July 2010

Justice Denied for Pan Am 103 Victims & Families

The world is full of injustice: Like the “Serenity Prayer”, most of us live each day trying to change what we can while not driving ourselves crazy over the things we can’t. It’s that “wisdom to know the difference” part that’s tricky.

But some things are so outrageous, so full of avarice and evil that you wonder how people who are subjected to them, survive.

That’s how I feel about what appears to be the blatant murderer-for-oil swap that has taken place between Great Britain, British Petroleum, and Libya. My thoughts in their entirety are available in my latest column on The Daily Caller.

It’s bad enough that mass murderer al Megrahi, the only person convicted for the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie Scotland, was released at all, but to now hear that the doctor whose report set al Megrahi free, was bought off, and to  know that Gadafi’s son admits Libya told the British the oil deal would be stalled without al Megrahi’s release, is beyond infuriating.

And as if the feeling of helplessness could be any worse, four senators are calling for a State Dept investigation. Yes, that will do a lot of good: Our leaders in Washington are so effective, I’m sure that BP will shake in terror at the thought of a U.S. investigation. That’s why our Gulf Coast is drowning in BP oil.

Al Megrahi is living in luxury in Libya and BP is about to start a billion dollar drilling operation off the North Africa coast, while the families of the Pan Am 103 victims have seen their loved ones memories trampled.

The amount of wisdom needed to handle that much injustice is more than I can imagine.

An excerpt from “The human pawns of Pan Am 103”:

In August of 2009, when al Megrahi was released by Scotland on humanitarian grounds, the story that it was a business arrangement to allow British Petroleum access to Libya’s oil fields, started to circulate among the Pan Am 103 inner circle on the secure website provided to them by the Scottish government. With the perception of a grieving mother, Jane Schultz wrote a personal letter to Scottish Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill, stating:

Make no mistake that in the coming days and years, Qaddafi will make a mockery of the Scottish compassion shown today. Libya’s oil and gas fields are the only winners in your decision.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/14/the-human-pawns-of-pan-am-103/#ixzz0tiKBrMwp

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Pennsylvania and the Second Amendment

The DC logo My second column for the news and information site, The Daily Caller, has been posted. “Greetings from the land of guns and religion” is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at the recent SCOTUS McDonald v. City of Chicago ruling of last week.

The court’s sweeping decision to uphold the right to keep and bear arms really took me by surprise. As we’ve been watching government slowly erode our freedoms and our privacy, my expectations have sunk so low that such a strong defense of the Bill of Rights came as a shock.

The lower courts will now have the very important job of protecting us from municipal and state laws that do not conform to the Supreme’s interpretation of the Second Amendment.

From the top to the bottom, this is the quintessential example of why making appointments to our courts is one of the most important and impactful of Presidential prerogatives.

Like many rulings lately, McDonald was a slim 5 – 4 victory. It will only take one more retirement before 2012 to tip the scales the other way.

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Saving Sakineh

While the east coast of the United States enjoyed idyllic weather (before the heat wave set in) and celebrated one of our most festive national holidays, a woman has been languishing for almost six years in an Iranian prison. Charged and convicted of “adultery” with what appears to be no proof, Sakineh received 99 lashes as her punishment. A barbaric act that her children were forced to watch. She has remained in prison ever since.

Now, for some unknown, or at least publicly unstated reason, the case has been reopened, and Sakineh has been sentenced to death by stoning. An international effort is being mounted to bring pressure to bear on the Iranian government to commute the sentence.

 

Several weeks ago, before this case gained world-wide attention, I rented a movie which I had heard about through my Afghan friends. The movie, titled “The Stoning of Soraya M” was the true story of another Iranian woman who had met this horrible fate. The film left me with images that I still cannot remove from my mind, which is why I am so horrified at the prospect of Sakineh meeting the same fate.

It is difficult to believe that in the 21st century, this barbarism is still practiced. This is not about cultural sensitivity or respecting another religion; this is about inhumane and murderous acts.

If you are on Facebook, please go to the “Save Sakineh” page and sign the petition that will hopefully be presented to the Iranian government. It will only take a minute and it just might help save her life.

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