This is my friend Judson's letter to the local paper:
Tyler Paper
To the Editor
Because an election takes place and people vote, democracy is not guaranteed. Because a constitution is written and a parliament or congress convenes, a democratic government does not automatically follow. A supreme court can be formed to decide the constitutionality of laws, yet, democracy can be absent. Even when rights are written down, they can still be in jeopardy. All the forms can be in place. There still must be leaders who preserve, protect, and defend a democratic constitution. A republic must be defended from tyranny which follows naturally from uncontrolled power. Never trust government to government. Trust it only to yourself.
Representatives must above all preserve the rights of citizens. In a democracy, the minorities must be protected from the tyranny of the majority. If the majority wants slavery it must not happen. If the majority wants a theocracy it must not happen. Common defense must not be turned into international aggression.
To say that the United States has brought democracy to Iraq is absurd. The Iraqi Constitution creates a Supreme Court in which the judges are all Islamic Clerics. The constitutionality of a law is based on the Koran. Would that be democracy in the US or anywhere? Spreading "democracy" to countries and people who do not wish to have democracy is not a worthy cause upon which to sacrifice loyal and faithful military servants of the nation. It is folly.
All the stated purposes of the invasion and occupation of Iraq have been failures. It appears that the unstated purposes of the invasion have failed.
The United States should make democracy work at home.
Judson
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Letter to the Editor
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Roxy
I had a dog like this once. I mean just like this. He was a white German Shepherd who was amazingly smart. One day as I was jogging along Lake Ponchartrain, three ankle biter dogs came up to us. Billy (wife named him Xavier) looked at me to ask permission to 'say hello' and I said so. After a minute of butt smelling petting (I did the petting), I said goodbye and we went on our way, but the little dogs followed. After a few unsuccessful attempts to shoo them away, Billy looked at me as if to say, 'I'll handle this,' as he stood sideways, blocking them from me. He then looked at me again as if to say, 'what are you sanding there for, go!' As my stunned feet obediently turned to go, he growled at the ankle biters if they tried to move around him. After I got about 100 yards away, I called, with an amazed voice, Billy, come! Then with lightning speed, he sprinted to catch up as I continued to run, leaving the ankle biters in the distance. 'Good dog! Gooood dog!,' I praised. I never looked at him the same since. I lost him in a custody battle with the ex-wife. He's the only thing I miss from that relationship.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
My Summer Vacaton
We spent a week in Central Texas touring the various theme parks and attractions. Here we are at Comal Springs at Landa Park in New Braunfels, TX.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sunday, July 8, 2007
IMG_7463
Here is the Lazybones Lodge pier on the 8th of July. Didn't think it would get worse because the weather forecast called for a 30% chance of rain this day. Are the weather patterns shifting? Who knows? Time will tell. The experiment is in progress. Keep in mind the same people who worry about terrorists don't worry about anthropogenic global warming. Both can kill. Both may or may not happen.
July 5 2007 lake01
The boys standing at the end of our pier at Lake Jacksonville, TX. The wettest summer in memory. Trees falling over from the lack of root support. Had to tie off the barge (left) to keep it from drifting over the pier. Looks like global warming's going to turn East Texas into a rain forest.
