforcement Division or SLED is my state’s equivalent to the FBI, investigating all manner of criminal activities as well as providing support to local police and Sheriffs’ Departments. I wholeheartedly support this mission, if only Chief Mark Keel, the head of SLED, could stay on task.]]>Tue, 28 Mar 2017 15:58:25 -0400<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2017/03/28/thin-grey-line-sleds-lobbying-hurts-south-carolinians-n69729<![CDATA[As I sit here a wassailing, I can’t help but think of Christmas Eve past. Specifically, Christmas Eve 2006. Two things happened that night, one was horrible, the other amazing. While RedState is typically a news and politics blog, I am taking the writers prerogative tonight.]]>Sat, 24 Dec 2016 20:42:48 -0500<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/12/24/hope-christmas-eve-n65445<![CDATA[It is 1914 all over again…at least potentially. As we have all seen the Russian Ambassador to Turkey was assassinated today by a gunman in Ankara. Andrei Karlov was Putin’s Ambassador to Turkey from July 2013 until his death today. Karlov was a career diplomat serving in the Soviet and then Russian Diplomatic Service since 1976.]]>Mon, 19 Dec 2016 15:00:06 -0500<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]><![CDATA[assassination]]><![CDATA[Russia]]><![CDATA[Turkey]]><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/12/19/its-1914-all-over-again-n65225<![CDATA[A Federal Jury has convicted Dylann Roof on all 33 counts, including Hate Crimes. Dylann Roof was found guilty of murdering 9 African American worshipers at the Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC on June 17th, 2016. Among the murdered was SC State Senator Clementa Pinckney. The trial will now move to the penalty phase in which the same juror deciding Roofs guilt, will now decide whether he is given a lethal injection or life without the possibility of parole.]]>Thu, 15 Dec 2016 15:49:33 -0500<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/12/15/breaking-dylann-roof-guilty-federal-hate-crimes-n65098<![CDATA[Today Rep Jim Merrill (R-Berkley), who is the Majority Whip in the South Carolina State Legislature was indicted on 30 counts of Ethics Violations with two of those counts being Misconduct in Office. The heart of the indictment is Merrill&#8217;s accepting close to $600,000 from various groups in exchange for influence on Committees that Merrill was a member of, or Chaired. The investigation is ongoing as SLED has confirmed 40 former or current House Members are under investigation for corruption. This may be the only indictment from the 24 month investigation, or it could be the first in a long line of indictments. Only time will tell.]]>Wed, 14 Dec 2016 17:00:02 -0500<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]><![CDATA[House of Representatives]]><![CDATA[legislature]]><![CDATA[South Carolina]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/12/14/sc-majority-whip-indicted-n65045<![CDATA[The expected riots in Charleston as we have seen in Cleveland, Ferguson, Baltimore, and other cities across the United States never materialized here in Charleston. That’s right, even with everything that had happened, the Holy City never rioted. This is one of the many reasons I love this town. We have been through a lot here, you had the Walter Scott shooting, followed shortly after by the Mother Emmanuel shooting and now a mistrial of a white police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black man. I remember the Mother Emmanuel shooting vividly. There is an interesting story about JEB Bush’s campaign that night, but that is for another day. After the Church Shooting, we didn’t riot, we came together. I stood with my wife and son, hand in hand, with 10,000 other Charlestonians who held hands across the Ravenel Bridge.]]>Tue, 06 Dec 2016 07:30:10 -0500<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/12/06/riots-charleston-n64675<![CDATA[SC State Judge Clifton Newman has declared a mistrial after the jury in former North Charleston Police Officer Michael Slager’s murder trial were unable to reach a verdict. Michael Slager is on trial for killing an unarmed African-American and Veteran Walter Scott after Scott fled during a traffic stop in April 2015.]]>Mon, 05 Dec 2016 15:46:49 -0500<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/12/05/breaking-michael-slager-guilty-hung-jury-michael-slager-trial-n64646<![CDATA[On November 28th, President Obama signed H5392 the “No Veterans Crisis Line Call Should Go Unanswered” Act into law. This bill stemmed from reports earlier in the year that when 1/3 of Veterans in crisis called the VA Suicide Hotline, they got a busy signal or voicemail. The bill requires the Veterans Administration to create and implement a plan to ensure every call to the Crisis Hotline is answered in a “timely manner.” The VA has 180 days to accomplish this task and report back to Congress. There is no funding for hiring more employees, or building new call centers if needed. The cost of implementing this plan must come from the existing VA Budget.]]>Fri, 02 Dec 2016 18:00:32 -0500<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]><![CDATA[Congress]]><![CDATA[suicide]]><![CDATA[VA]]><![CDATA[Veterans Administration]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/12/02/congress-tell-va-answer-phone-n64513<![CDATA[South Carolina State Judge Clifton Newman has ordered the Jurors in Michael Slager&#8217;s murder trial to continue deliberating. Michael Slager shot and killed Walter Scott in Charleston, SC following a traffic stop in which Walter Scott fled. After three days of deliberations the jury sent a note to the Judge stating they were hopelessly deadlocked. Word from the courthouse states that a single juror is the holdout.]]>Fri, 02 Dec 2016 17:09:40 -0500<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/12/02/breaking-judge-orders-michael-slager-jurors-continue-deliberating-n64541<![CDATA[It has been well covered as to why retired Army General David Petraeus should not be appointed as Secretary of State based on his pleading guilty to mishandling classified information. After all, the GOP and others have been excoriating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the same thing for years. Either mishandling classified information disqualifies you from high office, or it doesn’t. However as well qualified as GEN(R) Petraeus is for a high Cabinet post, Secretary of State is the wrong place. The reason has nothing to do with his distinguished and decorated career as an Army Officer. The reason is that he was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 2011 through November 2012 when he resigned.]]>Tue, 29 Nov 2016 16:30:24 -0500<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]><![CDATA[Secretary of State]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/11/29/gen-petreaus-wrong-choice-secstate-think-n64349<![CDATA[I am a combat veteran.  I served for twelve years total in both the Marines and the U.S. Army defending my nation.  I deployed to Iraq in 2005-2006.  I came home with a TBI (brain damage) and PTSD from the constant shelling of the base. The TBI was most likely due to my being inside a port-a-john when a mortar exploded next to it.  I came home on October 26th, 2006.  I first tried to kill myself on December 24, 2006 after going to a church and an Army Hospital for help. I was turned away by both.]]>Wed, 16 Nov 2016 16:00:40 -0500<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]><![CDATA[PTSD]]><![CDATA[Veterans]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/11/16/cure-ptsd-n63825<![CDATA[In the 1990’s there were several lawsuits filed against police departments across the country alleging racially based traffic stops and racial profiling by police. In some cases these lawsuits were not successful, in others departments were found to be profiling due to statistical evaluations of the people they pulled over. In response to these lawsuits departments started installing cameras inside police cars, and the federal government even created an incentive program for departments to install the cameras in as many vehicles as possible. The end result is that vehicle mounted camera systems are now commonplace. These systems have also shown that in most cases the Officers act in a professional manner and in accordance with their training during traffic stops. They have also captured how Officers are treated by the public and provided hard evidence of Officer Conduct when allegations are made by the suspect of police brutality. In a limited number of cases, departments have been able to identify Officers who have violated Department Policy or the law. The video has also been invaluable in training future officers and for continued training of current officers. Technology has advanced considerably over the past 25 years to a point where everyone has a video camera on their phone and routinely video tape policy in the performance of their official duties.]]>Mon, 31 Oct 2016 12:45:17 -0400<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/10/31/body-cameras-may-panacea-everyone-looking-n63173<![CDATA[Everyone at some point in their life goes to see the doctor. It may be a cold, or the flu, a broken bone, but eventually, everyone goes to see a doctor. One of the assumptions we, as patients, make is that anything we tell our doctor will be kept secret under the auspices of “Doctor/Patient Confidentiality.” Would your discussions with your doctor be different if this weren’t the case? What happens when that confidentiality is shattered? What if you knew that what you were about to discuss could be given to a reporter for all the world to see? In one recent case, this is exactly what happened. A Veteran sought Mental Health Treatment from the VA. He then committed a horrendous crime. Following this crime, the Veterans Administration, not under court order, but simply because they were asked, released the Veteran&#8217;s entire mental health record to reporters.]]>Mon, 31 Oct 2016 11:44:34 -0400<![CDATA[Jonathan Lubecky]]><![CDATA[FOIA]]><![CDATA[Health Care]]><![CDATA[VA]]><![CDATA[Veterans]]>https://redstate.com/jmlubecky/2016/10/31/va-scandal-one-talking-n63172