Thought for Today

"Ten years have passed since a perfect blue sky morning turned into the blackest of nights. Since then we've lived in sunshine and in shadow, and although we can never unsee what happened here, we can also see that children who lost their parents have grown into young adults, grandchildren have been born and good works and public service have taken root to honor those we loved and lost."

~~~~~ Mayor Michael Bloomberg

              September 11, 2011

Respect: The Budweiser Clydesdale Salute to 9/11

In Memoriam: William Safire (1929–2009)

Photo: Fred R. Conrad/The New York TimesIn memory of the great William Safire, who just passed away, here are his "Rules for Writers:"

Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive voice should never be used. Do not put statements in the negative form. Verbs have to agree with their subjects. Proofread carefully to see if you words out. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. A writer must not shift your point of view. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.) Don't overuse exclamation marks!! Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing. Always pick on the correct idiom. The adverb always follows the verb. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.

We'll miss you, Mr. Safire. We need you now more than ever. Rest well, sir; you have earned your reward.

In Memoriam: Les Paul

Les Paul (June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009)

Mary Ford (July 7, 1924 – September 30, 1977)

Sarah Palin on the Holocaust Museum Shooting

Yesterday, Governor Sarah Palin issued this simple, elegant statement following the National Holocaust Museum shooting:

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the shooting victims at the National Holocaust Museum. The museum itself remembers and honors the lives lost in one of the world's most horrific genocides. To have an act of intolerance further spread hatred at this place of reflection, further adds to the grief. My heart goes out to all those impacted, especially the brave guards who acted so selflessly to prevent further injury. May God Bless the Jewish community."

President Reagan couldn't have said it better.

The last full measure of devotion...

Read this deeply moving account of the homecoming of a Fallen Soldier.


Hat tip: Ace of Spades, who in turn got it from Blackfive.

9/11 Tribute Links

Here is the link to the masterful 9/11 tribute presentation made by Steve Golding:
September 11, 2001 - 911 Emergency.

(Be patient – it's a 7 megabyte file, which will take a little while to load. It's most definitely worth the wait.)

Here's his personal story of what happened to him that fateful day, and how he came to make this remarkable tribute:
My Account of That Day.

Be sure to read the "Email from Steve Golding" at the end.

Steve's presentation inspired Debi Chowning to make a similar, though shorter, tribute to those who died at the Pentagon:
America Attacked 9 1 1 PENTAGON.

Please add these bookmarks to your collection, and share them as widely as you can.

Just as with The Holocaust – NEVER AGAIN!

Remember

Hat tip: Townhall.com

Crime and Punishment

At one time, the United States had a reputation as a country in which, for the most part, punishment followed crime as night follows day. No longer. Now, the most heinous crimes often go completely unpunished in some of our more liberal states. Particularly egregious are the states, such as Vermont, which claim to believe in so-called "restorative justice," which, in practice, means letting defendants who are unquestionably guilty of the most heinous crimes against children off with a very mild slap on the wrist.

Even in our toughest states, particularly Texas, justice is commonly delayed for years, and even decades, by the actions of liberal lawyers and organizations.

One such particularly flagrant case was just brought to satisfactory closure after a delay of fifteen years. Even then, it was a close thing, decided at the last minute by a Supreme Court which voted 5-4 not to impose a stay.


Early yesterday morning, a piece of human dog feces named Jose Ernesto Medellin was finally put to death by the State of Texas for his part in the spectacularly brutal 1993 gang rape, torture, and murder of two Houston girls. Two friends, 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena, were walking home from another friend's house, trying to get home by their 11:30 PM curfew. They never made it.

Jennifer and Elizabeth could have stayed on the main street, but had they done so, their route would have taken them past an X-rated adult bookstore known to attract a rowdy crowd at night. Therefore, they chose to take a familiar shortcut --- a short walk along a railroad track, then through a city park, directly back to their neighborhood. As they approached the park, they had no way of knowing that unspeakable atrocities and death lay directly ahead in the form of Jose Ernesto Medellin, his younger brother, and four other gangbangers who were in the process of initiating one of their number into the gang.

The mainstream media has reported on this story in a strangely stilted and restricted manner. To them, the big story was the protest by the Mexican government and their idiot liberal US allies that Medellin's rights had somehow been violated when he was not automatically given access to the Mexican consul upon his arrest. Not once have I ever heard them mention what Medellin had done to deserve arrest. Nowhere did I see any sort of reasonably complete account of his actions toward Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena on that fateful 1993 night.

For the full, horrifying details of this story, we must thank radio talk show host Michael Savage, who related it earlier this evening in one of the best broadcasts I have ever heard him, or, for that matter, anyone, do.

Savage has linked to the two current news stories, "Mexican-born killer put to death in Texas" and "Divided U.S. Supreme Court Allows Mexican National's Execution," but his greatest contribution was to publicize this account of exactly what Medellin and his five fellow gangbangers had done to deserve their punishment: Kill the killers so no more innocents die.

In fact, not only did Michael Savage let his listeners know about it, he read the story over the air, while the chillingly beautiful strains of the Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem Mass played in the background.



Savage did not attempt to dramatize the account, for no dramatization is needed, Instead, he read it in a cold, barely-controlled fury.

Before you click the link to read the account, let me warn you – it is very, very graphic. If you read it, you'll undoubtedly be left wondering, as I was, why it should have taken fifteen long years to carry out the death penalty upon this piece of human garbage. Even at that, we must recognize that had the crime occurred in any other state (sadly, including Tennessee), Medellin would almost certainly still be among the living instead of freshly arrived in the nether regions of Hell.

Just think – had their lives not been so suddenly and brutally snuffed out by Medellin and his compadres, Jennifer and Elizabeth would now be young ladies of 29 and 31 years of age. Undoubtedly, they'd be married by now, and have children of their own. These girls had the whole rest of their lives to live until they happened to take that fateful shortcut through the park. Their parents have suffered wounds from which they will never heal. Yet, only yesterday was one of these killers executed, while another, supposedly the ringleader of the gang, still sits on Death Row while a gaggle of liberal lawyers try their best to get him off.

In a way, it's easy to understand why, despite the overwhelming wishes of the citizenry, most states either no longer authorize the death penalty, or no longer impose it in practice even though it is still theoretically available for the most heinous cases. It takes a great deal of determination to impose the ultimate penalty in the face of loud and emotional opposition from liberal lawyers, the ACLU, the American Bar Association, nearly half of the U.S. Supreme Court, the International Court of Justice ("World Court"), the Government of Mexico, and, shamefully in this case, even the President of the United States, who attempted to intervene. Thank God for Texas, its long tradition of hard-nosed, yet scrupulously fair, justice, and its blessedly stubborn governor, Rick Perry.

And may Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena rest in peace.

Uncommon Valor – A Forgotten Story

Hal G. P. Colebatch, an Australian lawyer and author, has uncovered a remarkable story of American valor against insurmountable odds during the darkest days of World War II. You can read about it here "Stephen Hopkins vs. the Germans," in today's version of The American Spectator.

As Colebatch succinctly states,

This is the story of a forgotten ship with a prosaic name. But when I came across it accidentally in the course of some other research I thought it a story that it would be good for America to be reminded of. And, possibly, good for America's enemies to be reminded of, too.

By all means, go read this amazing story. If nothing else, it will place our present difficulties, minor by comparison, into proper perspective, and renew either your pride in being an American, or your envy of those of us who are fortunate enough to be citizens of the greatest nation in the world.

Memorial Day Masterpiece from Michael Ramirez

A woman of valour

Please click over to Meryl Yourish's indispensable blog and read this post "A woman of valour" about Irena Sendler, who has just passed away at the age of 98. I added a comment to Meryl's post, but wouldn't change a word of what she has written even if I could.

Thanks, Meryl.

5/17/08 BUMPED UP AND UPDATED: The Wall Street Journal has weighed in with an eloquent tribute, "Irena's Worlds," which originally ran in Wall Street Journal Europe.

The Talmud says that "whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world." Irena Sendlerowa, who died Monday at the age of 98 in Warsaw, saved some 2,500 worlds.

During the Nazi occupation of her country, this Polish Catholic woman risked her life and endured unspeakable torture to rescue Jewish children from the Holocaust. As a member of "Zegota," the organization set up by the Polish underground to help Jews, she masterminded a daring rescue operation: Posing as a nurse, she and about 20 other Poles smuggled about 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto.

Spirited out in ambulances, coffins, sacks and through sewers and tunnels, the kids were given Christian names and placed with Polish families, convents and orphanages. Sendlerowa meticulously recorded the children's real names and their new identities so that they could be eventually reunited with their parents. Most of them, though, had no family to return to after the war.

In 1943, the Germans arrested Sendlerowa. They broke her legs and feet to get her to divulge the names of her helpers and the children's whereabouts. She told them nothing. Sentenced to death, Sendlerowa narrowly escaped after Zegota bribed a guard. She continued her underground work until Germany's defeat.

Recognition, which she never sought, came late in her life. Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, honored her in 1965. The Communists didn't let her travel to accept the award. In 2003 she received the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest civilian decoration. Polish President Lech Kaczynski lobbied hard for her to win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. But Al Gore got the award.

Ill health prevented Sendlerowa from attending a Polish parliament ceremony last year that recognized her as a national hero. Instead she told the lawmakers in a letter: "Every child saved with my help and the help of all the wonderful secret messengers, who today are no longer living, is the justification of my existence on this earth, and not a title to glory."

That's the way it always is with true heroes. Invariably, they're reluctant to talk about their deeds, and do so only when they must. Characteristically, they deny that they did anything out of the ordinary, and insist they they were just doing their jobs. Nevertheless, despite this remarkable woman's modesty, there's no doubt that she has earned her "title to glory," along with a place at God's right hand.