Jeff's Thoughts -- Random Musings

Random Musings

June 15, 1999
By JEFF RUSHING

Off all the talk of the "rich" Republican party, it was interesting that when U.S. Senators released their financial disclosure forms in early June, four of the five richest were Democrats: John Rockefeller IV (D-WV), Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.); freshman Peter Fitzgerald (Ill.) was the Republican on the list.

A recent report from a group of scientists states that the planet is in year 16,000 of a 100,000-year Ice Age. Of course, those who believe global warming is melting every glacier at the poles and that earth will be 20 degrees warmer in 50 years are in disagreement. And we're supposed to believe that it is a certainty that humans evolved from apes?

The same people who believe the First Amendment is absolute (i.e. "It's my right to urinate on pigeons in public as an artistic expression) are the same ones who guffaw and shrug off the Second Amendment as garbage.

Let's run down the state of education in America:

The New Jersey House of Reps passed a bill requiring the reading of a bit of the Declaration of Independence (you know, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"). Patriotic, huh? Apparently not. Feminists are throwing a hissyfit, saying the nation's founders were sexist, and the Declaration of Independence reflects colonial values that excluded minorities and women.
The president of Evergreen State College in Washington invited a convicted cop killer to give a commencement speech at graduation to voice his views on capital punishment. And the students actually voted in favor of the idea.
A Sacramento, Calif. student was refused the right to speak at graduation because he was going to express his thanks to God for giving him the strength in his life that helped him become Valedictorian.

Does this scare you? I'm more certain than ever that my kids will be in private school their entire lives.
People are starting more and more to ponder who was the Person of the Century (TIME will release their answer later this year, but currently has polls on different categories). I've had a difficult time narrowing it to any one person. Here's a few of my choices to debate:

Albert Einstein. His scientific genius benefitted mankind greatly, but also contributed to the closest man has gotten to worldwide destruction urging Franklin Roosevelt to develop the atom bomb (which of course was, and successfully).
Vladimir Lenin. The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution officially put Communism on the map, and not for the better. The party spread like a virus around the world, and is still affecting the way the world works (see: China).
Adolf Hitler. I know, two not-so-popular guys in a row, but a non-pick of either of these in the top five is only for political correctness' sake. When future Earthlings look back at the 20th Century, his name will stand out as the fixture of evil.
Hillary, obviously in the running for the U.S. Senate seat in New York next year, actually said "I've always been a Yankees fan." This, when the '98 World Series champs visited the White House last week. Gee, that's confusing. In the past she was a Cub fan. Rewind: from The Washington Times:
...Opening Day of the baseball season in 1993, when Mrs. Clinton was in the Windy City to throw out the first pitch.
"She's a big Cubs fan," gushed Mrs. Clinton's former spokeswoman Lisa Caputo. "They're her hometown team, and she used to go see them play at Wrigley."
What is clear is that Hillary is running in "Clintonian" mode, where such flowery lies are happily thrown out to appease the audience, and he/she feels the American public is too gullible and/or stupid to notice. I won't even get into the fact that she's a carpetbagger, having lived in Illinois and Arkansas her entire life.
Al Gore has also been caught in this mode, saying he invented the Internet, and he and Tipper were the inspiration for the movie Love Story, despite the fact that they didn't even know each other when the film was written. My favorite instance, though, is when he told glam-rocker Courtney Love that he was a big fan of her band Hole. "Oh, really. Name a song," she requested, to a lame response of "Oh, I can't remember a song but I like the music." Yeah, nice try Al. Loser.
"That's all I have to say about that." -- Forrest Gump

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