July 31st, 2007: The Dog Days of Summer

Right behing you, I see the millions
On you, I see the glory
From you, I get opinion
From you, I get the story


Today was basically a wash as spotty internet access to my two biggest online addictions (see below) were/are hampering my ability to do nothing and relax. But that wasn't anything compare to the news my family got today.
I found out my Marine cousin, Josh, is to be deployed to Iraq in the next few days. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, especially considering his younger brother Luke also enlisted in the Marines and who knows whats in store for him.
Its hard to be objective when thinking about something like the Iraq War when you have loved ones about to be put smack dab in the middle of such a dangerous situation. I still stand by the noble intentions of liberating an oppressed people and spreading democracy, etc... but all those in the neocon branch of the Republican party are kidding themselves if they think this war was properly fought from Day 1. Because Day 1 wasn't when our first soldier touched foot in Iraq or Baghdad, but instead when the war was just the twinkle in a politician's eye. We should have looked at it from the end and worked our way to the beginning. What I mean by that is plan the end result, then work out in depth how to get there. Instead of that, I think too many in the administration took for granted a smooth exit after the departure of Saddam and instead focused on padding approval ratings from a smoothly executed conflict. WMD's be damned, I was fine with liberation, as was most of America, but the fact that parts of our intentions were overstated, links from Iraq to 9/11 were played up when there were none, and our strategy failed to take into account a bloody secretarian dispute... and you have a catastrophic mess.
Now, that said, we are in this war, and we owe it not only to those who served and died to preserve the objectives of our mission there, but also to the Iraqis who are living with the administration's mistakes to solve this conflict as best as it can be. And please, liberals, stop diluting yourself into thinking we've already lost (please take note, Harry Reid). That kind of attitude is a pariah that can be tolerated in small numbers, but not by our Senate Majority Leader. Honestly, a man with as little faith in our military shouldn't be in a position to be making important decisions in regard to a mall security detachment let alone the world's enforcers of freedom.
This brings me back to the sad realization that the fate of someone so close to me is in the hands of two men that, while on opposite ends of the political spectrum, are equally as inept as handling the lives of others. Josh, I know you'll stay safe, you have a good head about you plus the prayers of this family and the country behind you. Just know how much I and others, no matter what the MSM or activists would have you believe, admire and respect you. You are my role model. Stay positive and know that what you're doing means so much in comparison to what I or others are writing or saying here at home. You, cousin, are the hero.


Thats it for me now. Hopefully something more cheerful can change the tone of the next entry!

Until next time...

Sox Land Gagne!!!

Done deal!!

Can you say "championship?"

What's Going On???

Facebook is down, with the message:

We're upgrading.

We'll be back soon.

Thats not helping me slack off at work.
And Sons of Sam Horn is down too with a flurry of traffic from MLB's Trading Deadline, no doubt. I really hope the Sox pick up RP Eric Gagne, though I'm holding my opinion of OF Jermaine Dye for now. Still, I need SoSH to keep me up to date. What's going on???

July 30th, 2007: Following in the Footsteps of those Blogging Greats...

Can't you hear me knockin' on your door
Can't you hear me knockin' down the dirty street..

That’s right, the point of this post is to inform the bigger blogging community at large of my coming. Well hardly, I just had the song stuck in my head from playing my new Guitar Hero, but still, I figure this is as good a time as any to further refine my aim of this blog.

I’m going to stop kidding myself and just get it out there: a lot of the content here is going to deal with my take on politics. And another thing: it isn’t going to be unbiased. Take that Fairness Doctrine!

That’s right, you’re going to be witnessing a good example of the difficulty of walking line between commentary and news. Then again, I’m afforded that luxury seeing as I’m no editor, anchor, or publisher of the “MSM.” Rather, you’ll be reading things on here through my nice tinge of Yankee Conservatism (no, that is not an oxymoron). Take today’s major news stories for example:

Chief justice tumbles after seizure

“WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Chief Justice John Roberts suffered a seizure at his summer home off the coast of Maine, causing him to fall, the Supreme Court said Monday.

Chief Justice John Roberts was taken to a hospital in Maine after a fall at his summer home.

Roberts was conscious after the fall, which happened at his vacation home near Port Clyde, Maine, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg told CNN.

The chief justice was taken to a nearby hospital where he is expected to stay overnight.

Roberts has "fully recovered from the incident," and a neurological evaluation "revealed no cause for concern," the Supreme Court said.”

Link

Now, I am of the opinion that Chief Justice Roberts has a unique and enviable position to lead the country’s head judicial body in a direction its sorely been lacking for years. The Roberts court will have the opportunity to address many controversial issues, already including executive power and race relations. But perhaps most importantly, the hot button issues of the day, including THE ISSUE (which will hereinafter be a reference to pro-life vs. pro-abortion debate) looks to be on the horizon.

The significance of this scare from the SCotUS is that without Roberts at the helm, or any of the justices for that matter, the new Bush nominee is likely to be held up by the now Democratic controlled Senate. Oy.

You can say what you want about President Bush, but in my opinion, one of the few things he’s gets excellent marks on are his nominations for the SCotUS. Justices Roberts and Alito are brilliant legal minds committed to upholding the Constitution as it was written… aka not taking giant activist leaps from the bench. Hence, if we are to think President Bush will get another shot at replacing a FAR LEFT member of the court, *cough*GinsbergStevens *cough* it isn’t going to be as easy as the nominations of Roberts and Alito. The risk now becomes that he’ll have to nominate a “lite” candidate, such as Justice Kennedy, who will waffle as the “swing vote” (and since when did that become a noble quality of a SCotUS Justice? I have just as much respect for someone like Justice O’Connor as I do any other… no more, no less). A candidate with the proven track record America wants is more likely to be “Borked” than anything. And ya know what, the Dems aren’t going to take anyone but a filler justice along the lines of Justice Souter. So there’s a problem. Hence why I’m so scared about Justice Roberts. I can only pray for a speedy return and that he’s up and ready for the job for a long, long time.

F.B.I. and I.R.S. Search Home of Senator Stevens

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Agents from the FBI and Internal Revenue Service on Monday searched the home of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, an official said.

Investigators arrived at the Republican senator's home in Girdwood shortly before 2:30 p.m. Alaska time, said Dave Heller, FBI assistant special agent.

Heller said he could not comment on the nature of the investigation.

The Justice Department has been looking into the seven-term senator's relationship with a wealthy contractor as part of a public corruption investigation.

Link

And Republicans wonder why they lost big in 2006. According to polls, it wasn’t all because of Iraq. It was more because of Reps. Cunningham, Foley, and DeLay robbing the people of their confidence with their corruption scandals. And now this. Why couldn’t the Republicans just sit this one out and let the wildly unpopular Democratic Congress make their own mistakes??? Suppose this was bound to happen. I guess not all the bums were swept out in the “Democratic Tsunami” of 2006.

We here (I, actually) at Tavern Banter are against corruption at all times. All governments should be first and foremost honest. So this comes as a blow no matter what side of the aisle makes the mistakes. Corruption needs to end, though I hate to say it but I am almost resigned to the fact that it is human nature and I need to accept it. Almost. Right now, I’m going to speak out about it no matter how I can and with my first stand here on Tavern Banter, I declare the following:

In order to be productive, we must as a society hold accountable our leaders to be above all else clean and honest and failure to do so, no matter what party or interest you represent, should lead to your resignation.

Of course, you are innocent until proven guilty, which is why I will refrain from jumping on Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick for his dog-fighting charge. But Sen. Stevens, you’re on notice.

So there you have it, two lengthy discourses on politics. I hope you aren’t scared off, and I promise you more, uh, interesting content in days to come. That’s it for now though, back to Guitar Hero.

Until next time…

The Inaugural Post

So may I introduce to you
The act you've known for all these years…

Welcome, welcome, and a warm hello to everyone reading the first sputterings of Tavern Banter, a modest resource for yours truly, Hal, to talk aloud about random musings. It’s high time I got on the blog train, though I can only imagine a few readers to ever glance across these pixels. For those interested, expect a common-man’s point of view on a selection of ideas important to a regular bloke like myself. Lots of discussion will involve our country’s favorite pastime (in case you forgot, it’s still baseball), reflections on my unhealthy love of classic rock, and perhaps most importantly, the future of our country in regards to the path President Reagan and other values-driven leaders set us upon many moons ago. Of course, many other topics will be addressed as usually this writing will be stream-of-conscious rants, but I promise to at least try and keep it interesting.

And now a little background:

You can call me Hal. I am a college student at the beautiful Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, though I am a proud citizen of the great state of Connecticut. Born and raised in the same house in Fairfield, I am very privileged to enjoy a strong family and incredible friends and peers. I am studying political science and one day hope to lead with the same values that have worked so well for families like mine across New England and more importantly across the country. Still, that’s a bit down the line as now I’m nothing but a wide-eyed outsider trying to take it all in. Raw, inexperienced… I think a small-time blog is good for a first gig.

This is all for now, but soon I’ll get you some more juicy material.

Until next time…