STEALTH

ERIC HOLDER PULLS A PAT LYKOS

2012-02-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's Fast and Furious cover-up and Harris County DA Pat Lykos' B.A.T. van shell game subjected both individuals to government investigations.

Lykos skated earlier in the week, her troops are in lock down and the Honey Badger is out for revenge.

Today we will find out whether or not Holder appears in front of Congress and complies with the subpoena duces tecum or is held in Congressional Contempt.

From Washington D.C. to Houston, Texas, the chief law enforcement officers of our country hold themselves above the law.

DOES MIKE ANDERSON HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE THE ELECTED DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF HARRIS COUNTY?

2012-01-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

On January 20, 2012, PBS' Red, White and Blue held a question and answer session between the two (2) Republican candidates for Harris County District Attorney............incumbent Pat Lykos and challenger Mike Anderson.

Notwithstanding my adamant disdain for Lykos, Anderson's performance last Friday was surprisingly revealing............and not in a good way.
This was not the Mike Anderson I remember from the Johnny Holmes era. There was no heart.........no fire in the belly. Anderson struggled to maintain eye contact and seemed unsure as to why he was there or what he stood for. He was unprepared for battle and appeared worn out before the first question.
Oddly, in the face of Lykos' 2008 general election victory; Anderson conceded personal defeat by expressing his gratitude and good fortune for not having to be on the 2008 judicial ballot himself.

When co-host David Jones asked Anderson why he was running for DA his response was NOT that the DA's office lacked leadership and integrity and that he was willing to make whatever personal sacrifices were necessary to restore honor and the highest standards of excellence to the office so that JUSTICE would once again prevail in Harris County........................selflessness was a virtual no-show

Anderson's response was quite the opposite. He began by reminiscing when Johnny Holmes decided to step down how lots of folks urged him to run for DA; but since he was a judge at the time he had a responsibility to fulfill his promised obligation to the voters and complete his full term..........a philosophy he abandoned when he put his name in to be appointed to the Court of Appeals; not once BUT twice while sitting on the bench. Therefore, had his bid for higher office been accepted either time, the Governor would have had to appoint someone to fulfill the balance of Anderson's term. How hypocritical.
Anderson also noted that when "Mr. Rosenthal" faltered in 2008 folks again urged him to run for DA; but his excuse at that time was that his government insurance plan was two (2) years shy of vesting and he was concerned that if he was in a bus accident his family would not be taken care of...........an assumption based on losing his bid for DA.
Now that Anderson has absolutely zero personal risk at stake it seems there is no further need to make excuses..........Anderson will lead his loyal army of supporters to the promised land.
Selflessness was a virtual no-show yet again.

Both Lykos and Anderson were asked by Lykos supporter and co-host Gary Polland whether or not as judge either candidate had granted Judicial Bypass (waiving the requirement that a pregnant minor's parents be told before she has an abortion). Lykos was quick to respond that she never granted Judicial Bypass but failed to mention that she left the bench before Judicial Bypass was even a judicial option. Anderson was quick to be non-responsive shouting that the proceedings were secret but that he was a big pro-life supporter and always has been.
Please. Generically affirming or denying whether or not as judge you granted Judicial Bypass in no way breaches any specific individual's confidentiality. Grant Judicial Bypass and own up to it, transfer the case to another court or handle it the way Judge Billy Harmon handles D.I.V.E.R.T. in his courtroom..........with integrity of his convictions instead of worrying about what paid political endorsers Steve Hotze or Terry Lowry would think.

"The man,the woman who risks nothing.........does nothing, has nothing, is nothing".
Where is the character of leadership? Where are the risk takers? Where are the folks who believe in a cause greater than themselves? Who is willing to risk their job security, their retirement benefits and their own personal money to stand up for what is right simply because it is the right thing to do?
It sure as heck doesn't seem like it is Mike Anderson on any of those accounts.

Physical appearance and debate skills are a lot easier to address than character...........a leader ought not ask people to do what he is unwilling to do himself

Mike Anderson, a lot of folks are counting on you to step up your game; this is the big league.

CSI HOUSTON

2012-01-11T06:29:00.000-08:00

District Attorney Pat Lykos, with the support of Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, will have her long awaited regional crime lab. Commissioners' Court signed off on the project yesterday with ground breaking scheduled to commence within two (2) years.................. just in time to kick off her re-election campaign.
Lykos is ecstatic! This has been a political pet project for her and will no doubt play a pivotal role in putting the pending Grand Jury investigations against the Harris County District Attorney's Office behind her........UNLESS an indictment is handed down;which is very unlikely at this point.

Lykos is boasting that the crime lab will be a nine (9) story twenty-first century state of the art facility located in the heart of the Texas Medical Center availing itself of all the surrounding medical resources.

The City of Houston is yet to jump on board; but will have a difficult time retaining autonomy given the political consequences of government waste associated with redundancy.

Judge Ed Emmett stated, "DA Pat Lykos is doing a great job as our district attorney..." during an interview on KTRH 740 AM this morning.
REALLY? What specifically has Lykos done in her capacity as district attorney that would fit that bill?
Spear-heading the creation of a regional crime lab has NOTHING to do with the duties of district attorney. In fact, Lykos has neglected her sworn duties of the office of district attorney just to score political points.

Tim Tebow: Humility

2012-01-09T14:12:00.000-08:00

Tim Tebow: Humility

SUPER BOWL XLVI: TEXANS UPSET THE SAINTS

2012-01-09T06:42:00.000-08:00

The sports announcers have spoken, "After destroying the rest of the NFL in the regular season, the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots are on a crash course to meet in a Super Bowl."

Not so fast.

The Houston Texans will take car of business in Baltimore on Sunday after Tim Tebow's Denver Bronco's eliminate Tom Brady's New England Patriot's Saturday evening.

The AFC Championship game will be in Reliant Stadium..........bring hearing protection we are going to blow the roof off.

As for the Saints......they will squeak by the Packers and fall to the Texans in Indianapolis.

GO TEXANS OUR 2012 SUPER BOWL XLVI CHAMPIONS!!!!!

JUDGE MIKE V. JUDGE PAT: JUSTICE OR POLITICS

2011-12-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

The upcoming Harris County Republican Primary is pitting two (2) former Harris County District Judges against each other to see who will represent the GOP in the 2012 race for Harris County District Attorney.........will challenger Judge Mike Anderson defeat the incumbent DA Judge Pat Lykos?

Murray Newman at his blog, "Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center" is currently sparring with his friend and co-blogger David Jennings over the issue.
Jennings' blog, "Big Jolly" has posted soft ball interviews of each candidate in a sincere effort to differentiate the candidates with factual clarification of the issues instead of emotional or personal slurs.
Admittedly, I have been guilty of the later given my personal experiences with Lykos over the years.

Jennings, to his credit, appears to have a very strong desire to vet the candidates objectively and keep an open mind.
Notwithstanding, he also makes no bones about putting the success of the GOP above all else when it comes to who is the best candidate for Harris County, Texas and the nation.

Unlike the pay-to-play Terry Lowry political whores; Jennings wants facts instead of dollars from the candidates if they expect to garner his support............how refreshing!
It is, therefore, understandable that the special interest groups, unqualified moneyed politicians and those with disproportionate personal gain at stake are quick to condemn Jennings.

So when deciding who is most qualified to be the elected District Attorney of Harris County, the facts and not emotion ought to be what is determinative.

Whether or not the DA is a nice person, has a mustache, curses behind closed doors, has cute kids, has a driver, looks like a troll, drinks Jack Daniels or Bud Lite, etc. are peripheral issues not relevant to the administration of justice.
What counts is whether or not the candidate for District Attorney SEEKS JUSTICE and has the ability to see to it that JUSTICE is SERVED..............not merely given lip service.

Pat Lykos has never tried a case personally as a prosecutor or otherwise; so there is no way to directly access whether or not she has actually sought or secured justice appropriately in that capacity.
She has, however, as the elected DA of Harris County indirectly prosecuted thousands of criminal cases through her subordinates.
It IS a fair extrapolation, therefore, to judge Lykos to some extent on the collective performance of her ADAs as to whether or not she has ethically and competently sought and secured JUSTICE for the citizens of Harris County.

Mike Anderson, on the other hand, has actually been in the trenches as a real prosecutor. Therefore, unlike Lykos, Anderson has a personal trial record that can DIRECTLY show whether or not he was a prosecutor who sought justice or simply convictions.

The judicial conduct of Anderson and Lykos when each sat on the bench as Criminal District Judges can also be looked at to evaluate their individual commitment to the furtherance of JUSTICE as it goes to the individual's pattern of behavior.

When it comes to statistics, "let the buyer beware".........the same set of statistical "facts" can easily be manipulated to support contradictory conclusions when not appropriately evaluated........politics and science have about as much in common as politics and qualifications.
When evaluating trial STATS consideration must be given to the parameters delineated for:
* accepting charges at intake
* dismissing cases
* plea bargains
* going to trial
* charges filed
* punishment sought
* ethical conduct of ADAs and consequences

When evaluating a judge's performance consideration must be given to:
* appellate review
* judicial conduct
* the competence of the court appointed lawyers the judge selects
* docket management
* actual time spent at the courthouse

So if anyone cares to comment; rather than simply throwing personal insults why not instead take the high road and follow Big Jolly's lead: present specific substantiated points that go to the candidates record of securing or diverting justice AS YOU see them...........................your point or the rebuttal might actually serve as an epiphany for someone.

HARRIS COUNTY DA PAT LYKOS WILL RIDE OUT OF OFFICE THE WAY SHE RODE IN........ON A HORSE NAMED CORRUPTION

2011-12-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos is in pre-implosion mode as the irony of Karma is poised to drive a wooden stake through her chest.

There is a CAT 5 hurricane bearing down on the Harris County Criminal Justice Center (CJC) and the Lykos "house of cards" is projected to take a direct hit.

As the two (2) Harris County Grand Jury investigations into the Harris County District Attorney's behavior evolve; Lykos will be less equipped to withstand the pressure than did her predecessor--the disgraced scandal ridden former Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal.

However, unlike Rosenthal's abrupt meltdown; Lykos' destructive behavior has been a festering wound within the CJC that has alienated most of the remaining staff. Lykos' loyalty is limited to her top lieutenants........the troops will not have her back. As her wounds become more serious and her viability wanes.........the "little people" will rise up and deliver the cruelest blow of all.

The Harris County Republican Party will soon have no choice but to distance themselves from the Lykos administration to mitigate collateral damage to the GOP.
There will not be a meaningful Republican Primary contest for Harris County DA........Congratulations to Republican challenger Mike Anderson who won't even have to campaign.

Timing, after all, is everything in politics..........

DA PATSY LYKOS: RES IPSA LOQUITUR

2011-12-07T12:09:00.001-08:00

It seems that Judge Pat Lykos prefers to conduct business at the Harris County District Attorney' s Office (HCDAO) more like a third world banana republic dictatorship than a world class District Attorney's Office.

When a wolf campaigns to optimize the flock; it's not just the sheep that ought to worry about the hungry wolf.
Thus goes the current administration at the HCDAO............... the wolf's belly is bloated, the sheep are scared, winter is coming and wool is scarce.

The Harris County Republican Party (HCRP) leadership needs to understand that Judge Pat Lykos bellowing Republican sound bites and simply breathing longer than most non-nursing home Harris County citizens have been alive, is no substitute for actual on-the-job experience and leadership skills.

Jared Woodfill and the HCRP's sponsoring of Judge Pat Lykos' fiasco is a sad, yet predictable reflection of her self promoting rhetorical platitudes..........................void of any relevant substantive personal accomplishments.

The main character difference between Judge Pat Lykos and Barack Hussein Obama is simply that Judge Pat Lykos has been at it longer.......a whole lot longer.

Professional political prostitutes, like Judge Pat Lykos and President Barack Obama, have the uncanny ability to repackage reality. These folks are masters of illusion. They have a remarkable ability to highlight misteps made by others in order to divert attention from their otherwise empty suits.

Mike Anderson is not the perfect candidate nor would he be my first choice to be the elected DA of Harris County; however, unless someone else throws in her unlikely hat, Mike Anderson is by far the best choice to support for DA of Harris County.

THE DAVID AND GOLIATH BATTLE FOR THE HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

2011-11-30T12:33:00.001-08:00

I have just learned that Kelly Siegler will support Mike Anderson in his bid to oust the disgraced current Harris County DA Pat Lykos.
Siegler's goal is to restore integrity to the DAs office and she had only planned to run, I am told, if no other candidate of merit stepped up.

Anderson is qualified..........the question is whether or not he will have the fortitude of "David" and the political savvy to crush Goliath.

It will be interesting to see who Lykos gets to serve as her Jim Leitner throw down to insure a run-off and avoid the uncertainty of the general electorate.

Good luck and God's speed to Mike Anderson in this endeavor.

PAT LYKOS: JUDGE, COP, SOCIAL WORKER, POLITICIAN OR PROSECUTOR

2011-11-28T15:47:00.001-08:00

Pat Lykos used to be a Houston Police Officer......she also used to be a judge and has been a Republican longer than anyone I know in Harris County.

In 2008, Lykos was elected District Attorney of Harris County.

Lykos' behavior since becoming DA demonstrates great confusion as to which identity she covets most.

The fourth edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (DSM-IV) seems to shed light on the Lykos identity crisis. Specifically, dissociative identity disorder (DID) is defined therein as a condition in which "two (2) or more distinct identities or personality states alternate in controlling the individual's consciousness and behavior. It further goes on to state that DID is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities, each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment.

I do not pretend to be a psychiatrist or psychologist; but merely offer DSM-IV as a tool to try and understand Lykos' odd behavior.

THE DISTINCT ALTERNATING IDENTITIES OF PAT LYKOS:

1. Lykos the Judge:
Although Pat Lykos was appointed to the bench and subsequently re-elected on party lines; she is now the elected District Attorney of Harris County and hasn't been a judge for many years. Notwithstanding, this DA insists on being called "Judge Pat".
I wonder if former Judge Ted Poe goes by Judge Ted or by Congressman Poe?

2. Lykos the Cop:
Although Lykos hasn't been a cop for decades longer than her vacancy from the bench; she defines herself as the chief arresting officer of Harris County, “You can run, but you can't hide. We are bringing them to justice".
Cop Pat is even copying the FBI with her very own district attorney's most wanted list.
Cop Pat's one man Cold Case propaganda project a/k/a the, "Special Team To Solve Cold Cases" has yet to do so and is simply another blaring example of policing instead of prosecuting.
Lykos' facade has absolutely nothing to do with trying cold cases in a courtroom; instead it is merely a police function better named a Fugitive Apprehension Unit whereby Lykos acts more like a police sergeant than a district attorney.

3. Lykos the Social Worker:
Providing puppies for witnesses to pet during interviews might be cute and therapeutic for some; but not a high priority in a prosecutors' office.
Lykos also provided for, "Free Internet Monitoring Software For Parents".......how nice.
Lykos confronting the issues of animal cruelty, elderly abuse and the mentally challenged folks are all legitimate concerns for social services as well and I applaud her outreach. HOWEVER, as wonderful as it is to advocate for these causes; ending world hunger and curing AIDS are also noble concerns..............but none of these crusades are the function of a district attorney.
If Lykos decided to spend forfeiture funds to build some gyms and day care centers in the third ward to cut down on crime in the old neighborhood; that too would be a wonderful thing----but alas, in the REAL WORLD Lykos is the Harris County DA; NOT the Harris County Social Services Director.

4. Lykos the Politician:
The dominant Lykos identity or personality state is Political Pat. She is a master at Republican base pandering. Lykos seems to spend more time schmoozing with Republican insiders and jet setting than she does conducting official business at the District Attorney's Office......AND the Republican Base loves her for it.
Her political expertise supplants any substantive qualification requirements beyond the bare minimum for the government position(s) she seeks to hold.

So what are Lykos' qualifications to serve Harris County as District Attorney beyond the minimal filing requirements set forth by the Secretary of State?

Lykos will tell you:
* she's a long time litigator (even though she's NEVER tried a single case as a prosecutor, criminal defense lawyer or civil attorney)
* she has been a Republican forever (????)
* she wants ICE to do more about the illegals (hmmmm, maybe Lykos ought to go work for ICE or write her Congressman).
* she wants to remedy jail overcrowding (by failing to properly prosecute criminal behavior?)
* even though the Texas state legislature prohibits it, her DIVERT program provides certain "deserving" drunk drivers a second chance (Some folks should get special treatment based on their ability to pay. Arbitrary parameters which provide for coerced alcohol rehabilitation for non-alcoholics without valid outcome studies "prove" that "Dr. Lykos" has had a greater impact on curing alcoholism than the entire Texas Medical Center?).
* that Kelly Siegler and all the ADAs who campaigned for Siegler in 2008 were de facto just like Rosenthal and fostered a culture of corruption at the HCDAO. (However, when allegations of corruption are levied against Lykos they are false, vicious and unfounded amounting to nothing more than a conspiratorial witch hunt).
* all that is wrong at the HCDAO today is a reflection of the prior administration's bad behavior and she is cleaning house as fast as she can (never mind that the HCDAO is in operational meltdown mode and, if re-elected, even Lykos' most ardent Republican supporters will cringe when the true devastation of what was once a premier District Attorney's Office is revealed).

5. Lykos the Prosecutor:
Pat Lykos was elected DA of Harris County in 2008. Therefore, by definition she is a prosecutor (it ought to take much more than that).

Judge Pat........Political Pat.........Cop Pat..........Social Worker Pat.............her pretense as a prosecutor has run its course.

So who's in?
Pat Lykos officially filed today as the Republican incumbent.
I expect Mike Anderson to file this week and Kelly Siegler to file after that.....both as Republicans.
Jim Leitner can't file.
Zach Fertitta shouldn't file?
The flake factor is always there.

Two (2) questions for the 2012 Harris County District Attorney's race will be:
1. which candidate will confront Lykos in the run-off bloodbath AND
2. will anyone besides the the hard core Republican base show up on run-off day?

NEWT GINGRICH: VICTORY OR DEATH

2011-11-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

THE KELLY SIEGLER HOLLYWOOD CONSPIRACY

2011-11-15T07:03:00.001-08:00

The Kelly Siegler for Harris County DA Conspiracy has a new player...................Hollywood!

Not only do the Lykosians accuse Kelly Siegler of conspiring with Criminal District Judges, Grand Juries and Special Prosecutors all to trick Harris County DA Pat Lykos and her gang to act ineptly........................now Siegler will undoubtedly be criticized for manipulating Los Angeles movie producers!
The Lykos camp will whine how heinously suspicious the timing of the Susan Wright trial made for TV movie is and the Harris County Republican Blue Hairs will chant , "FOUL".
Has Siegler hired Michael Moore instead of Allen Blakemore? SERIOUSLY?

JUST RELEASED:

Monday, Nov. 14, 2011, 1:33 PM Pacific

KILLING MR. WRIGHT
Movie for Television
AFTRA
Silverscreen Pictures, Lifetime
Draft: 8/2/11

Exec. Producers: Frank Von Zerneck, Judith Verno
Director: Stephen Kay
Writers: Michael J. Murray, Jamie Pachino
Casting Director: Fern Champion
Casting Assistants: Jon Bloch, Candido Cornejo
Start Date: On About 12/2/11 through mid December
Location: Los Angeles

SUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY
To download the script, go to www.screenplayonline.com and use script key code: 118butcher12
Sides are available on Showfax and Sides Express.

[SUSAN WRIGHT] Caucasian, late 20s, blonde, fair, petite, very pretty, appealing, smart, a master manipulator, capable of seeming tough and fragile at will, Susan meets and marries Jeff Wright and settles down to what she thinks will be a fairy tale marriage with their baby girl. However, Susan soon discovers that Jeff is a chronic womanizer with a drug habit who spends most of his paycheck (from his job as a tile/carpet salesman) on his bad habits; to make things worse, Susan's complaints are met with verbal and then physical abuse by Jeff. Susan soon feels like a prisoner of terror in her own house, unable to leave because of fear and financial issues. Ultimately, Susan kills Jeff in an outburst of pent-up rage, stabbing him almost 200 times and then, in what she claims was a fog-like state, burying his body in the backyard and desperately, unsuccessfully trying to clean their bedroom of countless blood stains and blood pools. Claiming self-defense--a claim mitigated by the fact that Jeff was tied up when she killed him--Susan's behavior in the aftermath of Jeff's murder is bizarre and confusing, particlarly to her defense attorney; most of the time she seems out of touch with reality, holding a yard sale after her release on bail and cheerfully deciding what to wear in court for the cameras. A complex woman, possibly a classic battered wife but possibly a sociopath, Susan is quite confident that the jury will see her as a victimized, possibly even heroic, battered wife; she's wrong about that...LEAD (1)

[JEFFREY WRIGHT] Caucasian, about 30, handsome, tall, charming, an acknowledged womanizer who likes to play hard, apparently a confirmed bachelor, Jeffrey falls hard for the beautiful young Susan, and sees in her his chance for a white picket fence "fairy-tale" lifestyle--which unfortunately comes a bit too soon when Susan discovers she's pregnant. Despite the rush, Jeffrey seems genuinely enamored of his new bride, their new baby, and their new house, and appears to settle down into husband- and father-hood with gusto. Unfortunately, Jeffrey has little patience when Susan can't keep up with house cleaning and laundry after Casey's birth, and their marriage quickly deteriorates into selfish bickering about housekeeping, chores and bills. Successful at his job selling tile and carpet, Jeffrey slips back into his pre-marriage habits and begins staying out late, going to strip clubs, and spending money on alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. Furious at Susan's attempts to reel him in, Jeffrey becomes verbally and then physically abusive, and beats and rapes his wife (and one time even hits 4 year old Casey). Determined to keep his dominance over his wife, Jeffrey becomes increasingly volatile and violent...LEAD (2)

[KELLY SIEGLER] Caucasian, 40, with a thick Texas drawl, small, but packing a punch, always sharply turned out, extremely intelligent, Kelly is a bulldog of a prosecutor whose intial impression of Susan Wright as a "fragile little sweet faced blonde who couldn't hurt a fly" changes to her belief that Susan's a "cold-blooded, dyed in the wool, master manipulator" and murderer. Relentless, clever, tenacious, a woman who enjoys her job, Kelly has no problem bringing a countercase against the defense's contention that Susan is a battered wife who just snapped, and Kelly has more than enough evidence to support her theory--although for a split second Kelly herself seems just a bit vulnerable to Susan's compelling presentation. Aware that the jury seems to be more interested in Susan's reactions than Kelly's witnesses, Kelly makes the now (in)famous decision to bring in the blood-stained mattress and box spring on which Susan killed Jeffrey, and re-enact the murder in the courtroom...LEAD (27)

[CINDY] Caucasian, Susan's older sister, "a brunette Susan" (meaning very pretty), down-to-earth, straight-talking, Cindy is initially excited about Susan's relationship with Jeffrey, and is happy when they get married. Eventually, however, Cindy becomes the refuge to whom Susan goes when she leaves the increasingly abusive Jeffrey. Never doubting that her sister is being seriously abused by Jeffrey, Cindy is clearly heart-broken over Susan's refusal to leave him. Cindy determinedly supports her sister in the aftermath of Jeffrey's murder...LEAD (1)

[RON WRIGHT, KAY WRIGHT] Caucasian, 60ish, Jeffrey's parents, warm, loving, Ron and Kay welcome Jeffrey's new wife Susan into their family; Kay in particular believes Susan is good for Jeffrey and will keep him "headed in the right direction." Completely in the dark about Jeffrey's abuse of Susan, Ron and Kay are confused when they hear from Susan that Jeffrey has apparently left her, but even then Ron offers Susan money to get them out of whatever financial stresses they may be having. Once they realize that Susan has killed their son, however, they're utterly convinced that she is a manipulative, plotting monster--and Ron in particular is vehement in his hatred and disgust of her...LEADS (13)

[SUE] Caucasian, Susan's mother, warm, loving, supportive, level-headed, Sue is overjoyed at Susan's marriage to Jeffrey, and later is shocked to discover that Jeffrey has become abusive and violent to Susan and their little girl. The first person Susan confesses to about her murder of Jeffrey, Sue tries to keep calm around Susan during the trial but is clearly confused and probably frightened as she realizes how out of touch with reality Susan has become...LEAD (15)

[JAMIE DARR-HALL] Caucasian, 30ish, female, a single mom, friendly, warm, Jamie is Susan and Jeffrey's neighbor, who frequently talks with Susan and sometimes joins her and the other neighbors for get-togethers. Jamie (like all the neighbors) thinks Susan and Jeffrey have the perfect marriage, an image Susan keeps up despite her growing abuse at the hands of Jeffrey. Eventually, Jamie inadvertantly spots bruises on Susan's body and seems to realize that things aren't okay. However, after the murder (which makes the local headlines), Jamie is clearly freaked out by Susan's bizarre decision to have a yard sale when she's out on bail...LEAD (16)

[CASEY] caucasian, 4 years old, adorable, bright, appealing, Casey is Susan and Jeffrey's daughter. Shielded from what's really going on by Susan's stalwart, loving attention, Casey nevertheless has a run-in with her dad when he plays at kick-boxing with her and hits her too hard on the chin, knocking her down and hurting her--an event she later calmly recounts to the police...LEAD (27)

[NEAL DAVIS] Caucasian, 40ish, clean cut, conservative in his professionalism, something of a gentleman, Neal Davis is the lawyer whom Susan's mother hires to defend her in the aftermath of the murder. Initially horrified at the carnage Susan shows him in her bedroom and out in the yard where she buried Jeff, possibly in over his head with his volatile and unpredictable client, Neal goes into damage control mode (not for the last time during his defense) by putting Susan in a psychiatric hospital and arranging for the body to be picked up. Neal finds himself frequently overwhelmed by his client's stubborn refusal to deal with reality, not to mention a few unpleasant surprises during the trial...LEAD (54)

[MARK REYNOLDS] Caucasian, this police sergeant/homicide detective oversees the activity at the Wright house after the murder is discovered (days after it was committed). Unaware of what's happened (Susan is in an undisclosed psychiatric hospital), Mark tries to piece together the crime with the help of prosecutor Kelly Seigler, who shows up at the scene, and the coroner, who supplies him with some surprising information about the body...LEAD (57)

[DR. DWAYNE WOLF] Caucasian, late 30s, clean cut, articulate, professional, Dr. Wolf is the Harris County Medical Examiner, who does the autopsy on Jeffrey's body. He works with prosecutor Kelly Seigler, who's flabbergasted at the amount of stab wounds on Jeffrey's body, as well as some of the other details Dr. Wolf's discovered--not the least of which is the time of death, which pre-dates Susan's trip to the police station to lodge an abuse complaint against Jeff. Dr. Wolf testifies in court, and his testimony would be powerful, if not for the jury's distraction with a sobbing Susan Wright...LEAD (68)

[PAUL DOYLE] Caucasian, mid 30s, big, beefy, Paul is Kelly's ADA, who works closely with her on the case. Hard-working, smart, experienced, Paul is good at parsing out details for the prosecution, but clearly looks to Kelly for the "ah-ha" moments. Paul helps Kelly re-enact the murder in the courtroom, playing the part of Jeffrey...LEAD (63)

[KEVIN CONBOY] Caucasian, 35, Jeffrey's boss in the tile and carpet company, Kevin is very happy with Jeffrey's work, gives him a promotion, and becomes something of a friend to him, apparently going with him and clients to strip clubs and bars. Kevin overhears a fight Jeffrey has over the phone with Susan about paying his life insurance policy, a fight that becomes some damning testimony in court. When Jeffrey doesn't come in for a few days and Kevin learns Susan's filed a restraining order against him, Kevin calls the house and tells Susan that he might have to fire Jeffrey. He eventually testifies in court...LEAD (20)

[SCOTT HALL] Caucasian, this deputy constable seems professional yet sympathetic and certainly helpful when Susan comes to him with a report of physical abuse at the hands of her husband, Jeffrey. In Scott's eyes, Susan fits the standard issue of a battered wife who suffers in silence until her child is hit; he also interviews little Casey about the time Jeffrey hit her, and discovers that Casey and her mom's stories jive. He's later questioned on the stand by Kelly Seigler and Neal Davis...4 speches & 13 lines, 4 scenes (49)

[JEROME BROWN] Caucasian, 60s, balding, heavyset, bearded, experienced, confident, Dr. Jerome Brown is the psychiatrist on staff at the clinic where Neal Davis stashes Susan in the aftermath of his discovery of the murder. Jerome is quite certain that Susan has been severely abused and is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Brown works with Neal Davis and is more than willing to testify on the defense's behalf, until Neal discovers that Susan has told Dr. Brown a completely different (and much more damning) account of the murder than she told him...3 speeches & 13 lines, 4 scenes (62)

[MAN/BRIAN WICE] Caucasian, 50ish, in a sharp suit, Brian is the smooth attorney who will be handling Susan's appeal. He is originally seen behind a camera, videotaping Susan and others as they tell their stories about Jeffrey Wright's murder...2 speeches & 3 lines, 4 scenes (1)

[RANDY, BILLY] Caucaasian, African American or Hispanic, these two hard-partying friends of Jeffrey's are first seen playing volleyball with him and some friends. They know Jeffrey and his womanizing habits well, and tease him about his current relationship with the "good girl" Susan. Later, after his marriage, Randy comments on the rage with which he pounds him in kick-boxing class...3 lines, 3 scenes; 1 speech & 2 lines, 2 scenes respectively (2)

[NEIGHBORHOOD MOM] Caucasian, African American or Hispanic, this neighborhood mom is friends (in a neighborly/acquaintance-like way) with Susan, and joins her and the other neighbors for a get-together; she has no clue that Susan is in hell. She makes a friendly comment as she pulls in beside Susan at Target, and later responds good-humoredly to a compliment Susan gives her...4 lines, 3 scenes (20)

[CORONER] Caucasian, this coroner at the murder scene talks with Mark Reynolds and Kelly about what he's noticed about the body. He's clearly stunned by the magnitude of the stabbing and by the fact that the victim made no apparent attempt to get away...2 speeeches & 4 lines, 2 scenes (58)

[JUDGE] Caucasian, this judge presides over Susan Wright's trial, during which he sometimes has to warn Neal Davis to keep his client in check. He's fair about honoring Davis' objections to Kelly's questioning, but allows her to go ahead with the re-enactment of the murder in the courtroom....2 speeches & 10 lines, 4 scenes (76)

STORY LINE: This is the true story of lovely young SUSAN WRIGHT, who thought she had the "fairy-tale" marriage to her husband JEFF WRIGHT, a successful tile and carpet salesman in Houston, Texas. However, Susan's life becomes a nightmare when Jeff, who has a habit of going to strip clubs, drinking too much, smoking weed and doing cocaine, becomes abusive, beating and raping her and even hitting their four year old daughter, CASEY. Unable to take it any more.......

Congratulations to Houston's top Rock Star prosecutor, budding Hollywood star and future Harris County DA..........KELLY SIEGLER.

THE ROLE OF VICARIOUS LIABILITY AT THE HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

2011-11-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

John B. Holmes is often compared, of late, to Charles "Chuck" Rosenthal and even Pat Lykos.
Holmes is a Republican who served Harris County as the elected DA and THAT is his ONLY substantive commonality with the Rosenthal-Lykos regimes.

Holmes lived by President Harry S. Truman's (a Democrat) philosophy of , "The Buck Stops Here"; while the "Lykos-Rosenthal Philosophy" is, "Pass The Buck".

Holmes was respected for leading by example and instilling in his troops the principle of doing the right thing simply BECAUSE it was the right thing to do. He exercised common sense over political correctness and was intolerant of "damn fool results".
Holmes' character and principled leadership would never have allowed the corruption and chaos at the Harris County District Attorney's Office that has festered since his retirement. Johnny Holmes was respected and took responsibility..............if you were right, Johnny didn't stick you in the back, he had your back.
JBH understood consequences, was a real leader and a real prosecutor............he was not a victim or an excuse maker.

Chuck Rosenthal and Pat Lykos are many things; but they are not worthy of sitting at the table with the legendary John B. Holmes.

For the non-lawyers who might read this blog, the legal principle of vicarious liability applies to hold one person liable for the actions of another when engaged in some form of joint or collective activity.
The doctrine of respondeat superior arose from this principle and is based on the employer-employee relationship. The doctrine makes the employer responsible for a lack of care on the part of an employee in relation to those to whom the employer owes a duty of care. For respondeat superior to apply, the employee's negligence must occur within the scope of his/her employment

Section 7.02 of the Texas Penal Code (Law of Parties) outlines the following: A person is criminally responsible for an offense committed by the conduct of another if "acting with intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense he solicits, encourages, directs, aids or attempts to aid the other persons to commit the offense" or "If, in the attempt to carry out a conspiracy to commit one felony, another felony is committed by one of the conspirators, all conspirators are guilty of the felony actually committed, though having no intent to commit it, if the offense was committed in furtherance of the unlawful purpose and was one that should have been anticipated as a result of the carrying out of the conspiracy."

Four (4) years ago, almost to the date, the Harris County Republican Party and the local media essentially applied the Law of Parties to the Rosenthal administration......ironic on many levels. Although Rosenthal's notorious arrogance rendered him oblivious to the unheeded advice of his his top ADAs; these same ADAs, most notably former Bureau Chief of Special Crimes Kelly Siegler, were condemned as "partners in a culture of corruption" because they "should have anticipated" that Rosenthal's substance abuse would lead him to commit adultery, lie about it, send racist and pornographic emails on county time on a county computer, campaign on the county dime, defy a Federal Judge's court order, commit obstruction of justice, perjure himself, etc.

Today, the Harris County Republican Party and the media are applying a reverse vicarious liability theory on the current improper conduct exploding at the Harris County DAs office in an effort to protect their anointed one, DA Patsy Lykos.
Reminiscent of a reverse mortgage on grandma's home........only it's the ADAs and the citizens of Harris County getting screwed for Lykos' bad behavior instead of the bank screwing grandma.

An ADA should NOT be held responsible for the improper behavior of his/her boss simply by virtue of employment.

Due process requires a balancing of public and private interests. When making an individual vicariously liable for another’s actions, the private interests affected (i.e. employment, damaged reputation, etc) outweigh the public interests, especially when there are alternative means to reach the same end.

The courts historically hold EMPLOYERS responsible for the illegal or negligent conduct of their EMPLOYEES and the PRINCIPLE responsible for his AGENT; BUT at 1201 Franklin The Lykos-Rosenthal Principle holds the employees responsible for the improper conduct of the employer.

Lykos and Rosenthal do not appear concerned with DUE PROCESS and the RULE OF LAW.......................they are above all that!?

The Harris County Republican Party leadership treats elections more like an Easter egg hunt than a quest to find qualified candidates to serve the citizens of Harris County.
They are content to collect the cracked and/or old rotten eggs just because they have an inscribed "R"; while skipping over the fresh solid eggs of "R" future..........it is no wonder their baskets stink.

AN OPEN LETTER TO KELLY SIEGLER URGING HER TO FILE FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF HARRIS COUNTY

2011-10-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

DEAR KELLY SIEGLER,

AS YOU ARE PAINFULLY AWARE, WHEN CONSIDERING WHETHER OR NOT TO FILE IN THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY TO SERVE HARRIS COUNTY AS THEIR ELECTED DISTRICT ATTORNEY; THERE ARE MANY FACTORS WHICH MUST BE CAREFULLY WEIGHED IN ON.

The Harris County Republican Party, in my judgment, expects their elected DA to adhere to the following principles:

YOUR PRIMARY JOB DUTY will be to do anything necessary to keep getting re-elected.

YOUR JOB REQUIREMENTS are as follows:

1. You must be willing to raise large sums of money every election cycle. To collect the vast amounts of required cash, you can either convince many fellow citizens to give you money or you can make secret promises to well connected political entities or individuals.........you decide.

2. You must spend most of your time on the job secretly promising favors and pandering to the hard core Republican base, while simultaneously denying to your constituents that you’ve made secret promises.

3. You must be willing to expose yourself, your family and your friends to the constant risk of being defamed by incoherent disgruntled people.

4. You must be willing to find a way to avoid spending time with moderates, democrats and other undesirables.

5. You must be willing to expose yourself to constant ridicule and false charges trumped up by the media to sell advertisements. Everything embarrassing you’ve ever done will appear in publications, especially if it is irrelevant to the issues facing the district attorney's office.

6. Once you start campaigning, you must agree to stop talking candidly about anything.

7. You must support every minutiae of the party line no matter how extreme or irrelevant to your real job as DA; common sense be damned.

8. You must be willing to expose your family and your closest friends to massive invasions of their privacy.

9. You must explain and solve complex social and legal issues using only 8-second sound bites.

10. You must be willing to expose yourself to scandalous and false attacks on your career as a prosecutor.

11. You must accept that most people who you once thought were your friends will only be there for you if you win. And if you win you will have lots of new friends.

11. Your door must always be open to the opinionated blue haired loyalists and the well-heeled republican donors.

12. To win re-election, you must get down in the dirt and personally hurl false charges against your opponent, because the ends will justify the means.

The Harris County Republican Party might not recognize it; but the citizens of Harris County are in desperate need of an honest, intelligent, dedicated, and qualified candidate to apply for the office of Harris County District Attorney.......YOU are that hope for the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

I do not recall a county election where a candidate was as brutally and unfairly attacked as you were in 2008.................it was disgraceful on so many levels; but you stayed in the ring, you took the body shots, the head butts and you never gave up..........it was the Harris County voter, at the end of the day, who threw in the towel.

In fact, the Kelly Siegler haters are already crawling out of the sewers against you in mere anticipation of your "possible" candidacy. They are that afraid of your courage and spirit.

Even now, in an attempt to excuse the recently exposed consequences of Lykos' incompetence, the Republican operatives are accusing you of orchestrating an anti-Lykos conspiracy.

I can't believe you would even consider getting back in the ring..............thank you.

INVESTIGATION INTO DA PAT LYKOS CORRUPTION EXPLODES.............THE OLD HENS ARE COMING HOME TO ROOST

2011-10-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

Prosecutor named in BAT van case Newswatch a Chron.com blog

"State District Judge Susan Brown on Wednesday named attorney Stephen C. St. Martin as a “temporary prosecutor” to assist a grand jury apparently investigating the Houston Police Department’s troubled mobile alcohol testing program.
The order appointing St. Martin, a former assistant district attorney, states that grand jurors are investigating possible criminal conduct by the district attorney’s office.
Court officials said Brown intended to name another special prosecutor but hasn’t signed that order yet.
The grand jury gained attention last week when it excluded prosecutors from listening to witnesses testifying in secret proceedings during the ongoing investigation. On Tuesday the grand jury heard testimony from prosecutors under subpoena, providing further evidence that the panel is examining the role the DA’s office has played in cases involving breath alcohol testing vehicles known as BAT vans."
-Houston Chronicle

Welcome to the Major League DA Pat Lykos........or should I say Major Offenders?
*You have done some awful things to some awfully good folks.
*You have defamed and bullied performers for doing their jobs so that you could advance for not doing yours.
*You have pretended to create as you destroyed the creation of others.
*Your pretense has fooled too many for too long.
*Your Republican base will now get a glimpse into who the REAL Pat Lykos is....the rose colored glasses are cracking.

You are a creature of habit Pat Lykos. You historically soil the messenger to hide the message.
I fully expect you to accuse Judge Susan Brown of having an agenda.........an unfounded vendetta. You will defame her husband Mark and out-perform the muddiest feral hog in Texas to personally attack Stephen St. Martin.

Your tactics remind me of the late Senator Joseph McCarthy.
During the Army-McCarthy Senate Hearings in 1954, Mr. Welch had finally had enough when in addressing Senator McCarthy said, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency."
As that hearing marked the end of McCarthy's arbitrary rule; so shall it be for Lykos.

Judge Brown chose well in selecting St. Martin as a Special Prosecutor to bring JUSTICE back to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
St. Martin is not afraid of Lykos. He is privy to the workings of the HCDAO. He is a REAL prosecutor and understands the Rules of Criminal Procedure and Evidence.

How the Harris County Republican Party leadership responds to the Lykos corruption scandal will be interesting.
Will there be an onslaught of candidates filing in the Republican Primary forcing a run-off or will there be a Rock Star that is supported because she is the best qualified, albeit least political?

I predict that at least four (4) candidates will file in the Republican Primary forcing a run-off.
Except for a throw-down-spoiler-puppet like Jim Leitner who is ultimately responsible for the Pat Lykos debacle; these folks need to ask themselves:
1. Are you up for a run-off against Pat Lykos?
2. Will the hard core Republicans who always come out for the run-off still vote for Lykos in spite of her disastrous performance?
3. Will any one besides the hard core Lykos loyalists actually vote in the inevitable run-off.....history says they won't?
4. Is Kelly Siegler in it to win it?...........a proven prosecutor who has always fought her heart out for JUSTICE and victims' rights because it is who she is and the right thing to do.

Keep the faith........everything happens for a reason.

HERMAN CAIN IS THE REAL DEAL

2011-10-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

Herman Cain is a self made man who succeeded in spite of being black; NOT because of it. His mother was a maid for the white man and his father was a white man's driver. "The Help" is not just a Hollywood flick for Cain.............it depict's his REAL roots.
Cain's ancestors came to America on slave ships......not on a Kenyan Boeing 747. Cain grew up under Jim Crow.....he did not have to be taught about discrimination; he rose above it.
Therein lies the fundamental difference between Herman Cain and the presidential pretender.........."President Cain" would be the first REAL black President of the United States of America.

Mr. Cain's philosophy for success in life is predicated on a work ethic NOT victim hood. He does not hide from his heritage nor does he exploit it........he chooses to be judged based on performance NOT guilt. Cain considers himself an American who happens to be black; dismissing the divisive term African American.

The race baiters are in a frenzied disbelief: Cornel West, Al Sharpton, Walter Evans a/k/a Quanell X and the left wing media are now in "Palinesque" character assassination overdrive.
As these folks desperately sling their insidious racism against Herman Cain; black America is "out to lunch".
What an OUTRAGE!

Black "leadership" is stunned: How can a black man possibly succeed on merit and have conservative Christian values? He must be a grinnin' shufflin' Uncle Tom goober! He must be destroyed! God forbid Mr. Cain's values permeate the hood!
Oh my goodness, what would happen to the poverty pimps of the democratic party if the disenfranchised segment of black America followed Cain's example? The brainwashed herd mentality would be lost.........the dependent victims would be free at last!

The Tea Party's overwhelming support of Mr. Cain demonstrates their adherence to the fundamental belief that the content of an individual's character is more important than their skin color........principled policy counts. WOW!
Cain offers solutions instead of excuses and does what other folks just talk about............................he is not a polished politician and that also is refreshing.

Herman Cain debates Bill Clinton

2011-10-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

PREACHER POLITICS.........SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE DEPENDS ON WHAT CHURCH HAS THE MEDIA'S EAR

2011-10-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

"On Friday October 7, 2011 shortly before noon, reporters at the Values Voter Summit were handed a blue sheet of paper with a news alert: "Southern Baptist Convention Leader to Endorse Perry at Values Voter Summit." Dr. Robert Jeffress, a Texas pastor, was all set to introduce his governor, and he had some thoughts. "Do we want a candidate who is a good, moral person, or one who is a born again follower of Jesus Christ? In Rick Perry, we have a candidate who is... a committed follower of Christ."

Jeffress doesn't like Mormonism. Jeffress became briefly infamous in 2007 for his rants against Mitt Romney, and the unacceptability of a Mormon nominee. Romney, he said, was a "cult" member.

I believe we should always support a Christian over a non-Christian. The value of electing a Christian goes beyond public policies. . . . Christians are uniquely favored by God, [while] Mormons, Hindus and Muslims worship a false god. The eternal consequences outweigh political ones. It is worse to legitimize a faith that would lead people to a separation from God.

At 2:30, Jeffress took the stage, as promised, and repeated his statement, adding to it. Perry was a "genuine follower of Jesus Christ!"
Perry walked onstage and thanked Jeffress for the endorsement.

After the speeches, Jeffress walked through the hotel doing interview after interview about his take on Mormonism."Article 6 of the Constitution says government can impose no religious tests," he said. "But private citizens can impose all the tests they like!"

When asked if Jeffress expressed these concerns to Perry. "No. He is not aware of my views on Mormonism," he said, "nor am I aware of his." *
...................And there we have it!

*Synopsis of a post from the South Philly blogger, "Field Negro", October 7, 2011.

So it begs the question: how does one reconcile the diverse condemnation of Perry for this Preacher's comments while the racist and anti-American rantings of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former preacher and spiritual mentor of President Obama for over twenty (20) years, are off limits and not politically relevant?

THE AMERICAN FREELOADER IS F.O.S.

2011-10-07T08:31:00.000-07:00

The following Email has been circulating for a few months now and is so poignant in its graphic simplicity I am posting it below for those who might not have had the opportunity to read it:

"The folks who are getting the free shit, don't like the folks who are paying for the free shit,
BECAUSE the folks who are paying for the free shit, can no longer afford to pay for both the free shit and their own shit.

The folks who are paying for the free shit, want the free shit to stop;
and the the folks who are getting the free shit, want even more free shit on top of the free shit they are already getting!

Now... The people who are forcing the people who Pay for the free shit, have told the people who are RECEIVING the free shit, that the people who are PAYING for the free shit, are being mean, prejudiced, and racist.

So... the people who are GETTING the free shit, have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free shit, by the people who are forcing those people to pay for their free shit, and giving them the free shit in the first place.

We have let the free shit giving go on for so long that there are
Now more people getting free shit than paying for the free shit."

All great democracies have committed financial suicide once the voters figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them.

The number of people now getting free shit outnumbers the people paying for the free shit.......... failure to change that spells the end of the greatest democracy man has ever known--The United States of America.

US Debt Crisis - 2012 is only for America

2011-10-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

PAUL'S PROPHETIC PATRIOTISM PERSISTS.....WHAT WOULD THOMAS, BENJAMIN AND THE BOYS HAVE TO SAY 235 YEARS LATER?

2011-09-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

IS IT ADA WATERS OR JUSTICE GENERALLY THAT HAS BEEN THROWN UNDER THE BRIDGE AT THE HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE?

2011-09-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a long time coming, but a Dick DeGuerin high profile client finally gets a photo-op smile on the front page of today's Houston Chronicle! There is no doubt that Dr. Michael Brown shares the obvious relief of his DeGuerin defense team that he did not have to face ADA Kelly Siegler.......we all know those trial stats.
The paper's Editor-in-Chief, Jeff Cohen, and his criminal defense attorney wife are no doubt thrilled that their very own Pat Lykos is at the helm of the evicerated District Attorney's office as evidenced by cub reporter, Brian Rogers', rendition of the trial.

In that vein, is it any wonder that the City & State front page section of this same edition reads, "DA won't prosecute Jones in ethics case".
How could they? The Harris County District Attorney's Office lacks an ethical backbone as well as the ability to appropriately prosecute a high profile case that is not a WHALE slam dunk in the bag guarantee!

The real headline ought to be, "HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE : R.I.P".

Sadly, the criminal justice system has always judged the least fortunate the harshest. The only way poor folks get a dream team defense is when there is a cause de celebre or some publicity grandstand potential......otherwise the spoils go to the wealthy; as they did at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center yesterday.

Harris County needs ROCK STAR prosecutors not only to protect the community from wealthy and/or high profile crooks; but also to provide leadership roles for the junior prosecutors as they develop in their careers....lest their skills stagnate in baby prosecutor mode.

As these types of headlines become more and more common-place in Harris County the citizens will come to appreciate that DA Patsy Lykos lacks the basic requisite leadership skills for her position: cognitive ability, motives, values, social skills, expertise, and problem-solving skills. Her arbitrary rule by terror and intimidation will never compensate for these failings as demonstrated by her ADAs fear driven complacency, mediocrity and timidness..........not the characteristics a community wants in THEIR ADAs.

One must wonder with trepidation what the outcome will be for the next high profile wealthy defendant or cause de celebre to be tried in Harris County.

ADA Kari Allen will have an opportunity to bring justice back to the courthouse when she tries her high profile wealthy defendant, attorney Jeffery Stern; who is also charged with causing physical harm to a spoiled and pampered wife. Stern's defense attorney in his alleged "Divorce by Death" plot is the venerable Paul Nugent who is as good as Dick DeGuerin used to be........so we'll see if the District Attorney's "team" is up to the challenge.

ADA Steve Baldassano will have a similar opportunity if he ever puts down the dodge ball and tries Jessica Tata for her involvement in the burning deaths of seven (7) defenseless little children. Hopefully Tata's high profile defense attorney, Mike DeGuerin, will not have the same 'possum eatin' grin plastered on the Houston Chronicle's front page like his brother Dick had.

THE OBAMA PARTY TRAIN IS DERAILING

2011-09-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

In a sharp rebuff to President Barack Obama, Republican Bob Turner won a special House election in New York Tuesday night, giving the GOP a district that Obama had carried with 55 percent in 2008 and which Democrats had held since the 1920s.

The seat had been represented for seven (7) terms by Democrat Anthony Weiner who resigned in June after sending sexually provocative messages to women he contacted online.

Democratic state lawmaker David Weprin got only 47% of the vote. Weprin is a 56-year-old Orthodox Jew and member of a prominent Queens political family.
Considering registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by three to one in the district; the democrat seemed like a good fit for the largely white, working-class district, which is nearly 40 percent Jewish.

Perhaps Weprin’s vote for legalizing same-sex marriages and Obama’s uneasy relations with the Israeli government caused disaffection among Jewish Democrats. The dismal job numbers and stagnant economy coupled with no real long term plan for fiscal responsibility or market certainty took care of the other voters......................

OBAMA THE SAVIOR..........I SURE HOPE GARY HUBBELL IS CORRECT

2011-08-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

http://www/.aspentimes .com/article/20100228/ASPENWEEKLY/100229854/
Barack Obama has awakened a sleeping nation
Gary Hubbell
Aspen Times Weekly February 2010

"Barack Obama is the best thing that has happened to America in the last 100 years. Truly, he is the savior of America 's future.

Despite the fact that he has some of the lowest approval ratings among recent presidents, history will see Barack Obama as the source of America 's resurrection. Barack Obama has plunged the country into levels of debt that we could not have previously imagined; his efforts to nationalize health care have been met with fierce resistance nationwide; TARP bailouts and stimulus spending have shown little positive effect on the national economy; unemployment is unacceptably high and looks to remain that way for most of a decade; legacy entitlement programs have ballooned to unsustainable levels, and there is a seething anger in the populace.

That's why Barack Obama is such a good thing for America . Here's why.
Obama is the symbol of a creeping liberalism that has infected our society like a cancer for the last 100 years. Just as Hitler is the face of fascism, Obama will go down in history as the face of unchecked liberalism. The cancer metastasized to the point where it could no longer be ignored.

Average Americans who have quietly gone about their lives, earning a paycheck, contributing to their favorite charities, going to high school football games on Friday night, spending their weekends at the beach or on hunting trips - they've gotten off the fence. They've woken up. There is a level of political activism in this country that we haven't seen since the American Revolution, and Barack Obama has been the catalyst that has sparked a restructuring of the American political and social consciousness.

Think of the crap we've slowly learned to tolerate over the past 50 years as liberalism sought to re-structure the America that was the symbol of freedom and liberty to all the people of the world. Immigration laws were ignored on the basis of compassion. Welfare policies encouraged irresponsibility, the fracturing of families, and a cycle of generations of dependency. Debt was regarded as a tonic to lubricate the economy. Our children left school having been taught that they are exceptional and special, while great numbers of them cannot perform basic functions of mathematics and literacy. Legislators decided that people could not be trusted to defend their own homes, and stripped citizens of their rights to own firearms. Productive members of society have been penalized with a heavy burden of taxes in order to support legions of do-nothings who loll around, reveling in their addictions, obesity, indolence, ignorance and "disabilities." Criminals have been arrested and re-arrested, coddled and set free to pillage the citizenry yet again. Lawyers routinely extort fortunes from doctors, contractors and business people with dubious torts.

We slowly learned to tolerate these outrages, shaking our heads in disbelief, and we went on with our lives.
But Barack Obama has ripped the lid off a seething cauldron of dissatisfaction and unrest.

A former Communist is given a paid government position in the White House as an advisor to the president. Auto companies are taken over by the government, and the auto workers' union - whose contracts are completely insupportable in any economic sense - is rewarded with a stake in the company. Government bails out Wall Street investment bankers and insurance companies, who pay their executives outrageous bonuses as thanks for the public support. Terrorists are read their Miranda rights and given free lawyers. And, despite overwhelming public disapproval, Barack Obama has pushed forward with a health care plan that would re-structure one-sixth of the American economy.

Literally millions of Americans have had enough. They're organizing, they're studying the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, they're reading history and case law, they're showing up at rallies and meetings, and a slew of conservative candidates are throwing their hats into the ring. Is there a revolution brewing? Yes, in the sense that there is a keen awareness that our priorities and sensibilities must be radically re-structured. Will it be a violent revolution? No. It will be done through the interpretation of the original document that has guided us for 220 "FANTASTIC" years--- the Constitution. Just as the pendulum swung to embrace political correctness and liberalism, there will be a backlash, a complete repudiation of a hundred years of nonsense. A hundred years from now, history will perceive the year 2010 as the time when America got back on the right track. And for that, we can thank Barack Hussein Obama."

Gary Hubbell is a hunter, rancher, and former hunting and fly-fishing guide. Gary works as a Colorado ranch real estate broker. He can be reached through his website,aspenranchrealestate.com

BLACK'S BITTERSWEET BARACK

2011-08-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

Well after all the race laden hoopla over electing the first black President of the United States of America, black Americans find themselves worse off than before.
When will American blacks appreciate the true meaning of the late Dr. Martin Luther King's vision: "Judge a person, not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character". Maybe a real bonus that will have come from electing a black president is that blacks will take seriously Dr. King's dream that we judge men by their character and not their color............and that character is measured by what an individual does and not mere words.

It seems that black Americans missed the whole point of the Civil Rights Movement-----purge racism from America! The election of a black POTUS should have served to underscore the great achievements of the civil rights struggle; but instead it has exposed the ridiculous notion that it is black Americans who have the most difficult time with racial equality.
It is now painfully self evident that black political culture demands special, not equal, treatment under the law. Many blacks hold the belief that simply having black political leadership necessarily equates to a higher standard of living for the black community..........Detroit, Washington D.C., East St. Louis, etc. etc. and now the nation, notwithstanding.

Black political leadership has embraced an agenda that is the antithesis of what the Civil Rights Movement was all about. Black America does not strive for laws and public policies that are race neutral. Its convoluted agenda is slanted to put individuals in power based on their race and not on their character and capability.

So, according to the mantra of black political culture: the election of a black man as president means more than an end to racism...........the assumption being that if the man holding the highest political office in the nation was black, it must follow that blacks would be better off.

Now blacks have a dilemma. We have a black president and blacks are worse off. Not just a little, but a lot worse off. In the words of longtime Congressional Black Caucus member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., "Our people are hurtin'..."

Blacks must now decide:.
Is our black president a traitor to his race......OR, could it be that Obama's performance reflects his character and his capability, not his race?

I submit that Barack Obama is not delivering for anyone except Wall Street.
Blacks are hurting more because they were already in worse shape when Obama got elected. Bad policies hurt the weakest the most............and the bad policies that have always failed are the big government liberalism that has defined modern black politics.

Simply growing government and electing black politicians does not make blacks better off -- it creates a plantation of despair.
The average poverty rate in Black Caucus districts is almost 50 percent higher than the national average. Yet, Sheila Jackson Lee and her ilk have a virtual 100 percent re-election rate.

Rather than dividing our country on racial or political lines a more fundamental and appropriate distinction could be made by classifying Americans into two (2) groups: those who take responsibility for their actions and those who don't.
The Civil Rights Movement took blacks to the edge of the Promised Land; but political activism can only remove barriers to freedom...........it's up to the individual to embrace freedom and take on the personal responsibilities that go with it.

Maybe America will realize that they should blame Barack Obama. Not because he is black, but because he is an incompetent liberal who has grown government to the point where the spirit necessary for freedom and prosperity is being quashed out of our nation.

KNOCK KNOCK......WHO'S THERE? OBAMACARE.

2011-08-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT IF COMMON SENSE TOOK OVER THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE AT YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL....

2011-08-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

As parents and students prepare to begin a new school year; imagine how refreshing it would be if school administrators across the land chose common sense values over political correctness, to wit:..............

"To the students and faculty of our high school: I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people. I would like to apprise you of some important policy changes coming to our school. I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against your teachers, against your parents, and against our country.

Therefore:

FIRST, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity.
I could not care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow, or white. I could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian, or European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave ships.
The only identity I care about, the only one this school will recognize, is your individual identity -- your character, your scholarship, your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about is American.
This is an American public school, and American public schools were created to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial, or religious identity through your school, you will have to go elsewhere. We will end all ethnicity-, race- and non-American-nationality-based celebrations. They undermine a core American value, E Pluribus Unum -- "from many, one", and THIS school will be guided by America 's values. That includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs that divide students based on any identities..........race, language, religion, sexual orientation, or whatever else may become in vogue in a society divided by political correctness. Your clubs will be based on interests and passions -- not blood, ethnic, racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self -- while the purpose of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So, we will have clubs that transport you to the wonders and glories of art, music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, math, carpentry, and more. If the only extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in are those based on ethnic or racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside of yourself really interests you.

SECOND, I am not interested in whether or not English is your native language. My only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking and writing English as fluently as possible. The ENGLISH language has united America 's citizens for more than 200 years, and it will unite us at this school.
It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without excellent English-language skills, I will have been remiss in my duty to ensure that you are prepared to compete successfully in the American job market. Notwithstanding, we WILL learn other languages here -- it is deplorable that most Americans only speak English . But if you want classes taught in your native language rather than in English, this is not your school.

THIRD, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor; everything in this school will reflect learning's elevated status.
This means, among other things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in our society dress more formally for a meal at a nice restaurant than they do for church or school. Those people have their priorities backwards. Therefore, there will be a formal dress code at this school.

FOURTH, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school's property -- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you can't speak without using the "F-word," you can't speak.
By obscene language I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission plus epithets such as the "N-word," even when used by one black student to address another, or "bitch," even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend. It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among the few of your age to distinguish instinctively between the elevated and the degraded, the holy and the obscene.

FIFTH, we will end all self-esteem programs.
In this school, self-esteem will be attained in only one way -- the way people attained it until the state of Political Correctness decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it.
One immediate consequence of this is that there will be only one class valedictorian, not eight.

SIXTH, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from politics and propaganda.
No more time will be devoted to scaring you about smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global warming.
No more semesters will be devoted to condom-wearing and teaching you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue.
There will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual, or not Christian.
We will have failed, if any one of you graduates from this school and does not consider himself or herself inordinately lucky -- to be alive and to be an American.

Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America .
As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out to you."

The politically correct termites are eroding our country's foundation...........we must stand up for our children so they will be prepared to meet the opportunities and obstacles life presents.

Marco Rubio Says "Save The Country" & John Kerry Questions him

2011-08-01T06:14:00.000-07:00

Brother, Can You Spare A Trillion?: Government Gone Wild!

2011-07-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

Banned US Commercial about the national debt

2011-07-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

JUNK JOURNALISM

2011-07-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

When Barack Obama campaigned for POTUS; the radical views of his spouse were not deemed relevant.
When Michelle Bachman campaigns for POTUS; the radical views of her spouse are controlling.

When Barack Obama campaigned for POTUS; his religious extremism was a non-issue.
When Michelle Bachman campaigns for POTUS; she is defined as a religious extremist.

Extremism is extremism regardless as to the message or the messenger.

No presidential candidate has universally accepted views. However, when the media's subjective whims are determinant as to which views are destructive and extreme and which are not; their blatant partiality not only quashes journalistic integrity, but more importantly the effective 1st Amendment rights of their reader/viewership is also undermined.

The politically correct media moguls now represent the de facto rule of law in the United States of America...................the U.S. Constitution and those that died defending her be damned.

Edward R. Murrow ought to be the benchmark for journalists rather than the anomaly.

ALAN KEYES: WE MUST STOP CONGRESS FROM RAISING THE DEBT CEILING

2011-06-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

"Whatever the results of the drama currently playing itself out in the political theater, the nation faces a fundamental decision that cannot be made by politicians hopelessly caught up in the government-addicted premise of that drama's exposition of the tragic flaw in the currently accepted way of doing politics.

It must be made by the people.
They alone can decide to reject the assumption of government dependency imposed by the New Deal syndrome.
They alone can decide to reject the false notion that it's the government's job to assure the welfare of individuals, when in fact government exists only to serve the common good.
They alone can reassert their determination to live as a people who accept the God-ordained responsibilities that give them the right to care for each other as individuals, in natural and voluntary communities free of pre-emptive government dictatorship.
They alone can assert and re-establish the integrity and liberty of those institutions of family, faith and economic enterprise that are the God-endowed natural means of fulfilling this responsibility.
They alone can reclaim control of the income and other material resources required to do so.

Americans will not break the habit of government spending, borrowing and taxation until they renounce the temptations of government solicitude and dependency and the "bribe me" party politics that connives to exploit them.
They will not have confidence enough to resist those deceptive temptations until they rediscover the resources of faith and moral courage that mainly arise from living out the motto that was and ought still to be the openly flaunted secret of their economic aspiration, the slogan that placed their trust in God, not government."

Alan Keyes

KELLY SIEGLER SECURES JUSTICE AT ALL COST FOR ANTHONY GRAVES

2011-06-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Texas Governor Rick Perry's support of House Bill 417 along with Texas state Senator Rodney Ellis' amendment thereto, facilitated the long overdue compensation for former death row inmate Anthony Graves.

But for the "Justice at all Cost" philosophy and work ethic of former Harris County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Siegler; the "Making Amends" editorial in today's Houston Chronicle on point would not have been possible.

Graves is but one of the many victims Siegler's career has been dedicated to seek justice for without apology or reservation.
Winning for Siegler is not about "the Lykos scalp counters", it is not about the red neck rogue prosecutors who covet convictions as wins regardless as to the issue of actual guilt or innocence, it is not about the media's agenda............."winning at all cost" for Kelly Siegler is NOT about THAT kind of "justice"--- it is about REAL JUSTICE.

We can require that all criminal activity be wrapped in a tidy little box with a simple bow.
It would be nice if all witnesses were honest; crime scenes were never tainted; DNA evidence was always plentiful and pure; prosecutors, defense counsel and investigators were always ethical/apolitical/qualified and diligent; judges and juries always followed the law and charges were appropriate.......in the alternative, we can strive for the ideal but not capitulate to the absurdity of naivete.

Anthony Graves, David Temple and Dror Goldberg were each accused by the State of Texas of commiting gruesome killings.
Each case was uniquly complicated lacking the neat little bow and tidy box too many folks require to proceed.
Each would require an incredible ability and dedication by the prosecutor to achieve a just outcome...........both for the victims and for the State of Texas.
There will always be those who doubt David Temple or Dror Goldberg are truly guilty or that Anthony Graves is truly innocent. That is because these cases are not slam dunk whales with harpoons either way. These are the type of cases that REQUIRE that special character and ability that makes a prosecutor a Rock Star for justice.....political fallout be damned.

Three (3) tough cases and one (1) tough prosecutor.............two (2) convictions and one (1) exoneration as Texas Rock Star Prosecutor Kelly Siegler does what's right because it is the right thing to do; and THAT is what makes a winner.

"Counting scalps" might be the measure of winning if your quarterback is Pat Lykos; but REAL justice is not a game and REAL prosecutors know that.

I challenge Brian Rogers and the Houston Chronicle to interview Mr. Anthony Graves on the issue of Kelly Siegler as a prosecutor.................

OBAMA'S UNSPOKEN RE-ELECTION EDGE

2011-05-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

By SHELBY STEELE
Many of the Republican presidential hopefuls should be able to beat President Obama in 2012. This president has a track record now and, thus, many vulnerabilities. If he is not our "worst president," as Donald Trump would have it, his sweeping domestic initiatives—especially his stimulus package and health-care reform—were so jerry-built and high-handed that they generated a virtual revolution in America's normally subdued middle class.

The president's success in having Osama bin Laden killed is an exception to a pattern of excruciatingly humble and hesitant leadership abroad. Mr. Obama has been deeply ambivalent about the application of American power, as if a shameful "neocolonialism" attends every U.S. action in the world. In Libya he seems actually to want American power to diminish altogether.

This formula of shrinking American power abroad while expanding government power at home confuses and disappoints many Americans. Before bin Laden, 69% of Americans believed the country was on the wrong track, according to an Ipsos survey. A recent Zogby poll found that only 38% of respondents believed Mr. Obama deserved a second term, while 55% said they wanted someone new.

And yet Republicans everywhere ask, "Who do we have to beat him?" In head-to-head matchups, Mr. Obama beats all of the Republican hopefuls in most polls.

The problem Mr. Obama poses for Republicans is that there has always been a disconnect between his actual performance and his appeal. If Hurricane Katrina irretrievably stained George W. Bush, the BP oil spill left no lasting mark on this president. Mr. Obama's utter confusion in the face of the "Arab spring" has nudged his job-approval numbers down, but not his likability numbers, which Gallup has at a respectable 47.6%. In the mainstream media there has been a willingness to forgive this president his mistakes, to see him as an innocent in an impossible world. Why?

There have really always been two Barack Obamas: the mortal man and the cultural icon. If the actual man is distinctly ordinary, even a little flat and humorless, the cultural icon is quite extraordinary. The problem for Republicans is that they must run against both the man and the myth. In 2008, few knew the man and Republicans were walloped by the myth. Today the man is much clearer, and yet the myth remains compelling.

What gives Mr. Obama a cultural charisma that most Republicans cannot have? First, he represents a truly inspiring American exceptionalism: He is the first black in the entire history of Western civilization to lead a Western nation—and the most powerful nation in the world at that. And so not only is he the most powerful black man in recorded history, but he reached this apex only through the good offices of the great American democracy.

Thus his presidency flatters America to a degree that no white Republican can hope to compete with. He literally validates the American democratic experiment, if not the broader Enlightenment that gave birth to it.

He is also an extraordinary personification of the American Dream: Even someone from a race associated with slavery can rise to the presidency. Whatever disenchantment may surround the man, there is a distinct national pride in having elected him.

All of this adds up to a powerful racial impressionism that works against today's field of Republican candidates. This is the impressionism that framed Sen. John McCain in 2008 as a political and cultural redundancy—yet another older white male presuming to lead the nation.

The point is that anyone who runs against Mr. Obama will be seen through the filter of this racial impressionism, in which white skin is redundant and dark skin is fresh and exceptional. This is the new cultural charisma that the president has introduced into American politics.

Today this charisma is not as strong for Mr. Obama. The mere man and the actual president has not lived up to his billing as a historical breakthrough. Still, the Republican field is framed and—as the polls show—diminished by his mere presence in office, which makes America the most socially evolved nation in the world. Moreover, the mainstream media coddle Mr. Obama—the man—out of its identification with his exceptionalism.

Conversely, the media hold the president's exceptionalism against Republicans. Here is Barack Obama, evidence of a new and progressive America. Here are the Republicans, a cast of largely white males, looking peculiarly unevolved. Add to this the Republicans' quite laudable focus on deficit reduction and spending cuts, and they can be made to look like a gaggle of scolding accountants.

How can the GOP combat the president's cultural charisma? It will have to make vivid the yawning gulf between Obama the flattering icon and Obama the confused and often overwhelmed president. Applaud the exceptionalism he represents, but deny him the right to ride on it as a kind of affirmative action.

A president who is both Democratic and black effectively gives the infamous race card to the entire left: Attack our president and you are a racist. To thwart this, Republicans will have to break through the barrier of political correctness.

Mr. McCain let himself be intimidated by Obama's cultural charisma, threatening to fire any staff member who even used the candidate's middle name. Donald Trump shot to the head of the Republican line by focusing on Mr. Obama as a president, calling him our "worst" president. I carry no brief for Mr. Trump, but his sudden success makes a point: Another kind of charisma redounds to those willing to challenge political correctness—those unwilling to be in thrall to the president's cultural charisma.

Lastly, there must be a Republican message of social exceptionalism. America has more social mobility than any heterogeneous society in history. Isn't there a great Republican opportunity to be had in urging minorities to at last move out of their long era of protest—in which militancy toward the very society they struggled to join was the way ahead? Aren't Republicans uniquely positioned to offer minorities a liberation from both dependency and militancy?

In other words, isn't there a fresh new social idealism implicit in conservative principles? Why not articulate it and fight with it in the political arena? Such a message would show our president as unevolved in his social thinking—oh so 1965. The theme: Barack Obama believes in government; we believe in you.

Mr. Steele is a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Among his books is "White Guilt" (Harper/Collins, 2007).

IS THE COMMERCE CLAUSE JUST A POLITICAL PAWN FOR LABOR UNIONS?

2011-05-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

In response to allegations against Boeing presented to the federal labor board (NLRB) by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the NLRB has filed a complaint against Boeing accusing them of retaliating against a local union by opening a production line in the right to work state of South Carolina.

The complaint alleges that the aerospace giant made "coercive statements" regarding union-led strikes, and then retaliated by transferring its second line to the non-union South Carolina facility. As evidence, the NLRB noted that a Boeing executive said in an interview that an overriding factor in going to South Carolina -- a right-to-work state where unions cannot force employees to join -- was a desire to avoid disruptions associated with union strikes.

NLRB General Counsel Lafe Solomon cited Boeing executives' comments on their desire to avoid strikes in claiming the company violated federal rules.

Soloman stated, "A worker's right to strike is a fundamental right guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act. We also recognize the rights of employers to make business decisions based on their economic interests, but they must do so within the law."

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which initially filed the allegation against Boeing with the NLRB in March of last year, said in a statement that the South Carolina decision was aimed at the union.

A hearing in the case is scheduled before an administrative law judge on June 14, 2011 in Seattle to determine whether or not the U.S. Government can preclude a PRIVATE U.S corporation from moving one of its own PRIVATE production lines from one state to another..........................The question is as ridiculous as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder going forward (with President Obama's blessings) with the prosecution of the C.I.A. agents responsible for the enhanced interrogation that led to the location and dispatchment of Usama bin Laden.

U.S. NAVY SEAL TEAM 6 WINS AT ALL COST.........AMERICA IS GRATEFUL

2011-05-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SUPER ELITE WARRIORS OF ST6!!!

Special Forces are just that......SPECIAL!

There are certain people who's character is so flawed, who's morals are so depraved and who's actions are so vile that they need to be removed from society regardless how powerful or cunning they might be.........and that is why we need U.S. Navy SEALs.

Thank goodness this SEAL mission was not undermined by the political correctness which doomed "Operation Redwing" on that fateful summer day of 2005. The team deployed for that tragic mission on the mountainous border of Afghanistan and Pakistan ended with a lone surviving SEAL and the largest number of SEALs killed in action since their inception.

On 1 May 2011, political correctness was AWOL. Human shields were no match for common sense. There were no U. S. Navy SEALs killed in action. Usama Bin Laden and his cowardly crew are dead.

Bin Laden will will spend his eternity covered in whale shit at the bottom of the sea; NOT with seventy (70) virgins in Allah-ville.

U.S. Navy SEALs have the courage, conviction and ability to assure that justice at all costs is attainable anywhere on the globe......that's what makes a winner.

GO NAVY and GOD bless our brave heroes!

BARACK OBAMA AND THE AUDACITY OF "HOPE-OCRISY"

2011-04-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA recently unveiled what he called a fiscally responsible budget proposal whose corner stone is taxing success..................what audacity indeed.

Barack Hussein Obama campaigned on the promise that he would reduce the national deficit by 50% (~$4 trillion) by the end of HIS first term. However, half way through this "historic" term; the national deficit has instead INCREASED by well over $4 trillion.

U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan's $6 trillion deficit reduction proposal over ten (10) years has pressured Obama, commonly known as the man without a plan, to step into the budget arena. Thus, Obama, in his typical indignant fashion, had the unfettered gall to propose a plan to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion in twelve (12) years.
In other words, not only does Obama's budget proposal NOT fulfill his 2008 campaign pledge of a 50% deficit reduction during his first term; it will now take TWELVE (12) years to merely bring the deficit almost BACK to the level he INHERITED.

Obama's plan is classic Democratic victim hood economics.................excuse the consequences of irresponsibility by playing to the masses through class envy. Demonize responsibility, sacrifice, and hard work by labeling those that proscribe to that behavior as the exploitive "rich" and demand that they pay their "fair share".

But what are the guidelines for determining an individual's fair share? Currently, the bottom half of the socio-economic ladder pay essentially no federal income tax and the top 10% of wage earners cover upwards of 70% of the income tax burden.

The personal income tax rates in America have gone up and down over time.

In order to help pay for its war effort in the American Civil War the United States government imposed its first personal income tax, on August 5, 1861, as part of the Revenue Act of 1861 (3% of all incomes over US $800). This tax was repealed in 1862.
In 1894, Democrats in Congress passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff, which imposed the first peacetime income tax. The rate was 2% on income over $4000, which meant fewer than 10% of households would pay any. The purpose of the income tax was to make up for revenue that would be lost by tariff reductions.

In 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution made the income tax a permanent fixture in the U.S. tax system.
In fiscal year 1918, annual internal revenue collections for the first time passed the billion-dollar mark, rising to $5.4 billion by 1920.
With the advent of World War II, employment increased, as did tax collections—to $7.3 billion.
The withholding tax on wages was introduced in 1943 and was instrumental in increasing the number of taxpayers to 60 million and tax collections to $43 billion by 1945.

Obama argues that by not renewing the current tax structure for the top wage earners in America he is simply eliminating tax breaks for the rich...........................REALLY?
Increasing the tax bracket for higher wage earners is NOT eliminating anyone's tax breaks it is nothing more than an across the board tax increase on those earning an arbitrary amount that the government unilaterally considers a lot of money.

If it were really an issue of everyone paying their fair share of personal income taxes; Congress and the President ought to address how a Wilson-Gorman (supra) tax model is not a more equitable solution than the class envy model.

America's National debt crisis is not an issue of inadequate tax revenues it is an issue of fraudulent and abusive spending by our elected leaders for whom the rules don't apply.......

WASHINGTON'S DYSFUNCTIONAL KITCHEN TABLE

2011-04-08T06:17:00.000-07:00

The American Family Budget--Washington Style:

1. The family credit cards are ALL maxed out and credit applications are pending.
2. The 10,000+ square foot homestead on three (3) manicured acres with detached quarters, outdoor kitchen, lazy river, spa and Olympic pool; all financed with a zero down interest only balloon note is now six (6) months in arrears.
3. The Spring Break family vacation for next year is already booked for the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express from Paris to Istanbul.
4. The support staff is in full gear shopping and packing for the family in preparation of summering in The Hamptons (this summer home is also heavily leveraged and in arrears).
5. The chalet in St. Tropez is being totally redone in anticipation of the secular winter holiday party season; numerous construction liens against the property, notwithstanding.
6. The 2012 Gulfstream G650 family jet was delivered last week with the family logo prominently painted on the fuselage.
7. Baby momma # 13 ordered her new Escalade....her old one already has over 10K miles.
8. Harry R., the eldest, is eyeing an Aston Martin One-77.
9. Nancy P., the original baby momma, wants a new A/C system installed in the kennels fearing the poor dogs will surely die otherwise.
10. Baby Daddy is demanding a raise from his employer to cover the family expenses. He presents the argument that this raise is a humanitarian necessity and that merit is irrelevant. Further, that a denial of this arbitrary demand would be Draconian and constitute extreme and unusual hardship to his family who are entitled to whatever they want and should not be required to work if they don't feel like it.

And the party never seems to end.......................until Johnny, Harry's step-brother, hooks up with a bunch of responsible friends at a tea party who advocate stopping this madness.
The family dismisses these Tea Party folks as bitter racists.

Thus the dilemma:
President Barack Hussein Obama wants everyone on the planet to worship him; but his role as POTUS requires leadership decisions which threaten his narcissistic persona.
Mr. President, it's time to BE Presidential and swing the bat.................the victim routine is wearing thin and the BUCK STOPS IN THE OVAL OFFICE.

President Barack Obama's First Ad of 2012

2011-04-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

EVER WONDER HOW THE BANKERS AND BOYS OF WALLSTREET WORK IT?

2011-03-31T15:54:00.000-07:00

IS ADVOCATING FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR FOR AMERICA REALLY EXTREMISM?

2011-03-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

“Republicans’ decisions to abandon the three-week proposal negotiated by their own party’s leadership suggests that Tea Party lawmakers are unwilling to accept anything short of the extreme cuts in the House budget, even if it risks a shutdown. This is a bad omen that shows how difficult it will be for Speaker Boehner to bring the Tea Party along for any long-term compromise.”
--U.S. Senator Charles Schumer

Schumer's view may appeal to the "Liberal Elite", the "X generation" and the "victim culture"; however, it flies in the face of the emerging neoliberal philosophy which defines the Tea Party movement and is gaining significant momentum within the Millennium generation (the young folks who will ultimately be saddled with this ever mounting reckless National debt).
Neoliberalism supports a fiscal policy which precludes governments from running large deficits that have to be paid back by future citizens.  They believe that constant deficits will lead to higher inflation and lower productivity, and therefore must be avoided.

Neoliberalists emphasize the efficiency of the private sector and the promotion of free trade in determining the political and economic priorities of the state. The premise being that when America's economic driving force is transferred from the public to the private sector; our government will become more efficient and the economic health of our nation will be restored.

John Williamson's, "Washington Consensus", provides a ten (10) point list of Neoliberal policy proposals which has garnered support from Washington-based international economic organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank:
   1. "Fiscal policy Governments should not run large deficits that have to be paid back by future citizens, and such deficits can only have a short term effect on the level of employment in the economy. Constant deficits will lead to higher inflation and lower productivity, and should be avoided. Deficits should only be used for occasional stabilization purposes;"
   2. "Redirection of public spending from subsidies (especially what neoliberals call "indiscriminate subsidies") and other spending neoliberals deem wasteful toward broad-based provision of key pro-growth, pro-poor services like primary education, primary health care and infrastructure investment--with the common sense caveat that responsible behavior is not only encouraged but rewarded and irresponsible behavior is met with appropriate consequences;"
   3. "Tax reform– broadening the tax base and adopting moderate marginal tax rates to encourage innovation and efficiency;"
   4. "Interest rates that are market determined and positive (but moderate) in real terms;"
   5. "Floating exchange rates;"
   6. "Trade liberalization – liberalization of imports, with particular emphasis on elimination of quantitative restrictions (licensing, etc.); any trade protection to be provided by law and relatively uniform tariffs; thus encouraging competition and long term growth;"
   7."Liberalization of the "capital account" of the balance of payments, that is, allowing people the opportunity to invest funds overseas and allowing foreign funds to be invested in the home country with parity;"
   8."Privatization of state enterprises; Promoting market provision of goods and services which the government cannot provide as effectively or efficiently, such as telecommunications, where having many service providers promotes choice and competition;"
   9."Deregulation – abolition of regulations that impede market entry or restrict competition, except for those justified on safety, environmental and consumer protection grounds, and prudent oversight of financial institutions;"
   10. "Legal security for property rights and financialisation of capital that preclude politically correct government mandates which led to the housing crisis/meltdown".

Even Chicago University's School of Economics in Obama's quasi-hometown, emphasizes non-intervention from government and rejects regulation in laissez-faire free markets as inefficient.
The school rejects Keynesianism in favor of rational expectations and has impacted the field of finance by the development of the efficient market hypothesis which stresses "positive economics"– that is, empirically based studies using statistics to prove theory.

NOTE: The University of Chicago economic department is widely considered one of the world’s foremost economics departments and has fielded more Nobel Prize winners (Obama's Nobel desecration notwithstanding) and John Bates Clark medalists in economics than any other university.

So, Senator Schumer, should we simply deplete the blood bank while ignoring the arterial bleed; or is it FINALLY time to apply a tourniquet and stop the bleeding?
If we, as a people, persist in confusing a lynching with the proper application of a tournaquet; America will indeed be hung to her death..................and in very short order.

IMPERIAL HONOR..........AMERICA COULD LEARN A LOT FROM JAPAN

2011-03-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

Japan suffered the worst earthquake since records have been kept; a devastating 9.0 . Twelve minutes later a tsunami poured over the island. For the next 36 hours aftershocks peppered the landscape.
At least two (2) of Japan's nuclear reactors are at some stage of meltdown.
Almost 200 people are known to have suffered some degree of radiation poisoning.
Tens of thousands are feared dead and the crematoriums are at capacity.

Notwithstanding this horrific disaster, the Japanese response has not only demonstrated a responsible self reliance; but most importantly has shown the world how honorable people react to crisis.
There are no riots.
There is no looting.
There is no blame.

The Japanese people have chosen to work TOGETHER to help each other survive instead of exploiting every angle of self interest.

May God bless the Japanese people and ease their suffering...............may the rest of us learn from their strength of character.

THE FURY OF DA LYKOS........WILL IT SUBSTITUTE FOR LEADERSHIP?

2011-03-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

FOUR (4) young children are dead........home alone and burned alive while their "caretaker", Jessica Tata, was shopping at Target.

FOUR (4) young children were burned alive on Thursday, February 24, 2011, and DA Pat Lykos refused to accept charges until Sunday, February 27, 2011; well after Tata had safely fled to Nigeria.

FOUR (4) attempts were made by arson investigators to the DA's office BEFORE charges were accepted.

FOUR (4) days were needed for the DA's office to act.

Lykos insists there was simply not enough evidence to accept charges until the fourth day of the investigation.
Specifically, Lykos wanted to make sure there were no other adults anywhere in the house when it burned along with the four (4) children......never mind that there were no adults at the crime scene filling that description nor reports from ANYONE that ANY adult was in the house at the time of the deadly fire.

It seems odd that a FOUR (4) day search for these phantom adults was required before arresting a known flight risk who was an obvious suspect.
Even if there were negligently entrusted adults in the house when the FOUR (4) children were burned to death; they sure as hell were, at the very least, grossly derelict in their duty of care and would not absolve Tata from criminal liability.

Are ADAs in Harris County today really that afraid to file a high profile case and actually go to trial?

Houston Fire Marshall Richard Galvan is quoted as saying, "This is the first time I've experienced the hoops I had to go through with the DA."

Investigator Ruben Hernandez had the foresight to have a Houston Police Department sergeant listen in to his phone call when he called intake and informed the ADA who answered that a Crime Stopper's tip indicated that Tata was preparing to flee the United States to avoid prosecution.
It is of grave concern that an investigator felt the need for this degree of corroboration when interacting with an ambivalent prosecutor's office.

Tata in fact fled to Nigeria long before Lykos FINALLY accepted charges for her role in the deaths of the four (4) children and Galvan is left puzzled at the DA's ineptness, "I don't know what the last piece of the puzzle was for them to accept the charges."

Lykos' official response is that she is "FURIOUS"............her arrogance has reached a new low!
ASHAMED AND APOLOGETIC would be a more appropriate response.

I wonder if FOUR (4) little Republican white kids were burned alive in River Oaks under the same or substantially similar circumstances whether the DA's response would have been as trepidatious..........

IF THE WISCONSIN TEACHERS' UNION WAS GRADED ON CHARACTER THEY WOULD GET AN F

2011-02-24T11:23:00.000-08:00

"On Tuesday, Feb. 15, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan convened hundreds of teachers'-union leaders and school-district leaders in Denver to discuss ways management and labor could work together better. Kumbaya!

Two days later, all hell broke loose in Madison, Wis. The flash point was Republican Governor Scott Walker's plan to address the state's budget gap by making public employees contribute more to health care coverage, coupled with a proposal to eliminate collective bargaining for most public employees — including teachers. Democratic state legislators went into hiding to thwart a vote on the measure, and schools closed as thousands of teachers left their classrooms to descend on the state capital. "
--Andrew J. Rotherham Friday, Feb. 18, 2011; TIME Magazine

When folks reflect back in time to their earliest mentors; TEACHERS fill that role for most of us.

Today, more than ever, public school teachers are EXPECTED to fill the void left by broken and often inattentive families. Public schools are not only a place for academic development; they also serve to provide students with the foundation for basic lessons in life values.

Young students are behavioral sponges......soaking up the lessons taught by their home environment, by their peers and by their classroom teachers.

When the protesting teachers parade signs of angry hatred depicting their opponent, Governor Walker, as the personification of evil with Hitleresque images and vitriolic slurs; this behavior will validate a gang banger mentality that is already too pervasive in American school yards..........the negative impact of that lesson on their students will be far greater than a few days of missed classes.
So as these teachers march in selfish protest under the cover of overtly fraudulent doctor's notes to excuse the "truant" behavior; they have effectively shirked not only their responsibility to TEACH their students academic basics but also to appropriately lead by example......an even more basic lesson lost---CHARACTER.

It is noble to fight for what you believe in.............provided your conduct is honorable.

"THE 'LADY' DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH, METHINKS": LYKOS REVEALED

2011-02-17T07:17:00.000-08:00

Brian Rogers took a big risk this morning by putting journalistic integrity on the front page of today's Houston Chronicle........my hat is off to you, sir.

Well as it turns out Lykos was an inspiration for William Shakespeare's "Hamlet"; thus Rogers' epiphany, "when someone insists so passionately about something not being true people suspect the opposite of what one is saying."

Rogers aptly pointed out that, "Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos won office in 2008 saying conviction rates should not be about 'the counting of scalps'."
'Judges aren't referees and justice is not a game,' she said on the campaign trail."

Pat Lykos could not run for District Attorney on personal merit or ability so her campaign focused on tearing down the reputation of her highly qualified opponent, Kelly Siegler. Lykos marginalized Rock Star prosecutors generally by implying it was all a game for them---the spoils went to the winners and justice was lost in the exchange. Political Pat Lykos knew that a campaign based on merit would not have worked in her favor......so she put on her game face--truth be damned and "Dialing for Dollars" was on!

Shall we judge Lykos simply on what she says or on what she has actually done?

Lykos has run the Harris County District Attorney's office into the ground. Trial statistics are way down, morale is at an all time low, confidence is scarce and there has never been a faster attrition rate in memory.
The fact that a mid level prosecutor felt compelled to send out an email pleading with fellow prosecutors to PLEASE try some cases begs the question as to why the Hell such a desperate plea seemed necessary; never mind how inappropriate it was on every level?

Harris County citizens should be asking:
1. Why do Harris County ADAs have to be bribed to go to trial....are they afraid, lazy, incompetent etc.?
2. When a Harris County ADA decides whether or not to go to trial:
   a.) how can the complexity or level of difficulty ever over-ride one's duty to seek justice?
   b.) how can doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do NOT be a sufficient basis?
   c.) how can political favor ever be more important than due process and equal protection?
3. I wonder what Lykos is telling her prosecutors behind closed doors as to the consequences for a trial loss.....specially a high profile case that would reflect on her!

Game show host Pat Lykos has shown her true colors: winning at ALL costs, not justice, really is what Lykos covets most............THAT, ironically, is precisely why she never really understood or appreciated how good Kelly Siegler really is.

Siegler has SHOWN that JUSTICE is her JOB and it was NEVER a game........those are her true colors.

The "Justice Game" is officially for sale at the Harris County District Attorney's Office........I urge all readers to boycott it.

WHEN IT COMES TO KILLING MERCY CUTS BOTH WAYS......

2011-02-08T11:18:00.000-08:00

The Texas lethal injection protocol utilizes three (3) drugs:
1. Sodium thiopental (Sodium Pentothal) is used to induce unconsciousness;
2. Pancuronium bromide (Pavulon) to cause muscle paralysis and respiratory arrest; and
3. Potassium chloride to stop the heart.

Well now there is a shortage of Sodium Pentothal in Texas.
The anti-death penalty folks are in full celebratory mode............a moratorium on the death penalty by default!
The logic parallels Obama's moratorium on off-shore drilling.

Opponents of lethal injection believe that it is not actually painless as practiced in the United States because the thiopental component is an ultra-short acting barbiturate that "may" wear off (anesthesia awareness) and lead to consciousness and an uncomfortable death wherein the inmate is unable to express his discomfort because he has been rendered paralyzed by the paralytic agent, Pavulon.
I wonder how many inmates were interviewed to reach that conclusion?

The anti-death penalty folks argue that:
1. sodium thiopental is typically used as an induction agent and not used in the maintenance phase of surgery because of its short acting nature;
2. pancuronium bromide dilutes the thiopental and (since the inmate is paralyzed) also prevents the inmate from expressing pain;
3. inmates are administered an insufficient level of thiopental owing to the rapid redistribution of the drug out of the brain to other parts of the body.
4. the method of administration is flawed since the personnel administering the lethal injection lack expertise in anesthesia and increase the risk of failing to induce unconsciousness;
5. the dose of sodium thiopental must be customized to each individual patient instead of being restricted to a set protocol; and
6. the remote administration results in an increased risk that insufficient amounts of the lethal injection drugs enter the bloodstream.
7. and if those reasons are not enough, the Hippocratic Oath precludes Doctors from administering a lethal injection.

The hypothesized conclusion implies that the effect of dilution or improper administration of thiopental causes the inmate to die an agonizing death through suffocation due to the paralytic effects of pancuronium bromide and the intense burning sensation caused by potassium chloride..........that the procedure employed is designed to create the appearance of serenity and a painless death, rather than actually providing it.

The Hippocratic Oath was first recited more than 400 years before the birth of Christ. It states, inter alia, “A Doctor will give no deadly drug to any, though it be asked of him, nor will he counsel such, and especially he will not aid a woman to procure abortion”.

Unfortunately, we live in an age when pledges of duty and fidelity of the kind found in the Oath are fast becoming passé...

The text of the Hippocratic Oath has been modified many times through the ages. Contemporary versions, routinely adopted in medical-school graduation exercises and similar context do not contain the prohibitions against surgery, abortion, or accepting fees for teaching medicine, and also omit the prohibition against physician-assisted suicide. In short, neither the Hippocratic Oath nor classical tradition provides a compelling ethical or professional prohibition of physician-assisted death.

Jay Chapman, the creator of lethal injection, said, "It never occurred to me when we set this up that we’d have complete idiots administering the drugs."

Well Mr. Chapman I submit that we have complete idiots complicating a simple issue.

The Walls Unit in Huntsville Texas houses the death chamber......it is NOT a surgical suite in The Texas Medical Center.......if it were, routine surgical procedures would, no doubt, be held Unconstitutional under the, "cruel and unusual punishment" language of the Eighth Amendment.

Common Sense alternatives Huntsville can substitute for the Sodium Pentothal Trifecta:
1. employ a competent anesthetist to use the same general anesthesia protocol prescribed for major surgical procedures.......and there won't be the complication of post-op pain management;
2. use the same pharmacological agents Obama's death panels promote for the unwanted elderly;
3. re-institute the gallows---since snapping the little necks of unborn children in their mother's womb and suctioning their brains out doesn't constitute, "cruel and unusual punishment"; we shouldn't have a conflict.
4. strap the inmate in a jihadist jacket and call the C-4 wired cell phone............the list is endless.

Our mortality demands that all of us will die one day; but few as painlessly as the inmate whose soul leaves earth by way of the Huntsville Death Chamber.
The murdered victims whose breath was stolen and the pure innocence of those dismembered before their first breath was ever taken are the ones who suffer a "Cruel and Unusual Punishment" in their ironic end..........NOT the needled inmate.

THE PROPHETIC WISDOM OF THOMAS JEFFERSON

2011-01-28T11:37:00.000-08:00

When Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence for America; there were no teleprompters and he knew how to walk the walk.
Jefferson was a student of government who understood the basic human frailties that led to failure over time.
His vision was predicated on common sense values and Divine guidance which left no room for today's secular politically correct agenda.
He understood actual history, the nature of God and the nature of man.

John F. Kennedy once held a dinner at the White House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: " This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

Consider the prophetic wisdom offered in the following ten (10) selected quotes by Thomas Jefferson:

1. "When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe , we shall become as corrupt as Europe" .

2. "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not".

3. "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world".

4. "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them".

5. "My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government".

6. "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms".

7. "The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government".

8. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants".

9. "To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical".

10. "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered".

Thomas Jefferson is proof that God truly blessed America...........I pray that God may bless America once again.

DO LIBERALS REALLY BELIEVE THAT A CANCEROUS LESION DESERVES MORE CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION THAN AN UNBORN BABY?

2011-01-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

Medical informed consent is a legal procedure to ensure that a patient knows all of the risks and costs involved in a particular course of treatment. The elements of an informed consent include informing the patient of the nature of the treatment, possible alternative treatments, and the potential risks and benefits of the treatment.

When a woman presents to a physician's office complaining of a lump in her breast; does any liberal really believe it's okay to simply remove the patient's breast without first providing a thorough work up and informed consent?
The patient understandably wants as much information as possible before agreeing to a mastectomy.
A woman's breast, voluptuous as it might be, cannot be granted more Constitutional protection than an unborn baby.

I strongly believe that human life begins at the moment of conception.
However, regardless as to what an individual's position is on when life begins, I submit that most folks have no idea how fast a recognizable human form develops in the womb.
Requiring a pregnant woman to view a sonogram and listen to the real-time heart beat of her baby BEFORE she undergoes elective termination simply debunks the myth that a second trimester baby is just a formless inanimate bowl of grape jelly-like material.
By concealing such information, how can a pregnant woman be given a valid informed consent?

So why are liberals against a female patient having as much relevant knowledge as possible before undergoing a major procedure?
Do liberals think that ignorance is bliss for pregnant women because they are too stupid to evaluate pertinent medical information and make rational choices on that basis?

The answer is painfully obvious..........if most of the women who presented to an abortion clinic actually knew what they were about to do they wouldn't do it and the liberals damn well know it.

Texas Governor Rick Perry supports the premise that knowledge is power and should be embraced instead of feared.
The mind is no doubt a terrible thing to waste; but it is incomparable to wasting the life of an unborn baby.................and that is precisely why the governor is putting this legislation on the fast track.

"It's pretty unbelievable, given the state of the state," said Rochelle Tafolla, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood in Houston. "We're facing an unprecedented budget crisis and this bill is completely unnecessary."
Well what is more uneccessary: the politically correct rampant fraud and abuse in government or the birth of
innocent babies?

Notwithstanding, Govenor Perry IS addressing the budget crisis in similar expediency by announcing four (4) other emergency items for legislators to consider: eminent domain reform, ending "sanctuary city" policies that don't require police to check the immigration status of people they stop or arrest, a voter identification bill, and calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would mandate a balanced federal budget.

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IS KELLY SIEGLER A "WIN AT ALL COSTS" PROSECUTOR?.............TEXAS JUSTICE KNOWS IT!

2011-01-09T14:49:00.000-08:00

Chuck Rosenthal begins to implode. Allegations of infidelity, racism, substance abuse, use of government equipment and employees for personal use (pornography and political campaigning), obstruction of justice, aggravated perjury........all reach a crescendo. The media frenzie is in over-drive.
Rosenthal taunts those demanding he NOT seek re-election with shifty Nixonian tactics.

PART I:
At the 11th hour Kelly Siegler reluctantly files in the Republican Primary race for Harris County District Attorney.

Reluctantly because:
1. Anybody in the CJC world who KNEW Kelly, also knew that being Bureau Chief of Special Crimes was her dream job.
Before Rosenthal's meltdown, I once asked her if she ever wanted to be the DA. She flashed that trademark Siegler smile, "Are you kidding me? I already have the best job in the whole world!"
2. Rosenthal's selfish failure to man up and accept personal responsibility for the good of Harris County, would undoubtedly taint any candidate coming from within the Harris County District Attorney's office.
3. With four (4) candidates in the race a run-off was assured and convincing the old Republican guard (the bulk of the run-off voters) that the Rosenthal apple didn't ruin the whole bushel would be difficult.

Siegler took on the race with the same obsessive preparation and tenacity she is known for and almost won outright without a runoff, getting 46% of the vote.
However, the rules of procedure and evidence are much looser in political campaigns. Truth and veracity don't apply to political campaigns as they do in a courtroom. It is all about innuendoes, sound bites, party lines, paid endorsements and the media constantly stirring the pot to further their agenda.
The final blow was Rush Limbaugh urging Republicans nation wide to vote in the Democratic primary................ many Harris County Republican voters followed that advice and thereby became ineligible to vote in the Republican run-off giving the old Republican Guard the deciding votes.

What Kelly Siegler lost that day was not an election.....it was her job as a Harris County prosecutor.
What Harris County lost that day was an opportunity.

PART II:
Mark Bennett et al writes one of many anti-Siegler blogs implying that Siegler will resign herself to be a traveling executioner of sorts. Siegler's "Hired Gun" moniker is taken out of context to imply that she will now carry her, "win at all costs" advocacy skills all over Texas. Afterall, that's all she is and who she is, right Mark?

Here comes Anthony Graves; a death row inmate Siegler was hired to re-try for Capital Murder.
Siegler, in her characteristic obsessive preparatory manner begins to evaluate the case against Graves. She discovers that Graves might be factually innocent. After an exhaustive investigation--the scope well beyond that of the other Special Prosecutors on the case before Siegler; she concludes that her original suspicion was true and that Graves was factually innocent.
So after eighteen (18) years, sixteen (16) of which were on death row; Graves, thanks to the tenacity of Siegler, is a free man.
That wasn't enough for Siegler, however, as she went to great lengths to expose this injustice so that Anthony Graves could walk as a free man with respect instead of having an O.J. Simpson cloud over his head; a move that ironically also sealed Siegler's fate for future Special Prosecutor assignments.........because convictions and winning are NOT the same thing for Kelly Siegler.

What Siegler lost that day was her job as a Special Prosecutor.
What Texas lost that day was an opportunity.

Harris County, Texas WILL have an OPPORTUNITY in 2012........Let's not blow it again.

AGAMEMNON: THE FATHER OF CHUCK ROSENTHAL AND PAT LYKOS

2011-01-05T15:52:00.000-08:00

The Greek tragedy of Iliad has remarkable similarities to the modern day tragedy at 1201 Franklin.

Agamemnon commanded the Greek armies against Troy. He was a selfish leader whose arrogance often clouded his judgment.

Agamemnon once owned a slave girl named Cryseis whose father was a priest of Apollo.
One day the slave girl's father came to ransom his daughter from Agamemnon. The Greek commander insulted the slave girl's father and threatened to kill him if he returned.
As the priest left the Greek camp without his daughter, he prayed to Apollo for revenge on the Greeks.

The priest's prayer was granted; and the Greeks began to die from disease.
Agamemnon realized he would have to give the slave girl back to her father.
But he decided that it would be a dishonor, as commander, to be left without a slave girl.
Agamemnon, with total contempt for the troops that he professed he would gladly lead a charge into Hell with; instead, betrayed them all through his selfish greed as he threw the greatest warrior in Greek army history under the bus----he stole Achilles' daughter, Briseis, to replace Chryseis.

Achilles was enraged by this cavalier disloyalty of Agamemnon and refused to fight.
The Trojan forces began to dominate.

Hector, although no match for Achilles' warrior skills, was the best the Trojans had. But with Achilles refusing to fight, there was no Greek warrior who could stand up to Hector. The Trojans fought their way closer and closer to the Greek camp. If they could manage to burn the Greek ships, the Greeks would lose hope and not be able to get back to Greece.............their morale would be broken and their cause would be lost.

The Iliad is a story about many things.
For one, it is about the power of fate, and how one cannot avoid one's fate.
Achilles had a choice:
1. If he fought at Troy, he was fated to die, but his honor would live forever.
2. If he left the war and returned home, he would live a long life, but would lose his honor.

Achilles' fought honorably and died; but his modern day personification WILL step back onto the battlefield................AND next time she'll be wearing Kevlar boots.

AMERICA.......WHOSE COUNTRY IS IT ?

2010-12-30T06:48:00.000-08:00

ILLEGAL ALIENS find that designation offensive and are demanding to be referred to as undocumented workers instead.
What I find even more offensive is that they are here in the first place.

But why are all these illegals flooding across the US border?
How does one reconcile the fact that we have double digit unemployment among our American workers in the face of this record illegal immigration?

Oh, the simple answer is that the illegals work cheaply, don't pay taxes, etc.
Well these illegals are able to not only survive on these so called paltry wages; but are also able to send the bulk of their salaries back to their homelands. These folks are building our country because LEGAL Americans seem too arrogant and lazy to do it themselves.
America essentially entices a group of impoverished people to our shores to perform tasks that Americans deem beneath them for wages Americans laugh at and then these same Americans have the audacity to condemn the foreign workers. Shame on America.

Americans need to get off their sofas, turn off their flat screens and WORK instead of demanding 13 months of extended unemployment benefits after exhausting 99 weeks of similar hand outs.

American kids don't cut the grass anymore; they have personal coaches.
White boys and black boys don't work construction anymore; the Latinos do that.
Today, Americans EXPECT to start at the top with all the perks and are not willing to PAY THEIR DUES. Entitlement has trickled upward and sideways; not just downward.
Too many of the privileged parents are more concerned with lattes and not offending their children's sensitivities than they are with being parents. Too many of the less fortunate parents also fail to make parenting a top priority.
So it is no surprise that our young work force has the disgraceful work ethic it has.

Supply and demand is the root of illegal immigration just like it is for drugs.
STOP the demand and the supply will wither up......................................it all boils down to responsible behavior and consequences.

WHOSE HEAD IS REALLY ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: DA PAT LYKOS OR THE TEXAS DEATH PENALTY?

2010-12-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

Harris County DA Pat Lykos' hap hazard stance on the Death Penalty issue will be her death blow when she runs for re-election in 2012.

The Harris County Republican base and the clear majority of true Independents support Capital Punishment. This is not Dallas County and the fringe bloggers at the Houston Chronicle are not only irrelevant, they are even less significant than the paltry voters in our little court house world.

The earliest US national Gallup poll on Capital Punishment was in 1936. That survey found that 59 % of Americans supported the death penalty, 38% opposed it and 6% were undecided. Throughout the Gallup polling history on the issue, the majority of the general US population has always supported the death penalty. The most recent Gallup data being 7 October 2010, which showed a greater than 2:1 support for the death penalty, specifically 64% supported, 29% opposed and 6% had no opinion.

The 7 October 2010 US National Gallup Poll also asked:
In your opinion, is the death penalty imposed -- [ROTATED: too often, about the right amount, or not often enough]?
The following results were revealed:
Too often: 18%; About the right amount: 26%; Not enough: 49%; No opinion: 7%.

Now these are NATIONAL polls. Texas has recently been polled at a whopping 83% support for the death Penalty and Harris County leads the pack in Texas.

The drastic decline in Texas Death Capitals does not reflect the will of Texans; but rather the media's agenda.
If Harris County DA Pat Lykos acquiesces to media demands because of an underlying fear that her complete and total ineptness would otherwise be exposed, she needs to be held accountable.

Lykos cannot afford to continue to bank on smoke and mirrors if she intends to remain at the Harris County DA's Office.
The illusion of accomplishment by simply renaming divisions within the office or promoting tangential social agendas that are not DA functions or attending Republican luncheons won't cut it. The people are tiring of political corruption, arrogance and incompetence.
Lykos laughingly labels others myopic when they call bullshit on her absurd policies..............ironically it is those very policies which demonstrate her own gross lack of foresight and discernment.
Lykos now has a record as Harris County DA. It will not stand up to public scrutiny. Her odd destructive and grandiose "leadership" is becoming more widely noted.
It is one thing to cover up the petty vindictive tirades and inappropriate behavior of a District Judge that ruled decades ago; but quite another to camouflage or mitigate the crazyness of her current role as the Harris County District Attorney.................even for Lykos.

When the sitting County District Attorney does the bidding for that county's media outlets; the citizens are left with the proverbial fox guarding the hen house........Pat Lykos must be working an extra job for Chick-fil-A when she's not scrambling the Harris County eggs!

STAND MUTE OR IS IT STAND DOWN AT THE HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

2010-12-07T11:18:00.000-08:00

Ironically, Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos and state District Judge Kevin Fine have a lot in common.
Instead of performing their respective duties in a professional fashion within the course and scope of their actual job descriptions; each has chosen to pursue re-writing the, "Rules of Law", for political gain and personal recognition.
These arrogant distractions to compensate for personal gross incompetence are disgusting.

Lykos seems worried that her ineptness is contagious. Why else would she send her ADAs to a bogus hearing in time-out mode? The implication is that there are no senior ADAs left who know what the heck they are doing? To place a self imposed gag order on prosecutors at a hearing is demeaning to the office of the District Attorney generally. Lykos has degraded not just ADA Alan Curry, but the very process itself.

Personal agendas instead of the "Rule of Law" is paramount for these two (2) clowns. Fine doesn't like the Death Penalty and Lykos wants drunk drivers to get one free pass (DIVERT)..........the Constitution, the Texas Legislature and the will of the people be damned.

If Pat Lykos and Kevin Fine can't represent their constituents in a competent lawful manner THEY are the ones who need to "stand down, step down and shut up".

Lykos is quoted as saying, "the constitutionality of the death penalty is well settled law".
But Lykos has a history of disregarding well settled law; so it begs the question, "does Lykos support the death penalty or not?"
If you judge a book by its cover instead of by the content, Pat Lykos is a death penalty advocate. However, if one's actions are a better judge of an individual's position; Lykos' lack luster pursuit and defense of the death penalty should give Texans pause.

There are some people in society that are so horribly dangerous and vile that the death penalty is warranted.
Society has a responsibility to protect ALL its members in a reasonable manner; not just the sociopathic most violent segment.
The criminal justice system must always strive to prevent wrongful prosecution; but it can never be expected to come with a warranty. When an innocent individual is found to have been harmed, every reasonable effort should be made to minimize a future similar occurrence.

The death penalty, it has been argued, is not an effective deterrent. Further, an eye for an eye revenge mentality is not condoned in many civilized societies.
Philosophical bullshit aside, whose safety is society really protecting by abolishing the death penalty?
There is no guarantee that every capital murderer will be a model prisoner. That he will never harm fellow prisoners or prison guards.
There is no guarantee that a capital murderer will NEVER escape from prison either.

The argument that it is better to release a thousand guilty violent criminals than to to punish a single innocent man does not address what harm those thousand bad guys will render on INNOCENT civilians after their release.

The execution of an innocent man, whether it is sanctioned by the state or by a violent crook, is a travesty.
Dead is dead and the victim killed in a robbery is of no lesser value than an innocent man executed by the state. To require that a capital killer can never get the ultimate punishment for his crime unless we have a video clip of the murder that is accompanied by a confessional narration, reduces our justice system to politically correct insanity.
What if we applied this convoluted logic to the rest of our daily lives? We wouldn't have cars, planes, guns, whiskey or Whataburgers.........

You don't fix incompetence by throwing the baby out with the bathwater.....you clean the tub.
If Pat Lykos simply stands down because she's too wobbly to stand up--then she ought to get out of the way so a real prosecutor can take charge; AND if Kevin Fine wants to legislate then he ought not put on that black robe.

2012 can't come soon enough........

CALIFORNIA'S COLLEGES.....PRESS TWO FOR ESPANOL

2010-11-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

The California Supreme Court has unanimously decided that illegal immigrants who steal at least three (3) years of free public high school education in the state of California and graduate are thereby entitled to the reduced in- state tuition rate.
The challenge that, "states may never give a benefit to unlawful aliens without giving the same benefit to all American citizens", was overcome simply by stating that out-of-state Americans would also be eligible for the reduced in-state rate if they moved to California for three (3) years prior to applying to college.

Well obviously if you are an American citizen living in a particular state you should pay that state's in-state tuition and NOT the higher out-of state fee; BUT the issue is whether or not an illegal alien should receive preferential treatment over any United States citizen with respect to admission or tuition in ANY state college or university........it is absurd to even have to ask the question.

To the California Supreme Court, it seems that if illegals are entitled to free American healthcare and a free American high school education, it follows that they should not have to pay the high cost of out-of-state tuition that U.S. citizens are subject to. A faulty foundation at best.

More than half of the California public school system is Latino; a high percentage of whom are illegal. However, this statistic alone has no relevance to support, as a matter of law, that a preferential financial benefit to further the education of illegals over U.S. citizens is the correct course to serve the best interests of America.

As goes California, so goes the country; it is only a matter of time before all colleges and universities in America will have to offer each of their core curriculum courses in both English and Spanish.........

KELLY SIEGLER.........FACT, FICTION AND FANTASY

2010-10-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

Those who pass through the doors of the Harris County Criminal Justice Center generally voice a strong opinion when they speak of Kelly Siegler. Her name evokes the extremes of our judicial consciousness.

Murray Newman's latest post, "An Aggressive Prosecutor", found on his renowned blog: http://harriscountycriminaljustice.blogspot.com/ is a remarkable tribute to a very remarkable lady who just happens to be the best prosecutor in Texas history.

Newman's closing comments succinctly address the controversial prosecutor:
"Who is truly the better candidate to be a District Attorney: A pandering politician or an "aggressive" prosecutor?
I'm sure that former death row inmate, Anthony Graves, today wishes he had an aggressive prosecutor like Kelly Siegler back in 1992."

Siegler stirs controversy because she doesn't give a political damn in her pursuit of justice. She does it her way, in your face and makes no apologies. She doesn't kiss ass, she kicks ass........and a lot of folks don't like that. The hard reality of her tough justice is difficult to accept for many politicians, pundits, and the bitter opponents she crushes and leaves in her wake.

Siegler's job has always been to ensure justice for the victims she represents; whether it's exposing a crooked prosecutor or crooks in general.

Anthony Graves' exoneration from a death capital murder conviction highlights yet another victim Siegler fervently fought and achieved JUSTICE for--kudos to Newman for pointing out that had Graves file ended up on Siegler's desk at the onset, it never would have gone to trial..........like so many other cases Siegler has dismissed as a prosecutor without fanfare over the years.

There is no bringing back the consequences of innocence lost for Graves' terrible injustice; and although it pales in comparison to the loss of a murdered son or daughter who never get a second chance........at least Special Prosecutor Siegler provided that small solice of a new beginning for Graves as he now lives in freedom.

For Houston Chronicle editorial columnist, Rick Casey, to espouse, "My fantasy: Siegler puts DA on trial," is incredible. When it suits the media to destroy a corrupt prosecutor, they want the very best to take him down. But when Harris County is prosecuting a capital murderer, the prosecutor better not be too aggressive.

Constitutional application and common sense cannot rationalize this manipulative media driven bias.
If the media logic holds true that a few bad prosecutors corrupt the entire class..........then what about firefighters, cops, combat forces, priests, doctors, Muslims, democrats, defense attorneys, reporters, etc.

I concur with Murray Newman: Kelly Siegler has my support over a pandering politician any day!

Congratulations Kelly Siegler for once AGAIN doing the right thing simply BECAUSE it was the right thing to do. You could have just as easily have said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Graves; but instead you put your neck out there to proclaim his INNOCENCE. That selfless act took courage. Your proclamation carries great weight and will help Anthony Graves hold his head high when he walks down the street; someone of less character would not have cared.

DON'T BOOK ON THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE ENDORSEMENTS

2010-10-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

The Houston Chronicle is once again a great source to guide the Harris County voters this election cycle.

If you, the voter, have absolutely no idea what the issues are or which of the candidates is most qualified; I strongly urge you to read the Editors' picks at the Houston Chronicle and vote the OPPOSITE way.
Occasionally the Houston Chronicle picks a qualified candidate or position; but in those cases the choice is so obvious any endorsement is superfluous.

Today's editorial headline, "Proposition 1 would bolster Houston's quality of life" is written by the Chairman of the Quality of Life Committee of the Greater Houston Partnership and chair of the Bayou Greenway Initiative and is a steering committee member of the Quality of Life Coalition.
I wonder what his objectivity is on the issue?

Harris County squeezes enough money out of property owners as it is.
Whether you call funding for Proposition 1 a tax, fee, fine or assessment; it is yet another payment that the home owner has to shell out to the government money shredder.

To equate The Houston Ship Channel, NASA and the Texas Medical Center with a proposition that requires property owners to pony up more money to be a "leader", is insulting.
Voters should take umbrage to the mere suggestion!

There is no doubt that Houston has a very significant drainage/flooding issue which should have been remedied years ago.
WHY is that?
Is it because Houston homeowners do not pay their fair share of taxes?
OR......... is it that the city government lacks fiscal responsibility?

Private entities across Houston adhere to a fiscally sound operating budget......that is if they are successful and want to remain so.
If a family or business has insufficient income, reserves or credit to make multiple contemporaneous purchases; they must evaluate the financial impact against the perceived need to determine which product(s) to select in or out.
Houston we have a problem; city government is not walking the talk. It's time for government to address their internal inefficiencies, minimize waste and promote appropriate innovation. That is if the city wants to increase revenues in a responsible fashion to fund this effort......................a FUNDamental concept in maximizing the growth and development of any competive organization.

Government workers who exploit their respective position for personal gain, whether it be falsifying time sheets or profiteering from their position, need to be targeted.
Imagine if you owned a business and your workers demanded to be paid for time they never worked or they operated YOUR business after hours as if it were there own keeping ALL the profit for themselves......would the solution simply be to increase the cost of services to your customers or to stop the fraud and abuse?

Throwing money at the Houston Independent School District without meaningful accountability hasn't improved the student outcomes and simply increasing property taxes won't improve the quality of life in Houston.

So unless Houston homeowners are permitted to rob liquor stores with impunity to satisfy their poor personal financial CHOICES; The City of Houston and their green buddies shouldn't be granted the same liberty.

VOTE NO to Proposition 1!!!!!

AND when the Houston Chronicle endorses Proposition 2 in tomorrow's editorial section.......remember to VOTE NO to proposition 2 as well.

A TALE OF TWO BRIANS

2010-10-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

Brian Wice and Brian Rogers remind me of Laurel and Hardy. They give "win at all costs" new meaning.

Wice's fiasco got front page above the fold coverage in today's Houston Chronicle and gets first coverage here.
What was Wice's agenda in the Susan Wright trial?
Wright is the former dancer who, rather than getting a divorce from her abusive husband, elected to butcher him instead. Never mind that she took a nap just before the gruesome slaying AND allegedly had a "lucid interval" while stabbing her tied up husband 193 times?

How does Wice explain Wright's, "time out" from her, "battered wife psychosis" to calmly answer the bedroom door when her young son knocked during the carnage? How does an individual turn a switch from a psychotic killing frenzy to holding her young son's little hand and walking him calmly to his room for a bedside story? AND THEN, once her son finally falls asleep; how does she switch back to battered wife mode, get another knife, proceed back to a bedroom turned slaughterhouse and continue the stabbing of her son's baby daddy?

Secondly, why would Wice suggest that Wright's former defense attorney, Todd Ward, was derelict not to put on Dr. Jerome Brown as a battered wife expert? Was it that defense attorney Ward was concerned Dr. Brown might have difficulty explaining why a "battered wife" fell asleep immediately prior to her violent rampage?
I submit that had Ward put Dr. Brown on the stand, as Wice suggests he should have; Wright's sentence would have been life instead of 25 years.
Where exactly is lawyer Wice during this re-sentencing phase.......as far away as possible it seems!

I fully appreciate that justice has nothing to do with actual guilt or equitable punishment to many defense attorneys; but was Wice zealously representing himself or the best interests of his client in this instance?

The final punishment of Wright might, ironically, be more JUST at the end of the day; thanks to Wice's meddling.....

                                                         ***************************************************

Brian Rogers' death penalty report is a prelude for what to expect in 2012.
How does he keep his bullshit straight?

Rogers' headline read, "He's the forth to get (death) sentence during Lykos era".
Pat Lykos put four (4) on death row! My Goodness!
One of Kelly Siegler's 22 Death Capitals and one of Denise Bradley's Death Capitals each gets "reaffirmed" and Patsy is credited. Does that make Lykos a "win at all costs" DA by extension?

The only de novo successful Death capital under Lykos prior to Monday's jury sentence, was Mabry Joseph Landor, III. Landor was sentenced to death last April and although ADA Jim Leitner stole credit; at least he sat second chair to ADA Julian Ramirez during the trial.

Odd there was no mention in Rogers' article today as to who the actual ADA was who prosecuted Garland Bernell Harper to death row yesterday.
CONGRATULATIONS to ADA and soon-to be Criminal District Judge DENISE BRADLEY on her outstanding prosecution of this turd.

No doubt this cold blooded cowardly killer of three (3) deserves the needle; but I am shocked that Lykos was lauded by the Chronicle for getting death on a "mentally ill" black man.
"All he did" was tie up his girlfriend and a couple of her kids before cutting baby mama's throat ONLY ONCE and squeezing the sacred life out of her two (2) precious children.
Only a mentally ill, battered boyfriend, impaired crackhead etc. would do such a thing....so where is Brian Wice's outrage? Why is the Chronicle not screaming foul "win at all costs" injustice from the rooftops? Where's the race card now?

How would the headline have read if Johnny Holmes or Kelly Siegler were at the helm today?

TEXAS FOOTBALL

2010-10-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

Well unless you're an Aggie; what a great TEXAS FOOTBALL weekend!

THE University of Texas and the Houston Texans made us proud indeed. Heck, even the Hooters upset Cougar high.

PREDICTIONS:
                           Texas WILL beat OU next year and be back in the top 10......Hook 'em
                           Horns, Baby!

                           The Texans WILL win their division and make it to the AFC
                           Championship game!

                          Rice WILL win at least 2 more games this season.

PAT LYKOS: SOCIAL WORKER OR DISTRICT ATTORNEY?

2010-10-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

One of the sillier Houston Chronicle editorials was in today's edition entitled, "Laurels for Lykos". It is a bit cozy and odd, to say the very least. The piece goes as far as to say, "It's hard to imagine Lykos' predecessor, Chuck Rosenthal, concerning himself about such an issue (the issue referenced being the suicide of Asher Brown, age 13). The DA's office has certainly changed, and for the better..........a DA can be both compassionate and tough".
Rosenthal may be a selfish uncaring individual on many levels; but he was never elected to be the District Psychiatrist or Social Worker of Harris County...........neither was Lykos, her political pursuit of suicide etiology notwithstanding. The only criminal act was carried out by the the dead boy........have you no shame Pat Lykos?
"Capitalizing on Children's Coffins Instead of Character", would have been a more appropriate editorial headline to describe Lykos.

The editorial goes on to praise Lykos for restoring integrity at the DA's office by establishing a post conviction review board, taking on the role of police when the Houston Police Department fails and for her sensitivity to the issues of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system.
As an aside, it seems the Chronicle failed to recognize Lykos' in house petting zoo and her new hardwood floors and gilded "chairs in waiting".......after all, appearances are everything in the Houston Chronicle Protector's Office.

What EXACTLY does the HOUSTON CHRONICLE think the job description of the HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE entails?

The "CHANGE yes we can of Pat Lykos" is as unfounded as her national mentor, Obama.
The DA's job is to PROSECUTE criminals.....ALL of them; even the clever crooks.
Why should a DA's office only accept charges on the "average" sloppy and/or stupid suspects?
It appears that today in Harris County, if a crook reasonably covers his tracks or his IQ is low enough, his behavior is excused and he is free to prey on Houston's gentler kinder society.
Is that the kind of change our society yearns for?

A DA's role is to do a thorough job at the onset; not focus on being a division for a criminal defense appellate firm.
It is NOT the DA's responsibility to serve as a suicide intervention agency.
It is NOT the role of DA to establish a crime lab.
It is NOT the role of DA to to run the mental health department for the state of Texas.
It is NOT the role of DA to establish immigration policies or otherwise rewrite legislation.
It is Not the role of DA to abolish the death sentence.

The Houston Chronicle is so intent on having a Public Defenders Office they are transforming the DA's office into that very entity.

Maybe the Houston Chronicle will report next on how Lykos will fight the war in Afghanistan....that would be equally ridiculous.

So how is Pat Lykos really performing at her actual j-o-b as DA?
1. How is her leadership affecting the prosecution of criminals in Harris County and making the rest of us safer?
2. What are the prosecution stats on violent crime in Harris County?
3. What's going on at intake and has the murder rate really dropped off; or are charges just not being accepted? I suspect the medical examiner and the DA are on different pages.
4. Who is going to trial these days?
5. What are the plea deal parameters?
6. Are any NEW Death Capitals ever going to be tried under the Lykos/Cohen watch?
7. What's the morale like today among the ADAs and support staff ?
8. What do law enforcement and other DA offices think about the Lykos DA's office?
9. What role does merit play in promotions, position or pay grade?
10. How is the DA handling the tough cases that require obsessive preparation and excellent trial skills?

Is the best way to ease jail over crowding and prevent prosecution of innocent defendants to simply try only the really dumb crooks?

Here's a hypo: An attorney, well versed in criminal law, tires of his wife. Rather than pursue a messy and EXPENSIVE divorce proceeding, he instead decides to terminate his wife. He tells his mistress, "if only my evil wife were dead we could be together always etc. etc.". The attorney husband selects a mistress he knows to be malleable to this suggestion and one who will carry out his wishes. The husband reviews ways the killing could be accomplished if, "only they knew a shooter". The actual shooter never meets or even speaks to the unhappily married attorney. The mistress finds several shooters, albeit with bad aim.The deed is attempted and botched. The girlfriend flips on her paramour after hubby and "evil wife" reconcile. Does Lykos take charges or stand down?

Barack Obama, Pat Lykos, and the mainstream media have a similar philosophy of "CHANGE".................but the real change that's needed is them.

OBAMA IS CORRECT TO PROPOSE REINSTATING A MILITARY DRAFT

2010-09-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

Detractors of "The Draft" will cite the short term higher cost. That it will cost an exorbitant amount of money to train the plethora of young inductees who are predicted to serve a mere two (2) to four (4) years and bolt. However, the adage that career soldiers volunteer and are not drafted may not be as accurate as it once was. Notwithstanding, the long term cost benefit analysis to American society will reveal that it is well worth the investment, regardless of the attrition rate. The Israelis have drafted their young men and women for generations and look at the character of their society.

In reality, the only real issue most politicians are concerned with is getting re-elected. So with polls resoundingly rejecting the notion of reinstating the draft; it is of no surprise that Obama supports the idea while most other folks in the cesspool of D.C. move to quash the proposal.

We redeploy our young warriors over and over again. They are worn out physically and mentally. Soldier deaths, serious bodily injury and post traumatic stress disorder are more and more commonplace. The available new recruits are often times ill prepared for what is asked of them and the old guns are burned out. The cost of this reality is unacceptable.

To be viable, the draft must be TRULY fair and equitable. Political favor and political correctness can have no place in the draft. Every conscript must serve to the best of his/her capacity; regardless as to birth right.
Having a U.S. Senator as a parent is of zero consequence with respect to eligibility and assignment of duties.
Any LEGITIMATE impairment shall be "common sense" considered in deciding how best an individual shall serve his country. Flat feet, psoriasis, diminished intellectually capacity, religious pacifism, etc. are insufficient to warrant a total exemption of service.....everyone is not a front line warrior but politicians' kids are not going to be photographers either.

The consequences of a military draft are not as readily apparent as one might suggest.

If the children and grandchildren of Congress serve like the rest of American families; the decision to declare war will be taken more seriously. Once American troops are engaged, our boys and girls will take precedence over political correctness and profiteering by the industrial military complex.
Politicians will provide the mission objectives; while combat strategy will be determined by real military leaders.
The tragic lessons of Viet Nam have been too often forgotten.....it's time to pull out the embedded reporters and put in the sons and grandsons of our Congressional leaders.
A Mosque filled with enemy combatants will no longer be a safe haven if a single American soldier is thereby placed at risk. Wars will be fought to win.

Soldiers from all walks of life will be forced to live, work, fight, pray and die as brothers and sisters.
People will be judged more by the content of their character than by the color of their skin or by the God they worship.
The comradery that grows from the Esprit de Corps is based on a commonality of experience and character.
Hardship does not have to breed the bigotry that plagues America's street and prison gangs.
Privilege does not have to breed the bigotry inherent in college fraternities and sororities.

Imagine if young inner city high school drop-outs had the U.S. Marine Corps as a role model instead of joining the Aryan Nation to survive in prison?
Discipline, sacrifice, pride in self and country and a marketable skill will provide a better future than the lessons learned in gang life.
A kid might not know who his baby daddy was; but he'll never forget who was his Sergeant Major.
Imagine if a young poor black Marine saved a privileged white boy's life on the battlefield? That white boy will have a whole different appreciation of PEOPLE if he subsequently joins a fraternity in college.

The diversity agenda of America's politically correct highlights the differences among Americans instead of the similarities.......it is no wonder that class envy, racism and cultural bias is at an all time high.

The broader the gene pool of our military personal; the stronger and more effective America's fighting force will be...........AND the more unified our fellow Americans will be towards each other.

FREEDOM is the most expensive PRIVILEGE a people can fight for......and we must ALL contribute to the best our ability.

LYKOS' ASSAULT ON THE HARRIS COUNTY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM MIMICS OBAMA'S ASSAULT ON TEXAS

2010-09-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

Texas is Bush Country. It is a conservative Red state.
The energy capital of the world and home to NASA.
The Lone Star State has minimal union influence and a strong military presence.
Texas is a right to work state with NO state income tax.
Texas business has minimal government intervention and as a result thrives in comparison to other states.
We are home to the best barbeque in the world.
The Texas Medical Center in Houston is world renowned.
Friday nights highlight the best high school football in the country and successful college programs heavily recruit our boys.
Texas' farms, ranches and fishing industry feed not only Texans; but also many families outside of our borders.
Texans are not ashamed of their strong faith in God and the right to bear arms.....we don't "cling" to these beliefs out of fear; but rather stand strong for our freedom and convictions.

Obama's "Bush bashing" is wearing thin.
His agenda highlights the dismantling of NASA, moving the energy capital to Brazil, crushing American health care, unionizing the Texas work force, ostracizing Christian values, imposing unprecedented tax burdens on Texas business.........heck, Cap and Trade might even make it impracticable to tailgate.

Texas is a state of mind that Obama detests. I get that.
But what I don't get is why District Attorney Pat Lykos is steering  the Harris County District Attorney's Office in self-destruct mode? Does she not care, is she that oblivious or this a deliberate act? Either way she's making the notorious Chuck Rosenthal look more and more competant and moral every day; and I am NO Rosenthal fan by any stretch.

Pat Lykos has professed to be a Republican for longer than most of us have been alive; yet her bizarre behavior contradicts basic Republican principles.
Republicans support responsible behavior and are therefore strong advocates of real justice.
Merit and common sense are touted to trump political correctness at the GOP HQ.

Prosecutors should be treated equitably and with self respect by the District Attorney.  If cronyism, deceit and hypocrisy are the hallmark of Lykos and her lieutenants what should the community expect from the ADA foot soldiers?
Lykos' blatant self interest over community justice is largely ignored by the media so long as she promotes their liberal agenda. Who knew?
Lykos is a fool of a prosecutor but a damn savy politician. Because without media coverage, Lykos is confident that only a relative handful of folks will ever know what a truly disastrous job she is doing outside of our little courthouse world......and that will never be enough votes to make a difference.
Lykos' fatal flaw, however, will be the growing number of monied players who are disgusted with her behavior and ready to support a tough qualified opponent. Money talks and bullshit walks; so the Harris County District Attorney's Office will have her day of redemption when a Rock Star prosecutor instead of a politician takes the helm in 2012.

Lykos may be an expert at saying, " I'm the queen of the Harris County Republican Party and support The Rule of Law"; but she does not appear to have the slightest idea what that means.

Ronald Reagan was a true Republican. He stood out as a great leader because of his core values.
Reagan had faith in Americans as a people and gave that back to us.
He was not afraid to surround himself with a team of advisors based on merit and ability. Reagan was secure enough to appoint the most qualified people to positions of power instead of the most malleable.....America's interests came first.
He created an environment that rewarded hard work and sacrifice. He fostered a pride in America.
He did not throw his people under the bus. He did not base his presidency on blaming Jimmy Carter. Reagan led by example with honor and respect. America flourished.
Reagan's principles were reciprocated when Alzheimer's overwhelmed him.  His cabinet not only had Reagan's back, they had our country's back.

A great leader is measured not by what he accomplishes for himself, but for those he leads.

Lykos and Obama will be remembered for many things.............but never as great leaders.

THE LYKOS OBAMA CONNECTION

2010-09-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

After reading Murray Newman's latest Blog at, "Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center"; it struck me how eerily similar Pat Lykos and Barrack Obama really are.
So in that light I thought it would be interesting to list the top ten (10) similarities that pop to mind.......
Please feel free to add any characterisics that I miss.

Obama/Lykos Commonalities:

1.  Minimal (if that) qualifications to hold their elected position. Obama is a "natural born" US citizen over 35 years of age. Lykos has a pulse and is licensed to practice law in the state of Texas. If anyone is aware of other job related qualifications either of these folks have I'm all ears.
2.    Narcissism.
3.  When speaking in a public forum, the audience might as well be a third grade home room.
4.  Spare no expense when spending tax payers' money on their own personal office decor, personal travel and other non- essential personal benefits.
5.   Blame their predecessor to mask their own ineptness.
6. Promote self serving legislation with total disregard as to the consequences or the Constitution. Obama's Health Care reform. Lykos' DIVERT Program.
7.   Re-name existing policy and then claim it as their own.
8.   Surround themselves with incompetent yes men.
9.   Are media whores.
10. Have cocktails and a smoke with Satan every Friday afternoon......

ERIC HOLDER IS THE FEDERAL VERSION OF PAT LYKOS

2010-09-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Craig Young of EASY CHAIR posted the following:

In Federal District Court on July 20, 2010, the ATF won a conviction from an Austin jury that defies logic and reason. In a trial before Federal Judge Sam Sparks, government lawyers conceded Texas resident Paul Copeland did not know his buyer was an illegal alien, but the jury they should convict him anyway because he "had reasonable cause to believe" he was selling to an illegal alien because the two men and a boy who were present at his table at the time of the sale: 1) were Hispanic, 2) spoke Spanish, and 3) wore cowboy clothing. And the jury did as asked. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Freel acted as lead prosecutor in the case.

The firearm transaction at issue occurred on January 16, 2010, at a gunshow at the North Austin Events Center, at 10601 N. Lamar Blvd., in Austin, Texas. Undercover ATF agents followed Mr. Huerta, his son, and another Hispanic male, Hipolito Aviles, around the "Texas Gunshow" that day, and claimed to observe Huerta’s transaction. Austin P.D. used Copeland’s case as the reason to close down the gunshow, leading to a protest by Austin residents in front of APD headquarters on January 25.

Mr. Copeland is a 56 year old Cedar Creek resident and Vietnam veteran who liked to buy, sell, and trade firearms as a hobby. On January 16, however, he had the misfortune to sell a handgun to Leonel Huerta Sr., who spoke both English and Spanish. Huerta Sr. negotiated his purchase from Copeland in English, showing Copeland his Texas Driver’s License. At Copeland’s trial Huerta admitted on the witness stand, that he is in the country illegally, (Huerta Sr. had previously admitted this fact to Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent Leo Buentello). ATF Agent Shawn Kang claimed he saw Huerta later hand off the gun to Aviles. Despite these admissions, Huerta Sr. was never arrested, charged, or deported. Instead, his presence at the gunshow was used to entrap an American citizen into an unwitting violation of a federal gun control law. Huerta Sr., who is a resident of the City of Austin, appeared as a witness at the trial, admitted he was in the country illegally before federal prosecutors and a federal judge, yet he was allowed to leave the courtroom under his own power. To date Huerta Sr. has not been prosecuted for his purchase, possession, or disposition of the handgun he bought from Copeland, while Copeland is now a convicted felon.

"Instead of busting the illegal alien for buying, they bust the citizen for selling," commented Paul Velte, attorney and founder of Peaceable Texans for Firearms Rights, a gun-owners rights advocacy group from Austin. Velte asked, 'who was in a better position to know the buyer’s immigration status, the buyer or the seller?" He also said, "What happened to Paul Copeland should enrage all Americans. The Federal Government is using illegal aliens to entrap citizens lawfully exercising their right to sell firearms. The illegal alien walks free, but the citizen gets convicted. The same government charged with controlling immigration is the one using illegal immigrants to attack its own citizens. Does this make any sense? It makes no sense unless the purpose is to discourage attendance at gunshows and frighten citizens from selling their firearms to other citizens."

Velte pointed out that "There is no way for a citizen to know who is here legally or not. In fact, under Austin’s ‘sanctuary city’ policy, not even the police officer at the door of the gunshow was allowed to ask a person’s immigration status, yet the average Texan inside the show is expected to assume that a person standing before them with a Texas driver’s license is in the country illegally just because they look Mexican and speak Spanish." Velte noted that the federal government’s lawsuit against Arizona was based on that very type of conduct: Concluding someone could be here illegally based on their looks or their language. Velte said gun owners in his group are outraged, and they want to know:

1.Why is the illegal alien who purchased the gun, Leonel Huerta Sr., still living in Austin?

2.Why does he still have a Texas Driver’s license?

3.Why is ATF using illegal aliens to set up and convict American citizens?

4.What has he been promised for his cooperation?

5.Why has he not been prosecuted? He committed three distinct crimes: he purchased a firearm knowing he was an illegal alien, he possessed the firearm, and he transferred the handgun to another illegal alien (Hippolito Aviles, who was convicted and given time served on June 30, 2010).

6.Why has Huerta Sr. not been deported?

Judge Sparks sentenced Copeland on August 27 to six months confinement and 24 months of probation, and called Copeland "a liar" for not admitting guilt. ATF confiscated Copeland’s entire gun collection and initiated forfeiture proceedings. Copeland was also fired from his job due to the indictment, and he would have lost his home to foreclosure, if not for his family stepping in to pay his mortgage while he serves his sentence."

How's that for political correctness?

PAT LYKOS AND THE BOILING FROGS

2010-09-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water that little fella will jump out right quick to survive.
However, if that same frog is placed in a pot of cold water which is then heated; it will not take evasive action, but rather will be complacent and perish as the water boils.
So go the frogs at the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

People fear change and often grasp at any excuse not to rock the boat ......never realizing that they can actually swim to shore.
Life throws some overboard to sink or swim, others jump on their own volition and some are content to sit idly on board as the ship sinks or putters along.

Educated Americans living in this great country have choices.
An individual may choose to listen to the voice that tells him that security, safety or even great wealth trumps integrity and honor. OR he may choose to listen to the voice of righteous values AND walk the walk.

The dignity inherent with the freedom to DO, not merely SAY, what is right BECAUSE it is the right thing to do is what separates us. It is what USED to make GREAT prosecutors.
On the other hand, politicians, cowards and the politically correct tend to merely talk the talk.

Which voice will you listen to?

DA PAT LYKOS: SCARED, INEXPERIENCED OR JUST PLAIN STUPID

2010-08-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

I am not a big fan of the Houston Chronicle, its agenda-driven biased editor, Jeff Cohen, or KPRC TV (Channel 2 in Houston); but I strongly support their First Amendment right to have access to a video surveillance tape which might document police misconduct.
Any limitation on the videotape's publication should be based strictly on the degree of graphic content and not political favor.......our Constitution would demand nothing less.

How can DA Pat Lykos explain her teaming up with the Houston Police Officers' defense teams in support of a protective order that hides the tape of an alleged HPD police brutality incident from the public?
    1. Does the criminal defense bar really intimidate the Keystone Cops running the Harris County District Attorney's Office to that extent?
    2. Perhaps Lykos does not appreciate the cultural differences between Houston and Los Angeles?
    3. Could it be that Lykos' inexperienced crew is too afraid to try a high profile slam dunk case after the public videotape viewing?
    4. The publicity of a public viewing would undoubtedly preempt a plea bargain.
Well whatever the case might be: "The Rule of Law", "Transparency", purging "The Culture of Corruption", etc. etc. is as meaningless to DA Pat Lykos' administration as it is to any other cartel.

The Chronicle's legal counsel, Joe Larsen, summarizes the issue quite well noting: "the videotape is indisputably the key evidence in the case and is a court record." Larsen went on to say, " It looks more to me this motion (the Lykos Protective Order) is to protect law enforcement more than the trial process."
The absurdity and blatant subterfuge by Lykos is succinctly spelled out by Larsen when he effectively points out that Lykos' argument that, "a public release of the videotape would prejudice the entire jury pool does not account for the fact that the jurors are going to see this whether they see it on the Web or see it when they are empaneled as jurors, and the impact will be the same."

Benjamin Hall, who is representing the alleged police brutality victim at the Civil courthouse, is not afraid of taking this matter to trial and neither should the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
Heck, even Clint Greenwood or a comparable first year law student could prosecute this whale and win.......so maybe DA Pat Lykos can bust her cherry and actually prosecute her 1st criminal case.

FAILURE OF THE FOURTH BRANCH

2010-08-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

The concept of the media or press as a fourth branch of American govenment stems from a belief that the news media has a responsibility to OBJECTIVELY inform the populace and as such is essential to the healthy functioning of the Republic. The media's role should be as a watchdog to protect its readers and viewers from corrupt government and special interests; not to be a lapdog in bed with either of these folks. Once a publication's dissemination of truth and objectivity is marginalized, its only valid function is to line a birdcage.

"The most effectual engines for [pacifying a nation] are the public papers... [A despotic] government always [keeps] a kind of standing army of newswriters who, without any regard to truth or to what should be like truth, [invent] and put into the papers whatever might serve the ministers. This suffices with the mass of the people who have no means of distinguishing the false from the true paragraphs of a newspaper." --Thomas Jefferson to G. K. van Hogendorp, Oct. 13, 1785. (*) ME 5:181, Papers 8:632

"I fear the newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets."
— Napoleon Bonaparte

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference.
Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and the implied rights of association and belief.

HOWEVER, despite popular misunderstanding, the right to freedom of the press guaranteed by the first amendment is not very different from the right to freedom of speech. It allows INDIVIDUALS to express themselves through publication and dissemination.........it does not afford members of the media any special rights or privileges not afforded to citizens in general.

Capital punishment is often the subject of controversy and the Houston Chronicle continues to shirk its responsibility to provide objective journalistic integrity in coverage of the issue.
Jefferson would be appalled at a publication, such as the Houston Chronicle, which furthers an editor's agenda to place a national moratorium on the death penalty above fair and balanced objectivity to its readers.
In a death capital case, the media's responsibility is not to usurp or attempt to influence the jury's deliberations; but rather to fairly and objectively report the facts.

Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. The term capital originates from Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" (Latin caput). Hence, a capital crime was originally one punished by the severing of the head.........severe historical penalties include breaking wheel, boiling to death, flaying, slow slicing, disembowelment, crucifixion, impalement, crushing, stoning, execution by burning, dismemberment, sawing, scaphism, or necklacing.
The great state of Texas provides for meting out the death penalty when a defendant's conduct satisfies statutory guidelines and is so terrible in nature that twelve jurors agree unanimously that death by lethal injection is appropriate. To effectively argue that the method of "death by lethal injection" is cruel and unusual, the courts need to place a moratorium on general anesthesia.

Opponents of the death penalty argue that it has led to the execution of innocent people, that its main motive is not justice but revenge, that to save money, life imprisonment is an effective and less expensive substitute, that it discriminates against minorities and the poor and that it violates the criminal's right to life.
Ironically, it is the very people who complain about the high cost of death row that are responsible for the exorbitant cost.

Supporters believe that the penalty is justified for only specified murderers by the principle of retribution, that life imprisonment is not an equally effective deterrent and that the death penalty affirms the right to life by punishing those who violate it in the strictest form.

To date, as many as 39 executions have been carried out in the U.S. in face of compelling evidence of innocence or serious doubt about guilt. Newly available DNA evidence has allowed the exoneration of more than 15 death row inmates since 1992 in the U.S., but DNA evidence is only available in a fraction of capital cases.

Debate is sometimes revived by particularly brutal murders, though few countries have brought it back after abolishing it. However, a spike in serious, violent crimes, such as murders or terrorist attacks, has prompted some countries (such as Sri Lanka and Jamaica) to effectively end the moratorium on the death penalty. In death penalty countries, the debate is sometimes revived when a miscarriage of justice has occurred, though this tends to cause legislative efforts to improve the judicial process rather than to abolish the death penalty.

Most religions weigh in on the ultimate punishment.

Followers of Judaism either oppose the death penalty altogether or support it only in extreme cases with absolute proof, such as well-documented cases of genocide.
The WW II genocide cases were 100% eye witness testimony based AND never had supporting DNA. Where is the media's outrage in reporting on the Nazi hunters? Imagine if a Harris County defendant was sentenced to death with the same type of evidence!

Some Christians interpret that Jesus' teachings condemn violence in The Gospel of Luke and The Gospel of Matthew regarding turning the other cheek, and John 8:7 in which Jesus intervenes in the stoning of an adulteress, rebuking the mob with the phrase, "may he who is without sin cast the first stone"; others consider Romans 13:3–4 to support it. Many Christians have understood that Jesus' doctrine of peace speaks to personal ethics and is distinct from civil government's duty to punish crime. Also, Leviticus 20:2–27 has a whole list of situations in which execution is supported. Christian positions on this vary. The sixth commandment (fifth in the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches) is preached as, 'Thou shalt not kill' by some denominations and as, 'Thou shalt not murder' by others. As some denominations do not have a hard-line stance on the subject, Christians of such denominations are free to make a personal decision.
I wonder what the folks at Lakewood Church's view is?

The state has not only the right, but the duty to protect its citizens from enemies, both from within and without. A concept that Obama and the Houston Chronicle have a difficult time understanding.
It is often argued that it is better to let ten guilty men go than to punish one innocent man.
What is so magic about ten why not let 10,000 or even a million guilty men go so as to insure that not a single innocent man is wrongfully punished? Well what about the potential carnage these tens of guilty men will rain on innocent members of society that are subsequently exposed to the risk?
EVERY REASONABLE failsafe must be employed to minimize wrongful prosecution; but no judicial system comes with a warranty.

Society's need to provide for the common good of the whole is greater than the good of any particular person. The life of certain heinous criminals is an impediment to the common good of human society. Therefore, certain individuals must be removed by death from society; as a diseased limb or a cancer must be removed for the good of the whole individual.
As the head of a rabid dog is severed; the rest of the pack may survive and prosper.

The argument that evildoers should be allowed to live in the hope that they might be redeemed is frivolous. If they would not repent in the face of death, it is unreasonable to assume they would ever repent.
How many people are we to allow to be murdered while waiting for the repentence of the wrongdoer?
Using the death penalty is vastly more humane than the alternative. Further, a speedy execution is not only cost effective, it protects inmates and guards and negates any possibility of escape.

Sharia Law or Islamic law may require capital punishment. There is great variation within Islamic nations as to actual capital punishment. In Islam, apostasy and stoning to death are controversial topics.
Although the Qur'an prescribes the death penalty for several hadd (fixed) crimes—including rape—murder is not among them. Instead, murder is treated as a civil crime and is covered by the law of qisas (retaliation), whereby the relatives of the victim decide whether the offender is punished with death by the authorities or made to pay diyah (wergild) as compensation.
"If anyone kills a person—unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land—it would be as if he killed all people. And if anyone saves a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all people" (Qur'an 5:32). "Spreading mischief in the land," can mean many different things, but is generally interpreted to mean those crimes that affect the community as a whole and destabilize the society.
Crimes that have fallen under this description have included: treason, apostasy, piracy (essentially armed robbery), murder, terrorism, rape including pedophilia, adultery and homosexual intercourse.

So what makes it "OKAY" with the Houston Chronicle's Sunday edition that Peter Cantu will be executed on Tuesday, August 17, 2010, for his role in the brutal killing and rape of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena 17 years ago?
Why is Cantu's confession more credible than others on death row?
Why are these two young girls' lives more precious than any one elses'?
Why is their horrific torture and death so much more gruesome than untold others in Texas?
Why is Cantu not deemed incompetent or insane?
Why does the Houston Chronicle have an exclusive on deciding when a killer deserves to pay the ultimate price for his atrocities?

MOST importantly, when the next Ertman Pena slaughter occurs in Harris County, WHO at the District Incompetent's Office will prosecute the vermin............

THE LYKOS LOVE LETTER

2010-07-25T16:26:00.000-07:00

Allen Wayne Porter was wrongfully convicted 19 years ago and should never have gone to prison for a gang rape and home invasion to which he was not a party. His personal and family's suffering is tragic and immeasurable. Mr. Porter's strength of character and faith in the aftermath of his ordeal has been remarkable.

Notwithstanding, the Houston Chronicles' headline, "A Letter to Lykos," and subsequent article implied that D.A. Patsy Lykos was somehow the key player in righting this injustice.
In actuality, Lykos merely passed the information on to a post-conviction writ assistant D.A., Baldwin Chin. This procedure was common practice under Rosenthal and Holmes and never once were they given such accolades by the Houston Chronicle, that I recall.
Mr. Chin is not only very thorough and phenomenal at his job; he is a hold-over from the Rosenthal administration.
Ms. Casey Garrett, a former ADA under Rosenthal and now a very effective defense attorney, was Mr. Porter's latest defense attorney. It is Ms. Garrett's skill and thoroughness which ultimately proved effective, earning Mr. Porter his long overdue freedom. Ms. Garrett actually more thoroughly interviewed the co-defendants and did not simply fold when the DNA evidence did not exonerate on its face.

Now all this seems pretty unremarkable and routine except I noticed that a special prosecutor, Bob Loper, had been appointed to this case during it's final phase.
Hmm, that seemed kind of odd. Well, as it turns out, back in late November of 2001, the current D.A.'s first assistant and former criminal defense attorney, Jim Leitner, had been appointed as Mr. Porter's DNA defense attorney.
It seems Leitner's legal prowess and thoroughness were no match for Ms. Garrett as evidenced by the outcomes........Leitner's outmatched misgivings in this case are underscored by Garrett's extraordinary skill.

So for those of you who do not think Leitner is doing a good job as the first Assistant to his boss and close friend, D.A. Patsy Lykos; there is at least one innocent defendant who might just agree with Leitner's poor performance review as a criminal defense attorney as well.

Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. Allen Wayne Porter for a long overdue taste of freedom and to Casey Garrett for zealously representating her client and not settling for merely going through the motions.
Also, Mr. Baldwin Chin should be commended for his tireless dedication and professionalism in facilitating this outcome.

On the other hand, Lykos did nothing more than pass the baton and claim the trophy without stepping into the arena.

How does the Houston Chronicle justify their sultry love affair with a D.A. who has not, in my opinion, accomplished a single positive thing on her own merit within her current job description.
The Chronicle's mission to facilitate the continued destruction of the Harris County District Attorney's Office is both ongoing and reprehensible.

WHO'S YOUR LONG LEGGED MAC DADDY?

2010-07-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

Why is American unemployment in turbo drive?
In REAL numbers American unemployment is between 16-20% and climbing. Regardless whether one agrees with these numbers or not, no one can question that the only time in American history when the unemployment forecast was more dismal was during the Great Depression.

So with near record U.S. unemployment, how can it be reconciled that people from foreign lands continue to illegally cross over our borders in droves to WORK?
Not only do these folks work for "slave wages under plantation conditions" but they are also able to send the bulk of these meager wages back home to their struggling families. WTF?
These illegal workers do not complain or whine about unemployment entitlements being inadequate; but rather are grateful for the opportunity to work.
This subculture provides an illegal work force ready, able and eager to do those jobs that most of the unemployed Americans deem beneath them.
The irony of political correctness has never been more apparent as the consequences of mediocrity and entitlement get fatter and fatter sitting in front of their flat screens burning up AC while foreign nationals sweat and toil to provide for themselves and their families. Which behavior would our founding fathers deem more un-American at the end of the day?

I am not supporting illegal immigration or the drugs and violence that come with it; merely suggesting that supply and demand are greater influences on commerce and trade than philosophical bullshit.

The unemployed American worker will no doubt get an extension of unemployment benefits when West Virginia's interim puppet U.S. Senator gets sworn in today. Obama's crippling philosophy for the American work force will now embrace 99 weeks of unemployment entitlements for every American..... that will damn sure NOT motivate these folks to get off their collective butts and get a J-O-B!
Why not instead premise unemployment benefits on requiring every able bodied unemployed person to perform the job duties of the illgal worker. We have plenty of Americans on the government dole to displace most if not every illegal worker. Heck these unemployed folks can even be trained to secure our borders!!!

Why is American unemployment in turbo drive?
Obama is reminiscent of the young boy who butchered his parents and then had the audacity to throw himself on the mercy of the court squealing that he is now an orphan and the true victim. Obama has played the orphan victim scheme masterfully. As the Chicago Cartel continues to blame Bush and paint all Republicans as rich cold hearted slave masters; American business is tanking.
Thus the pivital question:
1. Is Obama that diabolical that he is intentionally crushing American business so that Big Brother can take over; OR
2. Is Obama that inept and one dimensional that he cannot comprehend the basic American business model ?

Absent evidence of treason, Obama's actions demonstrate a total failure to appreciate basic business 101. Free market capitalism is profit driven and has resulted in the highest overall standard of living for ALL active participants. The rich may get richer while the poor get poorer and the adage that it takes money to make money does not detract from the fact that the basic worker in this model has always had a much higher standard of living than his counterpart any where else on earth.
American unemployed folks sure as heck aren't sneaking across borders in droves to work in other countries legally or illegally. What a person does speaks with greater authority than empty rhetoric.

Obama's Tooth Fairy economic policies ignore reality. Business decisions invariably have fundamental consequences in the real world that defy the lofty pretense of tenured philosophers who pontificate from the security of their privileged ivory towers.
People with essentially zero business experience e.g. those who have never met a payroll, negotiated a lease agreement, managed inventory, shopped for employee benefits, etc. are now not only in charge of American business development but also quick to dictate to and condemn those who have battled on the business front. These untested utopians who aloofly suckle the hind teat of government or university opulence don't have a clue as to how a successful real business is conducted and frankly don't seem to give a damn.

Obama is fueling a pervasive sense of entitlement and class envy among a large segment of the unemployed American "working" class. He has opted for the "Katrina government dependency model" as a blueprint for the unemployment crisis in America.

I'll bet this ain't the hope and change the Independent voters had in mind when they misplaced their trust in this Long Legged Mac Daddy.

THE ABSOLUTE ARROGANCE OF BARRACK OBAMA WITH NOTHING TO BACK IT UP

2010-06-24T05:53:00.000-07:00

The following is an interesting article written by Dr. Geoffrey P. Hunt.
Dr. Hunt is a social and cultural anthropologist. He has had nearly 30 years experience in planning, conducting, and managing research in the field of youth studies, and drug and alcohol research. Currently Dr. Hunt is a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Scientific Analysis and the Principal Investigator on three National Institutes of Health projects.

ANATOMY OF A FAILING PRESIDENT:

Barack Obama is on track to have the most spectacularly failed presidency since Woodrow Wilson. In the modern era, we've seen several failed presidencies—led by Jimmy Carter and LBJ. Failed presidents have one strong common trait—they are repudiated, in the vernacular, spat out. Of course, LBJ wisely took the exit ramp early, avoiding a shove into oncoming traffic by his own party. Richard Nixon indeed resigned in disgrace, yet his reputation as a statesman has been partially restored by his triumphant overture to China.

But, Barack Obama is failing. Failing big. Failing fast. And failing everywhere: foreign policy, domestic initiatives, and most importantly, in forging connections with the American people. The incomparable Dorothy Rabinowitz in the Wall Street Journal put her finger on it: He is failing because he has no understanding of the American people, and may indeed loathe them. Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard says he is failing because he has lost control of his message, and is overexposed. Clarice Feldman of American Thinker produced a dispositive commentary showing that Obama is failing because fundamentally he is neither smart nor articulate; his intellectual dishonesty is conspicuous by its audacity and lack of shame.

But, there is something more seriously wrong: How could a new president riding in on a wave of unprecedented promise and goodwill have forfeited his tenure and become a lame duck in six months? His poll ratings are in free fall. In generic balloting, the Republicans have now seized a five point advantage. This truly is unbelievable. What's going on?

No narrative. Obama doesn't have a narrative. No, not a narrative about himself. He has a self-narrative, much of it fabricated, cleverly disguised or written by someone else. But this self-narrative is isolated and doesn't connect with us. He doesn't have an American narrative that draws upon the rest of us. All successful presidents have a narrative about the American character that intersects with their own where they display a command of history and reveal an authenticity at the core of their personality that resonates in a positive endearing way with the majority of Americans. We admire those presidents whose narratives not only touch our own, but who seem stronger, wiser, and smarter than we are. Presidents we admire are aspirational peers, even those whose politics don't align exactly with our own: Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Harry Truman, Ike, and Reagan.

But not this president. It's not so much that he's a phony, knows nothing about economics, and is historically illiterate and woefully small minded for the size of the task--all contributory of course. It's that he's not one of us. And whatever he is, his profile is fuzzy and devoid of content, like a cardboard cutout made from delaminated corrugated paper. Moreover, he doesn't command our respect and is unable to appeal to our own common sense. His notions of right and wrong are repugnant and how things work just don't add up. They are not existential. His descriptions of the world we live in don't make sense and don't correspond with our experience.

In the meantime, while we've been struggling to take a measurement of this man, he's dissed just about every one of us -- financiers, energy producers, banks, insurance executives, police officers, doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, post office workers, and anybody else who has a non-green job.

Expect Obama to lament at his last press conference in 2012: "For those of you I offended, I apologize. For those of you who were not offended, you just didn't give me enough time; if only I'd had a second term, I could have offended you too."

Mercifully, the Founders at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 devised a useful remedy for such a desperate state--staggered terms for both houses of the legislature and the executive. An equally abominable Congress can get voted out next year. With a new Congress, there's always hope of legislative gridlock until we vote for president again two short years after that.

Yes, small presidents do fail, Barack Obama among them. The coyotes howl but the wagon train keeps rolling along.

___Geoffery Hunt

"The trouble with Socialism is, sooner or later you run out of other people's money."

— Margaret Thatcher

"When you subsidize poverty and failure, you get more of both."

— James Dale Davidson, National Taxpayers Union

"The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates."

— Tacitus

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything he doesn't own."

— Black Ink

THE RHETORICAL CHAOS THAT DEFINES OBAMA

2010-06-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

Contemporaneous with Obama's ill thought out ban on deep water offshore drilling in American waters and in conjunction with a moratorium on the issuance of ALL new offshore drilling permits in US waters; his administration has provided a $2 billion "loan" to Petrobas in Brazil to drill in their MUCH DEEPER offshore waters(14,000 ft there vs. 5,000 ft here).

George Soros, a billionaire with close financial ties to the Obama campaign and "presidency", is also closely affiliated with Petrobas.
The exclusive Brazil-China oil deal from this offshore formation is quite cozy and will reap huge profits for George Soros.
So is Obama's "hope and change" based on an unprecedented level of covert corruption as evidenced by his ACTIONS or on transparency based on his rhetoric?!

It is obvious to anyone not living in a cave that his O'ness makes George W. Bush look like a competent saint!

The owners/operators of the banned rigs cannot and will not allow them to go idle. These rigs will be leased to other countries to produce oil, jobs and infrastructure for foreign economies.
The economic impact to America will be devastating.
The local jobs and economic clout will PERMANENTLY go away!

Rio De Janeiro will replace Houston as the world's oil and gas capital.

When gas soars to $7.00/gallon in ~18 months, Obama will no doubt blame Big Oil for HIS miscalculations; but the real jump in gas prices at the pump will be a consequence of a huge expected Federal "Green Tax" imposed by Obama to curb carbon emissions while padding the pockets of his investors and funding his overburdened socialistic agenda.

A consumption tax (V.A.T.), Green Tax, healthcare tax, etc. may not be raising taxes in the Obama world but in the real world the responsible working class is going to be hammered hard by skyrocketing new Federal tax burdens.

So how will the U.S. economy fare when business after business is regulated into bankruptsy or opts to outsource to foriegn safe havens while American jobs are slashed and Federal taxes, fees and fines are put into turbo drive??????

How can Obama get away with this scheme without first doing a socioeconomic impact analysis on a Federal action as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)?

The Federal Judge in New Orleans was correct to overturn this arbitrary capricious powers grab by Obama as he usurped the laws of this land.......pathetically we will stand down as a beaten nation when the Obama Brownshirts quash the Judicial oversight recently imposed.

OBAMA'S KATRINA........THE IRONY OF AN EPIC DISASTER

2010-05-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

When Hurricane Katrina barreled through the Gulf Coast and hammered New Orleans; President George Walker Bush was later crucified by now President Barrack Hussein Obama for his "underwhelming" response. Some actually blamed W's cozy relationship with Big Oil and the so called hydrocarbon induced "Global Warming" as the causative agent of the Hurricane itself. Incredibly, others proposed the ludicrous allegation that in Katrina's immediate aftermath W sent covert demolition teams into Ray Nagin's "Chocolate City" to blow up the levees.

President Bush's offer of Federal assistance to Louisiana days before the storm wrecked havoc on New Orleans was soundly rebuked until the 11th hour. A Federal evacuation effort was only requested by Louisiana government officials when the force of Katrina had dangerously escalated to the level of precluding a safe preemptive Federal intervention. The high command of Louisiana politics had missed the boat and were eager and successful in designating Bush as the official captain of the sinking ship.
We can only speculate how differently things would have turned out had Bush's offer of a Federally sponsored evacuation of New Orleans been heeded when initially offered four (4) days prior to Katrina's landfall.....or even the day before.
However, in America, state sovereignty precludes a POTUS from sending Federal troops into a state in mere anticipation of a possible impending disaster without that state's consent

When the storm finally subsided, the devastation to life and property was horrific and the post storm Federal response was logistically ill thought out. FEMA and Homeland Security performed poorly on numerous levels.
Bush is still broadly criticized for his handling of this tragedy.

British Petroleum's stance on Deep Water Horizon's catastrophy has mirrored the initial "mindset" of the state of Louisiana under Governor Blanco and the City of New Orleans under Mayor Ray Nagin. The "we can handle it on our own; but if we fail---well then it's somebody else's fault" position has proven to be FUTILE, FLAWED and FRAUDULENT in both instances........simply put the Gulf Coast has been F'd once again by grossly ill prepared upper management

This was a teaching moment and Obama did not learn from the lesson plan: "Valuable time is lost while fooling around with inferior resources."

BP has shirked its responsibility for the oil spill. While BP attempts to capture the oil flow using makeshift untried methods, oil continues to gush into our coastal waters.
BP does not know whether they want to invest in new equipment or not. Their equipment inventory does not appear to be effective and they are reluctant to be honest in this regard or consider equipment upgrades such as oil sweeping arms. The oil sweeping arms specialist, Kampers Oil Spill Equipment (Koseq), from Puttershoek, Holland and oil spill specialist Hebo Maritime Service from Zwartsluis offers of assisstance have both been rebuked. Dutch dredging companies, including Van Oord, are also interested and able to assist with the efficient removal of oil and their equipement can, in principle, be flown in quickly and within a few days be installed on local vessels.

Gert Kampers, designer of the sweeping arms and director of Koseq, does not understand the reluctance of BP and the American government: "There are already 568 ships deployed we only need to equip four ships with our equipment to effectively control the spill. A ship equipped with sweeping arms can harvest 250 cubic meters of oil per hour from the water. That's 1000 cubic meters per hour with four ships which is more than presently flows into the sea."
BP is now using chemicals to prevent the oil from rising to the surface that are further damaging the environment. 12 sweeping arms are currently available for deployment that can immediately be put in service. More sweeping arms can be manufactured in little time if the demand requires. The sweeping arms have been deployed in Europe several times and they perform very well.

The Dutch Government and the European Union are prepared to quickly help America, but they must wait for a request. "It's all very sensitive," said Achterberg. "The Americans think they can do a better job themselves. They obviously find it embarrassing to ask for outside help. The Dutch government cannot step in because they do not wish to offend their American colleagues."

After the disasters of the Erika and Prestige off shore rigg spills, the European Union utilized the services of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA); one of the Europe's environmental maritime disaster-organizations. EMSA has ships all along the European coasts and has sweeping arms and other equipment that can be quickly adapted for evironmental disaster control by outfitting tankers and other ships to suck up large quantities of oil from the surface.

"We're here to help and have also communicated to the pertaining authorities but there is no request for assistance received by the European Commission and without a request, we cannot take any action," says an spokesman for EMSA in Portugal. "We have the equipment, experts and the ships, but unfortunately we can not use them ."

It seems that BP is currently more afraid of double bills than a bad image and would rather wait until the U.S. government completely takes over the clean-up......Obama has given BP three (3) months to remedy the problem before intervening.

So it begs the question: Why has Obama settled for rhetorical blame on Big Oil but done absolutely nothing to mitigate the issue at hand? Is Obama THAT indecisive and overwhelmed or is he simply an even bigger whore to Big Oil than he labeled Bush?

The EPA is Obama's FEMA and the US Coast Guard has supplanted Homeland Security in addressing THIS disaster.........Obama needs to stop whining and hiding and be presidential.

When 50,000-70,000 barrels of oil spew from the ocean floor and each of those barrels is subject to a federally mandated fine of $4,300.00; Obama will have the mother of all Federal fines to "spread the wealth around" with.

BERT GRAHAM.....AN OFFICER OF THE COURT AND A TRUE GENTLEMAN

2010-05-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Bert Graham was not a rock star trial attorney; nor did he pretend to be one......but he sure as heck facilitated others to maximize their courtroom prowess. That is what an administrative leader does and Bert did that like a rock star.
Bert did not seek accolades or center stage for himself. He preferred to work behind the scenes to assure the most efficacious work environment possible for the ADA front line warriors and their support staff.
The Johnny Holmes era DA's office was a well oiled machine that Bert quietly maintained and managed. The transition to Rosenthal was essentially seamless for Bert; albeit often under difficult circumstances in the latter years with the plethora of issues Chuck brought to the table....pre and post meltdown.

Semper Fi was not a mere cliche for Bert.

Bert ALWAYS wanted to do what was RIGHT for the office BECAUSE it was in the best interest of the office.......self interest invariably took a back seat with Bert Graham.
The last forty or so years of Bert's life were dedicated to making sure that the Harris County District Attorney's Office was the best DA's office in the country.

Bert was a diplomat as well as a brilliant budget director/manager.
He protected and honored the office and those under his charge.
Bert was the antithesis of arrogance.....he socialized with the troops regularly; always in a sincere and dignified fashion, never sacrificing their respect or admiration.
Bert led by example....he appreciated the intrinsic weakness and corruption of cronyism. His leadership was always objective as he carried out his duties without a hint of playing favorites.
Bert's sense of duty was so great that he not only covered Rosenthal's failings with grace and humility; but also selflessly preserved the budgetary integrity and day to day operational side of the office during the initial transition phase after Rosenthal's selfish implosion.......thereby allowing a mere figure head and glorified baby sitter, Ken Magidson, to shine as interim DA. Bert never sought nor received recognition for his unyielding dedication during this phase of his career.
Astonishingly, Bert also offered his service and experience to the Lykos administration for their transition.
Notwithstanding, Lykos discounted Bert's expertise and he was tossed out.
DA Lykos misplayed her hand on a great asset and as a consequence of this grave miscalculation has not fared as well as Magidson.

Bert knew the budget. He made sure money was available for pay raises when somebody was promoted. He didn't spend money with out knowing how it would affect the overall budget in the long term. Bert kept very close ties to Dick Raycraft and spent only what he knew he had.
Given the monetary shortfalls facing Harris County and much of the country today, Bert Graham is an even greater asset than ever before.

Bert may have gotten hung up on the details at times; but he got things done without making enemies.
It might be quirky of Bert to always have an apple for lunch and to eat at the same time and place every day. But that was Bert-- a man of routine.
Bert's discipline and routines were invaluable in the fiscal and administrative stability of the DA's office.

Every major law firm has a managing partner; an administrator of the day to day affairs so to speak. Bert was the quintessential managing partner for the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Bert did not play politics and was loyal to the office of District Attorney.
It is an honor to be a friend of now citizen Bert Graham..

ANOTHER BLACK AMERICAN MAN SHOT AND ANOTHER SHOOTER'S AQUITTAL FOR TEAM LYKOS

2010-05-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

When the Houston Chronicle supported Pat Lykos for DA they made a great misjudgment. Instead of getting the selective incompetence they bargained for; they got total and complete incompetence.

Thus, when it's "okay" for an illegal immigrant to execute a black Houston Police Officer how can it now NOT be "okay" for a white Bellaire Police Officer to shoot a black former high school baseball star in the kid's own front yard while mama watches her son anguish in pain?
After all, selective agenda driven incompetence requires some degree of competence to differentiate AND carry out the mission.

"Cop Killers" and "Killer Cops" live by the sword and so shall they perish.....that is unless the killing fields are located in Harris County.

Maybe this case should have been no billed as well....but wait we had eye witnesses---oh but they were BLACK, never mind!

Hmmm. Striking a Black juror for cause or with a preemptory challenge is racist if that juror is a member of politically connected Lakewood Church; but striking and killing with impunity a black cop or shooting with intent to kill a black high school baseball player execution style is justice?
A DEATH SENTENCE for the assassin and life for the attempted assassination would, no doubt, be condemned by Lykos as "winning at all costs".
Crackhead Lykos logic at it's finest!

So who is ADA Clint Greenwood who "prosecuted" this most recent miscarriage of justice?

Greenwood is a former criminal defense attorney and long time buddy/baggage handler of fellow former criminal defense attorney Jim Leitner.
Both of these clowns are now high level ADAs at the Harris County District Attorney's office after being hand picked by DA Pat Lykos.
Greenwood ironically is in charge of police integrity.......INTEGRITY is obviously not the strong suit for Lykos or her Lieutenants.

So for those of you who don't give much credit to the Grand Jury no bill epidemic....when taken in context with the huge trial loss and dismissal stats since Lykos sashayed into the Harris County District Attorney's office; this recent atrocity should at the very least give you pause.

Pandora's box has been ripped off and burned and Pat Lykos is sitting in the corner smoking with a crowbar in the other hand.

PAT LYKOS IS THE HEAD PISS ANT AT THE HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY"S OFFICE...........NOTHING MORE

2010-05-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

The Houston media's extraordinary politicization of what clearly should be an apolitical position has resulted in the facilitation of an undermined Harris County District Attorney's Office where integrity and quality have been sacrificed at the alter of Pat Lykos.

The 40% drop in true bills in Harris County during Lykos' first year as DA can be interpreted in one of two ways: either the Grand Jury system has dramatically and inexplicitly changed from 2008-2009 OR the Harris County District Attorney's Office has dramatically changed during the same time frame.
The latter explanation seems most obvious; unless you use "Lykos math" in place of real world mathematics.

Lykos' tyrannical and arbitrary rule now has supporting solid data to expose her farce.
Most of the top ADAs have been run out of the DA's office. Those ADAs that remain are either too inexperienced to properly prepare non boiler plate whales or too scared to try a tough case and lose. As a result only the easy wins are presented appropriately to Grand Jury.
Kind of gives new meaning to the "Win At All Costs" prosecutor.

Thankfully, May 10, 2010 has marked the end of the Houston media's universal love affair with the DA who insists on being referred to as Judge Pat.
Lykos' seemingly impervious armor of media deception now has a notable chink.
KHOU's Channel 11 finally broke from the lockstep pack of programmed media sheeple.
They chose NOT to settle for the heretofore kid glove softball game the Houston media has notoriously played with Pat Lykos.
KHOU should be highly commended for their journalistic integrity.........BRAVO!!!

Lykos' exposure as a clueless disingenuous angry little piss ant will not bode well with the media.
The CJC waters have been chummed with gross mismanagement and a media feeding frenzy will be difficult even for Lykos to divert.

After watching this interview, if DA Lykos does not present a clear and present danger to the safety of the citizens of Harris County then cutting your child's wrists and having him swim in a tank of hungry Mako sharks would be a safe after school activity.

Lykos' pretentious misrepresentations and angry child-like behavior are wearing thin.
Irrelevant political sound bites, out-right lies and rule by fear and intimidation do not, in perpetuity, compensate for incompetency.

Pat Lykos' total lack of prosecutorial experience and ability is becoming more and more self evident as she continues to plunder the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

IS BARRACK HUSSEIN OBAMA THE PINKIST OR BLACKEST POTUS?

2010-04-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

If President Barrack Hussein Obama is not a socialist, ideologically, what is he?

Is Mr. Obama a Pinko?

A "pinko” is defined in Webster’s unabridged dictionary as: a person who holds leftist views.

Well, how does Webster define “leftist views”?

POLITICAL LEFT: “The part of a legislative assembly, situated on the left side of the presiding officer and that is customarily assigned to members of the legislature who hold more radical and socialistic views than the rest of the members.”

Wikipedia defines “Pinko" as: "a derogatory term for a person regarded as sympathetic to communism, though not necessarily a Communist Party member.”

Wikipedia goes on to relate: “The word pinko was coined by Time magazine in 1925 as a variant on the noun and adjective pink, which had been used along with parlor pink since the beginning of the 20th century to refer to those of leftish sympathies, usually with an implication of effeteness".

In the 1920s, for example, a Wall Street Journal editorial described supporters of the "progressive" politician Robert La Follette as “visionaries, ne’er do wells, parlor pinks, reds, hyphenates [Americans with divided allegiance], soft handed agriculturalists and working men who have never seen a shovel.”

This makes sense when you consider that early 20th century “progressives” were obsessed with Socialism, Fascism and every other radical left leaning ideology that came down the pike.
Heck, W.E.B. Dubois thought Hitler and Mussolini were the cat’s pajamas until the Reich’s National Socialist Program began their final solution.......mass murder, unfortunately for the left, made Fascism less fashionable.

Notwithstanding, Liberals still teach that Fascism is a far right philosophy; despite the glaring lack of right wing ideology expressed by its two greatest practitioners. If you removed the names Hitler and Mussolini from much of what was said both publicly and privately; you would think you were reading the transcript of the latest Bill Moyer Sunday show featuring Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank.

So maybe Mr. Obama is a Pinko, slightly socialist, but not a card carrying commie.

The American left certainly disdains debate like the Fascists and Commies of old.

In his interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier, Mr. Obama did everything but the moon walk to avoid talking about the health care bill process.

Similarly, I’m fairly certain I heard Billy Jean starting up as Congressman Anthony Weiner ended his interview with Bill O’Reilly on Obamacare fall out.

Watching Weiner avoid admitting that the IRS will enforce the healthcare bill, looked like Dracula evading a garlic wreath, all fangs and hissing.

Actually, the O’Reilly v Weiner debate on "The Factor" was like watching Abbott and Costello perform Who’s On First? I kept waiting for Weiner to preemptively shout: “Who's on 1st?”

America is supposed to be an open society; yet the left works tirelessly to quash any debate.
You see it played out on liberal college campuses across the country as students, often provoked by their instructors, deny invited conservative speakers the right to voice their views.

This was recently displayed at the University of Ottawa, where an Ann Coulter dialog was canceled due to rowdy students letting their fascist slips peak out from beneath their brown hems.

Since liberalism on it’s own strength cannot compete in the market place of ideas, you have fellows like MSNBC's Ed Schultz calling for Congress to “equal out the audience” by bringing back the “Fairness Doctrine”.
Schultz goes on to say: “Hell, if we’re gonna be socialist, lets be socialist across the board.”

If the President is not a socialist and he is not a Pinko, then what is he?

Do we need a new name for a new “ism"?

The President’s impromptu and none to private tête-à-tête with Joe the Plumber sounded like socialism to me.

Forcing people to buy health insurance against their will to pay for others health insurance sounds like socialism too.

The 21-year-old-- fresh out of school and on his first job, can opt out of the health care plan; but he still has to pay a fine enforced by the IRS to pay for the guy ensconced on his sofa playing Wii all day long.

That’s not too fascist is it?

If President Obama is not a socialist or a fascist, he certainly has a strong predilection for those who are.

He has dinner with them.
He starts organizations with them.
Obama hangs out with them and appoints them to his Cabinet.

What the Liberal Leftists don’t get is that in their attempt to be conciliatory when talking about the president, they do him a disservice.
How is that?

Because by doing so, they are suggesting that the President is too stupid to know he is promoting a socialist agenda.....that Mr. Obama is too dumb and oblivious to know what he is doing.

Despite the nattering denials; Congressman Dingell is too out of touch to even care about denying this healthcare bill is about controlling people.

Whether it’s the insurance companies or the common man he advocates controlling; it is, make no mistake, about control.

What shall we call this new thing? Controlism? Governmentalism? Regulatism?

If President Obama is not a socialist my friends, what is he?

These excerpts come from the common sense genius of Digital Publius' blog; a site well worth reading if you are so inclined.

JUDGE MARC BROWN BEATS THE BLUE HAIRS

2010-04-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

CONGRATULATIONS to Marc Brown and the voters of Harris County.
Qualifications trumped party politics last evening in a BIG way....who'd have thunk it?

Don Smyth and now Marc Brown have both successfully demonstrated that the voters of Harris County want a real change from politics as usual. Specifically, the voters were more informed this cycle and were not content to be led like cattle to the political slaughterhouse.
In these two judicial races, proven ability was able to carry the day in Harris County......a welcome setback for the notorious boiler plate political spin machine that rampantly infests the luncheons and high teas hosted by the Republican women's groups.

Although Brown's victory was by the closest margin, he highlighted this awakening on another level.
Brown BEAT the party blue hairs and their despicable spokesman,Terry Lowery, in their stronghold setting....the RUNOFF.
WOW!!!! I hope this symbolic victory becomes a trend.

Jared Woodfill's landslide victory over Ed Hubbard, on the other hand, revealed that if a candidate is to overcome the political machine of corruption, the challenger must have overwhelming qualifications.

Unlike 2008, the ADAs who sought political office were not smeared as Rosenthal lieutenants; but rather were judged on their respective ability and qualifications.
Critiques of the candidates were based on the relative merits supported by objective facts and did not lend themselves to the angry unfounded extrapolations of innuendo and outright defamation of character.

If the Harris County voters continue to support ability and proven qualifications over misleading innuendos and blatant lies; DA Pat Lykos will have cause for concern in 2012.
The "blame Rosenthal dog" won't hunt next go round.....that rabid hound will no longer be able to infect the good and strong sled dogs.

The days of dictatorial rule in Harris County Republican politics took a significant hit yesterday......I hope the paid political whores and their blue haired minions get a knock out punch in 2012.

WHO IS PAT LYKOS?

2010-04-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

Murray Newman's blog harriscountycriminaljustice.blogspot.com/ has exhaustively highlighted the ineptness of Pat Lykos' "leadership" in her blundering role as the "elected" Harris County District Attorney.
I urge readers who support justice, fair play and equal protection under the law, but are not familiar with Mr. Newman's blog, to read it critically......you will be shocked and saddened by his rendition at how the Harris County District Attorney's Office has been compromised and politicized.
An elucidation here on the Lykos laundry list of inappropriate behavior would be both exhausting and redundant; but the unfortunate consequences to the citizens of Harris County are easily apparent.

By all credible accounts, Lykos and her fledgling hand picked lieutenants promote a self-serving policy of arbitrary rule; utilizing fear and intimidation on employees to mask their own incompetence.
An astonishing exodus of seasoned prosecutors has been the result.
After the upcoming November elections, the competent prosecutorial cupboard will be bare.
Throwing the baby out with the bath water is not cleaning house; it is irresponsible behavior.
Prosecutors that endure will continue the chant: "stay under the radar".

The propagation of fearful cowering employees at a district attorney's office to placate the media and Defense Bar's accusation that the alternative is necessarily a "win at all costs" cavalier cowboy prosecutor type is absurd.
Prosecutors are not social workers or preschool teachers. A prosecutor is charged with pursuing JUSTICE at all costs; and everyone is not a winner.
When a prosecutor's work environment has defeated his mindset professionally and personally and by extension he thereby acquiesces when presented with a challenging, albeit righteous, criminal complaint; he has breached his sworn duty.
The disgrace inherent in one's acceptance of a losing mentality--whether in trial or in inappropriate plea deals to avoid courtroom humiliation and repercussions--casts a dark cloud of shame upon the entire District Attorney's office.
It might be politically correct to promote mediocrity in America; but the political beating down of prosecutors is exactly why the Harris County District Attorney's Office needs to be apolitical.

Circumventing the Texas state legislature to ease jail overcrowding and exploiting extra-jurisdictional issues such as illegal immigration is NOT within the course and scope of the elected DA's job description. The focus at DA office meetings with Division Chiefs should be on how to better train and supervise ADAs so that THEY can perform at the highest level; not to provide a figure head DA with bullet points to present at Republican womens' luncheons or media events.

Image over substance seems to have replaced the principle of having the courage to pursue truth and justice to the best of one's ability regardless of difficulty or political fallout.
When the political consequences of a prosecutor's actions become paramount in the fulfillment of her duties; that prosecutor has been rendered ineffective counsel for the people she has sworn to serve.
How dare an elected DA be more concerned with how she is judged by the Houston Chronicle than by the victims of crime who expect a fair and even handed ENFORCEMENT of the laws of the state of Texas?

The ones who never quite measure up on the merits are quick to condemn those that do. The excuse makers and others challenged by mediocrity are eager to discount the means and ability of the prosecutors who consistently bust their butts and win the arduous non-whale cases. To this ilk of angry underachievers, those who successfully prosecute a case without a harpoon must be either lucky or corrupt, racist, theatrical, unethical, Hitleresque, and all things Satanic. In fact, such a prosecutor is reduced to a greater personification of evil than the serial killer sentenced to the "inhumane" death chamber.

Well folks, I submit that luck is nothing more than the result of obsessive preparation that meets, recognizes and seizes opportunity; and luck is running out at the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

NO NEW TAXES ON THE MIDDLE CLASS TO PAY FOR OBAMACARE......THAT IS UNLESS YOU'RE TOO WHITE

2010-04-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

On July 1, 2010 the 10% arbitrary tax on tanning booths takes effect to help defray the cost of Obamacare.
So where is the outrage on this racist provision? How does a tax on a racially identifiable class pass Constitutional muster? How about if the government next decides to place a tax on hair relaxers? How about a tax on all Kosher foods? How about a Kotex tax?

A law that permits the United States Federal Government to single out and tax a product or service based on the racial, ethnic or gender makeup of the targeted consumer is blatantly unconstitutional.
This is not a tax on cosmetic enhancement generally; but rather a penalty on a service used almost exclusively by people with white skin.

If the argument is made that tanning booths increase the risk of skin cancers and thereby increase the cost of health care; why are other similarly situated goods and services not treated equally?
Is the government going to tax beach resorts and the owners of swimming pools next?
Artificial sweeteners and red meats are known carcinogens as well so let's tax them too.....at least racism wouldn't rear it's ugly head.
What about fat people? Talk about high risk.

And the Colonists were pissed off about a Tea Tax!

IT IS OFTEN SAID THAT HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

2010-04-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

The American Revolution: Causes of Conflict

Taxation Without Representation

Excerpts of Kennedy Hickman

As tensions regarding colonial lands and taxation increased during the 1760s and 1770s, many American leaders were influenced by the liberal and republican ideals espoused by Enlightenment writers such as John Locke.
Key among Locke's theories was that of the "social contract" which stated that legitimate state authority must be derived from the consent of the governed.
Also, that should the government abuse the rights of the governed, it was the natural responsibility of the people to rise up and overthrow their leaders.
The ideas of Locke and other similar writers contributed to the American embrace of "republican" ideology in the years before the Revolution.
Standing in opposition to tyrants, republicanism called for the protection of liberty through the rule of law and civic virtue.

While many of the Founding Fathers may have had contact with the writings of European thinkers, many other Americans came to their republican beliefs through dissenting churches such as the Puritans and Presbyterians. Through religious study, men like Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, were taught key tenets such as: that all men are created equal, that there is no divine right of kings, and wicked laws should be disobeyed.
Across the colonies, these philosophies were preached by Revolutionary clergy in their sermons....bringing the ideals of republicanism to the masses.

As the British government assessed methods for generating funds, it was decided to levy new taxes on the colonies with the goal of offsetting some of the cost for their defense.
Passed on April 5, 1764, the Sugar Act placed a tax of three pence per gallon on molasses as well as listing specific goods which could be exported to Britain. While this tax was half of that stipulated by the 1733 Sugar and Molasses Act, the new Sugar Act called for active enforcement and struck the colonies during an economic downturn.
The passage of the Sugar Act led to outcries from colonial leaders who claimed "taxation without representation," as they had no members of Parliament to represent their interests.
On March 22, 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act which called for tax stamps to be placed on all paper goods sold in the colonies. This represented the first attempt to levy a direct tax on the colonies and was met by fierce opposition and protests.

In several colonies new protest groups, known as the "Sons of Liberty" formed.

Delegates from nine colonies gathered at the Stamp Act Congress in New York.
Guided by Pennsylvanian John Dickinson, the congress drew up the Declaration of Rights and Grievances which stated that as the colonies had no representation in Parliament, the tax was unconstitutional and against their rights as Englishmen.
In London, colonial representative Benjamin Franklin argued a similar point and warned that continued taxation could lead to rebellion.

Still seeking a way to generate revenue, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts on June 29, 1767. An indirect tax, the acts placed import duties on commodities such as lead, paper, paint, glass, and tea.
As with past taxation attempts, the colonists protested with claims of taxation without representation.
While colonial leaders organized boycotts of the taxed goods, smuggling increased and efforts commenced to develop domestically-produced alternatives.

Over the next three years, boycotts and protests continued in the colonies.
These came to a head on the night of March 5, 1770, when angry colonists began throwing snowballs and rocks at British troops guarding the Customs House in Boston. In the commotion, British troops opened fire on the protesters, killing five (5) Colonists.

Parliament repealed most aspects of the Townshend Acts in April 1770, but left a tax on tea.

Across the colonies, British tea was boycotted and attempts were made to produce tea locally.
In Boston, the situation climaxed in late November 1773, when three ships carrying East India Company tea arrived in the port.
Rallying the populace, members of the Sons of Liberty dressed as Native Americans, boarded the ships on the night of December 16. Carefully avoiding damaging other property, the "raiders" tossed 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.

A direct affront to British authority, the "Boston Tea Party" forced Parliament to take action against the colonies.
In response to the colonial attack on the tea ships, Parliament passed a series of punitive laws in early 1774.
The first of these, the Boston Port Act, closed Boston to shipping until the East India Company had been repaid for the destroyed tea.
This was followed by the Massachusetts Government Act which allowed the Crown to appoint most positions in the Massachusetts colonial government.
Supporting this was the Administration of Justice Act which permitted the royal governor to move the trials of accused royal officials to another colony or Britain if a fair trial was unobtainable in Massachusetts.
Along with these new laws, a new Quartering Act was enacted which allowed British troops to use unoccupied buildings as quarters when in the colonies.

The colonial leaders began planning a congress to discuss the repercussions of the Intolerable Acts.
Meeting at Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia, representatives from twelve colonies (Georgia did not attend) convened on September 5, 1774.
In the discussions that followed some delegates argued in favor of establishing a new governmental system while others desired to work towards reconciliation with Britain.

In Boston, royal authority was asserted with the arrival of Lieutenant General Thomas Gage
In the spring of 1775, Gage began a series of raids with the goal of disarming the colonial militias. On the evening of April 18, Gage ordered some of his troops to march to Concord to seize munitions and gunpowder. The next morning, British troops encountered colonial militia in the village of Lexington.
While the two forces faced off, a shot rang out.
Though the source of the shot is unknown, it touched off eight years of war.

America is coming full circle......

THE CANDY MAN CAN'T

2010-03-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well for those of you who thought that America's role as "World Policeman" was inappropriate and too costly..... you ain't seen nothing yet.
America's new role as "World Health Care Provider" will dwarf those fears.

In the Democrats' shear frenzy to pass health care reform they have sold America to the highest bidder.
Not only will the most irresponsible 30,000,000 people residing in the USA now be provided with free or cheap health care at the expense of those Americans that do take responsibility for their lives; but now any foreign national who is able to sneak across our borders will be provided with the same entitlement.

So for the world's medically disadvantaged, fret no more.
The Guatemalan with congenital heart disease, the African with AIDS, the Croatian with prostate cancer, the Chinese with a stroke and the Indian with leprosy-- all you folks need to do is get your butts across the US border and we will provide medical care for whatever ails you free of charge or for a very nominal fee.
And remember, your pre-existing conditions matter not.

For our Canadian friends who need procedures and diagnostic testing but either do not qualify or are on long waiting lists in your homeland of Canada--we welcome you in America.
However, you will no longer have to pay fair market value for your medical care when you come to the US. We will now offer you state of the art medical care once you sign up for our very affordable American health care coverage (unless you can't afford the policy and then it will be free) and once your care is complete you can quit paying for American health coverage and go back home.
Remember, if another health care concern arises down the road that Canada will not cover to your liking come on back to the USA and pick up your temporary health care coverage and you're good to go.

Let's not forget , all that Obama will sign into law tomorrow is the health care template....by 2014 when the legislation takes real effect there will be a public option and a plethora of added bells and whistles.
The only thing there won't be plenty of is quality American trained physicians.

"Uncle Sam's Candy Store" is open for all..........hurry in for the bankruptcy clearance sale.

A PEBBLE IN YOUR SHOE

2010-03-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

It seems ever more commonplace today that we are more concerned about the pebble in our shoe than our neighborhood church burning down.

A close friend of mine and Princeton graduate was a die hard Obama supporter until last Thursday. He is smart and well read, works hard long hours and is meritoriously very successful on many levels.
Prior to Thursday, he defined oxymoron.

What soured his support for Obama?
The pebble in his shoe reared its ugly head. The economy had finally started to negatively impact him personally. He tasted a bowl of the government gruel and it wasn't to his liking.
Imagine that!

His kind has no reservations about pontificating their Ivy League liberal elite crap and imposing pie-in-the-sky rules and mandates on others. However, when the folly negatively impacts THEIR personal lives, the consequences are unacceptable.
So now that my old friend is reaping what he has sown for others; suddenly the delusional rules are grossly unfair.
Who knew?
You'd think he was a damn Congressman.

Obama's philosophy of change and hopelessness is nothing new.
He promotes the principle that every person should contribute to society to the best of his or her ability and consume from society in proportion to his or her needs, regardless of how much he or she has contributed.
This mantra sounds eerily similar to a popular slogan of Karl Marx: " From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."
The caveat being that the government, not the individual, shall be determinate in evaluating "need" and "contribution".

Obama's Marxist health care scheme should scare the hell out of every American.
So don't worry about the pebble in your shoe...at the end of the day we'll all be walking barefoot on shards of glass, grateful for a government band-aid.

On a far far lesser scale, the Harris County Republican run-off for the 180th District Criminal Court represents a pebble in the shoes of those of us who work in the Harris County Criminal Justice System.....the rest of Harris County could care less if our church burns down.

2010 TEXAS PRIMARY NUANCES

2010-03-03T09:32:00.000-08:00

First of all CONGRATULATIONS to all the primary winners last night.
Even if your folks didn't come out on top yesterday, at least they got in the arena and fought.

Voter turnout was somewhat better than expected; but overall electorate apathy still prevailed making each vote that much more significant. Something to remember in the upcoming November elections.

Texans' anger and trepidation at the unfettered spending and corruption in Washington paved the way for easy victories at the Rick Perry and Ron Paul camps. Sheila Jackson Lee's landslide victory in my district, however, was a shocker. Not just because Sheila Jackson Lee is at the heart of Washington D.C.'s cavalier incompetence; but because of the resentment many of her constituents voiced over her personal arrogance and detachment from our district.

Arrogance and incompetence also took their toll in some of the judicial contests.

Don Smyth trouncing Rachael Ann Palmer for the CCCL #13 judicial bench highlights this best.
Smyth overwhelmingly outclassed Palmer with respect to fund of legal knowledge, judicial temperament, trial experience, impartiality and basic human decency.
Palmer was merely Harris County DA Pat Lykos' protege and was minimally qualified. Thankfully, Lykos' influence over her old guard base was not sufficient to carry the day.

In essence, Palmer's campaign was a referendum on Lykos' political clout.
Lykos' strength is in the runoff process.....period.
The paucity of voter turnout in a runoff traditionally does not reflect the general will of the community; but rather yields a far greater significance to party loyalists who vote in droves and support hard core Party rhetoric over actual qualifications and experience.

It is baffling, therefore, that once a qualified challenger to her hand picked protege announced his candidacy, that Lykos did not fully appreciate the potential fail-safe of a puppet 3rd candidate.
Lykos will not repeat this miscalculation in 2012.......Jimmy Leitner will do her bidding once again in hopes of a runoff and voter apathy.

In the 180th District Court race, Marc Brown was able to secure a runoff with the moneyed but outclassed Danny Dexter.
This needs to be a dress rehearsal for the likely 2012 Harris County DA runoff.
Marc Brown is the qualified and experienced candidate while Danny Dexter is the Lykos-type candidate, albeit with a good disposition.

Incumbent Leslie Brock Yates' loss in her re-election bid to the14th Court of Appeals was a reflection of the public's demand for impartiality and fair play; at least at the appellate level.
Congratulations to Sharon McCally!

PARTICIPATE IN THE RUNOFF PROCESS AND SUPPORT QUALITY, EXPERIENCE AND EQUITY!

HOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO'S NEW EVENT.........TURBO DRIVE DIVERT

2010-02-26T16:21:00.000-08:00

Harris County District Attorney, Pat Lykos, wants to make Houston a safer more gentler place to be during Rodeo......or does she really?
Zero tolerance for rodeo season revelers has been mandated. If any cowboy or cowgirl is suspected of DWI during rodeo and refuses to submit to an intoxilyzer; a blood alcohol sample WILL be drawn.

There is no question that getting impaired drivers off of the roadways is in the best interest of society.
But one must question the motive of this particular edict.
Is this a publicity stunt or in the community's best interest?
New Year celebrants drew the same scrutiny.

The issue is: what makes alcohol related injuries or deaths on our roadways more significant during rodeo, New Years or other celebratory events?
Is it merely the sheer number of drunks during party season?
Dead is dead whether it's after a routine Saturday night or after the office Christmas Party or after a big time rodeo performance.
Why not have zero tolerance year round or not at all?

Consistency, fair play and due process do not seem to be priorities at the beleaguered Harris County District Attorney's Office since the new regime came to town.
Judge Pat, as DA Lykos demands to be called, established the highly controversial DIVERT program.
Controversial because many legal scholars consider this odd poorly drafted policy to be an illegal subterfuge of the Texas State Legislature.
Nevertheless, the main purpose of DIVERT is to ease overcrowding of our jails by giving non enhanced first offender drunk drivers essentially one free DWI.

So why the heck is Judge Pat wanting to launch a full court press "catch and release program" for drunk drivers during rodeo?

A District Attorney who politicizes drunk driving for personal gain with a total disregard for the health and safety of others is no different than the corner crack dealer.....they are both selling some bad shit.

JUSTICE LESLIE BROCK YATES AND THE ROSENTHAL FACTOR

2010-02-18T14:15:00.000-08:00

Justice Leslie Brock Yates, who is currently running for re-election to the Texas 14th Court of Appeals, has more in common with disgraced ex DA, Chuck Rosenthal, than choosing Allen Blakemore as her campaign manager.

The "Free Speech" argument must be taken in context when uttered by an elected public official who is entrusted to be impartial in performing his/her essential job duties.

When Chuck Rosenthal, a public figure and sitting elected District Attorney at the time he sent racist emails on his government computer, suggested that "Freedom of Speech" shielded his behavior, Harris County scoffed at the absurdity. The implication was indefensible given his position at the time of the bad behavior.
After all, Rosenthal had the power to decide whose freedom, in a diversely populated county of ~4,000,000 people, would be jeopardized by his judgment.
He was not simply an ordinary private figure employed in the private sector on his privately owned computer.

The same criticism can be applied to Justice Yates.
However, her bias and total disregard for impartiality is not based on a plausible, albeit unsubstantiated, extrapolation of a distasteful joke; but rather forms the basis of her attack ads on opponent Sharon McCally.
Yates' profiling and subsequent condemnation of plaintiff attorneys based purely on the "belief" that these folks improperly represent the little guy instead of big business, is reprehensible on its face.
Stereotyping plaintiff attorneys as bad folks is prima facie inappropriate behavior for an appellate judge.

How can we expect impartial judicial renderings from a judge who blatantly profiles groups of individuals for political gain and has demonstrated a proclivity to judge an opponent on pure rumor and innuendo?

THE MONEYED POLITICIANS AND PARTY TENURE POSTURING CONTINUE TO HOLD HARRIS COUNTY HOSTAGE

2010-02-17T07:06:00.000-08:00

The deluge of political mail-outs and sample ballots that flooded my office and personal address yesterday rekindled my abhorrence for the hypocrisy, innuendos and outright misinformation disseminated by the process.

The First Amendment doesn't permit someone to stick political signs in my yard without permission and there ought to be a way to prevent unsolicited political garbage from being stuffed in my mailbox. I consider it an abuse of political free speech and more akin to a form of trespass by proxy or at least littering.
An extension of the optional call block system applied to phones that intercepts harassing peddlers and protects our privacy, should be available to stop these political mail-outs.
Unfortunately, political mail-outs are very effective in tricking voters.....that's why they're so prolific.

Glaring examples of this voter manipulation against community interest are the well orchestrated Republican campaigns of Danny Dexter against the overwhelmingly more qualified but underfunded Marc Brown in the 180th Criminal District Court contest and politically connected Rachael Palmer in the County Criminal Court 13 race who is vastly outclassed in every aspect of the law by the exceptionally qualified Don Smyth.
Although Steve Hotze's endorsement of Dexter is very disturbing, he gets credit for not having the stomach to endorse Palmer, her political offerings notwithstanding.

The average Harris County voter has no idea which judicial candidate is most qualified and generally relies on endorsements and candidate-published name recognition when deciding how to cast his ballot.
How are these folks able to appropriately evaluate the veracity of the numerous judicial campaigns?
Heck, if I wasn't part of this legal microcosm I would probably vote for Dexter and Palmer based on the overwhelming published "support"!
How would I know what incredibly better judges Marc Brown and Don Smythe would be if I didn't actually KNOW the candidates and their respective qualifications?

Judicial benches should not be for sale to those who know the right people instead of the right stuff.
Equal protection under the law is hindered when the bench is occupied by the most moneyed, instead of the most qualified candidate.

But as we all know, the idealism of truth, honesty, integrity, and ability are no match for who you know and how you spin it in modern American politics......and if anyone doubts that they don't know Pat Lykos.

SHOULD PRINCIPLE OR POLITICS DETERMINE VENUE FOR JIHADISTS?

2010-02-15T07:03:00.000-08:00

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration prefers a civilian trial for the alleged 9/11 mastermind, but says that in the face of public and political opposition it must be open to a military tribunal.
In an interview published Monday in The New York Times, Attorney General Eric Holder said, "I have to be more forceful in advocating for why I believe these are trials that should be held on the civilian side."
However, Holder did not rule out a military trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, saying, "You have to be flexible."

And there we have it!

My question to the United States Attorney General is:
WHY exactly would it be better to try these folks in a civilian court instead of a military tribunal?
I do not buy that the United States government has as much damning evidence against these terrorists as Orange County had against OJ Simpson and therefore a conviction is guaranteed no matter what the venue.
I do not buy that spending $200,000,000.00 per year for logistical support and security in NYC brings "closure" for New Yorkers.
I do not buy that giving enemy combatants a civilian trial with all the rights and privileges appurtenant thereof, shows how great and strong American justice is.
Of note, the greatest source of power for a terrorist is not the actual act of terror itself; but rather the exorbitant publicity that follows....a NYC TRIAL would be the mother load of publicity for these bastards.

When a group of individuals declare a Jihad against the sovereignty of the United States of America those individuals are enemy combatants and are not entitled to the privileges of a speedy trial, Miranda, civilian discovery etc.
How the U.S. conducts covert operations to gather Intel should not be on public display for all the world to evaluate.
The media's publication of US Military battle plans and strategy before engagement should be enough to satisfy their thirst.

So unless you believe that Eric Holder is really that ignorant of the law and its consequences you must ask:
What is the Obama Administration's real agenda?

THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE'S ANTI DEATH PENALTY AGENDA REDUCES IT'S CREDIBILITY ON THE ISSUE TO THAT OF AN EDITORIAL RAG

2010-02-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

"Drama likely as Scardino, Siegler face off in retrial"

So reads today's headline in The Houston Chronicle as it reignites the personal smear campaign on one of the most talented prosecutors in Harris County history and the death penalty generally.

The Houston Chronicle begins it's assault with:

"Two experienced attorneys, one a former Harris County star prosecutor known for theatrics and the other a skilled defense attorney, will face each other in the retrial of Anthony Graves, whose capital murder conviction was overturned by a federal appeals court."

The obvious implication is that Siegler is merely a very good experienced "actor" while Scardino, on the other hand, is a very good experienced trial lawyer. Not too subtle.

The Chronicle goes on to say:

"Kelly Siegler — once a feared Harris County assistant district attorney — has been hired by Washington-Burleson County District attorney Bill Parham as special prosecutor in the Graves case."

Feared-- not respected, not fair, not a good trial lawyer, but simply feared.

The Chronicle then concludes:

".....Attorney Nicole Casarez, a journalism professor at St. Thomas University whose students found evidence they say shows that Graves is innocent, and Amarillo attorney David Mullin are working on the case for free because they believe in Graves' innocence."

Well there we have it! The defendant is obviously innocent so why even bother with a trial.

"Siegler, who declined to comment, has faced Scardino and Phillips in previous trials."

Well why did Siegler not comment? She must have something to hide, right?

OR perhaps Siegler prefers to work up the case and have the requisite familiarity with the actual facts BEFORE making a comment. For all we know Siegler may, after factual review, concur with the Texas Court of Appeals. Maybe justice at all costs is more important than winning or losing at all costs for someone of her caliber.
Oddly the results of who prevailed at the referenced "face-offs" between Siegler and Scardino/Phillips are not mentioned; I am willing to bet that Siegler crushed the pair of defense attorneys at each "face-off".

"...Scardino's toughness and Siegler's flair for the dramatic..."

Puh...leeze!

"....Parham said he hired Siegler because he only has three assistant district attorneys, two of them inexperienced. “I have a small office and I need the extra help,” Parham said.

This is not the first time that Siegler has been hired to help a district attorney in a small county. Wharton County District Attorney Josh McCown hired Siegler in 2008 to help prosecute the county's first death penalty trial in 29 years."

Perhaps staff writer Harvey needs to tell the rest of the story.....The Wharton County defendant was convicted and sentenced to death for executing a Texas game warden.

harvey.rice@chron.com

It is my opinion that at The Houston Chronicle:

The anti death penalty agenda has clouded their objectivity.

Editorializing has supplanted journalistic integrity.

Personal vendettas have eroded balanced reporting and trust.

It is no wonder readership is so dismal at the once venerable publication......

CONROY MURRAY, M.D.......ORDINARY NEGLIGENCE OR CRIMINAL CONDUCT

2010-02-09T06:23:00.000-08:00

Should a patient's social status and notoriety be a factor in evaluating the guilt or liability of a treating physician's conduct? The answer seems to be obvious, but society has chosen otherwise.
If the "King of Pop" had instead simply been the head of the local PTA, does anyone really think that Dr. Murray would be facing involuntary manslaughter charges?

What kind of precedent does this set for the administration of health care in America?
Henceforth should all health care providers suspected of malpractice now be presented to a Grand Jury as well?

Every bad outcome does not constitute criminal activity.....accidents and poor judgment are often simply just that.

When a bus driver, without evidence of enhancement, accidentally crushes and kills a small child who runs in front of his vehicle it is tragic but vastly different than a reckless tow truck driver racing down a feeder road with cocaine metabolites on board who T-bones a car killing it's passengers.......the prosecutors need more than a bad outcome to a celebrity patient to prosecute a doctor who exercised poor judgment.

HARRIS COUNTY'S POLITICAL ENDORSEMENT INDUSTRY IS NOTHING MORE THAN LEGALIZED PROSTITUTION

2010-02-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

The political endorsement industry has truly become a seedy business.
In Harris County, WHAT an individual knows, too often takes a back seat to WHO he knows, literally. When a candidate succumbs to the brothel mentality that lures him into the political elite's backseat; we're the ones getting screwed at the end of the day.

The Harris County "King Makers" (as these skanks like to be called), not the voters, elect our local politicians.
I am not sure who is more vile and disgusting: the vermin of the political endorsement industry or the apathetic uninformed citizenry of Harris County who have,by proxy, conceded and acquiesced the process.

What coffee or luncheon a politician attends and who is outright paid off is more significant to a successful campaign than what qualifications or experience a candidate has.
Unf*ckingbelievable!
The average citizen lives in an oblivious fog to this reality; while those of us informed as to the actual qualifications, ability and experience of the candidates in a particular race are self righteously appalled.
But lest we be hypocrites; most of us that truly are well informed on a particular race, are so for personal reasons; proclamations to exclusively serve the best interests of the community, notwithstanding.

One of the things I hope this new movement to awaken America achieves is that people of character become more informed and involved in the political process generally and not limit involvement to narrow personal needs. That not only do they become fed up with this corrupt way of pre-selecting our candidates based on payoffs and political extremism; but also that some of them decide to stand up and replace the self serving professional politicians.
President John F. Kennedy was profoundly prophetic when he implored Americans to: "....Ask not what your country can do for you; but what you can do for your country..."

Men and women in our communities with real life experience who have excelled in their chosen field based on ability and merit; whether in the private sector or in government, must actively decide to make a difference in the governing process.
Entrepreneurs, plant managers, small business owners, doctors, teachers and others should be encouraged and supported to take the time and make the sacrifice---not to enhance their careers or portfolios; but because it is the right thing to do for their community.
Giving back, for those that have been blessed with so much, is a privilege.

So if you're tired of inept professional politicians like Pat Lykos----get involved in the process and promote quality leadership for Harris County.
You have no right to complain if you don't vote and you should not vote if you are not informed.

OBAMA PRAYS FOR CIVILITY....OR DOES HE?

2010-02-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

Speaking at the annual National Prayer breakfast yesterday, and fresh on the heels of the personal rebuke handed to him by Scott Brown's populist victory; Obama stated " there is a sense that something is different now, that something is broken, that those of us in Washington aren't serving people as well as we should."
Really! Who knew?
Obama moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue campaigning precisely on this theme. Obama's failure to deliver on this campaign promise is due to his ineptitude, indecisiveness and desperation. To imply that this is a new epiphany, rather than arrogant incompetence, is a gross underestimation of the American people.

O man then pulled another card out of his victim deck when he declared: "you can question my policies without questioning my faith or citizenship".
Really? Then why not actually join a church and produce a birth certificate instead of spending big bucks to hide it. Very simple solutions to such insincere protestations. He reminds me of the child who killed both of his parents and then pleaded for judicial leniency based on the fact he was now an orphan.
Apparently Obama likes to promote the controversy of his birth and faith so as to distract the people from the real issues of import and marginalize scrutiny of his "leadership skills".

Finally, not to miss an opportunity to blame Bush for something, Obama also said that his office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships had " turned the faith-based initiative around" from it's previous incarceration under the Bush administration to "find common ground among people of all beliefs."
We can all agree that Bush made some poor decisions during his tenure as POTUS; but certainly no one can reasonably criticize his personal commitment to Jesus Christ or his sincere respect for the legitimate faith of others.

This blatant hypocrisy is falling on deaf ears--even among his staunchest supporters outside the African-American community.......the dress rehearsal is over, Mr. President!

.

INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM OR BIG GOVERNMENT.........THE NEXT MIDTERMS ARE CRUCIAL

2010-02-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

"The free enterprise system has blessed the United States of America with the greatest prosperity, the highest standards of living, and, most important, the greatest individual freedom known to man. If we can preserve this system, and our freedom, we can look forward to turning over to our children, and our children's children, an America that is more productive, prosperous, and stronger economically, financially, morally, and spiritually, than the one we inherited."
--William E. Simon, the 63rd Treasury Secretary of the United States

The current US Treasury head, Timothy Geithner, is no William Simon. He and his fellow Secular Progressives have chosen to dismantle Simon's ideal through a sordid path of blame, bailouts, entitlements and big government.
As we allow big government to replace our individual liberty and moral compass we lose that which made America the envy of the world.

If we are to survive as a nation worthy of being passed on to future generations; then we need to be worthy ourselves. "American Correctness" needs to supplant "Political Correctness".
America's greatness was not predicated on class envy that rewarded failure or inferiority. Our foundation was premised on early Americans heralding hard work, sacrifice and common sense traditional values. In contrast, modern Americans are content to be ridiculed and scorned for sharing these beliefs.
Enough is enough.

America must reclaim her sovereignty that she unwittingly abdicated to the fringe groups of each Party.
The average American knows right from wrong; but her lines of judgment have been blurred. The sensory overload of the socialist secular movement is formidable; but their death grip on American government must be challenged. Conceptually they are no different than the Sunnis and Shiites and we have allowed them to dominate our public policy nationally, locally and abroad. Each group clings to their own special interests with total disregard for America's best interests or survival. Corporate America versus the unions. The "Mom and Pop's" are fading fast. A feeling of helplessness fueled by anxiety feeds America's trepidation and anger.

So America has a choice:
1. Do we sit back content watching American Idol and NFL football apathetic to our eroding liberties; OR
2. do we demand that our government and elected officials live true to the United States Constitution and serve, rather than exploit the American people.

I submit that the sanctity of life coupled with the freedom of individual liberty affords man the greatest opportunity to achieve happiness.....it is a privilege that our forefathers fought and died for and must never be abandoned or taken for granted.

PRETENTIOUS PRESIDENTIAL PLATITUDES........PULEEZE

2010-01-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

"Believe what I say NOT what I do", has officially replaced "Change we can believe in".

Obama's narcissism is something to behold. I lost count at how many times he used the word "I" in this, his first State of the Union address to the nation.
Dick Morris was correct in his prediction that Obama was an ideologue who would not pivot--that his arrogance would preclude compromise. Thus the pathetic irony in Obama's condemnation of his Washington cohorts for this same fatal flaw referenced throughout his pandering oration.

Apparently, the buck stops anywhere except at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
If it's not Bush's fault then it must be the fault of Congress, the banks, Wall Street, the wealthy, big business, any successful small business, the energy sector, China, racism, anyone who doesn't buy into global warming AKA climatic change, etc.
Obama is the quintessential pretender but his role as victim is wearing thin. It is time for him to man up and take responsibility for the office of POTUS.

The mystical nirvana Obama promises will crumble when the consequences of reality reveal the delusional foundation of his Marxist premise that the Federal Government not only can, but should, solve all of America's problems. Big government is, as Reagan pointed out, the problem, not the solution.
The government's role is not to raise us from cradle to grave, responsible for our every need; but rather to promote individual responsibility.

There are common sense reasons why Obama's speech was full of it.
How does Obama keep from falling on the floor laughing when he advocates:
1. the need for Cap & Trade in almost the same breath as promoting aggressive exploration of America's natural resources and being more competitive with China?
2. that his fellow Dems not politicize health care.
That is Obama's exclusive right. They must vote for it regardless of personal political consequences since he's not the one up for re-election. After all, if someone is going to fall on the sword it sure as heck won't be Obama.
3. taking money from big banks that are now lending responsibly to provide funds to little banks for high risk loans.
Didn't Albert Einstein say that insanity was repeating the same experiment over and over and expecting a different result?
4. an across the board Federal spending freeze described as irresponsible "hatchet style" by Obama when McCain advocated this during the campaign.
But there is a caveat: ~83% of the budget is exempted, a ~24% increase to the affected 17% has already occurred in the past year, the freeze doesn't take place for another year, if then.
What about cutting spending as opposed to jacking it up and then freezing the inflated amount? WTF?
5. another stimulus even though he hasn't spent 2/3s of the last one yet.
Sounds like a squirrel storing a stockpile of nuts before the freeze.
6. $100 BB fee on big banks for past bad behavior.
I'm sure none of that will trickle down to the consumer! Ha!
More nuts for the hungry squirrel in any regard.
7. pandering to the don't ask don't tell military madness.
Now that is a pressing issue right now.
8. circumventing decisions of the US Supreme Court that he disagrees with.
Personally, I also disagree with the high court on their recent decision allowing unlimited corporate political contributions, but that is not the point. George W disagreed with Roe v Wade in 1973. Imagine the Left's outrage had W called out the Justices at a State of the Union address with a similar inappropriate outburst?
9. a mandate for higher wages for women at a time when employers are cutting wages and employees.
That's going to make women more attractive to employers in the current hiring environment?
10. it is about the American people and not Obama.
Who the hell is he still kidding?

My brother please!

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IS SMILING

2010-01-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

"The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."
-Benjamin Franklin

Obama and his so called Progressives could sure use a tutorial from Ben Franklin.

The State of the Union will be delivered in a couple of days. There is no doubt that the Obama speechwriters are in overdrive trying to account for the once ridiculed Tea Baggers who hold true to this principle of Franklin.
The fishermen are simply fed up with the government confiscating and redistributing their catch before getting to market.

The privileged elite often underestimate the common sense and power of the working class.
Obama is clearly out of touch with the American workers who provide for their families; that is unless they are unionized.
During the campaign, Obama was more concerned with the rising cost of arugula at Whole Foods than he was with the basic needs of the workers in America. He ridiculed rural America's strong Christian faith and the 2nd Amendment when he labeled those who opposed him as bible and gun clutching weirdos. Last week in Massachusetts he ridiculed the average "Joe the Plumber" working class yet again when he stated that anyone can buy a pick up truck-what's the big deal?
Well the big deal, Mr. President, is that the working class understands and appreciates what Franklin and others of his time stood for; they've just been really quiet about it until now.
Today they are tired of having to work harder and harder so others can choose not to.
They are the Silent Majority that BOTH PARTIES have taken for granted.
They have finally said ENOUGH and are mobilizing in record numbers all over America.

Populist apathy is what the hard core Republican and Democratic big wigs have come to expect. It is what validates their extreme views.

So instead of merely complaining about how bad our choices of candidates for public office are----get involved.
*Have the conviction and independence to support merit over Party affiliation.
*Encourage good people to run for office.
*Support qualified candidates with more than your tongue or keyboard.
*Vote in the primaries and runoffs; not just the main election.
*Be a responsible voter and educate yourself on the relevant issues.

A policy of catch and release does not feed your family.
So stand strong, not down; and support people of character, not professional politicians.

THE GOLDEN HEART BEAT THE SILVER TONGUES

2010-01-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

Massachusetts rescued the United States Senate--who would have thought it?!
Thank you PEOPLE of Massachusetts and thank you U.S. Senator Scott Brown.

The message is clear; even to the bastion of liberal elitism: the PEOPLE are fed up with the unprecedented degree of arrogance, entitlement, extremism and blatant corruption of our elected officials.
Big government and big spending are big trouble and the PEOPLE aren't going to take it anymore.

Lest the Republicans quash this opportunity, they must appreciate that this is NOT a win for the Republican Party per se, but rather a victory for the PEOPLE.
The extremists of each party have a stranglehold on the Republican and Democratic Parties and consequently their respective agendas are not remotely representative of mainstream America.
Scott's message was not hard core party line rhetoric that we are all so tired of enduring; but instead he pushed a populace theme of center right that appealed to the crucial independent voters as well as the moderate Democrats.
The hard core extremists on each side of the aisle had better take note.

Scott and his old pick up truck represent the struggle of the PEOPLE. If Scott stays true to his message of representing what is in the best interest of the American PEOPLE and does not yield to the exorbitant temptations of self interest; it will be a great day for our country.

Slick oratory finesse was no match for integrity yesterday in Massachusetts.....let's hope the rest of America took note.

AMERICA'S RELIEF IN HAITI: WILL IT BE TOO MUCH OR NOT ENOUGH

2010-01-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

Last night's lead story on 60 Minutes featured the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. It was heart wrenching. The human suffering and loss of life in Haiti was unthinkable. The graphic devastation was, as one reporter indicated, eerily reminiscent of the Holocaust....nature can be as cruel as evil dictators on some level.

The issue for America is not whether or not we should provide relief for this impoverished nation hit by yet another natural disaster; but to what extent and at what cost. We must of course provide emergency relief to stop the immediate human suffering; but to what degree after containment and stabilization?
America does not have the endless deep pockets the world has come to expect and she is also suffering from within.

We can no longer afford to rebuild yet another floundering nation while ours is so unstable and precarious.
Common sense should trump our fear of perceived negativity by a world community who, with rare exception, never hesitates to judge our efforts.....while never themselves investing towards any relief effort for others.

When nation rebuilding in Haiti takes centers stage, the world community, for a change, must equitably share the responsibility of this endeavor. America is at it's breaking point. China's wealth and the oil rich Middle East need to step up as do the Europeans and Russians. I mean they're all clamoring for one world order so what's the hold-up?

If Obama insists on analogizing his administration's response to the Haitians to Bush's Katrina response; all common sense will be lost on the issue along with our solvency as a nation.
Which impoverished nation will be next? Bangladesh? Cuba? Nigeria? Angola? Chad? ? Even Venezuela won't be off the table!
Foreign aid will go into turbo drive.

AMERICA NEEDS RESPONSIBLE NOT POLITICAL HEALTH CARE REFORM

2010-01-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

Barrack Hussein Obama has turned out to be the ultimate Chicago gangsta politician......as painfully predictable as that may seem to anyone with a scintilla of common sense; it wasn't the change the dimwits on the left bargained for.
Secret deals, blatant payoffs, clandestine negotiations, etc. may all be common place in Chicago; but his O'ness campaigned on a promise of transparency as "CHANGE we can believe in ....yes we can".
The rampant pork barrel bribery behind closed doors has offended more than the C-Span producers.
The progressives must be scratching their collective naive heads in total disbelief.
Obama has delivered on his campaign promises about as well as Pat Lykos has locally in Harris County....total meltdown with a cavalier impunity and arrogance.
Relevant experience and qualifications do count in leadership roles. Who knew?

Responsible health care reform should reward good behavior rather than corrupt politicians.
Instead of modeling failed and/or inferior health care delivery systems in total while trashing our existing system; it would be more appropriate to identify the issues and apply a risk benefit analysis of the options.
A basic health care reform bill should incorporate the following components:
1. Reward healthy behavior and penalize high risk behavior.
2. No penalties for pre-existing conditions that are not a result of high risk behavior.
3. Mandatory modified medical flex plans.
4. Indigent care clinics for the under-insured.
5. National tort reform.
6. Common sense overhaul of the FDA.
7. Free market insurance coverage that is portable with no carrier restrictions based on state lines.
8. Minimize and aggressively prosecute fraud and abuse.
9. Design a program that is open to innovation and not static.
10. Attract the best and the brightest to enter the medical field instead of running them off.

How long would your local grocery store stay in business if their customers could fill as many buggies as they wanted with whatever products they wanted for a $20.00 co-pay? Would you expect the quality of goods to go up under such a plan? Would you expect rationing?
How about if restaurants or car dealerships conducted business that way? Steak and lobster or a burger? A Bentley or a Honda?
How insane.

Health care is a business and businesses thrive under a competitive free market capitalistic system better than any other model in the history of civilization.

The Plan:
All employees and any one else who wishes to participate in private American health care shall have the opportunity to purchase high deductible catastrophic health care from any carrier authorized to conduct business in the USA.
The employer shall be responsible for at least that portion of the catastrophic policy that was adversely rated as a consequence of the employee's job duties and may pay up to the entirety to attract and retain employees.
All coverage will be portable.
Every employee shall be required to contribute from each paycheck to a personal Flexible Health Care Plan until said plan is funded with sufficient dollars to cover his/her/family deductible; any contributions thereafter are optional. When flex dollars are utilized for health care, salary contributions shall resume until minimum funding requirements are met. All contributions to the flex account are tax deductible and excess contributions shall be permitted within statutory guidelines. Flex dollars shall roll over at the end of each fiscal year and never escheat for lack of utilization in a fiscal year. Once the insured becomes eligible for Medicare he may, at his option, withdraw any remaining funds in similar fashion as to a Traditional IRA. Further, upon insured's death, any remaining funds in said account shall pass through his estate.
The cost of each individual's catastrophic plan shall be determined by his/her personal risk factors such as disproportionate body mass index, substance abuse, criminal record, participation in high risk behavior, etc.and adjusted annually.
Any premium amount attributable to personal high risk behavior shall be the sole responsibility of the individual and not the employer; unless such risk is job related or the employer waves the exemption.
Thus the individual will now have a financial incentive to engage in a healthier lifestyle and be more fiscally responsible in the procurement of care.
The patient will have no restrictions as to what MD he chooses to see.
He will also be motivated to shop his care and actively inquire as to the need/cost/quality of services and durable goods provided.
In essence the responsible segment of society will be self insured, his choices will be greater and his costs will be less.
Insurance fraud committed by any provider, insured or carrier will have severe civil and criminal penalties imposed.
The government will provide indigent care facilities for those individuals too poor or unwilling (self employed or retired non-indigents) to buy into the private plan.
The government plan will:
1. provide basic health care based on ability to pay.
2. be immune from all acts of ordinary negligence
3. be staffed by residents who must complete a two (2) year rotation at an indigent care center with minimal compensation before being eligible for licensure in private practice AND be supervised by board certified attending physicians.
4. only provide generic medication unless brand name is deemed medically necessary
5. require that all non emergency patients who present to an ER be triaged by indigent care providers assigned to that facility
6. prohibit paramedics and other emergency response providers to transport non emergency indigent patients free of charge. Public transportation will, however, be provided as deemed appropriate.
7. prohibit coverage of chronic life support, organ transplants and other extraordinary measures that are a result of poor behavioral decisions; ignorance will not be an excuse for bad behavior.
However, nothing will preclude any person from independently paying for non covered health care of himself or another so long as it is not illegal.

The FDA will be more cost effective in permitting products to market while continuing to provide for reasonable consumer safety. Common sense will replace a warranty mind set.

BUT instead, Obama and his Congressional whores are setting up a government co-op for the delivery of medical care that will make the aforementioned Indigent Plan look like a Cadillac.
Long lines, rationed care, and third world caregivers from Pakistan will be the benchmark for every American except the liberal elite Politburo.

JUDICIAL QUID PRO QUO

2010-01-07T08:45:00.000-08:00

Rather than bastardize the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution into a a self serving politically correct tool of judicial manipulation; I support a common sense interpretation that results in fair play and equity for all participants of the judicial process.
The playing field must be as level as possible to insure that justice is served.
The wealthy already have enough advantage in their ability to purchase legal counsel; the judge should not be for sale to the highest bidder as well.
The trial abilities of opposing counsel will never be equal; but a judge's treatment of all participants must be.
When a particular party and the decider of fact are financially in bed with each other, justice is jeopardized.
If an attorney sincerely wants to participate in the election process of the judiciary; rather than in the purchase of a favorable outcome, he should have no objection to do so anonymously.

A judge must be impartial, regardless of political affiliation. He/she has a responsibility to render decisions in an equitable unbiased fashion and therefore should avoid even the mere appearance of impropriety.

Hence the issue of whether or not it is appropriate for an attorney, who might reasonably be expected to try a case in front of a particular judge, to be allowed to contribute, without restraint or limitation, to that particular judge's "campaign" and there be no quid pro quo implied.

Does the 1st Amendment guarantee that bribery and/or extortion be an integral part of the judicial election process?

Judicial candidates can only receive political contributions within a certain statutory time frame prior to the election. Does that Unconstitutionally inhibit the Founding Father's Free Speech guarantee of the 1st Amendment?

If attorneys who practice in front of a judge are given free reign to make judicial payoffs, why not allow criminal defendants to do the same prior to sentencing?
On the civil side, I'll bet big business would outspend those pesky plaintiff's prior to judgment being rendered.

For the politically correct: money talks and bullshit walks.....for the rest of us we need campaign reform.

CONGRATULATIONS TO FUTURE JUDGE DON SMYTH

2010-01-04T12:20:00.000-08:00

Well it looks like Don Smyth was the STEALTH straw poll winner with an overwhelming margin of victory. Smyth garnered more individual votes than all of the other candidates combined, real and imagined.
The surprise for me, was how dismal Rachael Palmer's support was.
The scuttlebutt that the entire misdemeanor division of the Harris County District Attorney's Office supported Deputy Dog Palmer is, thank goodness, apparently quite erroneous.
Palmer was barely able to edge out the notorious spoiler, Jim Leitner, who was not an actual candidate and always seems to place last in every election he enters.
Palmer placed a distant third out of the three announced candidates--in other words last place.

Hopefully this is an accurate reflection of the Harris County electorate in the upcoming election.
Regardless, Palmer's best hope is a low voter turnout; so the hotly contested Governor's race should nullify that potential miscarriage of justice.

REMEMBER TO VOTE!!!

TERROR'S GRIP ON AMERICA

2010-01-04T11:21:00.000-08:00

Terrorism has become a growth industry.
This Islamic behemoth is funded by the very people it seeks to destroy......the USA and the rest of the free world "infidels".

Oil and opiates are modern day symbols of power and the Middle East is the main producer of each. The enormous profits fuel the arsenal for their "hate delivery system".
To feed their insatiable addictions, America and the rest of the planet seem content to accept the consumer role for these goods; while providing weapons and huge chunks of global wealth in exchange.

We don't need their oil.
America has enormous reserves of sweet crude, natural gas, coal and shale. So what's up? Big oil lobbyists, both domestic and foreign, feeding corrupt politicians, have stifled the exploration and production of our own natural resources.
The technology to "develop to market", alternative renewable energy options, have also been thwarted by big government; in spite of their pretense to the contrary. Money talks and bullshit walks--simply put, the Feds can't think of a way to tax sunshine, wind or non-municipal water yet....as soon as they do, we'll have real energy options.
The private sector's drive and resolve to achieve greatness and excellence through innovation has been crippled by a system that rewards failure at the expense of success.

America doesn't "need" illicit drugs either; she "demands" them. Stop the demand and drug problem solved. Yes it really is that simple.
Drugs don't give anyone a new and improved reality as advertised, they destroy reality.
Drugs are an integral component of the dumbing down of America.
Minorities are disproportionately affected, but every American enslaved by the permissiveness of the drug culture is "kept in their place" with the drug.
Druggies have exchanged the drive and struggle for achievement with cultural acceptance at being driven like cattle to the slaughterhouse.
So unless you want to be the next chicken fried steak, wake up and take responsibility for yourself, your family and your country.
The popular answer of: "you can't stop drug usage so you might as well decriminalize it" is as nonsensical as applying the same logic to rape. The widespread condoning of illicit drug use is advocating the wholesale rape of our youths' minds.
Now before criticism is levied at the failures of zero tolerance coupled with zero common sense and jail overcrowding by non violent substance abusers; instead approach the issue from the "tough love" stand point of a responsible parent towards his/her poorly behaving child. If you caught one of YOUR children smoking a little crack or simply found a pipe with a little residue hidden in his/her drawer would you simply say "it's okay suga', all your friends are engaging in similar activity and I just want to be your friend". Of course not. Notwithstanding, it's not the government's duty, nor should it be, to raise kids from the cradle to the grave. It is, however, society's responsibility, through it's laws and regulations to promote responsible behavior and provide consequences, rather than excuses, for bad behavior.

It is often said that an alcoholic must hit rock bottom before he has any real shot at success......we're there.

Who will challenge foreign interests and their domination over America if our own government is complicit?

And we have the audacity to call the terrorists crazy extremists....those bastards are as crazy as a den of foxes with a mission that they have no qualms dieing for.

WHAT ABOUT THOSE TEXANS?

2010-01-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

HOUSTON TEXANS 34.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 27.

ENOUGH SAID.

GO TEXANS!!!!!!!!!! WE'RE HEADED TO THE PLAYOFFS BABY!