My View

Random ruminations from your resident curmudgeon...

The killing of Trayvon Martin has ignited racist passions in this country that have thrust themselves into the national consciousness with ugly consequences. Those that make their living exploiting the race issue have had a field day with this tragic event, and violence in the name of retribution for Trayvon has occurred in several locales. I will leave the determination of the guilt or innocence of George Zimmerman to the courts and the process of law. There are two key points that this situation has illuminated, and if we are going to make progress on the issue of racial divide, we must have an honest dialogue about them. First, there has been racial inequality in the history of this country, and that fact is undeniable. I would like to think that much progress has been made toward healing these past transgressions and that we as a country are moving toward racial equality. Maybe I am wrong, and my opinion can be contested and debated. Know this. We as a nation are not perfect nor are we are colorblind. But we are better than we were. Here is the truth: there are people and groups that are more than ready to exploit the issue of race. And they have no intention of an honest dialogue and movement toward racial equality. Calling for bounties on the heads of those that do not look like us do nothing but incite anger and a negative response. The incitement of racial action against others is incendiary and divisive. Yet the Black Panthers, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and others of their ilk are allowed to speak inflammatory words without consequence. Here is the other truth: the distortion of the facts surrounding this situation by NBC, ABC, and other news outlets is heinous. Doctoring transcripts of the police tapes, hiding pictures that show a bloodied Zimmerman, and not reporting the full story are lies. And these "news" outlets are complicit in fanning the flames of racial anger. Race relations in this country will never be perfect, but the actions of these actors does not move us closer to equality, but abets the divide.

My wife asked me how I could make so many dumb mistakes in a day. I told her I get up early.

Do you know James Lovelock? He is considered the "father" of the climate change and global warming movement. The 92 year old scientist claimed in 2006 that before the century was over, billions of humans would be dead and the only inhabitable area of the planet would be Antarctica because of the effects of global warming. Needless to say, he was very influential in the global warming movement and on their biggest shill, Al Gore. Well, guess what? Lovelock told MSNBC in an interview that he overstated the case for climate change and  today admits "we don't know what the climate is." Lovelock said that "the climate is doing its usual tricks," and conceded "The world has not warmed up very much since the millennium." Imagine that. The global warming alarmists have one goal in mind, and that is to extract your wealth under false pretenses to enrich themselves. Kudos to Lovelock for admitting that he was wrong. Now if we can just get the other global warming hucksters to be so honest.

Being Southern means never having to say, "I didn't know you could fry that."

One of the many travesties of the Obama administration is the massive waste of your tax dollars on "green energy" companies. The poster child for this government waste is Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer that received a $535 million loan from the Department of Energy that is now in bankruptcy. The DOE approved the loan, but the approval process required a review by the Treasury Department to vet the merits of the loan. The Treasury Department was given one day to review the loan according to an audit of the Treasury Department by the Department's Inspector General. According to the Inspector Generals report, "The Treasury's consultative role was not sufficiently defined, the consultation that did occur was rushed, and no documentation was retained as to how Treasury's serious concerns with the loan were addressed." Solyndra received the loan in 2009 and filed for bankruptcy in September, 2011, just days before the FBI raided its headquarters with a warrant to search for evidence of fraud. Ya think? This is just the tip of the iceberg for this type of waste and fraud that has been promoted by the Obama administration in an effort to force the American public into green energy. And it is your dollars that are being squandered.

I have a date with destiny. I hope she likes hot dogs and mini-golf.

And that, my friends, is my view.