Greater Love Hath No Man…

This is a post I’ve been trying to write since Tuesday morning.

New York State Trooper Andrew Sperr was laid to rest Monday in his hometown of Greece, NY with more than 3400 members of law enforcement attending from around the US and Canada. They came from as far away as California and Louisiana, where Trooper Sperr had gone with a contingent of troopers after Hurricane Katrina.

Annette Lein – Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

He was shot and killed on March 1st in Chemung County NY after stopping a vehicle that – unknown to him – had just been involved in a bank robbery. In what many have called his ‘last official act’, Trooper Sperr returned fire, wounding both assailants who were caught shortly thereafter.

33-year-old Trooper Sperr was a 10-year veteran of the New York State Police and the youngest of Jean and Andrew Sperr’s 11 children.

*

I did not know Trooper Sperr. I live 25 minutes east of the Horseheads, NY Barracks, where he was assigned, but just across the border in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Seeing state troopers once again armed with automatic weapons and checking vehicles coming off Rt. 17/I-86 hit very close to home for almost all of us in the Twin Tiers.

Nearly two years ago this month, two Bradford County sheriff’s deputies, Michael VanKuren and Christopher Burgert, were killed in the line of duty while serving a failure-to-appear warrant. The gunman, Dustin Briggs*, was on the loose for nearly two days, before being captured near his home on the Pennsylvania/New York Border.

Certainly, if Trooper Sperr was stationed in the area at the time, he would have been part of the massive, two-state manhunt.
My side of the border is a rural county with small towns and small-town values. The New York side is the same, with a couple cities thrown in. For all of us, the senseless murders of Trooper Sperr and Deputies Burgert and VanKuren is a wake up.

While many complain when law enforcement does its job of catching speeders and drunk drivers (especially if we are the speeder or drunk driver) we know – and expect – that should trouble come to us, they will be there to help. With the increase of meth production in an area already known as ‘Meth Valley’ violent crimes are on the rise, and those crimes may one day touch each one of us personally, as it has the Sperr family.

We cannot hide our heads in the sand any longer, believing, ‘It can’t happen here. It can’t happen to us.’

It already has. Twice.

*

Articles about Trooper Sperr: Here, here, and here.
**Dustin Briggs was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by a jury just a few weeks ago. Formal sentencing is March 15th.

Tennesee Joins The War On Women

egalia at Tennessee Guerilla Women writes about today’s third reading of SJR-127 in the Tennessee Senate:

This morning the rabidly conservative State Senate voted Aye on SJR 127 – the resolution they hope will one day outlaw abortion in Tennessee. SJR 127 permits no exceptions for rape, incest or even to save the health or life of a woman. Today was the Senate’s third reading of SJR 127, the resolution that would amend the State Constitution.

The vote: 24 Ayes and 9 Nayes.

(snip)

Senator David Fowler (R) is the misogynist responsible for SJR 127. Fowler has been trying to outlaw abortion in this state at least since 2001. You might say he is obsessed with the project of controlling women.

(snip)

Sen. Rosalind Kurita … is a nurse. She named a number of diseases that threaten the health of pregnant women and asked Evil David Fowler if he is knowledgeable about the diseases.

Sen. Fowler (615-741-1764) said he ‘knows what it is to be pregnant,’ but doesn’t know anything about the diseases that threaten pregnant women.

Rosalind Kurita said that the way to prevent abortions is to eradicate poverty and provide childcare.

The women in the balcony broke the rule and responded with thunderous applause.

Evil Senator Finney addressed Sen. Kurita: ‘Where does it say this resolution prevents abortion?’

Kurita: ‘Sen. Finney, Just what do you think is the purpose of this resolution?’

The women in the balcony responded with unrestrained laughter. …

Surprise, Surprise

Hmmmm…

Just a day after the House Appropriations Committed voted to block the deal, Dubai Ports World announced today that it will divest itself of all American interests. The Associated Press has the story.
To re-cap:

The Republicans seemed to be distancing themselves from their previous position as the White House Rubber-Stamp Squad, especially after:

Preznit Half-Wit promised to veto any legislation blocking the ports deal (his first ever) which made the:

Democrats look tougher on national security for a change.

However, it turns out that, just like with the Intelligence Committee hearings, a back-room deal was being brokered. Now the Preznit won’t have to go through with his veto threat. The Republicans both have a little more spending capital for the mid-term elections. The Democrats look as sissified as ever. Nice job of working as a group…not.

And, we get an American company to be in charge of our ports. Uh-huh….

Halliburton, anyone??

You know it’s getting bad when…

Even country music stars are mad as hell at King George.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, natives of Louisiana and Mississippi respectively, were “close to tears” when the questions turned to Katrina during a Nashville newsconference to promote their Soul2Soul tour.
From ABCnews:

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw — two stars who usually stay out of politics — blasted the Hurricane Katrina cleanup effort, with Hill calling the slow
progress in Louisiana and Mississippi “embarrassing” and “humiliating.”

The country music artists — who are natives of the storm ravaged states — were at times close to tears, and clearly angry when the subject of Katrina came up during a news conference today.

(snip)

“When you have people dying because they’re poor and black or poor and white, or because of whatever they are — if that’s a number on a political scale — then that is the most wrong thing. That erases everything that’s great about our country.”

McGraw specifically criticized President Bush. “There’s no reason why someone can’t go down there who’s supposed to be the leader of the free world … and say, ‘I’m giving you a job to do and I’m not leaving here until it’s done. And you’re held accountable, and you’re held accountable, and you’re held accountable. …”

(snip)

Hill, who grew up in Jackson, Miss., echoed those sentiments. So overwhelmed, she uncharacteristically unleashed an epithet, calling the situation, “Bull- – – -“

“It is a huge, huge problem and it’s embarrassing,” she said.

“I fear for our country if we can’t handle our people [during] a natural disaster. And I can’t stand to see it. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out point A to point B. . . . And they can’t even skip from point A to point B.

You know, when Faith Hill starts calling “Bullshit” on the President, it’s a sign of just how far he’s sunk in public opinion since last summer. The 30-percenters are going to have a hard time with the cognitive dissonance this will cause.

Imagine their dilemma: “Faith and Tim say Bush is bad….but Bush is good…but…Tim and Faith say….” BLAM! (sound of heads exploding)

Mad King George

I see this picture, and in my head I can hear certain lines from the Lion King’s I Just Can’t Wait to be King*, with King George singing Simba’s lines:

I’m gonna be a mighty king
So enemies beware!
…
I’m brushing up on looking down
I’m working on my ROAR
…
Free to run around all day
Free to do it all my way!
…
Kings don’t need advice
From little hornbills for a start
…
Oh, I just can’t wait to be king!

*Music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice

Best Tea-Spewing Line This Morning

Thanks Bob Geiger, for the mental image that made me spew hot tea through my nose and has made it necessary for me to change keyboards….again. (Note to self – no liquids while reading Bob or Jesus’ General!)

At the massive fibathon held daily at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (also known as the White House press briefing) Press Secretary Scott McClellan danced like Patrick Swayze yesterday when asked about the new South Dakota ban on abortions.

Oh my! Just the thought of Scottie dirty-dancing his way around the White House Press Room……

Santorum ‘hearts’ lobbyists – again

Sen. Rick Santorum – the soon-to-be-jobless Senator from my home state – has resumed his meetings with lobbyists. You know, the ones he promised in January to stop?

He’s like a junkie who promises to go clean and even goes through rehab, but just can’t keep away from the bad stuff.

The Washington Post says:

After saying in January that he would end his regular meetings with lobbyists, Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), the third-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, has continued to meet with many of the same lobbyists at the same time and on the same day of the week.

Santorum, whose ties to Washington lobbyists have been criticized by his Democratic challenger, suspended his biweekly encounters on Jan. 30. His decision came as Democrats named him as their top target in November’s Senate races, and after the guilty plea of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff to charges of conspiring to corrupt public officials.

But in the month since his announcement, Santorum has held two meetings attended by the same core group of lobbyists, and has used the sessions to appeal for campaign aid, according to participants. Both of those meetings were convened at the same time as the previous meetings — 8:30 a.m. — on the same day of the week — Tuesday — and they lasted for about as long as the earlier meetings — one hour.

*sigh* Ricky, Ricky, Ricky….if you can’t help yourself, I guess the voters of Pennsylvania will have to do an intervention and permanently separate you from the big money guys. Come November Ricky, you’ll be saved from those big bad lobbyists, and you might have to come home and make your kids go to school in PA. Oh, the horror!

**Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images file

I’ll believe it when I see a veto

Headline on msnbc.com:

House Republicans defy Bush on ports deal

AP – In a congressional election-year repudiation of President Bush, a House panel dominated by Republicans voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block a Dubai-owned firm from taking control of some U.S port operations. Democrats clamored for a vote in the Senate, too.

By 62-2, the House Appropriations Committee voted to bar DP World, run by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, from holding leases or contracts at U.S. ports. The landslide vote was the strongest signal yet that more than three weeks of White House efforts to stunt congressional opposition to the deal have not been successful.

Are we really supposed to believe that – out of the goodness of their greedy little hearts, I suppose – the Republicans are worried about the security of this country?

These are the same people who just voted to increase the debt ceiling to a record $1.2 trillion and cut veteran’s benefits. These are the same people who took lots of money from Jack Abramoff, yet claim they’re working on ‘lobbying reform’. (Heck, why not make bribery legal? Get the President to say he authorized it. No problem!)

Some of these folks are starting to sound like Democrats. Like this guy:

‘One of the most vulnerable situations facing America is our ports of entry,’ said Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla., chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee. ‘Whoever’s responsible for those ports of entry should be American.’

And this one:

‘This is a national security issue,’ said Rep. Jerry Lewis, the chairman of the House panel, adding that the legislation would ‘keep America’s ports in American hands.’

Apparently the House has responded to Bush’s ‘Trust me.’ with a great big ‘F**k you!’ If only we could entertain the hope that it was the first of many, but you know as well as I do, this is just a stunt to make the incumbents look just a little better come November.

Glenn Greenwald has a great post on this: Post-Mortem on the Intelligence Committe Vote