Steele Equivocating

The Washington Post ran an editorial on Sept. 23rd that condemned the actions of staffers of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, who illegally obtained confidential credit reports on Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. OK, condemned may be a bit strong for what the Post editorialized, but they did say quite firmly that, if they did it again, The DSCC should be prepared to go on time out. I am quite willing to say that I don't know enough about what happened to know if this story has legs enough to make it down the driveway, let alone around the block, but I did find a couple of things quite interesting about this editorial.
First, nearly as much time is spent discussing how Republicans do this sort of thing, too. I can't help but wonder, if the situation were reversed, would the piece have gone on about how both sides pull dirty tricks on the other? Or would the commentary have focused more on the specific dirty trick involved. The Post does its readers a disservice if when one side of the aisle is caught with its hand in the cookie jar, everyone is at fault, while when the other side is caught doing something untoward, the focus is on them alone.
Then, the Post closed with what I think is an absolutely preposterous comparison.

As political dirty tricks go, snooping for financial dirt on Mr. Steele by illegal means strikes us as roughly on a par with eavesdropping on a rival party's private telephone conversations, as Virginia Republican officials did several years ago.

Excuse me, but this doesn't seem like it is even roughly on par with eavesdropping. The correct comparison is that it would be equivalent to illegally tapping a rival party's telephone. I don't know if this is what Virginia Republicans did or not, but that would be roughly the same. The Mainstream Media likes to pretend that they are even-handed, but editorials such as this make that difficult to believe.

Cub Scout Camp - Alex

Alex - Your Move
Originally uploaded by brent2mnen.

This is Alex in the middle of his first game of chess. He won this game almost by accident. He attempted to make an illegal move with his queen and put his opponent into check. When told that there was a legal move with the queen to put him in check, he took it. I looked for a moment and realized it was checkmate. The two boys running this activity were amazed and came running over to confirm the win. It was the only checkmate of the session.

Alex really impressed me during his second game of chess. As I mentioned earlier, he tried to make a couple of illegal moves in the first game, but by the second he seemed to have all the pieces down. He wasn't able to finish his second game, but if you were to have decided the game on points, he was ahead when time ran out. I am going to have to play chess with both of the boys. I was really pleased that they have both taken a liking to the game. As the grow older, and get better at the game, it will be a wonderful thing for us to do together. I suppose that I will have to learn to play multiple games at the same time, so that no one feels like they are being left out. Hopefully, that will also cut down on the kibitzing.

Alex really loved swimming. He was fearless, too. When the boys first got to camp, they took a swimming test. That wouldn't have been a problem except for one thing - Alex doesn't swim. That little detail didn't phase him in the least, though. He was taken to the deep end of the pool and, over the objections of myself and two other parents that were with us, jumped right in when he was told to. I don't know how much of it was from fear, and how much of it was from the cold water, but when he emerged, he had a look on his face that I had not seen before (and hope never to see again). Even that experience, though did not deter is love of the water, and by the end of the summer he had taken swimming lessons, and earned both his Swimming Beltloop and Pin.

Cub Scout Camp - Ryan

Ryan - Fishing
Originally uploaded by brent2mnen.

It isn't often that you see Ryan sitting still for this long. This picture was taken while Ryan was at Camp Wiley, a Cub Scout camp in Running Springs, CA. I don't know about you, but this picture reminds me of something from the Andy Griffith Show. Unfortunately, I wasn't around to see him catch his fish. If you were to ask him, he would tell you that he caught a Blue Gill (he says it as if it were two separate words). I can't tell you how good the Cub Scouts has been for Ryan. Just at camp, he was able to go swimming, shoot a BB gun, learn some Archery, whittle (yes, with a real pocketknife). I have to admit, though, that I was worn out after a few days of Cub Scout Camp. I spent much of the time running back and forth between Alex's group, and Ryan's - which is why I missed capturing his fish on film. I think that I went through a couple of liters of water daily. I was very grateful that I had purchased a hydrating backpack to carry around with me.

Ryan was a star meteoroligist, too. The boys that had just graduated to Bear Scouts (going into 3rd grade) were "Weather Bears", and got to announce what the weather was going to be for the day. They also had a class in which they learned a little more about meteorology. Ryan already knew most of the different types of clouds (cumulus, cumulonimbus, stratus, cirrus, etc.).

Did I mention that one of Ryan's activities was whittling? Ryan handling a firearm? I could handle that. Ryan in Archery class? No problem. But Ryan with a knife was almost more than I could bear. This class was the reason that I didn't make it back to see Alex in Archery class. After a quick lecture in knife safety, the boys were each given a knife and a piece of wood to whittle. Fortunately, these knives were very dull, unlike the knife that I purchased for Ryan to use. Ryan then proceeded to wrap his fingers completely around the blade to open and close the knife, and because he was more to the side of the boys conducting the class, it wasn't noticed.

Before the class started, the parents were instructed not to speak to the boys. The older gentleman that ran this activity said that the only injuries he had ever had were due to parents distracting their children. Seeing my son with his fingers around the blade of a knife, however, was more than I could take. As Popeye is wont to say, "That's all I can stands and I can't stands no more." It took some effort, but I finally got the instructors' attention and they went over and supervised Ryan a bit more closely. This actually happened a couple of times before they realized that Ryan needed more supervision than most boys, but by the end of the session, someone was sitting next to Ryan the whole time. I was relieved when this activity was over. Looking at his Bear book, though, I noticed that Ryan is supposed to do a carving. I think that we will have him carve soap... using a plastic knife. As it is, his Cub Scout knife stays in my possession and only comes out when Ryan can be supervised.

Open Houses

Dennis Prager, who I listen to regularly on the radio, is trying to organize people that will open up their homes to families displaced by Hurricane Katrina. His plan is to limit the stay to 1 month, so that there are fewer complications. If a family needs more than a month, they would move to a different home. If you are interested, you can give your name to Dennis to sign up at his website.

The Best of Times.... The Worst of Times

It was the best of times....
Never is the character of the American people more evident than in times of crisis. At home or abroad, Americans are among the most compassionate and generous people on the planet. This is again evident in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which looks to become the most devastating hurricane ever to hit the United States. What do Americans do when disaster strikes? They band together. They dig deep. Everywhere you look, there are stories that show the best of what mankind can become.
It starts at a young age. Children across our country are taking hammers to piggy banks - forgoing Barbies and baseballs, because they want to help. They are creating lemonade stands - not so that they can have a little spending money, but because there are people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama that don't have a room, a shirt or a decent meal. They are donating their favorite stuffed animals - because they know that there are children out there that lost their own.
The city of Houston has reached out and is taking in tens of thousands of people that have been trapped in New Orleans. Many Houston hotels have reduced their rates, rather than increase them. The city is allowing cars with Louisiana plates to have free parking. The governor of Texas has offered to take the children of New Orleans that have been relocated into the Texas public schools.
I was listening to the radio today, and I heard a woman from Arizona say that she would like to take a family into her home. She said that she had room for a family of four. Many of us are reaching into our wallets, offering to help in that way, but this woman was offering to let a family of strangers into her life. I know of no more generous offer than to share your home, your life, with a complete stranger.
Who is it that says that Corporate America is heartless? Corporation after corporation is donating Food, Clothing and Water, as well as cash donations to charities in order to help people that have been devastated by Katrina. GM and Nissan are sending vehicles to help with disaster recovery. Budweiser is bottling water, not beer and sending it to the hurricane ravaged Gulf Coast. This article in USA Today documents even more of the efforts that Corporate America is making to help out in this time of disaster.

It was the worst of times....
Just as a disaster can bring out the best in people, it can also bring out the worst. The looters were just the beginning. I don't hold it against people that have taken the food, clothing or medical supplies that they might need to survive, though I believe that they should attempt some form of restitution at some future date. Televisions, however, are not a necessity. It is tragic that, just as the rest of America is being selfless, there is a portion of it that is being completely and entirely selfish. I have heard reports of trucks that are coming into the areas with supplies being hijacked. A medical airlift attempting to get some of the sick and the injured out of the Superdome was at least temporarily suspended after someone apparently fired a shot at a military helicopter. There are reports of police officers turning in their badges. They have lost everything, and don't feel that it is worth it to risk their lives battling thugs and looters.
Who can blame them? I have heard many complain about the lack of relief - that there is too little, too late. At the same time, though, there is a portion of the population that is actively hindering rescue and relief operations. Shots are being fired at police officers. Violence is being threatened against rescue workers, in an attempt to have their family attended to first.
Respect. This is a word that is often bandied about. Respect, though, is something to be earned, and the best way to earn it is to act respectably. Unfortunately, there are so many good people that are suffering because of the actions of these thugs. I don't remember people that were affected by last December's tsunami being this ungrateful, or this demanding, either. It doesn't help to dwell on the things that one doesn't have - it is much better to be grateful for what we do have.