Al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden is dead and the United States has his body, a person familiar with the developments says. (May 1)
George W. Bush has to be the happiest man in the world tonight. The mastermind of 9/11 was killed by the USA, and to me that tells the world that the USA will get our enemies eventually. I remember like yesterday the video clip of President Bush telling the people of New York that justice will be served.
George W. Bush visits police, firemen, and rescue workers at Ground Zero on September 14, 2001.
The Associated Press reported today in the article,"Sources: Al-Qaida head bin Laden dead" by Julie Pace:
Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States, is dead, and the U.S. is in possession of his body, a person familiar with the situation said late Sunday.
President Barack Obama was expected to address the nation on the developments Sunday night.
Two senior counterterrorism officials confirmed that bin Laden was killed in Pakistan last week. One said bin Laden was killed in a ground operation, not by a Predator drone. Both said the operation was based on U.S. intelligence, and both said the U.S. is in possession of bin Laden's body.
Officials long believed bin Laden, the most wanted man in the world, was hiding a mountainous region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak ahead of the president.
The development comes just months before the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and Pentagon, orchestrated by bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, that killed more than 3,000 people.
The attacks set off a chain of events that led the United States into wars in Afghanistan, and then Iraq, and America's entire intelligence apparatus was overhauled to counter the threat of more terror attacks at home.
Al-Qaida organization was also blamed for the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 231 people and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen, as well as countless other plots, some successful and some foiled.
_____________________________________________________________
My son Hunter has done a tour in Iraq and will be heading to Afghanistan for a second tour. My nephew Jeremy Parks is in Afghanistan right now finishing up his first tour. Probably neither one of them would have even joined the army if it had not been for 9/11.
A september 11 2001 tribute, and a watch of what happend that horrible morning near World Trade Center buildings, A terrible saw of what happend on the towers basements also. Never Forget 9/11/01
But that didn’t mean journalists were spared any ridicule Saturday night.
The evening’s celebrity host Seth Meyers, “Saturday Night Live” writer and star, mocked some of the industry’s best-known faces.
“Katie [Couric] was known best for asking those tough questions like, ‘name a newspaper,” Meyers said, referencing Couric’s 2008 interview with Sarah Palin. “Years of hard-hitting questions, and she’s going to be remembered for the one that could have doubled as a category on ‘The Family Feud.’ “
On Juan Williams, the NPR journalist fired after saying he gets nervous on a plane when he sees people dressed in “Muslim garb,” Meyers said, “so Juan is black and afraid of Muslims, making him the least likely man to get a cab in New York City.”
But some of Meyers most biting remarks were reserved for 2012 hopefuls and the president himself.
Meyers suggested Romney’s book “No Apologies” actually indicated Romney made many mistakes. “If I come home from a trip to Vegas and the first thing I say to my girlfriend is ‘no apologies,’ we’re gonna have a follow up conversation,” Meyers quipped.
Meyers made fun of Trump’s hair, likening it to a fox that would be happy to finish the leftovers at his table, said Pawlenty makes Al Gore look like drag queen RuPaul, and joked that Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and son Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have something in common with Meyers and his own father: “we’re also not going to get elected president.”
Meyers also took a few digs at Obama.
“Who knows if they can beat you in 2012?” Meyers said of the potential GOP field. “But I’ll tell you who can definitely beat you, Mr. President–2008 Barack Obama,” he said, standing feet from the commander-in-chief as the audience roared with laughter. “You would have loved him–so charismatic, so charming. Was he a little too idealistic? Maybe. But you would have loved him.”
And Meyers also took note of the toll the presidency has apparently taken on the president’s appearance. Meyers said the First Lady looked even more beautiful at Saturday’s dinner than she did on Inauguration Day 2009. “But you, Mr. President have aged a little,” Meyers said. “What happened to you? When you were sworn in you looked like the guy from the Old Spice commercials. Now you look like Louis Gossett Sr.,” he said, referencing 74-year-old actor Louis Gossett Jr.
“Maybe you should start smoking again,” Meyers said. “If your hair gets any whiter, the tea party is going to endorse it.”
Jason Tolbert reported that Mike Huckabee is coming to Arkansas for a big fundraiser. If it goes well there be a great chance that Huckabee may throw his hat into the ring. Just think about the fact that Huckabee just might be in the same seat President Obama was in this year where he hosted the dinner. I wonder if he could take getting hit by all those jokes or not.
Donald Trump took the jokes leveled at him in stride. I personally think Donald Trump himself is a joke. I think most conservative republicans think the same. Take a look at what Tolbert wrote on the subject.
Over the last decade, we have become a society obsessed with reality shows. That culture seems to be bleeding over to presidential politics.
How so?
Well, three of the top contenders — at least to some degree — are already reality show stars. Donald Trump of NBC’s “The Apprentice,” Mike Huckabee of Fox News’ “Huckabee,” and Sarah Palin of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” all are mentioned in the same breath as Republican Primary 2012.
In fairness, unlike the winners of Big Brother or Survivor, these three were well-known pre-primetime TV.
Donald Trump’s fame was mostly based on being filthy rich. A real estate developer and owner of hotels and casinos across the country, Trump’s net wealth is somewhere in the millions, although no one really knows for sure. He has practiced a tradition of putting his name “Trump” on virtually everything he owns, increasing the public perception of him as a mega-rich guy.
After weeks of keeping his thoughts about Donald Trump largely to himself, President Obama on Saturday night ridiculed the real estate magnate in front of a live televised audience at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C.
As Trump and wife Melania sat among the guests gathered at the Washington Hilton, Obama poked fun at Trump’s reality show, said Trump lacked the “credentials” to be president, and mocked the businessman’s recent crusade to get Obama to release his long-form birth certificate.
“I know that he’s taken some flack lately,” Obama said of Trump. “But no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald.”
But then the president quickly changed gears. “And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like–did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?” Obama said, referencing rap icons Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur.
You can watch Obama’s 19-minute speech in its entirety below:
But Obama didn’t stop at making light of the mutual infatuation of Trump and the birther movement.
The president next mocked Trump’s background, saying, “All kidding aside. Obviously we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience,” a dig at Trump’s political background that evoked laughter from the audience of journalists, politicians and celebrities.
Obama then chose to reference a recent episode of “Celebrity Apprentice” that featured Trump, the star of the program, firing actor Gary Busey instead of singer Meatloaf and rapper Lil Jon in an Omaha Steak challenge. “And these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night,” Obama said as the audience roared with laughter and applause. “Well handled, sir. Well handled.”
It’s typical for the speeches at the annual dinner to play out as a roast, poking fun at the self-importance of the national political scene. But Obama’s lampooning of Trump and the birther crusade held special significance, since the Correspondents Dinner festivities marked the first time the president and Trump were in the same room since Trump began his highly publicized campaign to get Obama to release his birth certificate.
The president made fun of the controversy, saying that he was prepared to “go a step further.”
“Tonight, for the first time, I am releasing my official birth video,” he told the audience. But then he played a clip of lion Simba’s birth in Disney’s cartoon movie The Lion King.
“I want to make clear to the Fox News table–that was a joke,” the president said of the Disney clip.
Obama also made some jokes at his own expense, noting how his “honeymoon” as president was over and referencing the perception that he’s too professorial and arrogant. At the star-studded gala, he also paused to note that he’s even losing support from Hollywood—a mainstay of fundraising for the president’s 2008 campaign. (Though he dinged actor Matt Damon for the celebrity’s recent criticism, saying “Matt, I just saw ‘The Adjustment Bureau,’ so right back at you, buddy.”)
Obama also joked about starting conspiracy theories about his potential 2012 opponents: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was born in Canada; Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has the middle name “Hosni”; Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman is Chinese; and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney passed universal health care. (The last allegation, of course, falls into the “funny because it’s true” category, since Romney had presided over the passage of a state-level version of the same individual-mandate plan that Obama signed into law in 2010.)
The light-hearted evening was interspersed with more serious matters. The Correspondents Association issued awards students and journalists for their achievements, while also honoring journalists abroad who have lost their lives or faced grave physical hazards in the course of their work.
Notice the little girl with the frown. No doubt after reading this article you may think that my attitude is much like her’s. That would not be true. I really do hope they have a great marriage. This series of posts that I am starting today is more about how people can best plan for a marriage where both will live “happily ever after.”
I will do some more research but at this point it appears that Kate moved in with Prince William in college and about a year ago they again moved in together.
I have been married for over 25 years now and my three sisters have all been married for almost that same amount of time. However, many things have changed over the last few decades and one of those is the old fashioned view that people should not live together before marriage.
I am a conservative republican which indicates my views concerning our liberal president Obama. Nevertheless, I really do respect the effort he gives to be a good father and husband.
Prince William and Kate moved in together about a year ago. Take a look at this clip.
In this clip above the commentator suggested that maybe Prince Charles and Princess Diana would not have divorced if they had lived together before marriage. Actually Diana was a virgin, and it was Charles’ uncle (Louis Mountbatten) that suggested to him that he seek to marry a virgin.
“Living together before marriage is one of America’s most significant and unexpected family trends. By simple definition, living together-or unmarried cohabitation–is the status of couples who are sexual partners, not married to each other, and sharing a household. By 1997, the total number of unmarried couples in America topped 4 million, up from less than half a million in 1960.1 It is estimated that about a quarter of unmarried women between the ages of 25 and 39 are currently living with a partner and about half have lived at some time with an unmarried partner (the data are typically reported for women but not for men). Over half of all first marriages are now preceded by cohabitation, compared to virtually none earlier in the century.”2
“What makes cohabitation so significant is not only its prevalence but also its widespread popular acceptance. In recent representative national surveys nearly 60% of high school seniors indicated that they ‘agreed’ or ‘mostly agreed’ with the statement ‘it is usually a good idea for a couple to live together before getting married in order to find out whether they really get along.’ And nearly three quarters of the students, slightly more girls than boys, stated that ‘a man and a woman who live together without being married’ are either ‘experimenting with a worthwhile alternative lifestyle’ or ‘doing their own thing and not affecting anyone else.’”3
“Unlike divorce or unwed childbearing, the trend toward cohabitation has inspired virtually no public comment or criticism. It is hard to believe that across America, only thirty years ago, living together for unmarried, heterosexual couples was against the law.4 And it was considered immoral–living in sin–or at the very least highly improper. Women who provided sexual and housekeeping services to a man without the benefits of marriage were regarded as fools at best and morally loose at worst. A double standard existed, but cohabiting men were certainly not regarded with approbation”
“Today, the old view of cohabitation seems yet another example of the repressive Victorian norms. The new view is that cohabitation represents a more progressive approach to intimate relationships. How much healthier women are to be free of social pressure to marry and stigma when they don’t. How much better off people are today to be able to exercise choice in their sexual and domestic arrangements. How much better off marriage can be, and how many divorces can be avoided, when sexual relationships start with a trial period.”
“Surprisingly, much of the accumulating social science research suggests otherwise. What most cohabiting couples don’t know, and what in fact few people know, are the conclusions of many recent studies on unmarried cohabitation and its implications for young people and for society. Living together before marriage may seem like a harmless or even a progressive family trend until one takes a careful look at the evidence.”
The Save Your sex Summit took place in Chicago featuring author and Speaker, Josh McDowell. Teenagers and youth groups came from all over the city to hear him speak on the Importance of Saving sex til Marriage.
For more information or additional copies of this publication, contact:
The National Marriage Project Rutgers The State University of New Jersey 25 Bishop Place New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1181 (732) 932-2722 marriage@rci.rutgers.edu
January, 1999 1. U. S. Bureau of the Census. 1998. Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March, 1997.
2. Larry Bumpass and Hsien-Hen Lu. 1998. “Trends in Cohabitation and Implications for Children’s Family Contexts.” Unpublished manuscript, Madison, WI: Center for Demography, University of Wisconsin. The most likely to cohabit are people aged 20 to 24.
3. J. G. Bachman, L. D. Johnston and P. M. O’Malley. 1997. Monitoring the Future: Questionnaire Responses from the Nation’s High School Seniors, 1995. Ann Arbor, MI: Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan.
4. The state statutes prohibiting “adultery” and “fornication,” which included cohabitation, were not often enforced.
____________________________________________
Prince William has arrived at Westminster Abbey with his best man, brother Prince Harry, for his wedding to Kate Middleton. Thousands of people lined the street to watch the procession. (April 29)
Wedding in Progress
In this image taken from video, Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton stand at the alter at Westminster Abbey. (AP Photo/APTN)
Prince William and Prince Harry leave Clarence House for the wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
Kate Middleton is led by her father Michael Middleton along the aisle at Westminster Abbey. (AP Photo/Dominic Lipinski, Pool)
Would you build the house of your dreams if you didn’t plan to live in it? I wouldn’t, either. But that’s exactly what would be happening if Mike Huckabee had any serious plans of running for president.
Huckabee, for whom I worked as a communications aide in 1997-99, is constructing a $2.2 million, 11,000-square-foot oceanfront mansion in Florida, according to a front page story in last Sunday’s statewide daily. That would seem to be a huge waste of money if he also were planning on spending the last half of this year and all of next slogging through Iowa, New Hampshire, and the rest of the country, and then the next eight years living in the White House…
Huckabee, by contrast, has too many reasons not to want it. Since leaving the Governor’s Mansion and running unsuccessfully for president in 2008, he has parlayed his likable media personality into lucrative book, TV and radio deals. He’s getting rich playing to his strengths.
Meanwhile, running for president means having to overcome his weaknesses, chief among them his inability to raise money. That will be a huge problem in an election cycle when even the losing major party candidate will raise and spend a billion dollars.
Moreover, Huckabee’s record as governor won’t play as well in 2012, when he would start the race as a contender, as it did in 2008, when he never really threatened to win it. In Arkansas, he raised taxes, created a big government-run health care program called ARKids First, and helped release a lot of convicts from prison, including two really bad guys, Wayne Dumond and Maurice Clemmons, who went on to kill people.
That’s not exactly a record that will win the support of the TEA Party – or of big business types who will back candidates like Romney…
Huckabee isn’t lying when he says that he won’t decide until this summer. There is still a part of him that hasn’t shut the door. But he’s leaning strongly enough against the idea that he is comfortable with building this big house.
KATV’s Scott Inman sat down for an extended segment with Gov. Huckabee today on which aired tonight in central Arkansas. In it, he sounds like he is inching closer to a decision to run.
I think Mike Huckabee is going to run for president, but I think he’s going to finesse the decision as long as possible to hang onto the money he makes as a non-candidate with his radio show (now on 560 stations) and his show on Fox News, which recently booted two commentators who’ve made not much more presidential noise than Huckabee.
Where do I stand on this? I think Huckabee will probably not run. I earlier thought that he would run and I knew that he could always come back to Fox later and get his job back.However, I heard John Fund of the Wall Street Journal speak the other day and he commented that when people like the liberal President Obama are in control, it makes his job so much more easy. The subjects for the articles are handed to him on a platter by Obama everyday. I think the same is true for Huckabee and his show. In other words, Huckabee is having too good of a time making fun of Obama and he knows he is serving the conservative cause by getting the truth out there on the air every week. Ronald Reagan said that liberalism has always failed whenever it is tried, and Huckabee has an abundance of Obama’s mistakes to make fun of everyday on his show. The comedy material is just too much to say no to!!!!
________________________________________
Taking a Rest
Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey, London, during their wedding service. (AP Photo/Anthony Devlin, Pool)
British Prince William unexpectedly took a moment to speak to excited royal fans outside Clarence House in London on Thursday night, on the eve of his wedding to Kate Middleton. (April 28)
Ep. 8 – Who Protects the Worker [1/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980)
Speakers at the First Richmond Tea Party, October 8-9, 2010
John Fund
John Fund is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal and its OpinionJournal.com and an on-air contributor to 24-hour cable news networks CNBC and MSNBC. He is the author of several best selling books and he spoke on April 27th at the Little Rock Hilton for the Conservative Luncheon Series.
Yesterday was the first lunch in the “Conservative Lunch Series” presented by KARN and Americans for Prosperity Foundation at the Little Rock Hilton on University Avenue. This monthly luncheon will be held the fourth Wednesday of every month. .
John Fund writes the weekly “On the Trail” column for OpinionJournal.com. He is author of “Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy” (Encounter, 2004).
John Fund commented on the Obama’s administration effort to block Boeing from moving their plant to a right to work state like South Carolina. “This decision by the court will not stick!!! Arkansas is a right to work state and businesses come here because of it.”
Fund went on to say that this has been going on forever and the thought that the court now would somehow take away that freedom that we have is really a far left dream, but is very unlikely. He would bet every dollar he had that this court decision will not stick.
Fund commented that many times when a liberal presidential administration like President Obama’s comes into office they quickly discover that they can not function with all of their way out leftist policies in the real world that we live in. Therefore, when President Obama found out that the worst he could do in the slow economy was to raise the taxes back up at the end of 2010, he relented and let the lower taxes stay in place. However, people like Craig Becker did not get the memo on how to avoid the radical left policies and you end up with policies like this.
Ep. 8 – Who Protects the Worker [2/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980)
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against Boeing for building a new plant in South Carolina, a right to work state. In the past, union strikes have cost the company billions of dollars, but in good faith they tried to negotiate with the union to build the new plant in Washington state. After the union made ridiculous demands, they decided to open a plant in South Carolina, but they haven’t closed the Washington operation. They created about 1,000 jobs in South Carolina, but the NLRB doesn’t care about workers. They disregard Congress and carry water for the unions. It’s disgusting.
The NLRB obliged with its complaint yesterday asking an administrative law judge to stop Boeing’s South Carolina production because its executives had cited the risk of strikes as a reason for the move. Boeing acted out of “anti-union animus,” says the complaint by acting general counsel Lafe Solomon, and its decision to move had the effect of “discouraging membership in a labor organization” and thus violates federal law.
It’s hard to know which law he’s referring to. There are plentiful legal precedents that give business the right to locate operations in right-to-work states. That right has created healthy competition among states and kept tens of millions of jobs in America rather than heading overseas.
Boeing has also expanded its operations in Puget Sound while building its South Carolina presence. Ultimately, the NLRB seems to be resting its complaint on the belief that Boeing spent nearly $2 billion out of spite, which sounds less like a matter of law than of campaign 2012 politics.
Boeing says it will challenge the complaint in an NLRB hearing in June, but Big Labor also has sway at the five-member board. Recall that President Obama gave a recess appointment last year to Craig Becker, a former lawyer for the Service Employees International Union who once wrote that the NLRB could impose “card check” rules for union organizing even without an act of Congress. Even a Democratic Senate refused to confirm him.
As I write this, Neil Cavuto is reporting that South Carolina politicians are not taking this lying down. Senator Jim DeMint is on the line and he called the NLRB “thugs” and said he had thought he had seen it all. He also said the president could stop this in a second if he wanted to, and the NLRB is assuming powers it does not have.
They’re also reporting that Boeing paid millions in taxes last year, unlike some of the administration’s favorite companies.
Ep. 8 – Who Protects the Worker [3/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980)
___________________________________
2006
For the wedding of Laura Parker Bowles and Harry Lopes, Middleton paired downy soft strands with a feathered fascinator.
Kate and William Countdown: Why the Royals Still Matter
This Friday, millions of Americans will get up at the crack of dawn to watch Prince William marry Kate Middleton. England is celebrating the Royal Wedding with a national holiday. News outlets from nearly every country on earth will be broadcasting live from Westminster Abbey. Every detail of the wedding, from Kate’s dress (she allegedly has three) to the cake (it’s a fruitcake — but not the gross kind) has been covered in exhaustive detail. The average American probably knows more about Kate and William’s relationship than what the United States congress is voting on this week.
The U.S. fought the revolutionary war to avoid being ruled by the British Monarchy. The royals no longer have any real political power. The tragic life and death of Lady Diana put an end to the myth that princesses live happily ever after.
Today I got to attend the first ever “Conservative Lunch Series” presented by KARN and Americans for Prosperity Foundation at the Little Rock Hilton on University Avenue. This monthly luncheon will be held the fourth Wednesday of every month. The speaker for today’s luncheon was John Fund.
John Fund writes the weekly “On the Trail” column for OpinionJournal.com. He is author of “Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy” (Encounter, 2004).
He joined The Wall Street Journal as a deputy editorial features editor in 1984 and was a member of the editorial board from 1995 through 2001. The articles he has written have appeared in Esquire, Reader’s Digest, Reason, The New Republic, and National Review. He became an editorial page writer specializing in politics and government in October 1986 and was a member of the Journal’s editorial board from 1995 through 2001. Next month’s guest speaker will be Andrew Breitbart.
First, we got to hear from Dave Elswick of KARN who came up with the idea of this luncheon, and then from Teresa Crossland of Americans for Prosperity. After listening to their inspiring short talks I had determined in my heart that I was going to get the word out about these luncheons to all my conservative friends who want to know what is going on politically in Washington and in our beloved Arkansas.
John Fund touched on several subjects but the one that caught my interest the most is the observation that he made about the behavior of three Democrat Presidents: Jimmy Carter (elected in 1976), Bill Clinton (elected 1992) and Barack Obama (elected 2008).
Fund mentioned a meeting that Ronald Reagan had with his former campaign advisors shortly after Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976. In that speech Reagan told them that Democrats can’t get their way unless a couple of things happen. First, Republicans forsake their values and join them. Unfortunately, Richard Nixon had done that just a few years earlier. Second, liberals have to be smart enough to run a candidate that will appear to govern from the middle. However, Reagan told his campaign workers that sure enough the only problem for that Democrat that gets elected President is that he will be required by the liberals in Congress to govern from the left and that is a prescription for disaster every time. Whenever and wherever liberalism has been tried, it has always failed.
Fund said sure enough 3 years later President Carter had brought on the USA 21% interest rates, 12% inflation and 10% unemployment and Reagan’s slogan was:
“Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”
Fund went down the events surrounding Presidents Carter, Clinton and Obama and drew comparisons. It was amazing to listen to the insights that Reagan had in 1976 and how these events happened over and over.
Not only did Jimmy Carter scare the public with his liberal policies, but the first thing Bill Clinton did when he was elected was scare the public with his “Hillarycare” healthcare bill and the result was the landslide victory for Republicans in 1994. The same could be said for President Obama in 2010!!!!
Fund noted that the Republicans have a refreshing group of candidates that will be running in the Republican Primary this time around. He did call Donald Trump an entertainer that will drop out and not run. He also said that Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels (Tolbert says Daniels will decide shortly if he will run) and several other candidates had a good chance to win. I was wondering if he would give more names and possibly comment on former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, but he didn”t.
Someone a lot more in the know than me floats another theory. According to the scuttlebutt, Barbour’s exit yesterday has begun to tip the scales in favor of Huckabee pulling the trigger on jumping into the race but it has also changed his way of thinking.
Fund noted that this year will be different than the past because we will have fresh blood in the race. Fund observed, “Republicans have had a Bush, Nixon, or Dole on the ticket every election since 1948 except one (1964).”
How do the Republicans and Democrats go about picking their presidential candidates. Fund asserted,“The republicans have a shallow gene pool, but the democrats are like kids on blind dates that keep falling in love. They fell in love with Carter, Kerry, Dukakis, and now Obama.”
The Democrats use a “Blind date” method of selecting the Presidential candidate. Who is popular? Who has the charisma? They look at everyone, find someone interesting, and decide to “try them out”. After they are elected, everyone gets to know who they are and what they stand for as a President. There were a lot of chuckles when this theory was disclosed. Mr. Fund went on to prove his point by a brief review of some candidates in the last century. There did seem to be a preponderance of evidence to prove the point.
What about the Republicans? Who is next in line? There is a definite pattern of behavior from 1948 through 2008. They tend to nominate whoever has been around a while.
Mr Fund did take time to sign copies of his book and I briefly got to visit with him when I was getting a copy signed. I told him that I blogged about him this week (yesterday and the day before ) and he asked my site. Instead of telling him to type in www.HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com , I told him to google “Milton Friedman Arkansas” and my website would come up a lot since I have a lot of Friedman video clips and quotes on my blog.
Next month’s guest is Andrew Breitbart and the luncheon will be held on Wednesday May 25th. This is the first in a series of posts that I will be making over the next few days on the things that I learned at today’s luncheon. I want to encourage everyone to check out next month’s luncheon.
Andrew Breitbart
Andrew Breitbart is publisher of the news portals Breitbart.com and Breitbart.tv, and BigHollywood.com. Andrew co-wrote the best-selling attack on celebrity culture, Hollywood, Interrupted and was the primary developer for The Huffington Post.
John Fund
John Fund is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal and its OpinionJournal.com and an on-air contributor to 24-hour cable news networks CNBC and MSNBC. He is the author of several best selling books.
David Boaz of CATO joins John to discuss the massive impact of Milton Friedman on America and the world.
___________________________________________
He was interviewed by Alice, a ten year old cancer patient
Kate Middleton visits the Youth Action Northern Ireland center in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on March 8, 2011.
_______________________________________________
Kate Middleton arrives with fiance Prince William (not pictured) at the official opening of Darwen Aldridge Community Academy on April 11, 2011, in Darwen, northwest England.
KATE MIDDLETON The Girl Who Would Be Paparazzi Queen
Out: Barack and Michelle Obama
The queen sent gold-embossed invitations to 40 heads of state, but not to President Obama or first lady Michelle. The Obamas will get an official state visit in May, however, the first of its kind since 2003. It was suggested that the state visit is compensation for the missing wedding invitation—all because of the extra security costs involved with protecting the president.
Tim Griffin was on CBS’ “Face the Nation” this morning… He discussed the problem of the national debt and its impact on the economy, a reoccurring theme for Griffin. He says that Medicare as we know it is on a path to bankruptcy in nine years. He supports making changes for those under 55 while keeping it the same for those 55 and over.
Tim Griffin also mentioned the restrictions that the Obama Administration has had on drilling for oil in the USA and he thinks those should be removed.
During the show it was mentioned that Congressman Griffin has had several townhall meetings. I recently attended one last week in Shannon Hills. Rep. Griffin started off the meeting with this simple statement:
“We have a debt crisis facing our nation. We have a debt crisis because Washington spends too much, not because Washington taxes too little. The spending is driven by retirement and health security programs. The cost of doing nothing is unacceptable…Our nation’s debt is $14.1 trillion and that is $45,484 for every man, woman and child or $142,819 for the average American family.”
Congressman Griffin pointed out that because of growth of entitlement spending our discretionary side was of the federal budget has slipped from 58% in 1970 to 38% in 2011.
Rep. Griffin compared this to our household budgets. The fixed payments like rent have to be paid every month. However, the discretionary part of your budget may be changed from month to month. The problem with the federal budget is that fixed part of the budget is growing too rapidly. If nothing is done about entitlement spending then we will never balance the budget, and our country will go bankrupt eventually.
The chart “Deficits Under Obama Budgets” was the most alarming that Rep. Griffin presented. President Bush’s last three budgets produced budget deficits of 161 billion, 239 billion and 407 billion. President Obama’s first budget produced a budget deficit of 1.1 trillion dollars in 2010 and estimates for 2011 are around 1.65 trillion.
The last payment on September 30, 2008 that the Bush Administration made on the interest on the debt was $451 billion on the total amount of debt of $10,024,724,896,912.49. Now just two and half years later our debt is over 14 billion.
Rep. Griffin took several questions from the audience. He was asked if Washington would be looking again to raise our taxes in order to close the gap on the deficit.
Rep Griffin responded, “Politicians spend additional revenue from taxes. Raising taxes is not the answer. Tax increases hurt much needed economic growth. History shows spending is the problem.”
When my turn came, I asked the Congressman if he knew where the breaking point would be as far as the amount of debt our country could stand before we went bankrupt? Was it 15 trillion or 28 trillion or what? (I was thinking about when that levee would break.)
Congressman Griffin answered, “The main thing is that we need to address the problem. For instance, there were those several years ago that were saying that Fannie Mae was going to collapse in the future if changes were not made and many told us not to worry, but the bubble burst. We must turn the ship around now, and address the core problems. We have to put our grown up pants on now.”
I also lament the fact the federal government has grown so much in relation to the state and local governments where the people are closer to their representatives and can give more input. In 1902 the federal spending was only 2.6% of the Gross National Product (GNP), and the state and local governments’ spending made up 7.7% of GNP. Last year federal spending was 24.7% of GNP.
Name: The Conspirator
Release date: April 15, 2011
Director(s): Robert Redford
Cast: James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson, Alexis Bledel, Kevin Kline, Jonathan Groff and Norman Reedus
Genre(s): Drama
Friday, Sep. 17, 2010
The Conspirator: Abraham Lincoln’s 9/11
By Richard Corliss
The news put Americans in a state of shock; they knew that, after that unprecedented day, they would never be the same. With this dastardly attack, and after the greatest loss of civilian lives the U.S. had ever known, the federal government abridged the liberties of those it suspected of giving aid and comfort to the nation’s enemies. It tried civilians in military courts, deprived them of due process, suspended the right of habeus corpus. The few lawyers to speak up in defense of the accused were overruled or drowned out by high government officials who spun fantasies into imminent threats, predicting anarchy if the suspects were not railroaded to conviction. And when it couldn’t find the real perpetrators of the attack, the government went after people who might slake the country’s thirst for righteous revenge. (See TIME’s Fall Arts Guide.)
The news, of course, was of Abraham Lincoln’s bloody death, a few days after the Civil War ended. The vindictive government officials included Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. The civilian on trial in a military court was Mary Surratt, whose son John was part of the plot that killed Lincoln. Despite a spirited defense by a young war hero, Frederick Aiken, she was convicted of treason by a Commission that recommended she be sentenced to life in prison. President Johnson overruled that sentence — as well as the writ of habeus corpus Aiken had secured — and on July 7, 1865, Mary Surratt was hanged. She was the first woman to be executed by the U.S. government. (See photos of Abraham Lincoln.)
The most troubling and satisfying aspect of The Conspirator, director Robert Redford’s account of the Surratt case, is the comparison it draws between the actions taken by the Andrew Johnson administration immediately after the event of Apr. 14, 1965 — the first assassination of a U.S. President — and the Bush Administration’s actions in the months and years after the events of Sept. 11, 2001. In this movie, Stanton is the stand-in for Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld; he proposes lurid theories of revolution and, when challenged, replies, “Who’s to say these things couldn’t happen?” In a direct parallel to the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq as a crowd-pleasing alternative to the fruitless search for Osama bin Laden, one Surratt sympathizer says that Stanton & Co. are trying Mary “because they can’t find John.”
This may sound like catnip to Bush-whackers and an outrage or a yawn to everybody else. But this retelling of a crucial, poorly-remembered chapter of American law and war has enough atmosphere, stalwart acting and suspense (unless you’ve read the previous two paragraphs) to appeal to the mass of moviegoers, even those indifferent to the primacy of justice over vengeance. Early next year, they’ll get a chance to see it; The Conspirator, produced by online-trading billionaire Joe Ricketts’ American Film Company, was bought for distribution by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions shortly after its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
In Redford’s starchy but provocative version, Union war hero Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) is persuaded by Maryland Senator Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) to defend Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) at her trial. Screenwriters James D. Solomon and Gregory Bernstein have added an Aiken girlfriend (Alexis Bledel) and a pal (Justin Long) for home cooking, but the movie story is essentially the real one. Aiken presses his case against prosecuting attorney Joseph Holt (Danny Huston), quizzes John Surratt associate Louis Weichmann (Glee‘s Jonathan Groff) and searches for helpful evidence in Mary’s boarding house, where her daughter Anna (Evan Rachel Wood) still lives.
Thirty years after his directorial debut with the Oscar-winning Ordinary People, Redford comes to this period piece with a visual style that is both stately and obvious. In Mary’s prison cell, shafts of blinding light form the window giving her the third degree. Redford swathes the proceedings in artfully desaturated color and soft-focus back-lighting — just enough to let viewers know they’re in the 19th century, not enough to distract them from the story. He might have chosen his leading player more wisely: McAvoy, the young Scottish actor who’s been impressive as a romantic proletarian (Atonement), a roguish journalist (the BBC series State of Play) and a wimp turned action hero (Wanted), plays Aiken as a bit too callow and tentative.
The rest of the cast does fine by their roles. Kline and Huston provide different sides of the same government coin: one a zealot for finding villains and scapegoats, and never mind which is which; the other as a dispassionate advocate for his client, and who at the end quotes Cicero’s maxim that, “In times of war, the law falls silent.” The shining star is Wright, who brings drama and beauty to every role just by staring into the camera. She has more here: the sullen, fiery dignity of a woman who is as sure of her allegiance to the defeated Confederacy (she calls Lincoln “your President”) as she is of her innocence — and her fate at the grasping hands of Stanton and his government gang.
Wright’s performance is the key to a movie that pulses with the sick thrill of historical discovery. The Conspirator reminds us that. when we surrendered so many of our Constitutional rights and judgments after 9/11, it wasn’t the first time. How can we be sure it will be the last?
The Democrat from Arkansas said Wednesday that he was hopeful a bipartisan group of senators will within the next two weeks come up with a way to address the nation’s debt based on recommendations issued by a commission last year.
Pryor told the Political Animals Club that any debt reduction plan needs to include spending cuts, changes to the tax code and efforts to grow the economy.
“I am not going to vote for that unless there is real and meaningful commitment to debt reduction,” Pryor said during a lunch meeting of the Little Rock Political Animals Club at the Governor’s Mansion. “We need to do that in a smart way.”
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the nation’s $14.3 debt ceiling will be reached no later than May 16. A contingency plan would prevent the U.S. from defaulting until July 8 if the ceiling is not raised.
Republicans in Congress have said they will not vote to raise the limit unless significant spending cuts are part of a deal.
House Republicans and the Obama administration have alternative plans for reducing spending by more than $4 trillion over the next 10 or 12 years. Pryor said he is optimistic that a compromise will be reached.
Calling the national debt “our biggest challenge that we’re facing,” Pryor said cutting spending is necessary, but it should happen without cutting loose the nation’s most vulnerable populations, such as children, seniors and the poor.
“Instead of getting the meat cleaver out and just chop, chop, chop, I think this has to be much more measured and targeted and thoughtful,” he said.
Talking to reporters later, Pryor said the Republican budget plan by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is “not going to get bipartisan support.”
Pryor told the Political Animals group he supports tax reform that addresses inequities in the system. He said Republicans who think a total embargo on tax increases will work are wrong, but that Democrats who think they can solve the nation’s problems just by taxing millionaires are wrong, too.
“Right now we have a tax system where 45 percent of Americans don’t pay any federal income tax,” he said. “There are a lot of problems in our tax code, and if you think you can solve this with bumper-sticker slogans, you’re wasting all of our time.”
Also key to lowering the debt is economic growth, Pryor said. Federal aid for regional innovation clusters, such as the Arkansas Research and Technology Park in Fayetteville, and a tax break for angel investors, or investors in small businesses, are two things Pryor said he believes will promote economic growth.
___________________________________________
In the last two weeks this blog has started two series concerning Senator Pryor and the issue of the out of control federal budget. One series is on the views of Senator Pryor and Senator Boozman concerning the Balance Budget amendment. The second series is a serious look at what spending cuts could be made out of the bloated federal budget. Senator Pryor asked for suggestions and I have been emailing at least one suggest per day for the last two weeks. Meanwhile the hits on my website have doubled!!!!!!!!!!
This article today indicates that Senator Pryor is serious about taking a look at the hard choices that need to be made instead of hiding his head in the sand like President Obama is presenting doing.
I went to see the movie “The Conspirator” the other night and I really enjoyed it. Since then I have been digging up facts about the trial and the people involved in the trial.
Christy Lemire (AP critic and host of Ebert Presents at the Movies, check your local PBS listings) and Alonso Duralde (Movieline) review The Conspirator.
George Andrew Atzerodt was born on June 12, 1835, in Dorna, Prussia. In June 1844 he came to America with his folks and settled near Germantown in Montgomery County, Maryland. Atzerodt never became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Later the Atzerodt family moved to Westmoreland County, Virginia. In 1857, George Atzerodt’s father, Johann, passed away.Before the Civil War started, Atzerodt settled in Port Tobacco, Maryland, with his older brother, John. Together, they set up a carriage repair shop. Although the business seemed to prosper, the two brothers eventually separated. John moved to Baltimore and George remained in Port Tobacco. (“Port Tobacco” became his nickname.)During the Civil War, George began rowing his Confederate friends back and forth across the Potomac River. While engaged in this activity, he became acquainted with a Confederate messenger named John Surratt. The introduction came through Confederate agent Thomas H. Harbin and occurred in January of 1865. Atzerodt’s knowledge of the back roads, escape routes, etc. impressed Surratt. Additionally, Surratt was looking for a boatman who could ferry the conspirators across the Potomac River after they had kidnapped President Lincoln. In time, Atzerodt was invited to Washington to meet John Wilkes Booth. He was also invited to the Surratt boardinghouse that was operated by John’s mother, Mary.He remained in an attic room at the boardinghouse for several days, but it is quite clear Mrs. Surratt did not like Atzerodt. While Atzerodt was out, Mary found liquor bottles in his room. She told her son, John, that Atzerodt had to move out because of his drinking.Booth was attracted to Atzerodt because he saw him as a knowledgeable accomplice in the initial plan to kidnap Lincoln. On the night of March 15, 1865, Atzerodt met with Booth and other conspirators at Gautier’s Restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue to discuss the possible abduction of the president. These plans did not work out. Several days before the assassination, Booth told Atzerodt about the existence of a plot to blow up the White House. Atzerodt’s statement regarding this alleged plot disappeared until the late 1970’s when it was discovered by Joan Chaconas, then president of the Surratt Society.
The statement was found among the private papers of Atzerodt’s attorney, William E. Doster. The plot, which never took place, was to mine that part of the White House nearest the War Department where Lincoln spent a lot of time. Among other things, this “lost” statement of Atzerodt’s revealed that Booth had sent liquor and provisions to Dr. Samuel Mudd’s home two weeks before the assassination. For more on this, see Dr. Edward Steers’ book titled His Name is Still Mudd. For the text of Atzerodt’s statement,CLICK HERE.In the assassination plot, Atzerodt was assigned to kill Vice-President Andrew Johnson. Whether Atzerodt ever really agreed to do this is unproven. Whatever the case, before 8:00 A.M. on April 14th, 1865, Atzerodt rented room 126 at the Kirkwood House directly above where Johnson was staying. (The Kirkwood House was torn down after the Civil War; an office building now stands at the site on the northeast corner of 12th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. The drawing to the right is from the National Park Service.) Atzerodt quizzed the Kirkwood House’s bartender, Michael Henry, about the vice-president’s character and habits. However, he made no attempt on the life of Andrew Johnson. At his trial, Atzerodt’s lawyer said, “Atzerodt was guzzling like a Falstaff at 10:15 P.M. After Lincoln’s assassination, Detective John Lee found a series of incriminating items in Atzerodt’s rented room most likely planted there by Booth or David Herold.
National Archives Photograph of Andrew Johnson
Atzerodt was arrested on April 20th at the home of his cousin, Hartman Richter, in Germantown, Maryland. Atzerodt was charged with being a party to the assassination conspiracy, and he was tried along with the others. Things did not go well for him in the courtroom. His appearance was described by spectators as “stupid and crafty.” Like Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, and David Herold, Atzerodt was found guilty and sentenced to hang. On July 7, 1865, he was executed. In his strong German accent, his last words were, “Good-by, gentlemen. May we all meet in the other world!”
George Atzerodt was originally buried in an unmarked grave in Glenwood Cemetery north of the Capitol in Washington. Later his remains were moved to St. Paul’s Cemetery in Baltimore. He was buried under the fictitious name of Gottlieb Taubert.
There are at least five known statements of George Atzerodt in addition to the one discovered by Joan Chaconas. There is a statement given to Frank Monroe aboard the USS Saugus on April 23, 1865. There is the statement given to Col. H.H. Wells aboard the USS Montauk on April 25, 1865. There is a statement published in the Baltimore American on January 18, 1869. There is a statement read by attorney William E. Doster on June 21, 1865. Another statement is privately held.
NOTE: The information on the plot to blow up the White House came from an article by noted Lincoln scholar, Dr. William Hanchett, in the December 1995 issue of Civil War Times Illustrated. Also, see p. 172 of the late William A. Tidwell’s April ’65: Confederate Covert Action in the American Civil War and the Appendix and Notes of His Name is Still Mudd by Dr. Edward Steers. For more details on Atzerodt, please see the biography of George Atzerodt in the December 2000 edition of the Journal of the Lincoln Assassination.
THE EXECUTION – JULY 7, 1865, AT 1:26 P.M.
Left to right: Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt.
Late Tuesday afternoon President Obama addressed the media about a revealing Rolling Stone article on Gen. Stanley McChrystal — the top American commander in Afghanistan — and what implications it could have for his administration.
A military investigation has cleared Gen. Stanley McChrystal and his staff of violating military policy in their interactions with a Rolling Stone reporter.
The ensuing article, “The Runaway General,” published in June of 2010, portrayed madcap and unruly General and staff frustrated with Washington policymakers and disrespectful of the chain of command. The article led to McChrystal being relieved of command of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and his subsequent retirement from the Army.
Then-staffers to McChrystal are quoted in the article saying disparaging things about everyone from Vice President Joe Biden and then-National Security Advisor Jim Jones to Sen. John McCain and others.
But the Pentagon’s review of an earlier investigation could not verify many of the claims and anonymous quotes in the article.
A six page memo, issued by the Department of Defense Inspector General disagrees with conclusions of an investigation by an Army Inspector General and issues the following two conclusions:
1 . The evidence was insufficient to substantiate a violation of applicable DoD standards with respect to any of the incidents on which we focused,
2. Not all of the events at issue occurred as reported in the article. In some instances, we found no witness who acknowledged making or hearing the comments as reported. In other instances, we confirmed that the general substance of an incident at issue occurred, but not in the exact context described in the article
New probe into an Rolling Stone article on Gen. McChrystal finds he nor any of his aides did anything wrong.
Pubdate: Sun, 25 Feb 2001
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AR)
Author: Jim Brooks, Cathy Frye, Amy Upshaw – Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
MAYFLOWER — Tammy Wilson’s windup alarm clock jangled her from a deep sleep at 6:30 a.m. As far as she could tell, her husband, Carl, was still slumbering undisturbed in his own room. Tammy, 42, worked at a local day-care center and was usually awake before daylight. Carl, on the other hand, often sat up into the wee hours of the morning, watching television or videos.
Since retiring, he had the luxury of sleeping in. After more than two decades together, the Wilsons were still a passionate couple who frequently shared the queen-size bed in Carl’s room. But most nights, they slept apart, especially if Tammy had to work the next morning. On Jan. 12, Tammy woke up alone.
She turned on the bedside lamp, chasing the darkness from her small room. “At that point, all hell broke loose,” she recalls. “I heard a firecracker sound and then I realized there was gunfire.” Within a few panic-stricken moments, Carl was dead and Tammy — barefoot, handcuffed and still in her nightgown — was led to a police car outside. “Only by the grace of God, I wasn’t cuddled up with him that night,” she says. “There’s no doubt I would have been dead too.”
Carl Wilson, 60, was shot at least five times in an exchange of gunfire with police. The shootout occurred when federal authorities raided the four-time convicted felon’s rural Faulkner County home in search of a .30-.30 Winchester rifle. The gun, which Carl’s family and friends say he had owned for more than 30 years, was wanted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Before carrying out the raid in the chilly pre-dawn hours of Jan. 12, the agency was granted a “no-knock” search warrant, which allows law enforcement officers to enter a home without announcing themselves. The search warrant was the culmination of a two-month investigation conducted by the ATF. Bill Buford, the ATF agent-in-charge, says he cannot yet say why Carl was being investigated. Nor can he comment on the shootout until the Arkansas State Police finishes its inquiry. The other agencies involved also cannot comment. The case has been sealed in federal court, so many lingering questions remain unanswered. Tammy says she won’t let the matter drop until she knows what police thought her husband was up to when they came looking for his rifle. “I know the law is going to say a lot of bad things, and I’m trying to prepare myself for them. If there was something so crazy — right or wrong, good or bad — I want to know why. I can take it, but I’ve got to know why.”
Accounts of the raid differ between police and family members who were in the house. Police say Carl shot first.
The family says officers did. On the day of the shooting, Buford told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that officers were slowed by the long muddy driveway leading to the house and had trouble approaching Wilson’s home. Carl began firing as they neared the house, Buford said. “[Officers] returned fire, and Mr. Wilson was killed.” According to a statement issued by the Arkansas State Police, which is investigating the shooting, the gunbattle began after the SWAT team deployed a “distraction device,” and officers announced themselves. “Upon entry, officers were fired upon by [the] suspect, defensive shots were returned,” the statement says. Tammy and a niece who was there that morning say the shooting didn’t start until the special weapons and tactics team entered through two unlocked back doors, one to the porch and the other leading into the house, and set off a distraction device. Singed flooring and a sooty residue on the refrigerator indicate that the device, also known as a “flash-bang,” went off in the hall next to Carl’s bedroom. Tammy says it’s obvious Carl fired his .44 Magnum revolver — at least four spent casings were found after the shootout.
He kept the gun in his bedroom, a few feet away from the foot of his bed in the antique radio his television sat on. Carl wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot anyone he believed was breaking into his home, Tammy says, particularly if he were startled from sleep. “Carl did love and protect his family.
I have no doubt that he shot back.”
No-knock raids have long been a point of contention and have been argued repeatedly in U.S. courts. Under Arkansas law, this element of surprise is allowed if officers believe that announcing their presence would endanger themselves or the people inside. No-knocks also are permitted if there’s a possibility evidence might be destroyed in the time it takes for police to gain entry. In planning the Wilson raid, authorities decided to ask for a no-knock warrant because of Carl’s criminal background and the suspicion that he might be armed, says Lt. Bob Berry of the Conway Regional Drug Task Force. But Tammy says if Carl had known he was wanted by authorities, he would have surrendered voluntarily. “No one should have been shot at — my husband or the officers,” Tammy says. “This was senseless.
Why did it take that kind of excessive force for one gun? “Yes, he has a criminal history, but in that criminal history he’s always been notorious for cooperating with authorities. … When Tommy Robinson [former Pulaski County sheriff] came out here, Carl didn’t greet them with a pistol.
He sat out on the porch and had a cup of coffee with them.” He would have done the same on Jan. 12, she contends. During the exchange of gunfire, two members of the SWAT team were slightly injured. Carl died in his bedroom.
The blood from his wounds seeped through his covers, soaking the mattress beneath. “It may be completely foolhardy for a cop to raid no-knock, but for some reason they do it,” says Little Rock defense attorney John Wesley Hall Jr., who has represented several people involved in search-and-seizure cases. But Berry says the execution of the search warrant was carried out professionally and in the same manner other no-knock search warrants have been served. His agency, along with a local SWAT team, assisted the ATF in both the investigation and the raid. “I don’t see anything that could have possibly been done differently,” Berry adds. “We put long hours into planning this before carrying it out.” No-knocks are most commonly used in drug investigations, when there’s a chance that evidence might be destroyed. But, Hall says, “You can’t flush a .30-.30 rifle down the toilet, so that’s not an issue.
If they’re looking for a rifle, why don’t they stake out the house and wait for him to leave?” Berry says it’s better to corner suspects at home. Attempting to catch someone during his daily routine is just too dangerous. “Anytime you try to do something like that, you run the risk of some innocent person getting hurt or killed,” he says. As for putting the family members of a suspect in peril by raiding a home, he says, “that’s the one reason we do as much planning as we do.” And in the Wilson case, he notes, “The two other occupants were unhurt.” But Hall says the extreme methods used in surprise raids, though sometimes necessary, can be what gets somebody shot. “When they sneak in like that at six o’clock in the morning, they’re just asking for trouble.
Then the only question is, ‘Who’s going to be shot? Is it going to be them or is it going to be us?’ ” Berry says getting a no-knock warrant isn’t easy. A judge must first be convinced that the risk is worth it, especially if a raid is going to be carried out before daylight. In the Wilson raid, officers met at 2 a.m. to review their strategy, which had been mapped out days before. Meanwhile, a surveillance team was watching the home so officers would know who was where and whether any unexpected visitors had shown up, Berry says. That Tammy and Carl usually slept in separate bedrooms wasn’t known, he says, adding, “We weren’t sure on that.”
As the gunfire broke out that morning, Tammy says she ran toward Carl’s bedroom, which was separated from hers by a spare room and bathroom.
On the way, she collided with Dottie McKenzie, Carl’s 20-year-old niece who had been staying with them since the Christmas holidays. Dottie was sleeping in the spare bedroom. Tammy thrust the frightened Dottie behind her just before she was ordered by masked SWAT team members to hit the floor. “They hollered, ‘Get down! Get down! Don’t look at us!’ ” As Tammy lay on floor, facing Carl’s room, she strained to catch a glimpse of her husband. Officers had their guns pointed at him, she says, and were ordering him to get up. “I can’t. I can’t,” Carl replied. From her position on the floor, Tammy could see her husband, propped on a bloody elbow, trying to raise himself off the bed. Then she and Dottie, still barefoot, were hastily led through the house, dodging shards of glass from fallen picture frames, which were scattered across the hall and kitchen floors. As Dottie was escorted out the back door, she saw Carl kneeling at the foot of his bed. His arms were stretched in front of him, and his boxers were around his ankles, she says. After leaving the house, the women were put in separate police cars. For Tammy, it was a surreal ending to a 23-year relationship that no one, not even she, ever fully understood. Years ago, after learning Carl was an ex-con, she repeatedly cautioned herself: “You better buckle your britches, girl. You’re in for the long haul.” But once someone “falls into my heart,” Tammy says, she is loyal. “I honored that man until the day he died. That was my husband and he might not be precious to anyone else, but he was precious to me.”
When they went to the Wilson home, officers were looking for the Winchester, ammunition and any papers pertaining to the gun’s purchase. As a convicted felon, Carl wasn’t supposed to have the gun. But no one can yet say why it suddenly became imperative that the rifle be seized.
That Carl was an avid gun collector had never been any secret to anyone, including local authorities, Tammy says. Tammy thinks maybe the ATF believed the gun had once been used in a crime. Or, she says, it could have been an excuse to get into the Wilsons’ house, just to see what else might be found there. Seized from the Wilson home were the Winchester, seven other guns and ammunition, a bong, a pipe, scales, a plastic bag containing a fourth of a gram of “white powder,” a large Ziploc bag containing smaller bags of marijuana, a pill bottle of marijuana seeds and burned marijuana cigarettes, according to an inventory list prepared by ATF agents. Also taken was a “paper note signed by Wilson,” the list stated. Tammy says the note was tacked to the closet door and was meant to discourage visiting family members who might be tempted to poke around in Carl’s closet, where he kept his guns. It read: “If you open this door, the whole house will blow up. Try me — Wilson.” The probable cause affidavit, which would explain why the ATF was investigating Wilson, remains sealed in federal court. “The main thing the ATF was looking for was the weapons,” Berry says, adding that he can’t comment any further on another agency’s investigation. The task force became involved because there was a possibility drugs might be involved, he says. On Jan. 23, the Democrat-Gazette sent a letter to U.S. Magistrate J. Thomas Ray, requesting that all documents pertaining to the case be made public. In his own letter to the judge, dated Jan. 25, U.S Attorney Michael Johnson said it would be all right for the court to unseal the inventory list of what was seized from the Wilson home. However, he “strenuously” objected to unsealing the probable cause affidavit. “No legitimate purpose is served in unsealing the application for the search-and-seizure warrant and the accompanying attachments,” the prosecutor wrote. The judge responded by unsealing the inventory list. But if the newspaper wanted the affidavit, he said, it would need to file a motion with the court. He also said that the U.S. attorney has thus far offered “no grounds to support his position” in keeping the probable cause affidavit sealed. The Democrat-Gazette filed a motion on Feb. 15, asking that all documents in the case be unsealed.
A ruling is pending. In its motion, the newspaper argues numerous reasons the case should be unsealed. “First the subject of the search warrant is dead, and no criminal investigation concerning him can be on-going,” it states. “A civilian was killed and two law enforcement officers were injured during the execution of this search warrant.
The public is entitled to know the circumstances and manner in which state and federal law enforcement officials carried out their public duties.”
The Arkansas State Police was assigned to investigate the anatomy of the raid. Four days after the gunbattle, the agency issued a statement: “The Arkansas State Police investigation has revealed no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Metro SWAT team or any other agency.” This was a preliminary finding based on what investigators were told immediately after arriving at the scene, said state police Sgt. Don Birdsong. The two SWAT team members injured in the raid — Conway police officer Larry Hearn, who hit his head while diving to avoid the gunfire, and Faulkner County sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Young, who was hit in the upper left arm by a piece of shrapnel — have both returned to work. It’s unclear whether the state police investigation is actually finished. Last week, detectives said the results of their inquiry had been turned over to the prosecutor. But Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney H.G. Foster said on Thursday that police are still waiting for information from the medical examiner, and the case hasn’t been given to him yet. When the inquiry is finished, Foster will decide whether to close the case, press charges or ask the state police to investigate further. Once the case is closed, the investigative file becomes public, and authorities involved in the shootout say they’ll be allowed to talk. So at this time, the silence surrounding the events of that January morning is impenetrable. “I know there are so many officers who want to tell their part,” Berry says. They believe their inability to discuss the shootout makes everybody involved “look bad,” he adds. “I’ve been in the narcotics part [of law enforcement] for nine years and have executed numerous search warrants,” Berry says. “This is the first time anything like this has happened.” Asked what made this raid deadly, he pauses. “I’d like to comment on it, but I can’t until after the investigation is over.”
Carl was well-known to local authorities, even though all of his criminal convictions occurred in the 1960s. Carl did time for burglary, robbery and stealing a car. All told, he served 5 1/2 years in Oklahoma and Arkansas prisons.
He was paroled from the Cummins Unit in 1968. Since then, the man dubbed a “reformed outlaw” by one Pulaski County prosecutor had been linked to two of Arkansas’ biggest and most infamous murder cases and was accused on three occasions of shooting people, including his wife and best friend. Of the three shooting victims, only his friend died. Carl was never charged in any of the incidents.
Tammy refused to press charges. The other shootings were ruled accidental and self-defense. After all of Carl’s brushes with notoriety — whether it was when he testified in murderess Mary Lee Orisini’s trial, or when he nearly became a suspect in the death of pool contractor Johnny Burnett — it is baffling to his family that he died over a long-cherished hunting rifle. Carl always had a “mysterious side,” Tammy says. But she can’t imagine what he might have been involved in that would have put their home and lives under surveillance. There were signs, Tammy says, that Carl had started using drugs again after 12 years of sobriety.
But when she confronted him about a syringe she had found in a rarely used drawer, Carl told her she was being paranoid.
The syringe, he said, was simply a remnant of his past. Tammy was still troubled. “I told him, ‘I’m not going back there,’ ” she says.
Trouble did seem to follow Carl, no matter where he went or whom he befriended. Many of his problems with the law were of his own making.
A few were just plain bad luck. In October 1974, while he was working as a construction foreman at a job in Saline County, Carl shot a co-worker in the thigh.
The shooting was ruled self-defense. Eight years later, Carl emerged as a pivotal witness in the investigation into the July 1982 slaying of Alice McArthur. Alice, the wife of prominent Little Rock attorney Bill McArthur, was murdered by two gunmen.
A few months before her death, someone tried to kill her by putting a bomb under her car. The explosives used to make the device were later traced to Carl Wilson. The man who bought them was Eugene “Yankee” Hall, a friend of Carl’s. Yankee and Larry McClendon would later be convicted of first-degree murder in Alice McArthur’s death.
The hitmen were hired by Mary Lee Orsini, who was convicted of capital murder. Carl testified against Orsini in her 1982 trial. He told the jury that Yankee and Orsini drove out to his home in Mayflower to pick up the explosive that was later used to build the bomb planted in Alice McArthur’s car. At that time, Tammy was living there, but the couple weren’t yet married. While Orsini and Tammy rode three-wheelers, Carl and Yankee smoked marijuana and took a walk to a hunting cabin on the property, Carl gave his buddy a shampoo bottle filled with Tovex, a plastic explosive used in construction. Carl said Yankee told him he wanted the explosive to blow up some stumps. During the lengthy investigation and grand jury proceedings involved in the McArthur case, Carl testified that he had few visitors to his out-of-the-way home. “I just try to stay off up there by myself,” Carl testified. “Even got a sign down there where you come in across the cattle guard: ‘Leave Me Alone.’ ” When asked if he had any enemies, he replied: “No. I don’t do people wrong.” Two days after testifying against Orsini, Carl found himself the subject of another shooting investigation after he killed his best friend, William E. “Sonny” Evans. Carl told detectives that Evans was showing him a .22-caliber rifle in the bedroom of Evans’ home and had taken out the clip when the telephone rang. While Evans went to answer it in the living room, Carl and Tammy examined the gun. The rifle had a unique safety lock on the trigger, and Carl told detectives he was pulling the lock back and forth when the gun fired.
John Fund
Andrew Breitbart
The Daily Hatch 