Like millions of others, my in-box was flooded with patriotic pieces about soldiers during the recent Memorial Day weekend. One of them stood out for me, not so much for the poignant singing and the historical photos that were featured, but because of the fact that it was made more significant by the man who introduced the singers.

USMC Lieutenant, Andrew Kinard, is a marine who was wounded in Iraq. He lost both of his legs, and he made the introduction from his wheelchair after an extended standing ovation from the huge audience at the Academy of Country Music Awards. He concluded his introduction of Trace Adkins and the West Point Glee Club, who were singing to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, by saying, “Remember, it’s not about the war…it’s about the warrior.”

His statement may have been some time-honored tribute to soldiers, but it was new to me, and it hit close to home.

The star-studded audience was transfixed and emotional as Trace and the Glee Club sang and accompanying photos were flashed upon a large screen.

The video touched me because I know a young soldier – a young warrior. He’s a young man I have known since he was born, and I am so proud of him that I feel tears welling up almost every time I think of him. By the grace of god, and the incredible training an Army Ranger goes through, he has not been wounded, even though he was part of the first wave into Baghdad.

He will not talk about the things he saw and did as they fought their way into the heart of Iraq, engaged in mortal combat with people who don’t place the same value on human life Americans do. Hints he has given me tell me it was a physically and emotionally draining experience that most people can’t even imagine.

Now, as he prepares to leave this summer for a tour of Afghanistan, I am even more proud of him. He has a young family that he has to leave behind. He is not intimidated by what he has to do – he is saddened about leaving his family. He is stoic in his belief that it his duty to make another year long commitment to go to a war zone. We have an all volunteer army, and he made the choice to become an Army Ranger, just like every other soldier who made it their choice to join the military.

The media tends to ignore it, because it is not deemed to be politically correct in today’s climate of change, but there are thousands of soldiers who return to battle voluntarily. There are quiet young men like the one I am talking about, who could rip your heart out of your chest in an instant, who are committed to causes that are not supported by a significant faction of Americans. You may get tired of hearing the mantra that they are fighting so you don’t have to, or so you and your family can live in safety and comfort – but it is true.

I understand that war is a very sensitive issue because young men and young women are being wounded and they are dying. It is understandable that it is so emotional to so many people. In spite of that, I believe in what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. I also realize that only half of the people in this country are with me. To me, the country’s division is really not a political issue, although it is heavily influenced by politics. It’s an ideological issue, and how I or anyone else arrived at our ideological stomping ground is something I’ve never been able to figure out. It’s obviously complicated, and influenced by age, social surroundings, parental influence, peer pressure, and world and national happenings.

As an early stage Baby Boomer who grew up in a small town in western South Dakota, I am a dreamer who was surrounded by fiercely patriotic, hard-working, honest people who never hesitated to fight for what they believed in. Most of the people I know with a similar background believe as I do.

My dilemma in trying to understand all of this is that I know some people with the same background as mine who are so far left of me I can barely see them. It’s probably not that simple because our personal beliefs can be influenced by one particular life circumstance, or a combination of circumstances.

When that young warrior said, “It’s not about the war…it’s about the warrior,” here is the thing that grabbed me: The young soldier I know recently turned to me, after looking both directions to make sure nobody else could hear him, and said, “You know Craig, I believe in what we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe we are doing the right thing.”

This proud, young, American warrior, who is not afraid to engage an enemy soldier in hand-to-hand combat, was afraid of what people around him would think if they heard him say that he believed in what we are doing. He is heading off for another year away from his family in a horrid and dangerous environment because he believes he is doing the right thing for our country – and he knows only half of us agree with him. He knows his family members love him and are proud of him. He knows they worry about him and pray for his safety. But he also knows that many of them are so idealistically against what he is doing that he doesn’t want them to know how he really feels.

No matter what position you take, the next time you are sitting in the comfortable and safe place of your choice, having a glass of wine or a cold beer, take a moment and search your heart for the gratitude and support the young men and women who have chosen to make a sacrifice for you deserve. Think about them crawling around unfamiliar desert terrain in 120 degree temperatures, praying they don’t find a bullet or an explosive device with their name on it. Think about how many of them have to go without the things you take for granted: every day a warm shower, a hot meal, a hug from a child, or a walk in the park.

I’m not going to close with, “God bless our soldiers,” because they are blessed. They are blessed with a type of pride in and commitment to our country that I hope will one day help close the ideological gap that has torn America apart.

This article was originally submitted to JustOneOpinion.com and was published there on June 16, 2009. Feel free to comment.

Lately, Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Ted Stevens have become the primary culprits in this new era of awareness and not always for reasons that are flattering to the state.

Just One Opinion is a national website; I’ve written two pieces here about Alaska since last December. In my defense, both pieces were about subjects with national implications: Sarah Palin and oil exploration in ANWR. I hadn’t intended to do another Alaska story right away, but this latest bit of news is just too good to pass up and it’s a national story with surprising Alaska connections.

You Just Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Springtime in cold weather country is a time of discovery. During this time of the year Alaskans are spring cleaning -- and there are always some things you can count on that will pop up when the snow melts.

Like the four bodies that were discovered in various places around Anchorage in recent weeks as residents clean up local parks and creeks in preparation for summer. The citizens of the city are not shocked because they know that this is a normal rite of spring in Alaska.

Another item of national interest with an Alaska connection has also popped up in the last couple of weeks and it is just too bizarre to ignore.

Two weeks ago, a relatively unknown gelding named “Mine That Bird” won the Kentucky Derby. It was an unbelievable, feel-good story: A 50-1 horse that few people had ever heard about is motored from New Mexico to Churchill Downs by an unknown trainer with a broken right leg in a plastic cast. Chip Wooley, the trainer and a former rodeo rider, drove the entire distance with his good left leg, making the 1500-mile cross-country journey to win the race and secure for himself a surprising place in the history of the most elite event in horse racing.

Mine That Bird wins at the 2009 Kentucky Derby

It all could have ended there, but with the Preakness coming up two weeks later, the fun was just beginning. Shortly after the Kentucky Derby, as more information about Mine That Bird began to surface, this story took more turns than Lombard Street.

For part of the time that Chip Woolley was pulling the trailer with Mine That Bird in it toward fame and fortune, he was being followed by motorcycles ridden by a fifty-six year old cowboy and his cousin. The cowboy, Marc Allen, is described as someone who walks with a cowboy’s gait, wears a black hat, and sports a scruffy gray beard -- an “Easy Rider wannabe” on a cross-country adventure. Marc Allen, as it turns out, is also the co-owner of Mine That Bird along with Leonard Blach, a Roswell, New Mexico veterinarian.

So far this sounds like this is just going to be a warm, fuzzy tale about mavericks making good -- but the real story is just beginning.

It also turns out that Marc Allen is the son of Bill Allen, the owner of Veco Corporation in Alaska. Bill Allen pleaded guilty to bribing Alaskan politicians and currying financial favors to Senator Ted Stevens. (Stevens was recently absolved of guilt in court.)

During the discovery of evidence against Bill Allen and Veco Corporation, information surfaced that indicated that his son, Marc Allen, had bribed a state legislator while working for Veco. As part of his eventual plea agreement, Bill Allen negotiated immunity for his son in exchange for his pleading guilty and providing information against an assortment of Alaska politicians.

In other words, if his father had not made a plea deal with the government, the co-owner of the Kentucky Derby winner could have been facing jail time rather than basking in the glow of being the owner of a now famous horse.

Our story continues…

Because of his love of horses, and using some of the proceeds from his approximately $30 Million share from the sale of Veco Corporation to CH2M Hill, Marc Allen paid for his half of the purchase price of $400,000 for Mine That Bird.

This cowpoke, who rode his Harley as he followed the trainer he’d met in a New Mexico bar fight twenty-five years earlier and the horse he’d bought with money that came from the sale of the infamous Veco Corporation in Alaska, was about to set the members of the horse racing world on their collective butts. With their surprising win at the Kentucky Derby under their belts, the Mine That Bird team was preparing to go to the Preakness.

Now we focus on the wily jockey who braved the rail to ride Mine That Bird to his unlikely Kentucky Derby win. Jockey Calvin Borel was now a two-time winner, having won the Kentucky Derby in 2007. Borel had a previous agreement to ride “Rachel Alexandra,” a filly, in the Preakness. Unlike Mine That Bird, Rachel Alexandra is a known winner and a horse that had recently been sold for $10 Million. Racing writers have referred to these two horses as “Lady and The Tramp,” and the experienced Borel knew that the filly had too much horse power for the new mutt. He wanted to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. What happened next was sort of…”Veco-like.”

Allegedly Marc Allen conspired with another horse owner to get two unworthy horses to fill empty slots in the Preakness so there wouldn’t be any room for the one horse that hadn’t signed up yet -- Rachel Alexandra. Supposedly Marc wanted to make sure that jockey Borel was available to ride Mine That Bird. Some published stories suggested that Marc’s real interest was to keep Rachel Alexandra, a horse that would have been a strong favorite, out of the race -- giving Mine That Bird a better chance of winning.

Another Alaskan connection appears…

John Hendrickson is a former long-time Alaskan and aide to Wally Hickel, a previous governor of Alaska and a former Secretary of the Interior under President Nixon. Hendrickson was married to wealthy socialite Marylou Whitney, a horse woman supreme. Marylou’s horse, Luv Guv (named after disgraced Governor of New York, Elliot Spitzer), was signed up to run in the Preakness. With the discovery of attempts to keep Rachel Alexandra out of the Preakness, John Hendrickson announced that he would withdraw Luv Guv, if necessary, so that Rachel Alexandra would be able to compete in the Preakness.

When the dust settled, Rachel ran -- and won. Mine That Bird came in second, validating the Allen team’s claim that he is a legitimate racehorse.

Rachel Alexander and Mine That Bird at the Preakness 2009

The obvious postscript is that the two horses will run against each other again in the Belmont Stakes. Television executives have to be loving that event after seeing the impact of the race of the sexes at the Preakness. [Update: These two horses did not compete against each other in the Belmont Stakes. Mine That Bird, again ridden by jockey Calvin Borel, finished in third place. Rachel Alexander was not entered in the race.]

However, what is not so obvious is that Mine That Bird’s sire is Birdstone -- owned by Marylou Whitney. Every time Mine That Bird wins a big race, Birdstone becomes more valuable as a stud.

Marylou Whitney is a friend of Wally Hickel and Ted Stevens (who are also friends). Even though Mine That Bird’s loss at the Preakness hurts Birdstone’s stud value, it also hurt the son of the man who tried to bring Ted down.

Is all of this confusing and conflicted? To say the least. But life is never dull in the spring in Alaska. And you probably thought that all the big-time, sexy high-jinks only happened in places like New York and California.

The only one who has managed to stay out of this story is Sarah Palin -- so far!

This article was originally published on May 27, 2009 at the news and commentary website JustOneOpinion.com. Please feel free to comment on this or any of my other articles.

Alaska is a land of mystery, and a state that is the subject of as many misconceptions as there are people who have not spent a considerable amount of time there. Now people know something about Alaska’s governor, and a little about the oil industry in Alaska, because of the current focus on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, better known as ANWR.

In the last few years, I’ve spent several months of every year outside of Alaska. The things I hear from people I’ve encountered convince me that very few of them know the truth about either its governor or ANWR. Whether you are interested or not, both issues are, or may be, of national significance.

This is not a story about Alaska’s governor – I’ve already done that. This is a story about drilling for oil in Alaska. I worked in the oil industry in Alaska for thirty years. I went from the drill floor to the boardroom, and I did it during the dramatic growth of the oil industry in “The Last Frontier.”

Don’t expect this to be an article that preaches to you about supporting drilling in ANWR. This is a presentation of the truth as I know it. I simply would like for people to hear something other than blatantly distorted anti-development dogma. I worked in the oil industry, but I am an Alaskan who cares about responsible development of our natural resources.

Early on, I want to state that very few people in the world have any idea of how much oil there is in ANWR. Most estimates are generally in the neighborhood of 10 billion barrels, making it one of the last and biggest “elephant” oil fields (100 million barrels or more) left in the U.S.

With special permission from Congress, Chevron was permitted to drill the “KIC No. 1″ well south of the village of Kaktovik on land owned by a Native corporation in the winters of 1985 and 1986. It is the only well that has ever been drilled in ANWR and the results of that well are still a closely guarded secret. Because Chevron, in partnership with BP, owns the only leased acreage inside the 1002 Area of ANWR, and they have zealously (and legally) protected that information for over twenty years, oil insiders assume it is an elephant -a very big elephant.

In a light-hearted bar conversation, I once asked Tom Cook, Chevron’s longtime Alaska Exploration Manager, how much he had been offered for what he knows about ANWR over the years. He politely batted my question aside, and I quickly realized what a serious subject that would be to anyone in his position.

Have you bought a case of bottled water lately? The case I just bought had twenty-four sixteen ounce bottles of water in it (three gallons), and it cost me four dollars. That equates to fifty-six dollars per oilfield barrel for water – for water! An oilfield barrel equals forty-two gallons, and right now oil is trading for around fifty dollars per barrel.

From a barrel of oil, we get gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), naphtha, kerosene, jet fuel, asphalt, engine oil, other lubricants, plastics, synthetic fibers, synthetic rubbers, detergents, fertilizer, perfumes, insecticides, and up to four thousand other byproducts. From a bottle of water we get “water.” Okay, I agree that comparison is not exactly “apples to apples,” but it may mean something to you after you read what follows.

My first trip to Prudhoe Bay was on January 6th, 1975. When I arrived it was around fifty degrees below zero. I was a “worm,” an oilfield term for somebody brand new on a drilling location. The plane was unloaded using a Cat 980 front-end loader, and the pallets with our bags on them were set on the ground outside the terminal. The small space inside the terminal was crowded with serious looking men who were bundled up in heavy parkas and insulated coveralls. All of them were wearing bunny boots and insulated hats with ear flaps. It was a surreal scene to a nervous “worm” – and I knew I looked like one.

Not knowing any better, while waiting for someone to pick me up, I was there long enough that everything in my bag was frozen solid – even my toothpaste.

It takes big men and big iron to drill wells in a hostile environment like the one that exists on the Arctic North Slope of Alaska – and lots of money. It’s a fascinating industry, driven by extreme competition and extreme diversity. The possibilities for huge financial losses are every bit as real as are the possibilities for huge financial gains.

Beginning in 1975, I worked as a mud engineer on drilling rigs on the North Slope and all over Alaska – but that is another story for another time. By the time I retired, I was the manager of one of the largest oilfield service companies in Alaska, giving me a very broad look at the oil industry in Alaska.

I know we have to develop alternative sources of energy, and the quicker we do that the better. I also know that we will need oil for the foreseeable future, and we need to use it responsibly during the considerable length of time it will take to fully develop viable new sources of energy. I can’t visualize jet airplanes flying on something other than jet fuel for many years to come. It should concern everyone that we are doing tremendous damage to our economy by sending hundreds of billions of dollars to foreign countries for oil. Many of those countries are actively using our money to try to undermine our success and our way of life. We are also forcing U.S. oil companies to drill ultra-expensive deepwater wells while we neglect easily available onshore prospects like ANWR.

I know about drilling in the Arctic environment and I know about ANWR. Well funded environmentalists and anti-development activists have done a masterful job of portraying ANWR as a pristine place with beautiful mountains and trees and wild animals cavorting everywhere. There is a part of ANWR that actually looks like that, but it is a long way from the coastal plain, and 8 million acres of it have already been designated as a Wilderness Area.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge covers 19 million acres on the northern edge of Alaska. The area on the 1.5 million acre coastal plain where the oil companies want to drill is as flat and barren as a tabletop. There will never be vacationers visiting this part of ANWR. In the summer it is so mosquito infested that you can barely breathe, and in the winter the temperatures (during the fifty-six straight days of darkness) can often reach over 100 degrees below zero with the wind chill factor. There is nothing that a tourist would want to see, and there never will be.

Because of advanced technology in horizontal drilling, the oil industry is only interested in using four thousand surface acres on the coastal plain of the 19 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That is like looking at a tiny dot on a sheet of letter-size paper. A very short pipeline could tie ANWR production into the Trans Alaska Pipeline easily.

Developing ANWR should be a no-brainer in today’s economy, but stubborn, anti-development factions often have their positions presented by famous people who have never visited ANWR. They are convincing the American public and politicians, including our new President, that developing ANWR is the wrong thing to do.

Some common arguments against developing ANWR are:

• “Drilling in ANWR cannot produce enough oil.” The idea that ANWR, or any other oil find in the U.S., is going to satisfy all of our energy requirements is ridiculous. On the other hand, potentially adding 1.5 million barrels a day to U.S. oil production speaks for itself.
• “It would harm the environment.” All resource developments impact the environment. The modern oil industry is probably the safest, most environmentally responsible, and most regulated industry in America. The impact of development on four thousand acres of the most remote, most barren land in America would be minimal.

The National Audubon Society has earned over $20 million by allowing the oil industry to safely drill wells in the Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary in Louisiana using many of the technologies that were developed on the North Slope of Alaska.

The population of the Central Arctic caribou herd near the Prudhoe Bay oilfield has increased sevenfold since development began in the mid-1970s.

• “It would not result in lower oil prices.” This is probably a valid argument because the price of oil is controlled by world supply and demand. Gaining a little more independence from foreign suppliers is the salient factor.
• “There are other places to drill.” With the exception of the recently discovered oilfield in North Dakota, other places to develop in and around the U.S., particularly deep-water locations, continue to become more challenging and more expensive to drill.

And when compared to the price of the water I bought. . . Just something for you to think about.

This article was originally published on April 2, 2009 at the news and commentary website JustOneOpinion.com. This is another of several articles that I’ve submitted. This article has generated a great deal of discussion there and I would like my readers to comment as well.

This is a short story. It’s a story full of pain and truth, yet with a happy ending.

In technical terms, getting a new knee is called a “knee arthroplasty.” Currently, almost half a million people in our country have either a knee or a hip replacement every year. It’s both a bane and a blessing of being a “Boomer” in our current world. Most members of our generation have led more active lives than our parents did, and we are fortunate to live in an era where technological advances are rapidly keeping pace with our drive to wear our parts out.

I had a knee arthroplasty two weeks and three days ago. Getting to the point where you are ready to commit to this surgery generally follows a period of years with angst and pain. Making the elective decision to go through a period you know is going to be full of even more intense angst and pain is not an easy one.

I began to write this article last week in late January while I was still in the early days of the rigors of post-surgery out-patient physical therapy to bring a sense of reality to what this is all about. Like me, I know many of you are facing the probability of needing joint replacement surgery. My intent is to give you some first-hand information that will help you with your decision, and to help you understand what to expect if you do decide to have the surgery.

Here are a couple of important no-brainers: Unless you have great insurance, the surgery and the follow-up physical therapy are expensive. The surgery is painful, and the physical therapy that begins immediately after surgery is monotonous and also very painful.

As the doctor I chose told me, having a bad knee is not life threatening. For me, if you can get some additional life out of your damaged knee with treatments, such as injections, it is worth trying.

I managed to get two pretty good years with injections of SYNVISC. Depending on the degree of damage to your joint, this visco-supplement can do some of the work that was done by the synovial fluid in your knee, which can break down over time. In my case, almost thirty years of participation in amateur sports had simply worn my knee out, so the injected fluid helped to lubricate the damaged joint.

Be sure to get more than just one medical opinion. When you think you have found the right doctor, check him out. Google search had a lot of information about my doctor, all of it positive. I found out he is a leading orthopedic surgeon who only does joint replacement surgery and has pioneered some of the latest developments that make the surgery less painful, less invasive, and easier to recover from. Frankly, I told my second opinion doctor that I thought the guy “was a little cocky.” His response to me was, “He’s probably just good.” I think he probably is.

To me, this is the most important part of this story. My doctor puts out a wonderful, inch thick booklet that tells you what to expect, and what to do before and after the surgery. The only thing I thought could have been stated more emphatically was the suggestion that you exercise as much as you can before the surgery. In the first few days after the operation, almost every little thing you do is difficult: rolling over, getting out of bed, going to the bathroom, sitting up to eat. You need strong arms and a strong good leg to compensate for the fact that you cannot get anything out of the surgery leg.

Until three days before the surgery, I was walking three miles every other day. Yeah, the knee hurt and swelled up, but I just iced it and took Advil. I also worked my upper body and my arms with a ten pound medicine ball on the days I walked.

My doctor and two therapists described my recovery in the early stages as “exceptional.” My hospital stay was supposed to be three days but I was out in just two, primarily because I did so well with the physical therapist. I understand that some people just aren’t used to physical activity, and some potential candidates for surgery have too much damage or so much pain that they simply can’t exercise.

I’d made my mind up to follow all of the directions that were given to me before the surgery. I ate smartly, limited my alcohol intake to a couple of beers a night up until three days before the surgery, and then just drank water and juice. We tried to prepare our house by removing all tripping obstacles such as throw rugs. I realize that everyone has different limits on what they can do, but if you can recover without dealing with stairs, it will be much easier for you.

There were many other instructions that come in the booklet the doctor gave me, and some of them relate to doing things that help to lessen the possibility of clotting and infection – both very real possibilities with this type of surgery. I did everything they suggested.

I attended a pre-surgery class with a group of about fifteen people who were scheduled to have knee joint replacement with four different doctors. From the beginning, the hospital representative issued a series of disclaimers. We were informed that those of us who had my doctor would have different procedures during the surgery and throughout the recovery period. To me, the first and most important difference was that we were going to receive nerve blocks.

When I awoke in the recovery room after the hour long surgery, my right leg was in a continuous passive motion machine (CPM). The machine was gently bending my knee every few minutes immediately after the surgery. With only occasional breaks, my leg stayed in the CPM machine for a good part of the time I was in the hospital. I don’t know how much pain medication would have been required to allow my leg to have this immediate post-surgery therapy without the benefit of the nerve blocks.

The CPM came home with me and I was required to use it for three two-hour periods every day. I reached the required bend of 90 percent on the CPM just nine days after the surgery.

This is probably a good place to take a little more of the glow off my story. This was major surgery, so the pain is real. You have to take pain medication to be able to do the therapy – and you have to do the therapy. Internal scar tissue can form quickly, and if you don’t do the proper amount of therapy, the recovery will be long and nasty. For most people, heavy amounts of medication cause loss of appetite and constipation. You can get through this by drinking lots of liquids and regularly eating small amounts of good food, including fruits, vegetables, and fiber.

Everything you do will be difficult and painful for a while. My doctor required me to have blood-thinning shots in my abdomen for my first week at home. I was taught how in the hospital, and it was easier for me to administer them to myself than to have my wife do them. In reality, the injections were very easy.

For the first week or so, sleeping comfortably is very difficult. You’ll be lucky to get a couple of hours of sleep at a time. Put a small, comfortable pillow between your legs so you can sleep on your side for part of the night. Be sure to leave night lights on between your bed and the bathroom.

If you chose out-patient therapy, as I have, find a good therapist. I found mine by doing an in-network search through our insurance company. My therapist works me hard, while making me feel positive about what I’m doing. Three days ago he gently worked my leg to 105 degrees – two days before my staples came out. As I mentioned above, it’s important to take your pain medication so you can manage the PT and was reminded to do this many times.

I wanted to get off the prescription pain medication as early as I could. I went to a therapy session last week after taking Extra Strength Tylenol, which had been working for me around the house, but it turned out to be a painful experience. Since then I use the prescription medication before each PT session. Now that blood thinning is not an issue for me, I can use Extra Strength Tylenol combined with Advil around the house. Unless you have a very high tolerance for pain, I would recommend that you also use the prescription medication before your physical therapy sessions.

Oh, and I have to mention the white surgical stockings – on both legs! They are for control and prevention of blood clots, so they are a fashion item you’ll just have to deal with.

I know it sounds corny, but being positive is the best medicine I can prescribe. I can already see a pain-free future where I will be able to do some of the things I love to do and haven’t been able to for a while. Don’t try to do it alone. My wife has patiently helped me through this, and I can’t imagine anybody making it through their first week at home by themselves.

As I stated, this story has a happy ending. Yesterday – just fifteen days after my surgery – staples were removed, the CPM was returned to the supplier, those sexy white stockings were discarded, and candidly, I don’t really need the cane.

Yesterday I had the best night of sleep I’ve had since before my surgery and I feel my only limitations will be based on how much I am willing to push myself.

The best trick I’ve learned? Put your left hand between your legs on the front of the toilet seat. Put your right hand on the right side of the toilet seat. Push yourself up with both arms and your left leg.

And now that glass of scotch in the evening tastes oh so good.

This article was originally published on February 5, 2009 at the news and commentary website JustOneOpinion.com. This is one of several articles that I’ve submitted there over the past few months. According to that site’s Senior Editor, “Getting a New Knee” has continued to rank near the top of most viewed articles on that site, even several months after its original publication.

This website and blog will allow readers to contact me, get background information on Saylor’s Triangle and The Permanent Plan, and get information on any new developments related to my writing.  It will also give you links to the other great writers who I have partnered with at Just One Opinion, and in our efforts to market our books.

Please use the Contact Craig page to direct your questions to me.

With overwhelming feedback from readers who want to hear more from Fred, I decided to create a forum for him to comment about today’s world. Since Alaska is truly at the “Top of the World,” the title gives a sense of Fred’s ability to overview the world and make comments.

Fred is a pretty salty guy, so I have edited his language from what it is in Saylor’s Triangle. He also tends to be brutally honest. His unedited comments will be featured on the SaylorsTriangle.com and CraigBieber.com websites and blogs on an ongoing basis.

Fred Longcoor – From the Top of the World

Fred says: “Obamination?”

This is all just too bizarre to ignore. If it looks like creeping socialism, and it sounds like creeping socialism, it probably is creeping socialism.

I’m trying. Even though I thought Barack Obama was a silver-tongued messiah, with little substance to back up his hypnotic words, I am tying to support the fact that he is the President of the United States. It is very early yet, but me and my buddies just can’t get our heads around the things that are happening now. If you understand them, maybe you can answer the following questions:

1. Do you know that government will become an unprecedented 31% of the U.S. economy with the Obama programs that have been initiated and proposed? I’m not sure that even includes the $410 billion spending bill from out of nowhere that the Dems are trying to ram through congress right now.
2. “Stand back, ‘cause I don’t know how big this thing is going to get.” – Fred Longcoor (from Saylor’s Triangle). Can you wrap yourself around a $787 billion Economic Stimulus Package that comes on the heels of the $350 billion in TARP money that is gone without anybody knowing for sure where it went? Do you think that a pork-loaded…excuse me, earmark-loaded, package with things in it like $650 million for digital television converter box coupons is the proper way to stimulate the economy? Is that $650 million spend acceptable to you because you are comforted by the fact that the Obama led congress made the all important move of changing the date for the conversion to digital television signals from February to June?
3. Here’s a goat-roping in the making. Do you know that much of the Stimulus money will be spent at the discretion of state governors and city mayors? Can you imagine the chaos that will create?
4. And then, there is the $75 billion (or possibly up to $275 billion) Housing Plan. How do you feel about the fact that you have built a life of financial responsibility and worked your butt off to provide for your future, and now you will have to sit back and watch the government (with a lot of support from your tax dollars) bail out the fools and the freeloaders who couldn’t manage their own lives? Who says there aren’t any free rides?
5. My buddies and I apparently don’t understand the concept of bi-partisanship. Is it significant to you that only three Republicans supported the Economic Stimulus Package?
6. All my money’s in a sock right now, but have you noticed how the financial markets have reacted to the new programs? Stocks have recently plummeted to eleven year lows, and our country is going to have to count on financing from China, who recently enacted an
   economic stimulus plan that actually works.

   Time Magazine says of the top twenty-five people responsible for the current economic crisis, Bill Clinton is number thirteen, and George Bush is number fourteen! Second on the list is Phil Gramm, who, under Bill Clinton, pushed through the repeal of the Glass-Steagall act, which is widely blamed for opening the door to all those shady credit swaps.

7. Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and Harry Reid? Not Obama’s fault, but this sad comedy team as a major part of the face of the Democratic Party is just too much for me to take. Stay tuned for what Nancy’s hairdresser has to say. There is no real question here, just wonderment.
8. Bill Richardson, Rob Blagojevich, Tim Geithner, Judd Gregg, and Tom Daschle? Can you say, “Rookie mistakes?”
9. Is there anybody out there other than me who would like to know what would have happened if the government had stayed out of this economic crisis?

* * * * *

• Let’s see, some big financial institutions would have failed, bringing rise to many of the eight thousand smaller, strong, non-corrupt and successful financial institutions. Some big financial institutions that have already received billions of dollars from the government are probably going to fail anyway.
• Lots of people who signed silly loans would have lost their homes. They would have had to rent for a while as they rebuilt their financial reserves. Eventually, they would be able to buy one of the millions of available and reasonably priced homes that would be on the market. Kind of sounds like the good old days.
• Millions of people would have lost their jobs – millions are losing their jobs anyway. The money dedicated to TARP and the Economic Stimulus Package could have gone to un-employment payments and then it would have found it’s way into the economy.
• GM and Chrysler would have had to file for bankruptcy protection. Maybe they would figure out that instead of producing dozens of car models that nobody can identify, that offering a few quality built models would actually help them compete with the foreign auto makers. Maybe they would learn that making Jeeps look like Hummers, and Hummers look like Jeeps makes no sense. Most importantly, maybe the UAW would learn that an old fashioned work ethic on the assembly line at a fair cost would also help the US automakers compete with the foreign automakers. Maybe the Big Three could bring their $70+ an hour labor cost in the U.S. in line with Toyota, Nissan, and Honda’s $48 an hour labor cost in the U.S. Maybe they could also get rid of the UAW’s ridiculous and expensive Jobs Bank; several of my buddies, and a couple women I know, would love to have one of those $31 an hour jobs that pay you for not working.
• Maybe, with all of this going on, a “sleeping giant with a golden hammer,” a strong sense of loyalty to our country, and a real understanding of the issues would begin to stir. The Baby Boomers have made this the wealthiest generation in history. Maybe, with a generational sense that we need to work and fight for what is best for the country, the $33 trillion dollars of wealth that they have accumulated would begin to flow into the economy! That’s “trillion” – with a T!
• And this is a huge stretch – but maybe we would begin to react to the fact that we can’t continue to spend billions of dollars taking care of illegal aliens and people who have made a career out of accepting handouts from the government for doing nothing!.

America is a place where all things are possible. All things of significance are draped in responsibility, tempered by circumstance, and measured by performance.

There are millions of voters who found their way to the voting booths last November – many for the first time – and they are now waiting for the payout. I don’t know what the unidentified foreigners who put millions of dollars into the campaign for change are waiting for, but they may be getting it. The malleable millions who wore their cloaks of righteous indignation to the polls need to throw them aside and take a hard look at where we are heading.

I may be the first one to say this, but is it possible that we may not be witnessing the end of the Republican Party, but the beginning of the end of the Democratic Party?

“There’s a smell in the air, and it isn’t sweet. There’s a cloud in the sky, and it isn’t bringing rain. There’s a stir in my soul, and it isn’t soulful…and there’s a fear in my gut that we have created a regret.” - Fred Longcoor (from Saylor’s Triangle).

I was nine years old in the 1950s, and it was a simple and positive time in a small mid-western town, with optimism building on the heels of the patriotism that existed after the end of World War II. We read and we imagined, and when we finally had access to a black and white television, we marveled at the grainy action in front of us. In my little cowboy town, westerns were the favorites, and in those days, the good guys wore white hats, and the bad guys wore black hats…making them easily identifiable.

In the conflicted world we live in today, there are no black hats and no white hats. Had the race zealots who prowl the world today lived in the 1950s, they would have assigned some imagined prejudice based upon skin color to the simple theatrical practice, and it would have gone away much more quickly than it did.

While I miss the white hats and the black hats, I realize there is no practical way to use them now. Today, some dark characters in movies and television are portrayed darkly and some white knights are portrayed accordingly, but the practice is more nuanced.

So…what to do? In my case, I have my own personal mental stable, with the good guys wearing white hats and the bad guys wearing black hats. In these unsteady times, the stable is chocked full. There are dishonest politicians, including a team of them from the state I have lived in for the last thirty-eight years, and greedy Wall Street tycoons who have helped to sling-shot big holes in my IRAs. There are bad CEOs, who run good companies into the ground, and then flee to sunny beaches with obscene amounts of bonus money in their pockets. In the category of How Can You Be So Stupid? there are spoiled, rich athletes who blow it all on ridiculous or illegal excesses…while I lament the fact that as a dedicated amateur athlete, I would have felt blessed to have one day of what they’ve thrown away.

There are white hats in my stable too, although the black hats far outnumber the white hats. And, there are some of my black hats who I’ve moved across the aisle, including my latest move. I didn’t vote for Barack Obama. It had nothing to do with the color of his skin. I didn’t trust him. I thought he arrived too fast, and that he was too charismatic to be real. I was inundated with so much information from my Republican friends that questioned his background, his sources of money, his religion, and his true agenda that I convinced myself that I didn’t like him.

I have moved Barack Obama across the aisle in my mental stable. I am a patriot who believes in our Constitution. I believe that any person who has the drive, the intelligence, and the charisma to rally enough Americans around them to make them the President of the United States deserves our support. It is what being an American should be about. Since the election, I have made it a point to listen to him and to watch him, and I have allowed myself to appreciate his intelligence, while making the common sense evaluation that he has a great responsibility coming, and he has a lot to learn.

If any of my many Republican friends read this, I am sure they will be appalled at my admission. I want them to know that I haven’t completely bailed on them. George Bush is in my white hat stable too. He has been blamed for too much, and been given credit for too little. For all of you who don’t like him, and there are a bunch of you, consider the following:

What do you think would have happened if Al (The Sky is Falling!) Gore had been president on 9/11? Have you thought about being the president when this unprecedented attack reached into the heart of our country? Have you thought about the fact that you have been safe from attack in your own country since 9/11/2001…almost the entire George Bush presidency? Believe what you want, but there are legions of fanatics out there who are dying to bring us down.

Hurricane Katrina? An event so catastrophic and so unexpected that no president before George Bush would have been prepared for it.

World financial disaster? The seeds for our current problems were planted before George Bush became president. He certainly has some complicity, but the current crisis was also exacerbated by two years with a Democratic congress. Most importantly, greedy money mongers from all around the world built a house of cards that had to fall.

Without making a political value judgment, the bottom line for me is that I don’t like sore losers. No matter which side you are on, step up like a man or a woman, and support your country. If your candidate lost, suck it up and support the winner…your country will be better off in the long run.

Personally, I’m a registered Independent. I probably lean more to the right than to the left, but I have heroes on both sides of the fence. I loved JFK, and had tremendous respect and admiration for Ronald Reagan. I didn’t vote for Bill Clinton the first time, but I did vote for him the second time…and then he failed me and everybody else by allowing his presidency and his legacy to be blown away in a White House hallway. I registered as an Independent to allow me to support my favorite mainstream politicians, not because I wanted to waste a vote on people like Ralph Nader.

That is my introduction to Just One Opinion. I am the guy who is just a little off-center from the other contributors, and I appreciate this opportunity to state my opinions. I am also from the great state of Alaska…yes, Sarah Palin country, and I have my opinions about her, global warming, the environment, government regulations, the oil industry, and Santa Claus.

This article was originally published on December 9, 2008 at the news and commentary website JustOneOpinion.com.  I’ve submitted other articles for that website and plan to contribute more in the future.  There are some interesting points of view being shared there and I invite you to check it out for yourself.

Nick is drawn back into the business by the mystical warnings of a new kapuna friend in Maui, and an Alaska Native spiritual leader.  Soon, Beth and Nick race drug dealer, Geno, and an eclectic cast of characters to a surprising finish.

Saylor’s Triangle was published in early January of 2008.  It has been described as a book with great characters, a wonderful setting, unflinching grittiness, and power.  Readers frequently call it a page turner and a book that they couldn’t put down.  It is an adult book, and a great read…if you like action, drama, romance, and mystery.

See information about Saylor’s Triangle, and other Ghost River Images books at ghostriverimages.com.