Things You Don’t See Every Day.

A Buddhist monk, chatting on a cell phone after finishing his double cheeseburger at Wendy’s… Spotted at Dulles Intl. this afternoon… Who’d a thunk it!?

A playful manatee that followed our boat in from the river in search of a little attention. Spotted on Mother’s day in the harbor at Mira Vista in Jacksonville.

Feel my Pain…

I’m sure you’ve noticed that there hasn’t been much Sabre rattling here lately (excuse the pun). Like all Buffalo sports teams before them, the Sabres are choking at the gates of the promised land. Currently, they are down three games to none in the eastern conference finals. I’m resigned to the fact that in all likelihood, they are done for.

Saturday nights game was the worst, I was yelling and screaming at the TV, getting madder and madder as they blew a two goal lead for the first time all season. 46-0 is now 46-1, at the worst possible time. They imploded. By last nights game, I was already resolved to the fact that we were probably finished, and I was just hoping that we could come out of the series with our heads held high. 1 or 2 wins, take it to a seventh game if possible, anything would be better than being swept by the Senators…

As a Buffalo sports fan, I have sworn off being a fan more times than I can remember. Throughout the late seventies, I never wavered in my support for Buffalo sports teams. I was young then, and hadn’t experienced too much disappointment in life… Throughout the 80s and 90s, I vowed at the end of each season to find a new franchise, jump on a new bandwagon, get a new team, align myself with a winner…

The heartbreak of all those disappointments was worse than the breakup of a relationship. Anger, genuine heartache, a great feeling of loss and depression accompanied each and every disastrous end to a promising start of a season… It was just not healthy to continue in a relationship that was just so toxic. I would never stay with someone that let me down the way these teams have, so why should I stay with them any longer?

Just today, I was invited to join Gator Nation by a good friend of mine. While I admit to actually being a cursory fan already, I do not live and die with the latest coaches poll the way I do with the power rankings for the Bills or Sabres. If the Gators win, I’m happy, if they lose, that’s too bad, but no skin off my nose… Two national championships in one year is a great achievement, I rooted for both the football and basketball teams. What I didn’t do, was go out and buy all new Gator gear. I didn’t join in with the real Gator fans, whooping and yelling with reckless abandon, it didn’t feel right. I can’t change who I am… I won’t swap…

I think I may be suffering from “Battered Fan Syndrome”. In any event, four superbowl and two Stanley Cup finals losses later, I am finally past the pain. Even with the Bills failing to make the playoffs year after year, and the Sabres falling short of the cup finals the past two years, I am stuck. I can’t, and I won’t get out… I am in this thing, good or bad, until death. No matter what happens, I’ve determined that I’m happier being a miserable Buffalo fan than I would be if I had to root for the Patriots, or those dispicable Red Wings. Who cares about all of their success these past years. To quote the famous molecular biologist Dexter Holland; “The more you suffer, the more it shows you really care, right?” If that’s true, my suffering has only succeeded in cementing my resolve.

Just wait until next year…

Great Post From a Retired Iowa Sheriff…

I read this post today, and because of my recent posting on Blind Loyalty, I had to pass this one on. This is one of the better postings I’ve seen in a long time. Here’s a link to his site. I hope you enjoy…

THE DANGER OF BLIND LOYALTY TO POLITICAL LEADERS

 

 

 

 

By Jim R. Schwiesow

April 16, 2007
NewsWithViews.com

The following is a letter of a type that I often receive from the hard-line Bush supporters who believe that the president is anointed and should be beyond criticism in regard to his administrative policies:

“Just remember, all authority is set in place by God. God obviously set President Bush in a higher place of authority than a lowly sheriff, so when you speak of stupidity you might start your search closer to home (The people who elected a loud mouth liberal)”

The people who elected me to seven consecutive four-year terms in office, I think, would be rather amused at this characterization of me as a liberal. I would guess that it was just the dirtiest word that the writer could think of to describe one who has been critical of his hero, George Bush. Some strange thinking here, but fairly typical of the letters that I receive from those who think the president can walk on water and who believe that he functions as a potentate who is unconstrained by law and is immune, or should be, to criticism from lowly peons such as I.

Unfortunately for these people, I do not happen to subscribe to this type of hero worship. I think that Mr. Bush is an absolutely ordinary man who is possessed of no extraordinary perceptual abilities. If he is divinely guided it certainly has not been evident throughout the six years that he has been at the helm of the nation. Too be sure he has been immersed in some fairly rough waters during this time, most of which were of his own making. This is what often happens when one ignores the signs that indicate that an all-ahead full mode will sink the ship, and plows ahead anyway.

How some people have come into possession of the idea that Mr. Bush is clairvoyant and gifted with divine wisdom is anybody’s guess. Maybe they visited a guru on the mountain who imparted such knowledge to them. Whatever the case, it is a wrong assumption. That he has no such gift is indicated by his unwillingness to deviate from the disastrous policies, which have caused the nation to list so badly. All indications are that if he persists and stubbornly maintains the course that he has set, the ship, in this case the nation, will founder. Indeed the vessel wallows at the present time, and a sinking appears imminent.

Mr. Bush’s wars for democracy, and his impolitic pursuit of the same, are crumbling around our ears. If there has been good news on that front I haven’t seen it. Even Fox News hasn’t come forth with any gems of hope in that regard, and it certainly cannot be said that they are anti-Bush. There just isn’t anything to report other than more bombs, more sneaky guerilla warfare attacks, and more dead Americans. Not only does the president not have a crystal ball, which enables him to look into the future, he has no grasp of history. The Korean and Viet Nam wars are not that distant in the past, that he should be devoid of the knowledge that to fight limited wars on the enemy’s terms just is not the way to proceed. Apparently our political leaders are hard learners in this regard. If the death of the one hundred twelve thousand Americans killed in those wars did not provide an example of the kind of wars that we should avoid, there is no hope for us, because our politicians are either masochistic or they are just plain dumb.

Ah, some will say, but what about President Bush’s domestic policies? What about them? Have they been something to brag about? Those who think so apparently totally disregard his immigration policies and his absolute and unforgivable disregard for the security of our borders. A refusal to honor one’s oath to secure the borders of the nation against all invaders does not a hero make.

The president’s deliberate refusal to enforce border security bespeaks arrogance and his statement; “Hell, if they’ll cross the big bend, we want ‘em.” speaks to a simple mind. It is absolutely incredible that the leader of any country would utter such an asinine statement. It invites criminals, deviants, terrorists, subversives, sexual predators, and freeloaders to come into the nation and prey upon the citizenry. The fearful consequences of such an ignorant mindset have come home to roost.

The economic strain that has been placed upon the nation by an influx of twenty-one million uninvited and unwelcome parasites is enormous. And the social damage is incalculable. Our culture has been forever altered and perverted. Millions of ordinary American workers have been displaced. The black community has been especially hard hit in this regard. The schools, which were already a tremendous burden to taxpayers due to the stupid policies of the federal and state governments’, have been pushed to a state of near collapse by illegal aliens. Diseases, which had long been eradicated in this country, are making an alarming comeback thanks to the illegal hosts who carry them into our midst. And as if we didn’t have enough of our own criminals we have added to that number exponentially. Illegal Hispanics comprise 28 percent of the prison population, while making up 4 percent of the population of the country. And if that is not bad enough the president, and those in congress who think like him, must think that our homegrown gangs are not virulent enough. Their stupidity in regard to immigration has enabled Latino gangs to lay siege to the city of Los Angeles, and to spread their tentacles across the land.

The critic who authored the letter with which I opened this column has expressed his belief that since God set in place George Bush as president it is sacrilegious for me, or any other, to criticize him. Well, God set in place King Saul, King Ahab and Jezebel, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Nero the persecutor of Christians. By an extrapolation from the writer’s viewpoint it would seem that for one to be critical of such leaders is to be in conflict with the scriptures. I have read the rendering of God’s word by Paul the Apostle. And I am mindful of the fact that we have been admonished by the word to be obedient to lawful government, and that we should pray for those who are in positions of authority. I did not find any strictures regarding being critical of political leaders. Maybe if the citizens who were under the rule of the aforementioned despots had been critical of their activities early-on untold millions of lives could have been saved and mountains of abject grief could have been avoided.

My wife, who was unfortunate enough to have been born into the Third Reich under Adolph Hitler, has related what it was like to be dominated by such a regime, and how blind obedience and reverence for the Fuehrer made it possible for this maniac to rise to power and to hold onto that power. That she survived the bombings and the horrors of the war to relate these observations was providential. There was a time when the rise of this maniacal tyrant could have been thwarted, but people were too enamored by his political charisma and verbal expertise to mount a campaign to do so. Later, when he had complete control it was too late. Still he would not have been able to maintain his murderous control over the nation without the acquiescence of all too many German citizens who had a blind allegiance to him. Criticism was not allowed and to participate in such could cause political incarceration and death. Even political jokes were forbidden by the state. How were these restrictions on the people enforced? The answer is with the help of blindly obedient Germans, who informed on their neighbors and reported every minor criticism of the Fuehrer and his regime.

These minions delivered into the hands of the tyrannical government many thousands of innocents who were deemed to be unpatriotic by these rabid Hitler supporters. To be critical was to be unpatriotic, and to be unpatriotic to the dictatorial regime was unlawful and punishable. I respect the right of this letter writer to express his opinion, but you can be absolutely sure that I emphatically and with deadly seriousness disagree with his opinion.

But, we should not worry about any of the preceding. I have the solution in the form of a letter from another of my critics. His criticism of my columns is related below:

“Maybe it is because age has taken away your strength to tote a weapon in defense of the Constitution or the mental capacity to become enraged, but I find your whining and cowardice disgusting. If you want to cry in your coffee do it in private. The rest of us have a battle to fight in this country and it is not over, nor has it even begun.”

So you see this “hero” is going to load up and ride into battle for you and for me, while we cowards hide in the brush until we can be delivered by his mighty hand. I await his rescue that is if he survives his valiant effort against the armed forces of the United States government. After all a real man does not use words, a real man goes down with guns blazing. Good luck, cowboy, you’re going to need it.

I’ll continue to be critical of the unwise actions of our political leaders. How long that continues depends on whether or not enough blindly loyal citizens finally enable a complete tyrant, such as Hitler, to completely seize control of all of our freedoms. Perhaps the cowboy will prevail and save my bacon before that happens.

© 2007 – Jim R. Schwiesow - All Rights Reserved

Half Way There…

The Sabres advanced to the conference finals today after beating the New York Rangers 5-4. It was a great game with lots of action. I kept hoping we would have a break out game where we scored 5 or six goals, but 5 goals almost wasn’t enough against a very resilient Rangers team. They kept on coming, just like they did all series long, and there was no time to relax until the final buzzer.

I’m glad the series was so tough. The Sabres needed to win an ugly series. Enough of the talk about how they’re soft, and just a speedy skill team. They won low scoring games, they came back to win, they won high scoring games, no matter what the challenge, they won. It was a great test to be able to go home to Buffalo, after dropping two straight in New York, and get the momentum back. Then, to go back to New York and close out the series, that was huge.

There are 8 more wins between the Sabres and their dance with Lord Stanley’s Cup. They’ll need to get half of those against their bitter rivals, the Ottawa Senators. I’m feeling good about this series. The Sabres have shown that they can dig down and play rough, while still being the ultimate skill team. I think this series will go another 6 games, but the prayers of the Buffalo faithful will keep pushing them on to their ultimate goal. Let’s go Buf-fa-lo!

It’s All in the Finish – Sabres 2, Rangers 1

Down one to nothing with less than a minute to play, the Sabres pulled goalie Ryan Miller in favor of the extra shooter. It worked. Chris Drury scored with just under 8 seconds left to force overtime, where Maxim Afinogenov scored to give Buffalo the win and a 3-2 lead in the series. It was Buffalo’s best game of the series by far. They were crashing the boards, and outworking the Rangers on both ends of the ice. If not for Lundqvist, the game would have been decided much earlier. The Ranger goalie was huge, and gave New York the chance to win it in regulation if not for Mr. Clutch.

That’s enough for me. I’m not concerned with winning it in front of the home crowd. I say let’s get this series over with. Go back to MSG and win it. I’m not into all the excitement of a game seven this year. As a Buffalo fan, I know all too well what happens in a game seven, or during the last few ticks on the clock. We’re due, but I can’t stand to watch it. Please God, just let our guys win the cup, without the drama… Go Sabres!!!

At What Point Does Loyalty Disolve Character/Integrity?

I read an article today from a few weeks ago. It spoke about Bush loyalist, and how the act of loyalty to a leader provided those loyalists high profile jobs, promotions, and immunity from bearing any responsibility for misdeeds or lies. A couple of statements really stood out to me, and I want to reference them first, and talk about how they apply to corporate america, and then I will re-post the article in it’s entirety so you can see them in their original context.

“People who applied to work for the Coalition Provisional Authority — the agency governing Iraq — told Chandrasekaran, former Baghdad bureau chief for The Washington Post, that they were asked in job interviews about their political party, their opinion of Roe vs. Wade, their religious affiliation and whether or not they voted for Bush in 2000. Talent and experience were secondary concerns, if that. Every president has the right to seek subordinates who support his policies. But not at the expense of competence. Nor integrity. Nor loss of life and destruction of property.”

“CULT-LIKE BEHAVIOR – This is not the way grown-ups behave. It is the way cultists behave. The willingness to bypass critical thought, the tendency to make one’s faith in a man a litmus test, the emphasis on belief, sounds more appropriate to followers of Jim Jones or David Koresh than to high officials of the U.S. government.”

I have blogged on the subjects of loyalty, character, and honesty in the past, and feel very strongly about these traits and their importance as core values of a person. They should be exhibited in all aspects of your life. At work, or at home, those principles should evident to those around you.

A leader should expect loyalty from his subordinates, and as long as he deserves it, it should be given freely. It is great to have passion for your work, and a passion to follow a great leader. But to blindly follow a tyrant, in the name of money or job security is true incompetence, and shows a lack of character.

The only thing worse than blind loyalty is the persecution of the innocent by a tyrant and his loyalists. To single out someone, based upon a difference of opinion or beliefs is intolerable. If you ever find yourself being pushed into such a situation by your tyrannical leader you need to stop and ask yourself, “What flavor is this Kool-Aid?”. If you still choose to drink it , you deserve what you get.

Here is a link to another article on the Market Based Management website that voices a similar opinion.

Blind loyalty led Bush’s team into big sinkhole

BY LEONARD PITTS Jr.

lpitts@MiamiHerald.com

First, let me tell you what I’m not here to talk about.

I’m not here to talk about the role politics played in the sacking of eight U.S. attorneys. Or the fact that newly released e-mail exchanges and other documents indicate Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his deputies misled Congress when they said the White House had nothing to do with the decision to fire those attorneys. Or the fact that Gonzales is facing bipartisan calls for his head from angry lawmakers.

All this I will leave to others. I want to talk about a word that jumped out at me in news reports about this latest Washington scandal.

The word: loyalty.

We learn that, in deciding which attorneys to retain and which to release, one factor that weighed prominently in Justice Department deliberations was whether they ”exhibited loyalty” to President Bush. The quote is from an e-mail sent by D. Kyle Sampson, then one of Gonzales’ top aides. Sampson was also author of another note in which he suggested that the “vast majority of U.S. Attorneys, 80-85 percent, I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc., etc.”

It is this notion — that being a ”loyal Bushie” is a qualification for getting or keeping a job — that rankles. And if any of this sounds like déjà vu all over again, that’s only because you’ve been paying attention. Indeed, the revelations spilling out of Gonzales’ office are distressingly familiar.

Take Brownie — please. You remember Michael Brown. Guy had zero experience in disaster management. So naturally, he wound up as head of FEMA, the federal disaster management agency. He was, after all, a ”loyal Bushie” — a friend of a Bush friend. Not that that helped him when a hurricane named Katrina came knocking.

THE IRAQ MESS

And don’t even get me started on Iraq. To read Imperial Life in the Emerald City, Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book on the American occupation, is to sit gape-mouthed at the degree to which the requirement that job seekers pledge allegiance to George W. Bush shaped (read: misshaped) what happened there. People who applied to work for the Coalition Provisional Authority — the agency governing Iraq — told Chandrasekaran, former Baghdad bureau chief for The Washington Post, that they were asked in job interviews about their political party, their opinion of Roe vs. Wade, their religious affiliation and whether or not they voted for Bush in 2000.

Talent and experience were secondary concerns, if that.

And we wonder why Iraq turned out the way it did?

What we’re seeing in these e-mails, then, is just standard operating procedure for the Bush gang. Not that that makes it any easier to swallow.

Loyalty is a lovely virtue. But it is not the only virtue. And, in deciding what is best for a nation — whether Iraq or the U.S. — one would hope it wouldn’t be the defining one.

The funny thing is, when George W. Bush came into office what seems like a hundred years ago, I remember thinking that though I disagreed with his politics, it would be good at the very least to have grown-ups — disciplined, sober, pragmatic — back in charge of the nation’s affairs after the perceived juvenility and shenanigans of the Clinton team. I was wrong.

CULT-LIKE BEHAVIOR

This is not the way grown-ups behave. It is the ways cultists behave. The willingness to bypass critical thought, the tendency to make one’s faith in a man a litmus test, the emphasis on belief, sounds more appropriate to followers of Jim Jones or David Koresh than to high officials of the U.S. government.

Every president has the right to seek subordinates who support his policies. But not at the expense of competence. Nor integrity. Nor loss of life and destruction of property.

Loyalty to Bush is all well and good. But ultimately, these people work for me and you.

Is it asking too much that they show a little loyalty to us?