All Things Come To Those Who Wait ~ And Remember

Hub tells me I have a great mind for trivia. In some cases it can prove valuable. Like clearing up a puzzle that has bothered me for months.

Some time ago our State Department involved itself in the dispute over a perfectly legal election that took place in Honduras. The President wanted to change the constitution so he, like his mentor Chavez in Venezuela, could remain in power for life even though he had been soundly defeated. Said President was a scoundrel. Why the State Department chose to back him against the newly elected President and the totally legal actions of their courts and military in escorting him out of the country was beyond my comprehension.

The story dragged on for awhile. Zayala found refuge in Brazil and sat straddling the border for some time in an effort to gain his way back. He failed.

Buy why? Well, thanks to a couple of Wikileaked cables, the saga is at least partially cleared up. It is disgusting.

According to Mary Anastasia O'Grady, in this morning's Wall Street Journal,  it was done to appease Chavez who is the power in the region. He has more allies in Latin America than we do, so...

We wanted Zayala portrayed as he himself wanted - a benevolent leader put upon by the powerful. What twisted logic! Our people on the ground even told State that allegations against him were well founded yet the State Department refused to release the credible analysis.

Here is a case where the little guy won. Honduras, it's people and it's government. Here is a case where the United States looks totally inept in trying to pacify a dictator who hates everything about us. It didn't work. We should be ashamed of ourselves. We aren't. I'm sure they figure most of us have forgotten about it.

Well, I haven't. If this is our foreign policy; where we put expedience toward a petty dictator before our own values, it's no wonder respect for the United States is dwindling.

Does Afghanistan ring a bell? Expedience toward a petty dictator - wanna be? If there is a God on our side, may He guide us! With actions such as these, we surely need it.

Whistle While You Work

I sit pondering the wisdom of the passage of the ban on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". Not because I disagree. I just don't think implementation has been thought through yet. Then there is the pork laden Omnibus Bill that is the Democrats' Christmas gift to us. I've never received a slap in the face from a contemptuous body of people before. And you wonder why our cards say "Baah Humbug"!

So I turn to a lighter note. Well, sort of. It is, on occasion nice to hear about a person so happy he breaks out in song. There is a Salvation Army bell ringer at Fred Meyer's who sings carols. He is a joy to behold. I hope he never tries to yodel.

What has that to do with anything? It seems a man in Austria did just that as he was mowing his lawn. By his own admission it was because he was in a great mood. It seems his next door neighbors are Muslim and were in the middle of prayers when he began. Being rash, they immediately thought he was mocking them by imitating the call to prayer!

I've heard yodeling and I've heard the call to prayer. I detect not even a hint of similarity. Maybe I have a tin ear.

All good sense completely disappeared when a judge fined him 800 Euros because he could have been mocking them. Could is the key here!

I'm sorry. This isn't really a fluff piece. It shows just how paranoid the world is becoming. The Muslims automatically thinking they're being mocked. And a judge fining the not so happy yodeler for something he could have intended. It's insanity!

On second thought, I'd like to hear the bell ringer yodel a carol. It would be a hoot. But it wouldn't sound like one.  Even if it did, would an Owl sue?

Another Casualty Of War

He was hailed as "the best and the brightest", Richard Holbrooke. He wanted to be Secretary of State. If indeed he was the best and the brightest perhaps the post should have been his. It was his calling.

He served this country in the area of foreign policy whenever a Democrat held the Presidency. He did it with toughness and determination. What more could we ask of a public servant? He was a warrior.

He was also a casualty of war. The current war. Though not by an IED or rifle fire, he was killed, never-the-less, by the war. Wars. All of them since Vietnam accumulating in his system until, at 69, his constitution could no longer handle the stress. Frustration, fatigue.

He was the strength in what appears to be shaky foreign policy.  Where the President may appear weak to our adversaries, they know they had to face Holbrooke across the table. He was not warm and fuzzy.  No push over there.

His death leaves a huge hole in our negotiating abilities.  Who will take his place?  Who has the stature and, more importantly, the ability and skill to fill his shoes?  Should we prepare for the Taliban and al Qaeda to test our mettle?  I'd not be surprised.

Whether or not he had a premonition that he might not survive his surgery, I do not know.  But when he told his Pakistani surgeon, before he was sedated, that the war must end, it could not have been more clear how he felt.

It's bad enough we're wasting a generation of young soldiers in a battle with no end.  If it's now to the point of taking the same toll on those on the diplomatic side, perhaps it's time to listen.

When Is Enough Enough?

It's difficult to feel sorry for Bernie Madoff, the man who is serving 150 years for having swindled thousands of people of their life savings.  I cannot help, however, having compassion for what he must now be feeling.  The suicide of his son. Consequences can't hit much closer to home than that!

I am disturbed by the reasons why Mark Madoff chose to take his life.  I cannot imagine the pressures he must have felt, being judged guilty  of some unproven crime merely for being a son. The final straw for him seems to have come after learning the court appointed bankruptcy trustee had sued three of his children.

Mark Madoff had four children.  Two with a former wife, ages 16 an 18, and two with his current wife.  Two and four.  Just which three were sued?

I make no apologies for what the elder Madoff did, but it seems to me the bankruptcy trustee is a bit over zealous in his quixotic search for justice.  When people who have not officially been accused of anything are driven to suicide and children are sued, something is amiss.

Bernie Madoff  was caught and found guilty.  He is serving a horrendous price for a 72 year old man.  The monies lost will never be recovered.  Is this type of hounding not criminal in and of itself?  How many more must be ruined or driven beyond before "justice" is served?

Families ~ The End Of An Era?

Ekalaka, MT

We received a card from one of Hub's cousins yesterday. Her Mom was his Aunt.  One of 12 kids. Hub's Mom was the second youngest. With the card was the annual newsletter. I'm not big on newsletters; I've never, ever written one nor expect I ever will.  But when received I do read them.

This particular one struck me as particularly poignant.  How many of us hail from families consisting of 12 kids ~ unless competing for a reality show! There are so many relatives I've never been able to keep track.  We often test ourselves just trying to remember the original twelve!

This cousin and her husband have just left the ranch where they lived for 50 years. To move into town. Into the house that had been her grandmother's and her parent's among others.  Wow.  The house itself must be a treasure trove of history.

I've been reflecting on all the stories I've heard over the years about the ranch in Ekalaka.  I've never been there but have been promised the trip.  An outpost in south eastern Montana where paved roads are rare.

I've heard the stories about the family from Ottumwa, Iowa making the trek west.  Growing up in the sod hut on the prairie.  The stuff of western legend.  Lonesome Dove country.  In truth. The nearest town of any size being Miles City where in the movie Gus died.

The letter told news of family I didn't even know existed.  It told of the reunion held this past summer and gave dates for the 2011 event.  It told of those who have left us. Ah, yes, those who have left us.  Hub is one of the three youngest children of those original dozen and just left his 60s behind.

As I read about more and more people foregoing marriage, the number of children born out of wedlock and the distances now common among family members, I wonder what will become of family as a unit.  As a support mechanism.  It doesn't bode well for the future.

One day someone will find a letter such as the one I now have and wonder what it must have been like.  Having all those people about, helping one another with chores, the tough times, the sorrow, the triumphs, the good cheer - especially around the holidays when families used to gather.

What will be the reality of their times? It might be like my own reality when I set a Christmas table glistening with antique cut glass and sterling silver and wondering what it was like when such was used for more occasions than merely Christmas!  What must it have been like in the days of sleigh rides and snow men.  Harder to be sure but maybe, in it's way, far more rewarding.  It was the era of families.