Campos Slanders Innocent Man

I am not a lawyer. Nor am I a journalist. Yet, the words I write here do more justice for those two professions than anything Paul Campos, a professor of law at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and a paid columnist at the Rocky Mountain News, has ever done.

Mr. Campos wrote a column the other day in which he accused the scout at NFLDraftCountDown.com of racism. Mr. Campos implied that attributes such as being a hard worker, a good leader, being smart, and possessing good intangibles were code words for white athletes that were not publicly assigned to black athletes.

To prove his point, he compared two scouting reports: one of a black player (K. Phillips), the other of a white player (T. Zbikowski) at the same position.

He notes that the white player had an identical timed speed in the 40 yard dash as the black player. Yet, the black player was listed as having great speed while the white player was listed as not having great speed. He also noted the white player was labeled as being a “hard worker”, a “team leader”, and possessing “excellent intangibles”. The black player that Mr. Campos chose for this comparison did not receive those same compliments. Well, except for one; Mr. Campos conveniently chose not to tell his readers that the black player was also described as a “team leader”.

And, for this discrepancy, Mr. Campos inferred that Scott Wright, founder, President and scout at NFLDraftCountDown.com, was exhibiting a racist, albeit “ingrained”, tendency. In other words, Mr. Campos was saying that Scott Wright let racial stereotypes interfere with his analysis of football players.

Now, for my part in this column, I will first describe my amateur journalistic instinct, the very instinct that apparently eluded Mr. Campos: I contacted the founder, President, and scout of NFLDraftCountDown.com, Scott Wright, to get his thoughts on the matter. Mr. Wright informed me that Paul Campos had not even contacted him before blatantly accusing him of racism.

So, what did Scott Wright have to say about the timed runs of K. Phillips and T. Zbikowski?

“I do many of my scouting reports in January and February and those two [Phillips and Zbikowski] were finished prior to the Scouting Combine so I probably should have amended the report on Phillips to say that he had good speed and left the word “timed” out of the equation. With that said I am still very comfortable with my assessment and I think most would agree that Phillips plays a lot faster than Zbikowski does.”

In other words, the timed results were posted after the scouting reports were written. This was no case of “ingrained racism” as Mr. Campos suggested. It was purely a matter of the timing of the report and the posted race times. Paul Campos would have realized this, and spared a good man’s name, had he simply asked Mr. Wright before writing that slanderous column.

Finally, as to my lawyerly contribution to this essay, I must admit the labor was easy. I simply examined the rest of Scott Wright’s scouting reports for all the black players at the safety position. Remember, Paul Campos implied that labels such as hard worker, team leader, excellent intangibles, and intelligence were code words for white players. I now submit exhibit B.

The following black athletes, ignored by Mr. Campos for some reason yet finally recognized here, were described by Scott Wright of NFLDraftCountDown.com:

Tyrell Johnson – “Smart with a high football IQ…A hard worker and team leader…”

Reggie Smith – “Smart with terrific instincts and awareness…”

Josh Barrett – “Good football IQ…Hard worker…Team leader”

Quintin Demps – “A team leader with top intangibles…”

Jamar Adams – “Smart with nice awareness…Hard worker…Leader.”

Dominique Barber – “Smart with a great football IQ…Hard worker and leader with top intangibles…”

Marcus Griffin – “Very smart…Hard worker…”

D.J. Parker – “Hard worker with excellent intangibles…”

Caleb Cambell – “A hard worker…Team leader with elite intangibles…”

Chris Horton – “Smart with nice instincts and awareness…Hard worker with top intangibles.”

Pig Brown – “A team leader and captain…Hard worker…”

Husain Abdullah – “Team leader and hard worker with solid intangibles…”

Kareem Moore – “Smart with nice instincts and awareness… Hard worker and leader with good intangibles.”

Tony Joiner – “A team leader and captain… Smart with nice awareness and instincts…”

Eric Wicks – “Great instincts and football IQ…”

I rest my case.

Its not about me, its about you. Now vote for me.

“This campaign is not about me.” – Barack Hussein Obama

Values

Navy SEAL Michael A. Monsoor was killed in Ramadi on Sept. 29, 2006 when he threw himself on a grenade to save comrades standing nearby unaware of the circumstances. Michael was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor last week. Michael’s selfless courage symbolizes more than individual courage; it is also a metaphor for the War on Terror.

A favored tactic of the terrorist is to wrap themselves in explosives, walk innocently into a crowded market place and ignite an explosion. The terrorist isn’t concerned with the identity of the victims. Men, women and children are all the same because the goal is simply to kill as many as possible. The innocent victims have no inkling of their intended fate as they go about the ordinary tasks of life.

This savagery stands in direct contrast to Michael’s mercy. Michael knew exactly what he was doing when he threw himself on the grenade. That distinction lies at the heart of this war. Death is the primary objective of the terrorist. Life was the primary objective of Michael.

The 9/11 attack was a declaration of war on the standard-bearer of liberty in the modern world – America. The strategy is to establish a Muslim theocracy. The animating tactic is to induce terror with unprovoked and merciless killing.

This war unlike any other America has fought. The Jihadists are stateless religious fanatics capable of hiding in nations that do not have the will or the ability to stand up to their coercion. They have resource to great wealth siphoned off some of the poorest populations in the Middle East in payment for the oil resources developed by westerners and used to drive a prosperity that is unknown in human history. This combination of pre-feudal fanaticism, wealth and the fecklessness of many free nations constitute a threat not just to innocent life but for gains of human progress over the past 500 years.

This war is not fundamentally about the concerns of commerce or state. Instead it is a personal attack on our most precious gift – liberty. The greatest memorial we can offer to Michael is to defend what he fought to protect. And to understand that it is not the might of our arms but the indomitability of our values that will prevail.

To Kill A Baby

Recently, I was involved in a lengthy discussion on the Rocky Mountain News Letters to the Editor forum. The topic of this particular discussion was abortion.

Needless to say, the discussion was filled with the usual circumlocutory banalities and highly nuanced obfuscations.

But, something unusual happened in this particular discussion; a few liberals uncharacteristically gave direct and honest answers to a few simple questions. Not only did they directly answer some questions, they actual admitted to some shockingly brutal notions.

It always amazes me to see the types of things considered shocking these days. Calling someone a nigger is perhaps the most shocking and outrageous thing a person can say these days. And, perhaps a close second is to suggest that Islam is a violent religion. These are the things that make liberals mad.

As I discovered today, what doesn’t ignite the ire of most liberals is the open support of infanticide.

In a conversation with a poster called fairness, we had the typical volley of exchanges that involved the usual liberal retorts such as “how many children have you adopted?” and typical lamentations about the perceived lack of support for sexual education in public schools.

But, when asked several times the following question: “Do you think abortion is the destruction of human life?” fairness finally answered: “I think it is the destruction of something that has the potential of being a human life. I do not believe that from conception that it is a human life.”

Interesting, I thought. Now we are getting somewhere. I asked him the most obvious follow up question: “How do you determine when it crosses the line from “something” to human life?”

Before I tell you his answer I would like to say a few words about logic. The human mind is not a logical machine. While the mind has an enormous capacity for logical thinking, it is also a bundle of non logical fears, worries, anger, joy, pride, etc. The human mind is not a special purpose entity like the wings of a bird or the fins of a fish or the jaws of a lion. Rather, the mind is a combination of specialties. It is the equivalent of some imaginary creature that can sometimes swim, sometimes fly, and sometimes crush, but often spreads it wings when it needs it fins, or counts on its fins when it really needs to fly, or use its powerful jaws when no action is required.

Consider that feeble analogy when reading the response by fairness. Clearly, logic was not the dominant part of his mind when he wrote:

“When the “something” has developed enough that it can survive on its own (obviously under the care of others), as in a premature baby. You have to agree that up to a point, even if a “baby” is born, at some point it is not developed enough to live. Up to that point, I believe abortion should be allowed.”

He was actually arguing that life is defined by a person’s ability to survive on his own. When questioned about the elderly, a baby’s need for breast milk, or victims of accidents that require medical equipment to survive, he politely removed himself from the conversation.

Now, enter poster Fresh to pick up the slack. He offers this comment:

“up until it leaves the body it is totally and completely dependent on to live.

up until that point it is completely up to the mother to continue or terminate the pregnancy. COMPLETELY UP TO!”

To which I asked, “So, two days before a baby is set for delivery, the mother should be allowed to kill it because it is not born yet?”

Fresh’s brutally honest answer:

“yes if it is her wish to do so , then yes it is her choice to that point.”

Keep in mind that this poster is not just advocating the right to an abortion; he is advocating the right to the most brutal and rare form of abortion. He shamelessly acknowledged his support for the arbitrary killing of a baby just two days before it is set for delivery for no other reason than because the mother chooses to do so. The man just publicly supported infanticide.

One would think that in a country where political correctness dominates most public forums, and given the outrage that follows the spewing of words such as nigger, bitch, and Islamo-terrorist , one would think that the public support of infanticide would cause a universal rebuke from liberals and conservatives alike. One could think that. But, one would be wrong to expect that in this particular Colorado forum.

In fact, another poster, O_TRAIN, had voiced his support:

“Having just read all these comments in the past half-hour, all I can say is – fresh, et al.. you deserve kudos for engaging in this dead-end argument…To put in “religious” terms – the mother is the “GOD” and thus has the RIGHT to make “GODLIKE” decisions. I don’t care if it’s two seconds before the birth. The mother has the right to choose.”

And yet another poster, me2, apparently in support of the previous posters, wrote:

“What amounts to more: the life of an unborn child or the rights of millions of women now and in the future? “

Just one liberal, just one, voiced her shock at such a statement. It was a rather remarkable situation. Here in a discussion group that consisted of about 10 different liberals, just one was concerned about the open support for the option to commit infanticide. If I had written the word “nigger”, I would have most likely received the harsh rebuke from 100% of the liberals in the forum. Yet, the open support for the option to commit infanticide a mere two seconds before birth generated mostly absurd defenses of abortion in general and just one liberal rebuke.

One could also argue that this was just a random occurrence and that this is not a typical liberal response to such an outrageous declaration. Yes, one could think that. I wonder if I could generate similar responses by attempting similar discussions in other forums. Perhaps, I could ask the leading Democrat presidential contender, Barack Obama, what he thinks about the issue:

“…if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information.” – Barack Obama

Traitor endorses socialist demagogue for presidency

From Wikipedia:

“During this visit she also visited American prisoners of war (POWs), and brought back messages from them to their families. When cases of torture began to emerge among POWs returning to the United States, Fonda called the returning POWs “hypocrites and liars.”^[14] She added, “These were not men who had been tortured. These were not men who had been starved. These were not men who had been brainwashed.”"

And now, Barack Obama, a hard-core socialist, has her support. Some things go together so perfectly.

The Pope Mobile Has Landed

From the Catholic News Network:

“The white, 2002 Mercedes-Benz popemobile has left the Vatican and will be delivered by an air cargo company in the first days of April, said Alberto Gasbarri, the chief organizer of papal trips.

The Vatican has three popemobiles currently in use:
- A four-month-old, open-topped Mercedes based on the company’s G500-series sport utility vehicle, used almost exclusively in St. Peter’s Square. The vehicle has an attachable, curved windshield that can protect the pope from rain and wind. Mercedes describes the color as “Vaticanmystic white.”
- Two closed, white popemobiles, which are modified versions of the Mercedes-Benz ML430 off-road vehicle. The “glass” top is a cube made of advanced, bulletproof plastic. Both vehicles feature a high seat so the pope can still be visible.

One of the ML430 models is being used for the U.S. trip, Gasbarri said.”

Machine Gun Shootin’ Time

Rocky Mountain Fifty Caliber Shooting Assoc.

I went last year and had a blast. I’ll be there this weekend (April 4, 5, 6) as well. Will post more about it later.

Too Poor to Vote Republican

Say, brother, can I borrow a thin brother You know, a dime?
Say, say, say, Sirs
I sure would like to have this old dime for me
So I can get this cup of coffee, cop me a snack or something
I guess I’d better stop trying to be hip and get on down – James Brown (Down and Out in New York City)

 

During a recent commute into work one morning, I noticed a bumper sticker on a nice little Japanese sports car that read, “Too Poor to Vote Republican”. The driver, a young girl, was chatting on her cell phone as she weaved through traffic, presumably on her way to work or school.

I pondered the epigram for a few moments in order to determine its meaning. Was this girl under the impression that Republicans were charging some kind of poll tax on its voters? Does she think there is a membership fee to be a Republican?

Of course, I soon figured out the meaning of the slogan: She was poor therefore the Republicans could do nothing for her.

It is an interesting theory although the bumper sticker would have been more effective on a homeless man’s cardboard sign rather than the shiny bumper of a new Mitsubishi Eclipse.

Proclaiming one’s poverty may be the popular thing to do these days. But, poverty seems to be a quickly moving target in America. Not only did this young girl manage to acquire a $19,149 sports car, a car that Mitsubishi claims is “the physical embodiment of a lifestyle that demands form and function, beauty and technology”, but she also paid an extra $4.48 for an adornment that proclaimed her poorness.

I suppose she could be poor after buying the sports car. And perhaps her mobile phone calling plan just does not provide enough free minutes each month. But, if she were truly poor, would she really spend precious dollars on a useless bumper sticker? After all, $4.48 buys about four or five cheeseburgers from McDonalds; or a gallon and a half of gasoline (which equals about 42 highway miles for an Eclipse); or a few loaves of bread; or four big jugs of filtered water; or two bottles of delicious mineral water imported from the Fiji Islands; it will even buy a bottle of aspirin to ease your poverty-induced pain.

Telling people how poor you are is not cheap. An ad on EBay calls the stickers “super cool” and “clever and savvy” and charges $2.99 per sticker plus $1.49 for shipping and handling. Amazon.com sells Too Poor to Vote Republican coffee mugs for $9.99 each. It even states that the coffee mugs are “dishwasher-safe and microwave-safe” just in case you are poor enough to own those appliances. Amazon also sells a Too Poor to Vote Republican T-shirt for around $22. And, in case you were worried, Amazon states that the shirts are “preshrunk” so there is no need to worry about the shirts shrinking in your dryer (if you are poor enough to own a dryer).

Not sure if you are poor? Head over to TooPoorToVoteRepublican.com; that is, if you are poor enough to own a computer and able to pay for an Internet subscription. This website will convince you of your poorness with colorful charts, spurious data, and comparisons to the Golden Age of the Clinton years. After you are convinced of how poor you are, click on the Buy a Bumper Sticker link to purchase your very own sticker. The website states that its stickers are “perfect for expressing yourself while cruising down the highway…” But, beware; the checkout page will warn you that this sticker only applies to you if you are not in the top two percent of wage earners. No sticker for you George Soros.

In these days of such widespread poverty and hunger in America, it is comforting to know that there are super cool, clever and savvy products out there that allow the poor to express themselves at a reasonable price. And we should all be thankful that most of us are poor enough to buy the cars, dishwashers, microwaves, dryers, computers and Internet subscriptions that allow us to express our poorness so effectively. God bless America!

The Choice by Rudyard Kipling

The American Spirit speaks:

To the Judge of Right and Wrong
With Whom fulfilment lies
Our purpose and our power belong,
Our faith and sacrifice.

Let Freedom’s land rejoice!
Our ancient bonds are riven;
Once more to use the eternal choice
Of Good or Ill is given.

Not at a little cost,
Hardly by prayer or tears,
Shall we recover the road we lost
In the drugged and doubting years.

But, after the fires and the wrath,
But, after searching and pain,
His Mercy opens us a path
To live with ourselves again.

In the Gates of Death rejoice!
We see and hold the good—
Bear witness, Earth, we have made our choice
For Freedom’s brotherhood!

Then praise the Lord Most High
Whose Strength hath saved us whole,
Who bade us choose that the Flesh should die
And not the living Soul!

To the God in Man displayed—
Where’er we see that Birth,
Be love and understanding paid
As never yet on earth!

To the Spirit that moves in Man,
On Whom all worlds depend,
Be Glory since our world began
And service to the end!