A Citizen's Voice: Lenny Palmer

THE ASSASSIN’S BULLET

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:03:20 GMT

THE ASSASSIN’S BULLET
Lenny Palmer
1/27/08

In this contentious Presidential primary season, the Democrats’ Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been recklessly tossing about charges and counter-charges like Molotov cocktails as their once-friendly rivalry has sunk into all-out warfare.

Obama correctly characterized President Ronald Reagan as a man of powerful vision who profoundly changed the direction of America. It was neither endorsement nor detraction, yet the Clinton camp, led first by surrogate pit-bull husband Bill and then the candidate herself, rushed to portray Mr. Obama as an admirer of Ronald Reagan, and therefore heinous traitor to all that Democrats hold ideal. Their reaction was silly nonsense, and most rational individuals read it as such.

Mrs. Clinton, attempting to drive a spike in the charismatic Obama and inject race into the contest, stated that Marin Luther King, Jr. would never gotten civil rights legislation passed had he not had Lyndon Johnston to push it through Congress. She was spot on with her assessment, and the Obama campaign reacted in outrage, claiming that Mrs. Clinton had disparaged the memory of Dr. King, playing right into the Clinton campaign’s strategy of portraying Barack Obama not as a visionary, but just another in a long line of shuck-and-jive black charlatans with pretensions toward the Presidential throne.

Mrs. Clinton was correct in her historical perspective about Dr. King and LBJ, but one name looms even larger in the fight for civil rights: Lee Harvey Oswald. Had not that misbegotten miscreant pumped a shot into JFK’s skull on that sunny day in Dallas, LBJ would not have become President, and gotten the sympathy vote in Congress to push through what was then assumed to be the Kennedy “legacy.” Don’t get me wrong, the legislation would have passed sooner or later, but perhaps not in its final form, and may not have been as sweeping as it became; nor would have Medicare, the Great Society, or the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, had not it been for the bloody, unexpected impact of the assassin’s bullet.

Such are the unpredictable crossroads of history, the “want of a nail,” so to speak. And allow me to make a bold prediction here, one I have been voicing for the past few months on my two radio shows: Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for President because America has frankly grown weary of the Clintons. The philandering husband/shrill wife do-anything-and-say-anything-for-a-vote routine has grown thin, and I believe most Americans are looking not only for change, which is what Mr. Obama represents, but a change from Bill and Hillary.

There is an assassin’s bullet here, one that will cut down Mrs. Clinton’s maniacal aspirations to become the country’s first female President, and that bullet is Bill Clinton’s big mouth. The man can’t shut up, and has no shame when he fires up his slanderous tongue and lets loose with rapid-fire insults that are slowly turning people off. Many of the “in the know” political pundits opine that Mr. Clinton is a big help to his wife in his attack dog mode; I hold for the latter: as we see more and hear more of his traveling bible salesman’s pitch we remember Paula, and Monica, and Gennifer and the endless starburst shells of bimbo eruptions that occupied the bulk of his presidency and we begin to wish he would just go away, and take his wife with him. Maybe they could link up with Mr. Gore and save the planet from we mere mortals, if that pompous ass would have them. The fact is that the public mood is shifting and people are beginning to murmur, go away, Mr. and Mrs. Clinton; to anywhere but here.

As one who understands and deeply respects the weird vicissitudes of history, and the unexpected impact of the assassin’s bullet, I feel so sure about my assessment of the public mood that I may just phone in to Vegas with a wager. I’ll use my tax-rebate check, if it makes it to my bank account in time.

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-5pm

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

LENNY FOR PRESIDENT!!!

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:10:55 GMT

LENNY FOR PRESIDENT!!!
Lenny Palmer
1/13/08

After listening to all the ballyhoo and pseudo-solutions to the great problems facing our country, I’ve decided to toss my hat the ring and give you the most common-sense solutions to three of our mounting national crises:

The Energy Crisis
For this, I dig back into recent American history for a quick fix on conserving gasoline-the 55mph speed limit. You of course remember that when the first oil crisis hit this country, Congress responded with a national speed limit of 55 miles per hour, set in 1974 under then-President Richard Nixon. Controversy continues over the effects of the limit, both in energy conservation and reduction in traffic fatalities, and people during that era groaned mightily over national restrictions on their right to burn gasoline and kill themselves on the highways, but for the most part, we lived with it. Remember the “Don’t Be Fuelish,” and “55 Saves Lives” national ad campaigns? I will probably receive a lot of contrarian postings on this issue, but let me ask you a simple question: does your mileage increase or decrease when you put the pedal to the metal? And please don’t dredge up all the old arguments against the 55mph speed limit, like the cost in your time as opposed to the cost of gas; that may have worked well in the 1970s and 1980s, when oil was at $10-$15 a barrel, and gas was maybe 75 cents a gallon, but at the current rate of $90-$100 a barrel, and $3.00 plus a gallon and skyrocketing . . . well, you think about that one.

Ps: I’d also encourage punching holes everywhere oil is located in the United States, and the hell with the caribou, snail darters, spotted owls and polar bears! We need to utilize as much of our oil as possible, and less of that of other nations.

Illegal Immigration
This is the one issue that has continued to consume my talk show on 1220WKRS, in Lake County, Illinois. Waukegan, the county seat, has a particularly acute problem, and native-born Americans have been fuming for years over their inability to do anything about people who have sneaked into the country and our now enjoying the benefits of living in this great land. I sympathize with these good people, and have voiced their frustrations with the system, but I have now come to the conclusion that Congress and the President (including the next President) are paralyzed over this issue, and will continue to be spineless when it comes to dealing with illegal immigrants. The only real solution is one LAST Reagan-style amnesty: six months will be afforded to those who are here illegally to register as American citizens, and if they miss they deadline, they’re gone. We enforce Ellis Island-style regulations on them: no deadly diseases, no felons, and they must prove they have a job or are willing to get one. No “fine” either; if they are stand-up people, they’ll sign on the dotted line, receive a Social Security number and become citizens of this great nation. Those who don’t line up to be counted will be exported to their land of origin. I know that many will not, because they can’t meet the guidelines, and will take years to weed them all out, but through attrition we eventually will. The first step towards implementing this solution is immediate closing of our borders so not even a mouse can squeak through without being counted, and employers who continue to hire those who are under the radar will not only have their businesses shut down, but will be fined and jailed along with their illegal workers. By the way, for those of you who think all illegal aliens should be lined up and kicked out of America, Google in “The Trail of Tears” on your computer, and then imagine that horrendous scenario multiplied by a million-fold. Not on my watch, pal.

Trade Imbalance and Looming Recession/Depression
What do you do about this one? When the Depression hit, Herbert Hoover’s solution was to sit back and allow the economy and market forces take their course and make the proper corrections. Sounded good on paper, and it still does, but in reality it was a miserable failure, opening the door for Roosevelt and his New Deal policies. Historians continue to argue the efficacies of the New Deal, and whether it had any impact on the Depression, and most agree that it was the steamrolling “Arsenal of Democracy,” and ensuing industrialization of America’s war effort that lifted us out of economic malaise. I agree with that latter interpretation of the facts, but also realize that the do-nothing attitude of Hoover is also not the way to go. So what should be done? In the carrot-and-stick world of politics, I’ve noticed that every time the subject of offshore companies or foreign trade comes up, the dominant argument is punishment for companies who locate offshore, or implementation of heavy tariffs on foreign goods; in other words, the stick approach. How about reversing the process and rewarding American companies for investing in America and American workers, maybe with substantial Federal tax breaks for new hires or new construction, and a serious reduction in Federal red tape; in other words, the carrot instead of the stick? If you want to see how this works right now, check out Delaware. Oh, and for those of you who want those high tariffs, Google in the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930. It increased tariffs on foreign goods entering the U. S., in an effort to protect U. S. industry and jobs, but what it actually accomplished was immediate retaliation from other countries, the first being our good friends the Canadians, who enacted retaliatory tariffs a month before Smoot-Hawley took effect. The trade war was on, the world-wide Depression worsened, and the planet careened toward global war. Hindsight may be 20-20, but somebody at that time should have seen this coming.

So here you have common-sense solutions to three of the most pressing issues facing the United States, but don’t look for these to come up on the radar of the major Presidential candidates; they require hard work and sacrifice on the part of most Americans, so it ain’t gonna happen.

But it’s nice to dream every once in a while, isn’t it?

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

THE JUDGE STEPS OUT

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 19:37:19 GMT

THE JUDGE STEPS OUT
Lenny Palmer
12/24/07

I love the old black-and-white flicks, and movie stars of great depth and ability, like Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, and Kathryn Hepburn, to name just a few of those grand old thespians. I also enjoy the story lines and the complexity of the writing involved in many of the old scripts. Without the benefits of computer animation and advanced motion picture technology, the people who made the movies in those days had to rely on such outdated concepts like human emotion, the complexities of love, life and death, and real relationships between people. Moral imperatives were also clearly understood, a basic secular code that transcended selfish desires and religious dogma; and this in an age of Depression, World War and spiritual uncertainty. Armed with this basic understanding of the era, and how it relates to ours, I watched a great movie early this morning, “The Judge Steps Out,” released in 1949 and starring the distinguished Alexander Knox and Ann Sothern.

Many remember Ms. Sothern, a beautiful, quick-witted blonde as the headliner of the movies’ “Maisie” series, or as the star of early television’s “Ann Sothern Show.” Alexander Knox may be more difficult to recall, but he, too, had a long and distinguished career, usually playing conservative authority figures of great moral standing.

In “The Judge Steps Out,” Knox plays Judge Thomas Bailey, a respected Boston jurist who faces a moral crisis in his personal and professional life. Through circumstance and an unwitting desire to escape what he sees as his stifling and unsatisfied life, he drifts across America to California (remember that this is the California of 1949, not the rats’ nest of fruits and nuts it is today), and sets up shop as a short-order cook in a roadside diner run by Peggy, a single woman attempting adopt Nan, an 8 year old orphan. The Judge had faced a similar situation in Boston, in which he had erroneously taken a child from his mother because Mom had “worn too much make-up.” A small-town judge makes a like decision, keeping Nan as a ward of the state because Peggy “runs a hash-house and doesn’t have a husband to support her.”

Incredibly (but believably) the middle-aged and proper Bostonian Judge Bailey and the much younger and worldly Peggy fall in love. The Judge makes plans to return to Boston (he’s been gone for a year), divorce his wife and return to a new life with Peggy and Nan. It’s a May-December romance that has no chance for survival in the more realistic world of 1949. The Judge returns home to an incredulous public and media frenzy, and begins to file divorce proceedings against his wife, a prim and proper woman who now realizes her own failings in their crumbling marriage. The Judge returns to the state Supreme Court, argues against his own ruling in the case of the mother desiring custody of her own child and persuades the court to reunite mother and child. After a harsh dressing down by his personal assistant (played by the wonderful Ian Wolfe) and putting away childish dreams and facing up to his responsibilities, Bailey realizes that his life in Boston is his real life, and Peggy, Nan and the roadside diner are a mere pipe dream.

After a meeting with Sothern in the Boston train depot, the Judge and Peggy hug in a too-neat ending that tidies up all the loose ends, the last shot is of the Judge trudging up the snowy steps to his Boston brownstone to face up to his responsibilities and honor his marriage vows.

If the movie were made today it would have course ended much differently: the Judge would have had it out with his wife, who would have been written as an unrepentant shrew (which would have made a decision much easier, of course), and dumped her like so much garbage. He and Peggy would have met in the Boston depot, kissed and slobbered all over each other and perhaps have retreated to a hotel for a quick one-night stand in which we would have treated to a soft-core porn version of what passes as love making in today’s world, and the two of them would have returned to California to connubial bliss in an Eden of their own creation.

That’s the difference a few years can make in the attitudes of a nation: today we would accept the Judge’s decision to forgo his duties in Boston and pursue personal fulfillment; in 1949 it was the exact opposite: duty and honor trumped the ephemera of romance.

But let me ask you: if you had been the Judge, what choice would YOU have made?

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

Did you know?
The "A Citizen's Voice" website has FREE online chat and forums, podcasts and more!

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

VETERANS’ DAY, 2007

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:54:53 GMT

VETERANS’ DAY, 2007
Lenny Palmer
11/11/07

This Veteran’s Day dawned gray and dismal. I awoke early in the A. M., as is the habit of men of my advancing years, brewed a pot of coffee, read a bit from a biography of Dwight Eisenhower, and then settled back to an All-American breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast, which I prepared in near silence as my beautiful Mexican-American wife slept nearby in the comfort of our bed. Ours is a small apartment and I, as the early riser, do my best to keep the noise level down so as not to disturb her sleep.

Something disturbs me, however, and I can’t shake the thought from my mind: that we have somehow forgotten the tremendous sacrifices made by millions of Americans who have donned the country’s uniform and put their lives on the line. This sentiment came to me late in life, at my father’s funeral. When they laid my father to rest, my sisters had contracted for a full military funeral, as Dad had served with the Eighth Infantry Division in some of the most savage combat in the European Theater in World War Two, including the largely forgotten Battle of the Hurtgen Forest, in which there were 33,000 Americans casualties. Men shot themselves in the hands and feet to avoid the frozen death of the Hurtgen, and many broke and ran under tremendous artillery barrages. Yet we don’t remember because the Battle of the Bulge, which raged at the same time American forces were being chewed to pieces in the Hurtgen, received all the attention. The Bulge was a glorious victory, Hurtgen was a massive SNAFU, which is why we remember the former, and forget the latter.

Like a lot of young men of my generation, I had conflicts with my father; he had grown increasingly conservative as he aged, I was the young firebrand who believed America was an unjust country and not deserving of the idealistic principles on which it was founded. It made for rough home life for my mother, who had five other children to look after, and shouldn’t have been put through the high-decibel verbal conflicts between her oldest son and her husband.

I left their home for good before my twentieth birthday, and never returned, and I believe the two of them were glad I was gone, as the home returned to some sense of calm and normalcy after my departure. Of prime military age during the Viet Nam conflict, I managed to miss military service, but I did participate in more than one march against the war, many of which were popping up all over the country in the late nineteen-sixties. Looking back now I realize I really didn’t know what the hell I was doing, or why; I only believed I was right, and the hell with those who disagreed with me.

I carried those beliefs for many years, protecting my heart against what I considered to be infantile patriotic sentiments. It was the “my way or the highway” approach that so many of my generation have clung to, even as they realize the damage they have done to themselves, their families, and their country. It has brought us the insane laws that translate a hug or peck on the cheek as sexual harassment, a comment on inner-city violence and fatherless families as racism, the words “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance as religious tyranny. Baby Boomers, who have diligently worked to protect everyone against everything, should have been working to protect our parents, our children and grandchildren, against us.

Yet it took me nearly 60 years to realize this simple fact: that there is something greater than ungrounded abstract idealism; a simple belief in God, duty and country that lies at the heart of this great nation, and that cannot be confounded by tangled webs or self-destructive schools of thought that teach otherwise. I learned this simple fact at my father’s grave, when a crisply-dressed young Marine handed my seated 80 year old mother a crisply-folded American flag and uttered the words, “From a grateful nation.” I wept for the first time in my life since the death of my brother 40 years before.

Requiescat in Pace, Dad. Your oldest boy has finally grown up. be?

PS: Wikipedia has an excellent description of the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest, if you’re interested in reading more about this horrendous battle.

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

Did you know?
The "A Citizen's Voice" website has FREE online chat and forums, podcasts and more!

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

OF HOT DOGS AND HEROIN, OF HAMMERS AND HEROIN

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 21:42:46 GMT

OF HOT DOGS AND HEROIN
Lenny Palmer
10/14/07

OF HOT DOGS AND HEROIN

One of the arguments I have tired of hearing is that “if we just clear our prisons of low-level drug offenders, we can deal with the real criminals out there.”

Let’s get one thing straight before we go any farther: there is no such thing as a “low-level drug offender.” Certain drugs are illegal, and if a person uses those drugs he or she is breaking the law. Not only that, but they are providing a valuable market place for the low-life scum that sell drugs. I believe EVERY drug user, “low-level” or not, should be jailed. Remove the user, and the market place dries up; therefore you remove the dealer.

Let’s put it in more simple terms: I live in the Chicago area, and everyone knows and loves a real Chicago style hot dog; served on a steamed poppy seed bun, with onions, bright green relish, tomatoes, celery salt, a pickle, sport peppers, and never any ketchup. They are a fabulously delicious treat desired by nearly everybody, so the City of Big Shoulders is littered with hundreds of hot dog stands. People want the dogs, and the market place provides them with the outlets. Now, let’s imagine the hot dogs are heroin, or crack cocaine, or methamphetamines, or any of the other dangerous illegal narcotics that poison our society. Millions of Americans who are too weak to deny the drugs are clamoring to purchase them, and like the hot dog vendors, the marketplace provides. Our cities, townships, villages and rural areas are infected with hundreds of thousands of street vendors capitalizing on the weak tits who cannot deny the drugs. The consumer is out there, and the seller provides. It’s that simple. Therefore if you remove the consumer, the marketplace dries up; that is the beauty and stark brutality of capitalism.

I realize that there are legions of excuse-makers out there who will read this simple argument and get up on their hind legs and wail that it is a cruel and heartless approach to our greatest American problem. We should treat the user with compassion, understanding, support groups, and state and federal funds. Bull! Did your mother, father, sister, brother, husband or wife treat YOU with love and compassion when they picked up a heroin needle or crack pipe and destroyed not only their life, but yours as well? They are selfish, uncaring individuals who have traded in their souls for the pursuit of drugs, deserving of no more compassion than a rapist, murderer or pedophile.

Hard words, I know, but hard words ring true. But let’s look at it from another angle:

OF HAMMERS AND HEROIN

Place a hammer on a table. Stand two adults in front of the table. One picks up the hammer and builds a house. The second picks it up and buries it into an innocent person’s skull. Whose fault is it that the second individual has murdered using a benign object? Is it your fault? The hammer’s fault? Society’s fault?

The obvious answer would be the man who picks up the hammer and uses it as an engine of murderous design, but our “compassionate” society doesn’t want to admit that, so they create a variety of convenient excuses to let the murderer off the hook, exacerbating the problem. Instead of blaming the man, they blame the hammer.

The simple truth is that drugs don’t seduce people, people seduce drugs; which is why one man passes by the crack pipe while another man fires it up. The crack pipe is a benign object; it has no dark design on the human soul, no ultimate plan for personal destruction. It just IS, and therefore cannot be blamed for any criminal intent. The responsible, and therefore, criminal, party is the human being who cannot resist the lure of the drug. He, not the drug, should be the object of our punishments.

SO WHAT’S IT GONNA BE?

I’ve laid out the argument for you in stark and simple terms: if you want to end the drug crisis in this country you must get tough with the user, and stop making lame excuses for bad behavior. If you’re not willing to do that then you must remove the crime, and legalize all, not some, of the illegal drugs. If an individual wants to kill themselves with heroin or crack cocaine, give them the opportunity to do so, and tax the drugs along the way. When we rid ourselves of Prohibition, it removed a major cash cow from organized crime. Maybe of we did the same with drugs we could achieve the same result. Would you be willing to see crack, heroin, crystal meth, et al, legalized?

These are the only two solutions to the problem. You must remember that when it comes to drugs and criminal drugs users Christian charity belongs in church and not on the streets; and those who have seduced the drug are not deserving of your love and understanding. If you can reconcile yourself to the crystalline purity of this truth then, and only then will you be able to make the correct decision.

So what is it gonna be?

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

Did you know?
The "A Citizen's Voice" website has FREE online chat and forums, podcasts and more!

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

IT'S ALL ABOUT SOUL

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:48:30 GMT

IT'S ALL ABOUT SOUL
Lenny Palmer
7/31/07

I’m not a religious man.

I don’t attend church services.

I don’t pray, or ask for forgiveness, or understanding or worldly success or upscale possessions, good looks, glitter or glamour.

I believe people who pray only for worldly possessions and worldly success are little people, and not worthy of attention, or friendship.

I believe those who are silent in the observation of their faith, and are of a belief that is based on a deep personal understanding of God and others, and of their place in the world are individuals to be admired, and to be cultivated as friends.

Even though I am not a religious man, I believe all of us have souls. Whether the soul dies with us, or ascends to a higher plane, or heaven, or descends to hell and eternal damnation are questions I am not equipped to answer.

I believe, however, that there is not only an individual soul, but a collective soul; as individuals have souls so does a nation, and America is slowly losing its soul. This once robust, confident, cocksure country is unraveling from within as an insidious disease saps us of our strengths, and our sense of purpose.

The insidious disease is the curse of drug-dependency. The nation is flooded with illegal coke-heads, crack-heads, pill-poppers, meth-freaks, junkies, drunks, pot-heads; and those seemingly normal citizens who can’t get through the day with Flomax, Oxycontin, Zoloft, Prozac, Percodan, Percoset, Nexium, Vicodin, Viagra, etc., etc., etc; all of which are gleefully prescribed by money-hungry doctors who themselves are addicted to cha-ching of the cash register and whose patients are no more than cash cows to be used in the pursuit of worldly goods.

Have you ever had dialogue with a crackhead? He can have the smoking crack pipe hanging out of his mouth, eyes glazed over in drug-induced haze, lips stretched out over bared teeth in a death’s-head grin, look you directly in the eye and deny he’s using. He will lie, and if the lie is exposed, use that lie to build upon other lies to create an elaborate structure of prevarications that will justify his pathetic, useless, drug-addled existence. He not only creates these lies, but he believes them; he has to, to justify his sorry, worthless life. Everything in his life is structured toward the pursuit of the drug, and he will do anything to secure that drug; steal, lie, cheat, sell his children, his mother, his grandmother; anything, no matter how despicable, to get one more suck on the crack pipe. Case in point: in East Islip, New York, Matthew Belcher, a former altar boy, was convicted of robbing the church poor box at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church. When apprehended, his excuse was “I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but I was on a binge, a drug binge.”

Anything for the drug. Anything, no matter how low, no matter how despicable.

I use crack as a metaphor here because of the insidious nature of the drug, and the countless lives it has destroyed. Not only the lives of the addicted, but of their loved ones, who are dragged into the maelstrom of addiction by uncaring, unfeeling wives, husbands, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors. The souls of these innocent people, through no fault of their own, are sapped by the drug-dependence of those who should be a source of strength and comfort, but are instead an emotional, financial and spiritual drain on everyone around them.

Drug addicts are not innocent victims who need love and understanding, but criminals who need the harshest punishments to make them comprehend the absolute disaster they have made not only of their lives, but of the lives of those who have had the unfortunate circumstance of knowing and loving them. They are selfish, uncaring low lifes who care nothing of others, and should be treated as such.

Words like this will create a howl of protest, but is only words like this and the power that lies behind them that will cure the disease which is sapping our nation’s strength, draining its soul. To cure them we must remove them from polite society, shut them away, shun them; force them to realize the error of their ways and the self-destructive path they have chosen.

Yet how do we respond? By teaching our children that drugs like Adderall and Ritalin will help them focus and do better in class, thereby creating a whole new generation of drug-dependent future crackheads that will turn to the pipe, the pill or the bottle to overcome the roadblocks life throws in front of them. Life is tough, kiddies, and full of jagged edges. Drugs do not smooth out those edges, they only mask them, and you have to come to grips with that fact or you are lost.

And if you become lost, so to will we be lost: your husbands and wives, your brothers and sisters, your father and mothers, your friends and neighbors, your fellow Americans.

Your soul mates?

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

Did you know?
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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

DIRTY LITTLE POTTY MOUTHS (AND MORE)

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:53:24 GMT

DIRTY LITTLE POTTY MOUTHS (AND MORE)
Lenny Palmer
7/18/07

I live in a large apartment complex in a racially mixed neighborhood of apartments, duplexes and single-family homes, so it’s not unusual to see kids of all colors playing together on the streets and in the parks.

Which is what I observed the other day when I was out for my run/walk: brown, black and white kids on bicycles hanging on a street corner near a city park, loudly and excitedly discussing that which motivates kids and which we adults have forgotten.

Nothing unusual about that, right? And I’d normally agree, except it was not the animated conversation or children’s exuberance that caught my attention; rather, it was the language these kids, whose ages I’d estimate to be 9-13 years of age, were using. The “F” word punctuated nearly every sentence they used, male and female, black, white and brown.

“I told the “F-ing M-F-ing, as**ole to get his M-fing hands off my bike, or I’d kick his F-ing a**!” exclaimed what I considered to be the youngest of the bunch, a white kid of about nine who didn’t have the slightest clue that his language was unacceptable or offensive.

“Let’s go down to the F-ing store and get an F-ing soda,” chimed in another. They mounted their bikes and headed down the road, “F-ing” their way en masse to the neighborhood store, leaving me to wonder who parents these kids, or teaches them in the classrooms. I am not reporting on this because it is unusual behavior, but because it is now the norm to hear children of all ages and races curse like stevedores in their everyday conversation. Wait, I take that last statement back and apologize to all stevedores. I was a stevedore, and we never used foul language to the degree used by today’s kids. You cursed for emphasis, usually to punctuate a threat, and never used the "F" word as a casual adjective or adverb.

I don’t know about you, but a case of Lifebuoy to scrub out their potty mouths would have done the trick for me. But then some social savior type would have me dragged up in front of a social advocate judge who would toss me in the hoosegow for my anti-social and abusive behavior, so forget it.

By the way, if your kids speak like this, tell them to start learning how to say “You want F-ing fries with that?” That’s as far as they’re going to get in life.

Ads for Playtime?
Watching television yesterday I observed something I thought I’d never see; an ad encouraging kids to get out and play for at least one hour a day. You’ve got to be kidding, right? Kids need TV to tell them to go out and play? What’s next; ads for toilet time, something like “Have you had your bowel movement today?”

When I was growing up, they would have had to run TV ads encouraging us to come home for supper when it got dark outside. Our summers and all free time summer, fall, winter and spring were consumed by outdoor play, and wonderful games like baseball, basketball, football for the boys, double dutch and hopscotch for the girls; and dodgeball, king of the mountain, tag, sledding and snowball fights for co-ed games. We had no adult supervision: we set our own rules, picked our own sides, and yes, settled our own disputes, sometimes with fists. We kept active, and we learned how to get along with others via these strenuous games.

Nowadays though it’s different; you can’t parse out the girls from the boys, so you’ve got idiocy like co-ed football, or the complete elimination of important endeavors like king of the hill because someone might get their feelings or their behinds hurt. Aggressive games not only get kids to burn calories, but also to learn some of the hard lessons life is going to hand them: that to be king of the hill they are going to have to give it their best effort, and yes, even with that they may fail. That’s life, and also is an important lesson learned.

And what is happening to children who are denied access to these games, or force-fed drugs like Ritalin and Adderall to keep them in a sheep-like complacency? I refer you to the above “potty-mouth” missive.

When I think about this great country, and the disastrous direction in which it is heading I sometimes get the feeling that we need to tear it all down and start from the very beginning, to see if we can get it right this time.

And hey, do you want fries with that?

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

POST-BIRTHDAY RAMBLINGS

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 21:08:59 GMT

POST-BIRTHDAY RAMBLINGS
Lenny Palmer
7/7/07

I spent a fantastic day yesterday with my four children (now mostly grown) eating too much, talking too much, and watching the movie “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which they had vociferously demanded I order on pay-per-view. I realized that their mother and I had raised a great bunch of kids, who were maturing into solid and responsible adults, and there is no greater achievement in life than that. It also got me to thinking, hence the reason for this new column.

Save the world, or save your son?
Our friend and almost-President Albert Gore, Junior has made the news this morning, but not for global warming or an announcement of another run for the White House. His son, Albert Gore III, was arrested in California after being pulled over for reaching speeds of 100 mph. According to the Chicago Tribune sheriff’s deputies smelled marijuana emanating from inside the car and searched it, allegedly discovering marijuana as well as Xanax, Vicadin, Valium and Adderall, the latter drug being one of the wonder substances being pushed on young boys in classrooms across America as a way to help them “focus and do better in class.” I wonder if young Gore was prescribed this dangerous prescription medication when he was a child in the classroom. If he was, and his parents didn’t object, they fell asleep at the parenting switch.

But this begs the larger question of which is more important; saving the world from the dangers of a looming global warming crisis, or saving your son? While you were busy jet-setting around the world in your polluting fuel-hog jet and enlarging the hole in the ozone layer to attend global warming events with diamond-encrusted cognoscenti, or hobnobbing with Hollywood elites as their new darling, your son was allegedly noshing dangerous prescription drugs like Good n’ Plenty. Nice going, Al.

Here’s a bit of parental advice: it’s a tough job being a dad, a lot tougher than being the self-appointed spokesman for nebulous science and the latest reincarnation of the save-the-planet crowd. Can all of your important appointments and take your son fishing. Forget about the adoring pecks on the cheek from the likes of Cameron, Katie, Nicole, and the limp handshakes from Sean, Tim, Danny and Mike Moore. Get out in a boat on a lonely lake, just you and your boy, and beat the water into a frothy meringue in the search for the Great White Musky. Don’t tell anyone where you’re going; you don’t need your press agent putting a spin on this one. This isn’t about your image, or your Presidential or media aspirations; it’s about your son.

Oh, and by the way; Mr. and Mrs. Hilton? For all of your billions and your power and privilege, you probably should have let Paris play Barbies with the cleaning lady’s daughters instead of spoiling her and condoning her horrendous behavior and creating a female version of Richie Rich. Poor little rich girl; so sad.

Physician, heal thyself
Michael Moore’s new film, Sicko, an expose of America’s health care “crisis,” is making waves, as everyone expected it to do. In his film Moore postulates that he’d rather be sick in Cuba than in the United States, because the Cuban health care system is superior to ours.

You’ve got to be kidding, right? If he were a Cuban citizen, Moore wouldn’t have to worry about getting sick, as Castro would have had him shot at the first mention of any documentary exposing the faults of Cuban communism. I lost all respect for Moore when I saw him at the Oscars, railing against the establishment while holding the establishment’s highest award in his fat fist.

Speaking of Moore’s fat fist: if the millions of overweight Americans like Moore would exercise a little self-discipline and lose some of that extra adipose tissue perhaps our hospitals wouldn’t be clogged with diabetics, coronary victims, stomach-staplers, gout sufferers, morose fatties and those who can’t lift their fat kiesters out of the La-Z-Boy, and thereby allowing our overworked medical establishment to actually serve the people who get sick through no fault of their own, I believe our health care crisis would disappear. So, lose some weight, tubby, and quit preaching to me about a crisis that slobs like you helped to create.

The Trent Affair and the true meaning of courage
At the very beginning of our Great Civil War the San Jacinto, an American warship, stopped the British mail packet Trent, and forcibly removed two Confederate commissioners, James M. Mason and John Slidell, who were immediately interned in Boston’s Fort Warren. Mason and Slidell were charged by the Confederate government as representatives to Paris and London, and as President Abraham Lincoln’s administration did not recognize (nor ever would) the legitimacy of the Confederacy, the action on the high seas was wildly hailed in the North. In Britain, however, it was viewed as naked piracy. The British government drafted a sharply-worded ultimatum demanding the release of the commissioners or risk Britain’s recognition of the Confederacy and war with the world’ greatest power, placing a seven day limit on their demands. Lincoln could have bent to popular opinion, held onto the Confederates and allowed events to dictate his policy, but he didn’t. “One war at a time,” was his famous response. Working through diplomatic channels he placated the British, allowing the furor to dissipate and quietly released Mason and Slidell a month later, after the furor had died down.

Perhaps if our current administration, or those who now hunger for the power of the White House, would only ignore the polls and exhibit the quiet common sense and singular resolve of Abraham Lincoln we wouldn’t find ourselves mired in today’s gung-ho military adventurism. We could vaporize the entire Middle East in a matter of minutes, and reduce it to a smoking ash heap. Everyone knows that, but it takes a greater courage to ignore the braying jackasses demanding greater military intervention and belay your basest instincts to aspire to what Lincoln, our greatest American, advised: to listen to “the better angels of our nature.”

Or, “one war at a time.”

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:26:11 GMT

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Notes and thoughts on the Fourth of July
Lenny Palmer
7/4/07

Fourth of July, 2007, my 60th birthday. I wake at 4:40 a.m., catch a bit of news on the tube, make a pot of fresh Italian-roast coffee, down a cup or two, don my jogging outfit and take a leisurely three mile run in a light early morning mist under an overcast sky. I run on concrete in an urban setting, my solitude punctuated by a few lonely automobiles plying the usually busy streets. As I run, bits and pieces of thought occupy my mind . . .

Being a woman:
One part of my run takes me through a city park; about a half-mile stretch of curving blacktop shouldered by a dense thicket of trees. I’m a big and powerful man, and a setting like this doesn’t set off any alarm bells, but as I make my way over the lonely road I realize that if I were a woman I would probably avoid such a place, even this seemingly benign and bucolic park-like setting. It would take very little effort for a man bent on murder and mayhem to spring out of the trees and overpower a defenseless woman off the blacktop and into the brush.

Men are from Mars, and women from Venus.

Where are all the great men?
I have just finished “Patriotic Fire: Andrew Jackson, Jeanne Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans,” an excellent and eminently readable tome by Winston Groom, author of “Forrest Gump,” and have started “The Destruction of the Bismarck,” by David J Bercuson and Holger H. Herwig. This tale of the fiery demise of the massive Nazi battleship is filled with detail, and unlike novelist Groom’s work is more of a chore to read, but fascinating nonetheless.

Two great men leap out of the pages of these books. Andrew Jackson, the savior of New Orleans, and subsequently the seventh President of the United States, and Winston Churchill, who personified the steely British bulldog spirit as that island nation stood alone against the Nazi onslaught. These were two men of enormous political and personal courage who took a stand against not only threats against their respective nations, but against savage internal attacks in their own countries.

Where are men like this, when they are so desperately needed in desperate times? Look at the current crop of Presidential candidates and tell me if even one of them could aspire to wipe Jackson’s or Churchill’s boots: The effete John Edwards, who called the War on Terror a “bumper sticker?” How about the (like Edwards) meticulously coiffed department store mannequin Mitt Romney who accomplished exactly what as Governor of Massachusetts? The oft-married Rudy Giuliani, whose best days are years behind him? The wait-and-see Fred Thompson, whose most memorable quote, “Russians don’t take a dump, son, without a plan,” was uttered in a great paranoid Cold war movie thriller, “The Hunt for Red October?” Hillary Rodham Clinton, who never met a political position she didn’t like and wouldn’t embrace at the drop of a hat, if it meant more cash in her bulging coffers? The platitude-spouting Barack Obama, whose juvenile visage more resembles a Webelos Scout than a real adult, and whose Oprah-induced glow is quickly wearing off? At least Dennis Kucinich, who actually believes the lion will lay down with the lamb, and has never strayed off message and remains true to his values, is easier to swallow than this two-dimensional bunch.

All the above, named and unnamed, have less aggregate courage than a single toenail clipping off Andrew Jackson or a quivering, glistening drop of sweat off Churchill’s furrowed brow.

How about hitting the books once again?
I mentioned two books in the above screed, but I realize that I’ve become a rarity in modern America: a man who actually reads. Surveys show that up to 80% of Americans say that haven’t read a book in the last five years, and that many of those illiterate goofs are men.

Want to know how I can host two radio shows a day in a metropolitan market and not only survive, but thrive? It’s because I read; newspapers histories, novels, biography, all sorts of non-fiction, and I have read all of my life. My Depression-era parents encouraged reading, because they knew it unlocked the doors to success. My own children receive books as gifts for birthdays and holidays, and they are all succeeding at life, precisely because they were encouraged to read, and continue to do so on their own.

If you take one lesson out of this blog, make it this: you must read, and read omnivorously to climb the ladder of success. If you don’t you’ll be the one punching the picture of the cheeseburger on the register at the fast food joint, because you’re too illiterate to make change.

Oh, and by the way; if you’re a man and you don’t read: have a nice life, stupid, because bulging biceps alone won’t take you through this perilous life.

Have a happy Fourth, and God bless this great nation.

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

Did you know?
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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

A SHORT TREATISE ON AMERICA’S REVERSIBLE COAT POLITICS

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 09:12:09 GMT

A SHORT TREATISE ON AMERICA’S REVERSIBLE COAT POLITICS
Lenny Palmer
6/26/07

Like most Americans, I have become disgusted with both Republicans and Democrats. These mealy-mouthed, self-serving “leaders” have proven themselves to be unworthy of the people whom they are supposed to serve, and interested in themselves first, their respective parties second, media concerns and world opinion third, and their constituents (if they think of them at all) last. Check the latest “Immigration Bill” as an illustration of my point.

The President’s poll numbers are hovering at near-record historic lows, but the Democratic Congress’ poll numbers, which was elected in response to public disapproval of the President’s and Republican Party policies, is even lower. The Democrats, who pledged during the last election to change the disastrous course the country was on immediately engaged in the same old “blame game” politics as their Republican adversaries once they regained the reins of power; pointing fingers and enacting do-nothing “advisory” legislation while jockeying for self-serving face time on the self-serving news networks.

Here’s a simple analogy which will explain your current dilemma: I see the current American political system as a reversible jacket; it is storming in today’s America, and you’ve been wearing the red side of your jacket out to protect you from the harsh elements, but the cold and the wet is seeping through. Shivering and miserable, you decide to turn the jacket inside out and expose the blue side to see if that will do anything to keep the harsh weather at bay, but all you have really done is change the color; it’s the same inefficient coat, and you continue to shiver and cough and sneeze as the elements persist in their relentless assault.

You will continue to slog on in this miserable weather, assaulted and unprotected against the elements, reversing your jacket time and again, red side-blue side until you realize that it is the jacket that is the problem. A change of color won’t do the trick, you have to change the jacket, and discard the flimsy two-colored job that has made you so miserable for so long and trade it in for a new model, one that will protect you from the harsh world and place your interests above those of party politics, media concerns and world opinion.

Until you realize this, you will shiver and shake and sneeze and change colors in response until you find yourself burning of fever in a lonely hospital bed with a black-clad priest mumbling the last rites over you, and your country.

It is as simple as that.

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

FAT AND STUPID

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 09:17:15 GMT

FAT AND STUPID
Lenny Palmer
6/20/07

A few nights ago, my wife and I, in a fit of “we’re hungry, and we’re hungry NOW!” stopped at an all-you-can-eat buffet and gorged ourselves on a variety of what I call foods that fit into the “S & S” category: foods filled with salt and sugar, the twin evils that are the bane of what ails much of today's obese Americans.

There was pot roast, gravy and mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, grilled steak, baked and fried fish, meat loaf, spaghetti and meat balls, fried and baked chicken, a variety of salads, and a dessert buffet that featured thickly-frosted cakes, cookies, brownies and of course the ubiquitous soft-serve ice cream that uncontrollable kids cavort in like Silly String.

I’m a pretty big fella: a former state weightlifting champ, I go two-forty on a nearly six-foot frame, but I was small potatoes to some of the women who elbowed me at the buffet line. These behemoths, whose arms and breasts swung flabbily as they piled on the meat and taters were there not for the enjoyment but for the business of eating, their plates piled high as the Great Pyramid of Giza, and which they nimbly balanced on slab-like hands as they waddled back to their table, wedging themselves between equally porcine husbands and kids.

But it wasn’t the “slop the hogs” attitude at the buffet line that distressed me. Hell, I like to grease down, and can do so with the best of them; it was the absolute dearth of manners at the tables that set me off. And this wasn’t one table we’re talking about, but dozens of families in the crowded restaurant who absolutely either didn’t care or didn’t know the first thing about observing even a modicum of decorum at the dinner table. Kids and parents wore hats while they ate, chewed with their overstuffed mouths wide open, held knives, spoons and forks like primeval weapons as they attacked their food like Neanderthals at a Paleolithic camp fire. At the table next to ours one little girl who couldn’t have been more than 13 and clad in a bright orange tank top exposed a series of tattoos on both arms, her three-tone hair spiked in a Mohawk, and a nose ring dangling from the bifurcation of her nostrils. Her two what I assumed to be brothers were as outrageously attired as their sister. Both were draped in the raiment of the latest gang-banger fashion of baggy hang-so-low-that-your-plumber’s-crack-shows shorts, and chattered on in MTV-inspired ghetto-ese, even though the two were white as the driven snow. And mom and dad? Let’s not even go there.

If this were the only table where I observed such outrageous behavior there would be no need to write this column, but it seemed to me that not only these goobers were exulting in their ignorance of even the most basic of good table manners, but the whole restaurant seemed to be of the same stripe. Yes, I realize it was an all-you-can-eat joint, and that type of place attracts a certain crowd, but don’t you agree that this is the way the entire country is going as popular culture glorifies belching, farting and crude references to genitalia and sex? And that’s only the PG-rated Disney flicks we’re talking about! It’s become not only okay to be a fat, ill-mannered slob; it’s become expected behavior.

How many of those in the restaurant do you think have read even one book in the last year, or maybe in their entire lives? How many get their information from crappy Net Flix offerings, and convoluted Hollywood plot lines that are “based on a true story?” How many form opinions based on headlines only, or join a growing cacophony of voices that emit monotone, two-dimensional opinions fed to them by a cynical media like herds of mewling cattle penned in a feed lot? How many of their children will truly graduate from high school? How many of them will have even the simplest grasp of America’s glorious history, or its place in the world? And God help me, some of these people vote. Quo vadis, America?

I wanted to stand and shout: “It’s all right to be fat and ill-mannered, but it’s not all right to be fat, ill-mannered and stupid!” But discretion being the better part of valor, and respecting my wife’s request, I kept my mouth shut and shoveled along with the rest of them. I left the restaurant stuffed to the limit, but curiously unsatisfied, and incredibly depressed.

There’s an interesting postscript to this story: the entire staff of the restaurant was Hispanic, chattering away in their native tongue, disapprovingly observing the sloppy Americans with their faces buried in their plates. These new immigrants, my friends, are going to have your lunch, unless you slap your kids upside the head and insist they observe proper table manners and start paying more attention to books instead of their I-pods.

Oh, and lead by example, please.

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

Did you know?
The "A Citizen's Voice" website has FREE online chat and forums, podcasts and more!

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

THE PRICE OF BEING PARIS

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 15:16:32 GMT

THE PRICE OF BEING PARIS
Lenny Palmer
6/11/07

Paris Hilton went to jail last week. For three days, then she was released and returned home to her mansion, ostensibly under house arrest. For one day, then she was back in court and ordered back to her Los Angeles County jail cell for the full 45 day term of her sentence. She cried and wailed for her mother.

Ordinary people bemoaned the fact that the wealthy heiress was getting preferential treatment. If she didn’t have all that scratched, they whined, she would have been treated differently. I agree. If she had been more of a low-profile offender, she would have been out on her own recognizance, and home with her parents. The lie is that if Paris Hilton had been poor, and perhaps a lady of color, she would have rotted in jail, and no one would have cared. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our overcrowded jails have no room for nickel and dime offenders like Paris Hilton, white or black, rich or poor. They are released with alarming regularity, for crimes and misdemeanors much more egregious than Ms. Hilton’s.

No, Paris Hilton is paying the price for being Paris Hilton, and in America, we liked to see the rich and famous get scorched when they flaunt the law. If you want to be pursued by the paparazzi, eat at the most exclusive restaurants; have your visage plastered on every newspaper, television, magazine and website across the world and enjoy the benefits thereof, be prepared to hit the ground hard when you take a fall.

We’ll find out whether Paris Hilton will have learned anything from this unfortunate experience, or whether she’ll return to the life of an over-indulged spoiled little heiress. Let’s wait and see what she has to say 45 days from now.

Let’s Start Using Our Taxes for Our Benefit

Because I have two radio shows, I follow many issues of importance, and one of the issues constantly on the minds of my listeners is prices of gas at the pump. It recently rocketed to three-fifty a gallon around here a couple of weeks ago, and I wondered why. The price of oil by the barrel on the world commodity markets did not support this dramatic of an increase in prices at the pump, and when those of us in the news and opinion business started asking questions, we were told it was because the United States lacked adequate refining capacity, and because of a fire at one refinery, the prices jumped accordingly.

This “lack of refinery facilities” excuse has been used since the first “oil crisis” of the early 1970s. When we ask why we haven’t increased our capacity for the last 35 years, we’re told that it is the oil industry’s responsibility, and refineries are too expensive to build and maintain and the industry can’t recoup its losses if it invests in such a huge project. Well, I have an answer for that. Let the citizens of the United States build a new refinery using tax money. We’ll rent it out to the oil industry, and they can repay us by keeping prices reasonably low at the pump.

Why not? Our tax dollars go to prop up a variety of crackpot regimes around the world, bankroll a variety of causes, and support war efforts in foreign lands; why not use them at home to construct something of national importance that will directly benefit the American consumer?

And while we’re at it, let’s go get that oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. It’s about time we realized the lives of Americans protecting our oil interests in far-off lands are more important than the snail darter, spotted oil, or a few caribou who won’t be affected one whit by oil platforms in their habitat.

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

Did you know?
The "A Citizen's Voice" website has FREE online chat and forums, podcasts and more!

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

COP KILLER

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Tue, 29 May 2007 22:54:53 GMT

COP KILLER
Lenny Palmer
5/27/07

Who killed Frank Fabiano, Jr?

The Kenosha County (WI) Sheriff’s Deputy was killed in the early morning hours of May 16, 2007, during a routine traffic stop in a bucolic area of expensive homes in northwest Kenosha County, located 50 miles north of Chicago, 40 miles south of Milwaukee. The deputy pulled over a red 1995 van for a minor traffic offense, and when he approached the driver’s side of the vehicle, was greeted with a single shot to the face, which killed him. The perp bolted out of the van and ran, pursued by a University of Wisconsin Parkside (a nearby college) cop who had backed up Deputy Fabiano on the call. A massive search ensued, and hours later, Ezequiel Lopez was apprehended hiding among automobiles in a nearby apartment complex parking lot. Lopez admitted to being the driver of the van, but then stated he had been drunk and high on cocaine after a fight with his girlfriend and couldn’t remember whether he had fired the fatal shot that ended Fabiano’s life. He remains locked up in a Racine, WI jail, unable to secure his one million dollars bond.

Just who is Ezequiel Lopez? After a bit of detective work, local law enforcement officials discovered that Lopez had eight aliases and was in possession of five separate Social Security numbers. Lopez is an illegal alien who had been apprehended and released on a variety of misdemeanor offenses in Utah, Missouri and Texas, as well as two domestic disturbance charges in Kenosha, yet he had never been turned over to ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement for processing and deportation. Many of the country's local cops don't even bother to contact I.C.E. when they have a known illegal immigrant in custody. They know the Feds don't give a crap so they don't either, and men like Lopez wander the country, creating mayhem, and sometimes murder, in their wake.
So who murdered Frank Fabiano, Jr.? The obvious answer would probably be the man who has been charged with the crime, but if you take a little time to think this over you’ll find that there is plenty of blame to go around. If the government of the United States of America had not been so lax on the crisis in illegal immigration, and had properly monitored our borders, perhaps Mr. Lopez would never have had the opportunity to be at that particular place and time with the pistol in his hand that ended the Deputy’s life. So, could our government be charged with the crime?

How about the businesses large and small who hired people they knew to be illegal to boost their profit margins, stock dividends and executive bonuses? They knew what they were doing but because the government turned a blind eye they, too, did the same. Business lobbied government to keep turning that blind eye, and politicians, eager for the millions in cash to keep their re-election campaigns going and their political allies greased, obliged.
Let’s not forget the swells in the upscale communities; places around here that are called Barrington, Lake Forest, Whitefish Bay . . . the land of the Beemers, Rolexes and Italian trattorias love their Hispanic nannies and Mexican gardeners has bred a plantation mentality that rivals that of the antebellum south, only here instead of black slaves we have a flood of swarthy-complexioned strangers who hide behind enigmatic smiles and unintelligible conversations in rapid-fire Spanish. But that’s okay in the land of the Caucasian noveau-riche, as long as you don’t have to soil your manicured nails on the baby’s diaper and the Mexican-maintained lawns shimmer in the sun.

Then take a look in the mirror. Perhaps if you hadn’t been so accommodating to businesses that catered to illegal labor, so anxious to receive the $2.99 breakfast specials while you observed that everyone working in the restaurant, save the owner and a waitress or two, seemed to be of Mexican heritage, and you learned to say “mas café,” and “gracias” for second cup of joe. What the hell; the food was cheap, and lettuce and tomatoes and cukes at the supermarket were also dirt cheap because the transient and very illegal Hispanics who harvested them worked cheap and the hotel and motel rooms cleaned by the very illegal women who went by the name of Consuelo and Maria also worked cheap and therefore allowed the big motel/hotel chains to rent cheap and everyone was happy.

So here we are in the America of 2007, holding the tiger of illegal immigration by the tail, and no one has any real answers or solutions. Who is going to dig us out of this mess we have gotten ourselves into: Ted Kennedy? A bloated martini-besotted charter member of the silver-spoon set couldn’t find one small girl at the bottom of a shallow pond, and he’s going to help us locate 20 million illegals?

Arlen Specter? The slick-talking Republican deal-maker believes that American citizenship is worth a paltry $5,000 (a “fine” they call it). Well, I believe that American citizenship is priceless; and if you don’t believe me, ask the names on the crosses at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Belleau Wood, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Pusan, Khe San, Iraq and Afghanistan. The ghosts of one million-plus Americans who have fought and died in wars, foreign and domestic, will rise as one and with one voice proclaim that their ultimate sacrifice was not made to insure that the gate into this great land could be opened at such a paltry price, or at any price. American citizenship is earned, not bought with a bribe by a sleazy bag man who calls himself Congressman, Senator, or even President.
So who killed Frank Fabiano, Jr.? Common sense says the man who held the gun and pulled the trigger, but nagging doubt casts a wider net. Or, as Pogo once said: “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

WE NEED A NATIONAL I. D. CARD

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Wed, 09 May 2007 14:23:42 GMT

WE NEED A NATIONAL I. D. CARD
Lenny Palmer
5/8/07

Quick, take a look in your wallet. What's inside? A credit card or two, or maybe three? A debit card? Your driver's license, or a picture I. D.? A couple of plastic grocery store cards to provide you with coupon discounts, or maybe you're carrying these on your key chain? Perhaps you're also carrying your social security card, too. Now add to these the census data you provide the government each 10 years, your e-mail and phone records, and all the crap the IRS has on you, and you'll quickly realize that when taken cumulatively the government has enough info about you and your intimate assignations to either award you the Congressional Medal, or toss you in the hoosegow for the rest of your life.

Yet when I bring up the topic of a national I. D. card as a way to identify those who want to do this country harm, or are in the country illegally, I invariably receive a howl of protest from listeners who "don't want the government intruding in their lives." Well, babe, I tell them, the government is so intrusive in your life right now that you can't make pee-pee in private without them knowing when, where, and what brand of toilet paper you use. So what's the big deal about combining a few bits of the info they have on you in a single card that identifies you as a legal resident of the United States?

The card would work like this, and would be administered through your state DMV: take your driver's license (or picture I. D.) with all the pertinent info; name, address, physical characteristics, etc., and add your Social Security number and an identifying trademark, like a thumb print. The government has all this information on you already, except for the thumb print, and many of you are already using finger and thumb prints at local supermarkets as a way to identify you to qualify for frequent customer discounts, so what's the big deal?

Then write the Federal law thusly: you must carry your national I. D. card with you at all times. Cops already have the computer technology in their prowlers to scan your card to see if you are who you say you are, and if you are apprehended without a card, local law enforcement may hold you indefinitely until you can produce one. If you are found to be illegal, you are immediately sent to a federal immigration court and held there until sentencing. If you are found to have a false or stolen national I. D. card, you are eligible for immediate trial and prosecution, with harsh mandatory sentencing rules.

The technology is there, the info is already there, so what's the beef? In this day and age of illegal immigration and the War on Terror this would at least be a positive step toward alleviating these seemingly insurmountable problems. We're going to give amnesty to the uncountable illegals in this country now, so let's do it, and do it quick, give them their National I. D. cards, then seal off the borders and man them with troops to enforce our immigration laws.

This seems to me to be the only solution. What do you think?

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

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This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

THEY DID IT FIRST!

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 09:59:40 GMT

THEY DID IT FIRST!
Lenny Palmer
4/30/07

I wonder what a lot of our immigrant-rights activists would say if our country passed a law restricting LEGAL immigration by barring immigrants from taking advantage of their LEGAL RIGHTS under the laws of this country? There undoubtedly would be a howl of protest, a gnashing of teeth and screams of injustice from those who advocate rights for legal and illegal immigrants. Mexico enacted such a law in April of 1830 after it was realized that the flood of Americans into Texas was threatening the sovereignty of that Mexican colony. The Mexicans realized that the increased flow of immigrants from the north could create problems that could result in open conflict. How right they were! The law, once passed, was largely ignored and Mexico lost not only Texas, but nearly half her territory in the ensuing wars for Texas independence and the Mexican-American War.

I've printed a brief description of the Law of April 6, 1830, with a small comment made by one of the Tejano elite of the day. It is startling in its clarity, and immediate to those of us who realize the results of weak and ineffectual leadership in the application of immigration laws. And please remember the maxim that those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.

LAW OF APRIL 6, 1830. The Law of April 6, 1830, said to be the same type of stimulus to the Texas Revolution that the Stamp Act was to the American Revolution, was initiated by Lucas Alamán y Escalada, Mexican minister of foreign relations, and was designed to stop the flood of immigration from the United States to Texas. The law came as a result of the warning and communications of Manuel de Mier y Terán who made fourteen recommendations directed toward stimulating counter-colonization of Texas by Mexicans and Europeans, encouraging military occupation, and stimulating coastal trade. The law, reasonable from the Mexican point of view, authorized a loan to finance the cost of transporting colonists to Texas, opened the coastal trade to foreigners for four years, provided for a federal commissioner of colonization to supervise empresario contracts in conformity with the general colonization law, forbade the further introduction of slaves into Mexico, and apparently was intended to suspend existing empresario contracts. Article 11, the one most objectionable from the Texan viewpoint, not proposed by Mier y Terán but by Alamán, was intended to prohibit or limit immigration from the United States. Mier y Terán became federal commissioner of colonization despite his doubts concerning the wisdom of Article 11 and of the articles concerning slavery and passports. Texas colonists were greatly disturbed by news of the law; Stephen F. Austin tried to allay popular excitement but protested the law to Mier y Terán and to President Anastasio Bustamante. By his manipulation of the interpretation of articles 10 and 11, Austin secured exemption from the operation of the law for his contract and for that of Green DeWitt, but the measure shook his belief in the good will of the Mexican government. Subsequently he was able to secure the repeal of Article 11. Application of the law slowed immigration, voided contracts that had been awarded but not carried toward fulfillment, and suspended two active enterprises: the Nashville or Robertson's colony and the Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company. Enforcement of the provisions of the law concerning establishment of customhouses resulted directly in the Anahuac Disturbances of 1832 and indirectly in the battle of Velasco, the conventions of 1832 and 1833, and the accumulation of grievances that helped lead to the revolution.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Eugene C. Barker, The Life of Stephen F. Austin (Nashville: Cokesbury Press, 1925; rpt., Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1949; New York: AMS Press, 1970). Ohland Morton, Terán and Texas: A Chapter in Texas Mexican Relations (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1948).
Curtis Bishop

COMMENT MADE BY A MEMBER OF THE TEJANO ELITE OF THE DAY:
"What shall we say of the law of April 6, 1830? It absolutely prohibits immigrants from North American coming into Texas, but there are not enough troops to enforce it; so the result is that desirable immigrants are kept out because they will not violate the law, while the undesirable, having nothing to lose, come in freely."

What else can be said? Show this column to a politician, and maybe they can cull enough information from it to make an intelligent decision for once in their lives.

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

Did you know?
The "A Citizen's Voice" website has FREE online chat and forums, podcasts and more!

This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE T-BONES

lnrdpalmer@yahoo.com (Lenny Palmer) — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 23:48:18 GMT

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE T-BONES
Lenny Palmer
4/30/07

One of the greatest myths in this country is that there a millions of unfortunates who can't afford the basic necessities of life. We provide these "under privileged" folks with housing, medical services, food, clothing and utility payments. We provide breakfast and lunch for the kids at school, and also provide school supplies when they cry broke and send their children to the classroom without even the most basic of study tools.

They are afforded free schooling for themselves, in an effort to train them for some sort of useful function in society, and a very few of them will avail themselves of these opportunities and actually take advantage of them to become contributing members of society. We have crafted laws to protect individuals from discrimination on race, creed, gender and sexual orientation; and for the most part these have worked, but they have also created a distrust in the business world and spawned a booming "Temp Agency," industry. These temporary employment agencies provide an employer with a barrier between himself and the person on the floor. The workers are the agency's people, and therefore the agency is responsible for the government-inspired headaches. It is a boon for employers but a bust for workers as they have no real opportunity to prove their worth when they may be on the job in one place one day, another place the next. Add to this that many industries continue to move offshore to avoid the American nanny state, and we have a bleak picture for the American worker indeed.

I firmly believe that three-quarters of the people on the public dole could very well wean themselves off the government nipple if they chose to, but four decades of excuse-making for the unmotivated by powerful government forces has created not only an unwillingness to participate in the everyday working persons' world, but a belief that it is okay to allow others to provide the necessities of life that you should provide for yourself and your family.

Case in point: I was shopping at the market yesterday, and like most working Americans was searching for the bargains. I bought ground chuck, eggs, chicken, milk and a variety of fruits and veggies on sale. I wheeled my purchases to the checkout counter and observed a twenty-something woman in front of me who was accompanied by two twenty-something fit-as-a-fiddle men. She was purchasing t-bone steaks, large premium avocados, top-of-the-line tomatoes, and a variety of brand-name canned goods and papers products. The checkout girl totaled the purchases, and the young woman whipped out a Link Card, the Illinois version of the ubiquitous plastic credit card that now serves in place of food stamps in many states. To say I was doing a slow boil was an understatement. Here I was, shepherding my hard-earned dollars and purchasing the bargain items, and this female and her two companions were using public funds to purchase the best they could buy. Need I mention that both of the men, who looked healthy enough to put in 80 hours a week apiece digging ditches without breaking a sweat, were decked out in enough "bling" to buy every t-bone, Porterhouse and tenderloin filet in the market. They stood quietly by without a hint of shame on their faces by while their female companion plunked down a government-funded card to buy their gourmet dinners.

I tried to imagine my father, or any of my friends' fathers, in the same position. To a man, they would have died of shame before allowing their wives to beg the government to provide what they, the men of the family understood to be their responsibility. They did what they had to to provide for their families: they dug ditches, labored in farms, offices and factories. Some of them held a second job, moonlighting as bartenders or pizza drivers to make ends meet; but never, ever would they accept a handout when they were capable of providing for themselves.

I realize many of you have had identical experiences as the one I described above; you work your ass off to pay the bills and raise your family and then watch your tax dollars used for t-bones for a couple of ne'er-do-wells who are more than capable of handling a shovel, a broom or a mop. Yet when you publicly complain you're told by the excuse-makers that those on the public dole know nothing else, and they need job training, education and motivational classes to assist them to join productive Americans in the working world. Motivational classes? My old man had a second-grade education, and when he saw that factory work wasn't going to cut it for his family or himself, he went to night school and learned a trade and became a meat-cutter and a store manager and then bought out his employer and become his own boss with his own store. No one had to put a boot up his keister to get him off the La-Z-Boy and out the door; he did it himself, as did millions of others of his generation. Why should anything be any different now than it was 50 years ago?

I'll tell you why. It's because the politicians and their poverty pimp allies realize that a dumbed-down America is an easily-controlled America. A compliant populace lulled to sleep by a gratis system providing the necessities of life will vote those in who provide them the t-bones; or even better yet they will stay home at election time and by their disinterest swing the vote tally to the status quo.

It's a win-win situation, folks. The politicians stay in power, and the unmotivated munch on t-bones. Except for we dwindling few, of course, who actually believe that it is our responsibility to provide for ourselves by the sweat of our brow. The only way we will ever change this disastrous course is to address those politicians who attempt to browbeat and shame us with the lame line that we must provide for those who cannot provide for themselves with one word and one word only . . .

. . . LIAR!

And them vote them out of office.

Want to comment directly to Lenny? E-mail Lenny at lenny@acitizensvoice.com
Lenny Palmer can be heard on WLIP 1050AM, Mon-Fri: 8-11am
and WKRS 1220AM, Mon-Fri: 3-6pm

Did you know?
The "A Citizen's Voice" website has FREE online chat and forums, podcasts and more!

This blog is published by and reflects the personal views of Lenny Palmer and other guest contributors. It does not represent the views of WKRS 1220AM NEXT Media, WLIP 1050AM NEXT Media, or WRLR 98.3FM RONDARADIO and is not sponsored or endorsed by these organizations, its clients or partners. The purpose of this site is to assist in dissemination and discussion of information about local, national and world issues from Lenny Palmer's perspective. The information contained in this site is provided only as general information for educational and entertainment purposes, and topics may or may not be updated subsequent to their initial posting. By using this site you understand and agree to this disclaimer.