Hall of Famer Puts Things In Perspective

http://www.countypressonline.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2549&dept_id=514258&newsid=12050637&PAG=461&rfi=9

There are governors, and then there are governors. Colorado has Bill Owens who has a great sense of humor and who can make his constituents laugh.

South Carolina has Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican who is doing battle with his Republican-dominated legislature in an effort to cut taxes and spending.

Sanford recently entered the statehouse with two pigs, named "Pork" and "Barrel," who defecated on the carpet and got the attention of lawmakers.

We have Philadelphia Fats who uses our turnpikes and Interstates as adjuncts of the Indianapolis Speedway.

We could use somebody who would do battle with our free-spending legislators. Too many are indebted to tort lawyers and the teachers' unions. They also have a penchant for giving your money to multi-millionaire owners of sports franchises.

Our doctors are leaving and the lawyers are making jokes about it. "They are all going to the Cayman Islands or Bermuda," one lawyer chuckled. Ha! Ha!

The joke is on us. Most of our doctors are heading for Maine or Vermont and it is not because of the weather.

We do not have to keep electing guys like Fats. We have some talent that should be utilized. I never met or even spoke to Matthew J. Brouillette. He pronounces it (Bree-yet), but don't hold that against him.

He is president and CEO of The Commonwealth Foundation, which keeps an eye on what's going on in Harrisburg.

He bombards me with news releases -- mostly dealing with education -- which make a lot of sense.

I think if he ever ran for governor and won, he'd shake things up in Harrisburg.

Another winner would be Pat Toomey, a conservative who narrowly lost to Arlen Specter in the GOP primary election.

I just received the following item from Ed Medzarentz, a member of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame:

He said, "Bill, I thought you would enjoy this very enlightening article I received today."

I am not condoning what happened to the Iraqi prisoners . . . however, I think it is vitally important that, in my head, I have these matters in proper perspective:

-- Saddam had Iraqi men, women and children put to death, in human meat grinders, on a daily basis . . . No outcry from the Iraqi people or the Arab community . . .

--Saddam had people thrown off of 3- 4-story buildings while their relatives were forced to watch . . .

-- Saddam had people's tongues cut out, limbs chopped off and even beheaded, while their families were forced to watch . . . No outcry from the Iraqi people or the Arab community . . .

-- Saddam's sons, as well as other administrators and military personnel, raped and sodomized Iraqi girls -- some as young as 8 years old -- on a daily basis . . .

-- Saddam's regime indiscriminately put to death millions of Iraqi citizens, on a daily basis, during the term of his brutal dictatorship, as evidenced by the mass graves recently uncovered, in various parts of Iraq . . . No outcry from the Iraqi people or the Arab community . . .

-- Terrorists recently exploded several car bombs in Baghdad, killing 17 innocent Iraqi children and several dozen innocent Iraqi citizens . . . No outcry from the Iraqi people or the Arab community . . .

-- Terrorists have been killing American/Coalition soldiers, on a daily basis, since we sent our troops (many of whom gave their lives on Iraqi soil) and used United States taxpayer dollars to liberate the Iraqi people . . . No outcry from the Iraqi people or the Arab community . . .

-- Four Americans were killed in Fallujah. Their bodies were burned, mutilated, dragged through the streets and hung on a bridge, while Iraqi people cheered and stoned them . . . No outcry from the Iraqi people or the Arab community . . .

-- As said, I don't condone what happened to the prisoners, but, until the Iraqi people and the Arab community, as a whole, get their act together . . . We are at war! and I don't want my president to apologize to the Arabs for anything!

A few Iraqi prisoners have been humiliated (poor babies) . . . A pair of women's underwear was put on their heads . . . A few naked photographs were taken . . . and the Iraqi people go ballistic . . . along with the entire Arab community . . . Give me a break!
-- As said, I don't condone what happened to the prisoners, but, until the Iraqi people and the Arab community, as a whole, get their act together . . . We are at war! and I don't want my president to apologize to the Arabs for anything!

Worth repeating

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