MIXING SEX AND POLITICS

At first blush it would seem that politics and sex wouldn't mix, but we Americans are so obsessed with both subjects that we find it next to impossible to keep them separated. I think a good argument can be made that our country suffers greatly because of that failure. While we as a nation focus on who slept with whom, unsolved economic and political problems fester and grow worse by the day.

Take Herman Cain, for example, a G.O.P. presidential candidate. Multiple women have alleged that he groped and sexually harassed them during his tenure as president of the National Restaurant Association. Recently, an Atlanta woman confessed to carrying on a 13-year affair with Cain. The result of those revelations is that millions of Americans are now riveted to the titillating details of Cain's sexual dalliances instead of discussing the merit, or lack thereof, to his political and economic proposals. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, we're no closer to any solutions for our national problems.

Back when Bill Clinton was president and I was arguing against the appropriateness of Impeachment over his sexual indiscretions, my conservative friends denounced that position with the argument that sexual morality was a necessary character trait for America's highest office holder. I still think that's a load of crap. Historians credit George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy with carrying on extra-marital affairs and all those Presidents are viewed as having served extraordinary presidencies. The most morally pious president in my lifetime, Jimmy Carter, is roundly viewed as somewhat a bust. Americans would do well to remember that we're not electing a pope; we're electing a president!

Homosexual rights, abortion and contraceptive freedom are all about sex, but the stances that politicians take on those issues frequently holds sway over how individual Americans vote. That's why right-wing G.O.P. politicians can advocate policies that result in poverty and hunger and death for many, and yet be seen as champions of the right to life. It's also why those same politicians can stonewall necessary economic solutions, like increasing taxation of the rich, without suffering voter backlash from their constituency. In American politics, positions on sex-related issues trump all other positions…and we're paying a steep price for that foolishness.

INCLUDING EX-CONS ON CITY COUNCIL

Voters in the City of York recently elected Michael Helfrich, a candidate with a prior felony drug conviction, to city council. Some have asked whether Mr. Helfrich should be disqualified because of his past criminal behavior. This is my response:

Fourteen percent of York County's registered voters went to the polls two weeks ago, which means that eighty-six percent of those registered couldn't be bothered and chose to stay home. The overwhelming number of those stay-at-home individuals didn't have a prior felony drug conviction, but they exhibited no interest in participating in the democratic process or working to improve the quality of life in their local community. Michael Helfrich, on the other hand, did have a felony drug record. He also exhibited a drive and determination to make the City of York a better place to live. He invested a great deal of time and energy in his community by campaigning for a city council slot. I find it impossible to ignore the will of those voters who participated in the election process and were aware of Helfrich's record before entering the voting booth.

In a republic such as ours, where the right to self-governance is the linchpin to our freedom, if voters choose to place their trust in the hands of an individual with a prior felony drug record, I say "so be it." Those opposed can always get up off their butts and vote.

A BLOODY START TO THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

A guy dropped over dead at a Target and nobody batted an eyelash. A woman pepper-sprayed twenty fellow shoppers in a Wal-Mart to make sure she got first-dibs on an X-box game console. Robbers shot a guy in a mall parking lot over a few lousy dollars and two women came to blows in North Carolina over towels on sale in a department store. Such were the notable incidents of violence in America as shoppers hit the stores on Black Friday, the beginning of the shopping season dedicated to remembering the birth of the Prince of Peace.

So much for Peace on Earth!

PLATTS ACKNOWLEDGES HIS OWN FAILURE

I read Todd Platts' piece in last week's edition of The York Sunday News regarding the proposed balanced budget constitutional amendment, and quite frankly, I'm a bit surprised that Todd would publicly admit to his own failure as a congressional representative a mere twelve months before he stands for reelection. You see, the logic behind the balanced budget measure is that leaders like Platts are totally inept when it comes to reaching sound fiscal decisions about government spending and taxation, so they want a balanced budget amendment to do the work for them. Never mind that we're paying Todd and his colleagues $174,000 per year to make the tough choices; now he wants those taken off his plate too.

I'm not against the principle of a balanced budget, but there are times other than wartime when the government needs to step in to stimulate economic growth and those steps frequently require periods of deficit spending. The proposed amendment Platts is sponsoring does not address those situations and effectively hamstrings our Nation's ability to address future economic crises.

What our country needs today is not another constitutional amendment. What our country needs are leaders; men and women with integrity who are not afraid to bear witness to the inequities that exist in this nation and are steadfast in demanding sacrifices from every sector of our population, including their own constituents. If Todd Platts is unwilling or unable to be one of those leaders, it's time we take our $174,000 and look for one elsewhere.

THE HUMAN VALUE OF PALESTINIANS LIVING IN GAZA

Last month, Israel secured the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who had been held captive for five years in an unknown location within Gaza by Hamas leaders who control the Palestinians living in that narrow strip of land. To secure Shalit's release, the Israeli government had to release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners who were incarcerated in Israeli jails and allow their return to Gaza. It was a bitter pill for the Israeli government to swallow, but public opinion in Israel favored the deal to win Shalit's release from captivity and the government capitulated to that sentiment.

Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is no doubt troubled by the high price his government paid to secure Shalit's release, because he knows that many of those Palestinian prisoners who were released from Israeli jails will immediately take up arms again and renew their attacks on the Jewish state. That knowledge has prompted the Israeli government to review its internal process for deciding how, when and under what circumstances will the government bargain for the return of Israeli citizens.

Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza are ecstatic about the release of so many of their men from Israel and are celebrating the homecoming of their compatriots.

The Israeli government feels like it paid too high a price for Shalit's release. The Palestinians feel like they drove a hard bargain and came out the real winner in the exchange. Personally, I think the Palestinians got the short end of the bargain.

Ask yourself, what is the value of a Palestinian life? Hamas has set the value at 1/1000th the value of an Israeli life. Palestinians ought to be mad about the massive devaluation of their lives by their own leaders. Instead, they are celebrating. Go figure!

A UNIVERSAL LAMENT

Joe Paterno, the former football coach at Penn State University has been quoted as saying, "I wish I had done more" regarding his failure to follow-up on the reports that his former assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky, had raped a ten year-old boy in the University football team's shower room. From reports that have been released thus far, when Paterno was informed of Sandusky's actions by a graduate student who observed the incident, Paterno reported the incident to his boss, the University's Director of Athletics, but did nothing to alert the police about the rape or to locate the young victim to insure he received treatment and counseling for the horrifying trauma the young boy experienced. Only now, after the whole sordid affair has hit the fan, does Joe recognize that he should have done more. Unfortunately, now is too late and Joe will spend the rest of his days lamenting about what he might have done differently - SHOULD have done differently.

We all lament our mistakes; at least we should. We reflect on our past and wish we had done this or that differently, and hopefully feel remorse over the bad choices we've made. The bigger our mistakes the more we should lament them, but it's useful to remember that none of our lamenting can change the past. The past is now set in stone. The real value of lamenting is its potential to affect change in the person we are today, so that tomorrow we become a better person.

WEIGHING IN ON PROPOSED RED LIGHT CAMERAS

Pennsylvania is on the verge of granting cities the option to install red light cameras at dangerous intersections. The cameras would record the license plates of vehicles that run a red light and a traffic citation would be sent to the registered owner(s) of that vehicle. No points would be assessed to the vehicle owner(s) driving record because the camera would not identify the actual driver of the vehicle when the violation occurred. Residents in this state are of varied opinions regarding the wisdom of installing red light cameras at dangerous intersections. Here is mine.

I've had the displeasure of having my vehicle struck by a motorist running a red light in the City of York. Luckily, nobody was injured, but I've witnessed plenty of drivers pull similar stunts at various York intersections and recognize that it's a serious problem. If red light cameras reduce accidents and save lives, I'm all for them.

Most folks at some point in their driving careers have been late for work or an appointment and been tempted to step on the gas when the stoplight turned yellow in order to beat the red light. I know I have, and occasionally, I've also been guilty of giving into that temptation. Since the accident I mentioned, I've become more vigilant about stopping on yellow lights, but my track record in that regard hasn't been perfect. If there's a red light camera out there with my name on it, so be it!

Liberty conscious individuals might view the proposed cameras as unwelcomed government intrusion into their lives and their concern is understandable. However, let's not forget that running a red light deprives waiting drivers of their right to use the intersection, so red light cameras can help protect driver's rights too.

DELIVERING RELIGIOUS CHOW IN THE MANNER TO WHICH THEY ARE ACCUSTOMED

You remember the Crystal Cathedral, don't you? That's the ostentatious mega-church built by televangelist, Rev. Robert Shuler out in Orange County, California. The cathedral and its ministry are now in bankruptcy court because the Schulers and cathedral administrators quit paying on the tens of millions of dollars worth of debt the cathedral racked up over the years to support the Schulers' lavish lifestyle, the ministry's television empire and the Cathedral building itself. After having bilked millions of dollars from the ministries' Sunday morning viewers, you'd think that the Schulers would go searching for a proverbial rock to hide under, but you'd be wrong.

Last week, Rev. Schuler and his wife, Arvella had Crystal Cathedral personnel send e-mails to church members and ministry donors soliciting prepared meals and other food stuff for their own family table. Once more, the Schulers arranged for the expected food donations to be transported to their home in one of their family limousines. Is that chutzpah, or what?

For years I've been railing against televangelists and their ministries for being nothing more than charitable scams, but seldom have I witnessed such blatantly outrageous conduct being conducted for all the public to see. Usually, such fraud only happens behind closed doors. In any case, I wish a Crystal Cathedral member would bake a crow pie and have it chauffeured to the Schuler residence. That's one meal the Schulers deserve to eat.

OVERLOOKING A TREE IN A DEAD MIDDLE EAT FOREST

It's all the rage in the European and Israeli media – an overheard private conversation between French President Nicholas Sarkozy and our President Obama wherein Sarkozy told Obama that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was a liar and Obama lamented that at least Sarkozy didn't have to deal with Netanyahu every day like Obama did. Sarkozy and Obama may have thought their private conversation was beyond snooping ears as they attended the G20 Summit in France last week, but in these days of technological wizardry, that's not always the case. At least one microphone in the room was still turned on and picked up the exchange. Oops!

As the story of Obama and Sarkozy's exchange goes viral, especially among this country's Obama-hating Republican crowd, who will no doubt rejoice in our President's embarrassing moment, I can't help but reflect on the irony of the conversation and the situation the two leaders were discussing. You see, the two leaders were discussing the recent United Nations vote on the Palestinian request for full membership status in UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Israel and the United States voted against the Palestinian request for admission, but France voted yes, and the Palestinians were ultimately successful in their bid.

France has a long history of defending the concept of liberty for all people, and although we here in the United States like to claim we're just as zealous in defending the concept, the truth is we're not – at least not where the Palestinians are concerned. When it comes to the subject of Palestine, our Nation's chief concern is to do the bidding of Israel and its pro-Israel lobby here in the U.S., not to promote the goal of Palestinian freedom. We Americans should be ashamed of ourselves. That's the real story here, not the idle chatter of two politicians having what they thought was a private moment.

HAPPY VALLEY NOT A HAPPY PLACE

Penn State University officials appear to be taking a page from the Vatican playbook on dealing with sexual abuse scandals. They're hunkering down behind legal shields and boasting of eventual vindication with a pass-the-buck strategy, but nobody was fooled by the Vatican's play calling and my guess is that folks won't fall for Penn State's either. Whether or not University officials were required by state law to report the raping of a child on campus property is beside the point. The fact is, University officials knew that a rape of a child occurred on their campus and took no action to alert the police to bring the perpetrator to justice or to prevent other children from being victimized by that same perpetrator. Penn State officials may not have violated our penal code for their failure to report the incident, but they violated every civil code of decency that this world has ever known.

And what about the perjury charges? What is Happy Valley's excuse for two of their high-ranking officials lying to the grand jury investigating the incidents? The President of the University claims that he has the utmost confidence in those officials and denies their wrongdoing. Does that mean Penn State University now condones lying under oath? Is academic fraud or cheating now permissible on campus? It seems unfair to hold students to a higher standard than the administration officials.

Stay tuned…no doubt things will get much uglier before campus officials come to their senses.

SHOULD PENNSYLVANIA REALLOCATE ITS ELECTORAL VOTES?

I do not support the effort of Pennsylvania Republicans to rig next year's presidential election, and make no mistake; the proposal in question seeks to do just that. You don't see legislatures in states that Republicans figure to carry next year, like Texas, Florida and the southern tier states proposing to toss partial votes to President Obama. Nope, it's only in swing states where Republicans want to rig the game in their favor. You don't have to be a Democrat or an Independent to recognize what an affront to democracy this G.O.P. proposal actually represents.

If Pennsylvania Republicans were honest in their claim of seeking democracy in its purest sense, they would propose an amendment to the Federal Constitution abolishing the Electoral College in favor of a presidential election by straight national popular vote. We all know that won't happen, because that's not a game Republicans believe they can win. Otherwise, they wouldn't be trying to rig the system.

SHOULD PEOPLE WITH ALTZHEIMERS & DEMENTIAL OWN GUNS?

There are always times in our lives when we need to be protected from ourselves. A wise person recognizes those times and does something about it. People suffering from Altzheimers and dementia frequently don't.

On the other hand, there's not much more threatening to an individual than the prospect of losing control over their mind. For an Altzheimers sufferer who finds security in the ownership of a firearm, being deprived of that sense of security would be a difficult burden to accept. Their concerns for personal safety are very real and their anguish deserves validation and respect.

Our society already prohibits felons and certain persons with mental health hospitalizations from owning firearms. Those prohibitions are based on the notion that certain groups of individuals are incapable of safe and responsible firearm ownership. Adding Altzheimers and dementia sufferers to the list of people prohibited from owning a firearm makes sense from a safety standpoint, but let's not lose sight of the fact that we'd be negatively impacting the lives of some of those patients in the process.

MEXICAN DRUG SMUGGLING GOES "Old School"

According to a spokesperson for the Mexican Army, some of that country's soldiers recently confiscated two old-fashioned catapults that the soldiers claimed were being employed by members of a drug cartel to fling bundles of marijuana across the U.S. – Mexican border into the state of Arizona. This is the kind of news item that makes you want to shake your head in disbelief, but it underscores the fact that no matter what this nation does to fortify its southern border, drug smugglers will continue using creative ways to outmaneuver our defenses; even going "old school" if they have to do so.

Everyone in law enforcement who fights drug trafficking in the United States will tell you that as soon as one dealer or drug supplier is taken off the streets, another will immediately step in and take their place. The stream appears unending, and our constantly rising prison population offers all the proof anybody should need.

I find it maddening that, even in our current economic downturn, new prisons are being built in this country while funding for drug prevention and drug rehabilitation programs is being drastically reduced. That approach is doomed to failure.

Illegal drugs are subject to the same forces of supply and demand as any other commodity. If the demand for drugs continues, smugglers will find a way to meet that demand. American will only rid itself of the scourge of illegal drugs when its primary effort in the war on drugs focuses on preventing drug use. I know that sounds "old school", but even smugglers know that sometimes "old school" works.

GREEK PROTESTS

Many leaders of countries in the European Union (EU) are understandably miffed at Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's on-again, off-again plan to put the EU's financial bailout bill to a public referendum vote in Greece instead of ramming the austerity measure through the Greek Parliament, but the EU ministers are not walking in Papandreou's shoes.

Papandreou is a shrewd politician who recognizes that the measure has absolutely no chance of being approved in a public referendum vote, and to try to force the draconian austerity measure upon the Greek citizenry by a parliamentary vote would be sheer political suicide for him. Papandreou might ultimately cave into his opposition in the Greek government to keep his government from falling, but he'll be putting his own career above the interests of the Greek people if does and the Greek voters will take out their anger on him during the next Greek election.

The people of Greece have been protesting the proposed austerity measures for months now, and some of their protests have even turned violent. I'm not condoning the violence, but it's not hard to understand why everyday Greeks are raving mad about what EU ministers and officials in their own government are asking them to do, which is basically to give up jobs, forfeit all benefits and starve.

Once more, the current Greek financial crisis was not of their making. It was caused by a corrupt Greek government that allowed the country's wealthy and affluent members to escape paying taxes necessary to fund the government and its public servants and pensioners. Now that Greece is awash in government debt and cannot meet its financial obligations, EU ministers and their Greek counterparts are demanding that Greece's retirees, working class and poor shoulder the overwhelming majority of the burden of dealing with the financial crisis instead of the people who caused the crisis. That's just not fair!

European Union ministers have been smug in pretending they played no role in Greece's current predicament, but they too bear a measure of responsibility for the Greek crisis. EU member banks have provided the wealthy and merchant class of Greece with safe haven for their assets with full knowledge that said funds were being held outside Greece to protect those funds from taxation. EU ministers have long recognized that Greek government spending could not be sustained given the massive amount of tax evasion that was permitted by the Greek government, but did nothing to stop those practices because their own member banks were profiting from Greek funds deposited in their banks.

One could hardly blame the Greek people for not giving support to the EU's call for austerity measures. Let Greece's wealthy and EU member banks do the suffering. They caused the problem. They should fix it.

HERMAN CAIN'S "XXX" PAST RISES AGAIN

Sex sells just about anything these days, so it's not surprising that G.O.P. presidential hopeful Herman Cain is making even greater inroads with his party's faithful after reports surfaced that he'd been previously accused of sexually harassing two women and the organization he headed (the National Restaurant Association) paid the women to keep their mouths shut about the matter. Nothing inflames the rabid right like a juicy sexual harassment expose.

It's kind of ironic that Republican die-hards would flock to Cain, as they did to Clarence Thomas decades ago under similar circumstances, yet crucify Bill Clinton for his inappropriate sexual dalliance with Monica Lewinsky, but the G.O.P. faithful have never been known for giving equal treatment when it comes to sex.

The fact is Cain's sexual harassing past is of no moment to me. I've listened to him speak. I've read his political platform and I've digested as much of his political rhetoric as my stomach can handle. In my book, he's not presidential material. He's not even worthy of being in the presidential ballpark, but the fact that Republicans think he is shows just how intellectually weak and dishonest the Republican Party is these days.

RMS TITANIC - THEN AND NOW

When the RMS Titanic departed Southampton, England on April 10, 1912, two thousand two hundred and twenty-three (2,223) people set sail on a vessel carrying lifeboats designed to hold one thousand one hundred and seventy-eight (1,178) individuals. When the Titanic sunk, those lifeboats carried only 705 people to safety. Everyone knows that Titanic's massive casualty list resulted from the absence of sufficient lifeboats, but frequently ignored is the fact that 473 passengers who perished could have been save, but were not, because many of the lifeboats were lowered into the sea with less than a full load of passengers. One boat, meant to hold forty people, departed Titanic holding only twelve. Once in the water, many occupants of those lifeboats refused to pick up passengers who dove into the icy waters of the North Atlantic to escape the sinking ship. The overwhelming majority of those swimmers eventually succumbed to hypothermia and drowned.

The tragic sinking of the Titanic is not unlike today's tragic sinking of our Nation's economy, or the world's for that matter, but history is sadly repeating itself as those fortunate to occupy economic lifeboats callously refuse to offer assistance to those swimming for their very lives.

A case in point was the recent killing of the President's job creation bill by Republicans in Congress. Those Republicans were sitting comfortably in jobs that pay $174,000 per year, with free health care, a generous pension package and as many free lobbyist-funded lunches as their bellies can hold. Is it any wonder that none of them would jeopardize their own safe seat by reaching out to those drowning in the sea around them? I guess not. Little has changed since the Titanic went down.

I'm sure that some will read this piece and cast my opinion aside as just another call for class warfare, but warfare presumes a level of power on the part each combatant that was not present with the swimmers in the waters around the Titanic, and is not present with millions of drowning unemployed Americans today. Titanic swimmers lasted no longer than 15 minutes in the icy North Atlantic. Help didn’t arrive until four hours after Titanic sank. Today's jobless have UC benefits, but those benefits will expire long before good jobs ever replace them. Lifeboats like the President's job creation bill are their only hope.

I admire the President's attempt at job creation. He knows that in trying to pull more people into the lifeboat, his own political ship of state will likely be swamped and sink, but at least he'll know that he went down as a man who sacrificed in an effort to save the drowning, and not as a person who survived by callously rowing away.

PENNSYLVANIA G.O.P. GOVERNOR PROPOSES HOG WILD SPENDING ON SCHOOL VOUCHERS

For the second time in as many weeks Pennsylvania's G.O.P. Governor, Tom Corbett proposes a new tax using a label meant to disguise that tax as something other than a tax. Last week, it was the Marcellus shale gas drilling impact fee. This week, it's the education reform voucher payment. Either way, we taxpayers lose. The voucher payment program is touted as a way to allow parents of children in failing schools to seek a better education for their children, but funds used to pay for those vouchers will be deducted from the state's share of education payments made to school districts. To make up for that loss of revenue, school districts will be forced to raise their local school tax rate. In today's lagging economy, the people in this Commonwealth do not need another tax, whatever its fancy label.

Public education benefits everyone and all should shoulder responsibility for maintaining that system. Parents who are dissatisfied with the quality of their child's education should either work within their district to improve that quality or move to a different district. Increasing taxes so that parents can have the luxury of choosing what school their child will attend is not something taxpayers can afford. You'd think a Republican Governor would understand that. Apparently not!