20060504 Noonan’s WSJ Column: They should have killed him

Peggy Noonan: “They should have killed him.”

Gee, I sure wish Ms. Noonan could be a bit clearer in what she means. I mean, Peggy, why all the sugar coating?

If you missed Peggy Noonan’s column in the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page, you may want to take a moment to read it. You can find: “They Should Have Killed Him,” here: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110008330

The beginning of her piece reads:

PEGGY NOONAN

They Should Have Killed Him

The death penalty has a meaning, and it isn't vengeance.

Thursday, May 4, 2006 12:01 a.m.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP)--Moussaoui said as he was led from the courtroom: "America, you lost." He clapped his hands.

“Excuse me, I'm sorry, and I beg your pardon, but the jury's decision on Moussaoui gives me a very bad feeling. What we witnessed here was not the higher compassion but a dizzy failure of nerve.

“From the moment the decision was announced yesterday, everyone, all the parties involved--the cable jockeys, the legal analysts, the politicians, the victim representatives--showed an elaborate and jarring politesse. "We thank the jury." "I accept the verdict of course." "We can't question their hard work." "I know they did their best." "We thank the media for their hard work in covering this trial." "I don't want to second-guess the jury."

“How removed from our base passions we've become. Or hope to seem.

“It is as if we've become sophisticated beyond our intelligence, savvy beyond wisdom. Some might say we are showing a great and careful generosity, as befits a great nation. But maybe we're just, or also, rolling in our high-mindedness like a puppy in the grass. Maybe we are losing some crude old grit. Maybe it's not good we lose it.

“No one wants to say, "They should have killed him." This is understandable, for no one wants to be called vengeful, angry or, far worse, unenlightened. But we should have put him to death, and for one big reason.

This is what Moussaoui did…”

20060503 Baugher’s Restaurant

Baugher's Restaurant (c) Kevin Dayhoff
May 4th, 2006

Labels: Restaurants, Baugher’s,

Thursday, May 4th, 2006, I had dinner at Baugher’s Restaurant in Westminster Maryland.

To tell you just a little bit about Baugher’s Restaurant I have excerpted the following from my December 1^st, 2004 Westminster Advocate column…

“The Baugher family has a 100-year history of leadership (and risk-taking) in our community, so such involvement is not a surprise. Baugher’s Restaurant is one Westminster landmark easily recognized by folks throughout the state.

Ed and Romaine Baugher were married in 1932. Their son, Allan was born in 1935, delivered at home by Dr. Bare for $12.50. In 1947, they built Baugher’s Restaurant for approximately $75,000.

“According to a family history, when the restaurant opened in January 1948, public opinion was that the restaurant would fail. Indeed, the restaurant did not make money until the 1960’s.

“In the late 1960’s, I would go to Baugher’s with Tom Senseney, Bobby Warner and Scott Bair, Jr. Then, Baugher’s for Breakfast was where community leaders would meet and discuss the pressing issues of the day.

“As a child, I would watch with rapt attention, consumed in observing the intense discussions. Particularly impressive to me was, no matter how much they disagreed, they were always friendly, respectful and courteous.

© Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org

####

20060503 Congressional Pork: The Other Red Meat by Kevin Dayhoff

20060503 Congressional Pork: The Other Red Meat by Kevin Dayhoff

Congressional Pork: The Other Red Meat

May 3, 2006, by Kevin E. Dayhoff

The Tentacle

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll provided insight into the mind of the electorate. We are tired of pork, otherwise known as “earmarks.” And, rightfully so.

Even the least knowledgeable among us of the machinations and meanderings of Congress understands that someday the bill for our elected representative current obsession with credit card debt will eventually have to be paid.

Wasn’t it the Clinton administration that was so often criticized for not having any convictions, vision or plan of its own, except to go in the direction the latest poll? Maybe that’s why there is so much emphasis these days on poll numbers.

Bold leaders lead and only spineless superficial political sycophants are pre-occupied with news media fad polls. News media polls often involve selective trivialities trumping substance in an obvious attempt to distort the facts or promote an agenda.

Nevertheless, the results of this current Wall Street Journal/NBC poll are resonating as congressional pork has evolved from a minor annoyance into a major irritation. Voters are noticing that Congress has a bad habit of irresponsibly including local project expenditures into appropriation bills, which bypass the budgeting process, are authorized without debate, and have nothing to do with the focus of the national issues being addressed.

Advancing age allows us to ignore the folly of becoming unnecessarily excited about the manic swings and obsessive gnashing of teeth over “inside baseball” issues that ultimately will be but a mere blip in the history books. Thirty-five years from now, the hysteria over the Valerie Plame affair will be little more than a sentence in a chapter on the beginnings of this century. But those reading that sentence still will be cognizant of the debt with which we saddled them.

The agitation over the newfound, undisciplined spending and fiscal irresponsibility of the Republican-led U. S. Congress has staying power; and, if we are not careful, it may very well become a real issue in this fall’s elections.

Read the rest of the column here: Congressional Pork: The Other Red Meat

####