Amidst the chaos that has engulfed the Ferguson suburb of St. Louis following the unfortunate and senseless loss of life on August 9, President Obama finally decided to weigh in on the key issues surrounding this tragedy.   His focus, of course, the show and use of weaponry by the Ferguson police department.    In ordering a review of the federal programs that supply local police departments with excess military equipment, Mr. Obama said: “review to make sure that what they’re purchasing is stuff that they actually need, because there is a big difference between  our military and local law enforcement and we don’t want those lines blurred, which would be contrary to our traditions.”

A good point of course, but by  pointing the finger exclusively at the supposed shortcomings of the local police in Ferguson (and by sending AG Holder – he helped a lot),  few of which have ever faced such a situation, our “divide and conquer” leader fails to point out the unfettered role of looters from outside Missouri, the catalytic role played by the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton,  the absence of inner city job opportunities, lousy schools in poor neighborhoods,  or the breakdown of the family /absence of dads.  What about those American traditions ?     Just blame the cops, Mr. President.                  WHAT THE HECK !

You think American sports display greed, and sometimes reflect the worst of American culture.  Just last week, two days before the start of the English Premier League (which has totally displaced baseball with this author), the coach of our favorite English team, Crystal Palace, two days before the first league game, departed in a huff over money, not his own but the budget management provided to enrich the squad with players bought from other clubs.    He just bolted , leaving the players and fans rudderless.

I nominate my son, Q, as the next manager at Crystal Palace.  He has the four characteristics necessary for success at our club. He’s a Yank who adores and values the traditions of the club, having viewed matches at Selhurst Park on at least 6 occasions on his own dime (well, some on Dad’s dime).  Secondly, despite his 22 years, I believe he can motivate underdog players, having sacrificed personally as a player in the States for 16 years.  Thirdly, Q would not give a hoot about the player transfer budget, preferring to build with players having a strong desire to play for a South London club with strong traditions and frenetic fans.  Finally, never never would Q abandon his mates/players for any reason, at any time.  Athletes in America know and live and breathe the team concept.  Brit football coaches somehow have forgotten it.      WHAT THE HECK !

What distorted views we get on the issues and events of the day from our previously admired network TV news outlets.  After seven days of rioting and looting, what is your general impression of the residents of Ferguson, Missouri ?

If I told you that of the 120 individuals arrested since the shooting death of Michael Brown, only 4 were folks living in Ferguson, would it change your views of the events of the past week, and of the conduct of the residents of this St. Louis suburb ?    The news media needs to re-gain its objectivity and report the facts.         WHAT THE HECK !

Pinhead awards go to the teachers and administrators at Dyer County (Tennessee) High School and Chukker Creek (Aiken, S.C.) Elementary School this past week for protecting the little angels from religion.   Sorry for the generalization, but, among other reasons,  no wonder our public schools continue to plummet in world rankings.  Thought the Constitution was about freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.

A crusading teacher (backed by the administration) tossed a high school girl out of class for using the term “bless you” to a sneezing student.  You can’t make this up.  According to the offended teacher, classroom rules supersede the First Amendment.  And in Aiken, elementary students were welcomed to the new school year by a revised version of the Pledge of Allegiance that omitted the words “under God”.  To their credit, Chukker Creek administrators re-instated the words after their “unintentional omission” was noted by parents.                                   WHAT THE HECK !

CBS lead NFL analyst and Super Bowl winning quarterback Phil Simms, along with NBC studio NFL analyst and Super Bowl winning coach Tony Dungy, declared yesterday that they would avoid using the term “Redskins” in their on-air coverage of the NFL this year in protest of the insulting and derogatory team moniker hailed since 1932.   What hypocrites !

After earning millions from the league  ( I love Tony Dungy, Simms not so much), and agreeing to lucrative  broadcast contracts  with the National Football League, these sappy dolts and many like them all of a sudden get a conscience because of  the outrage spewing from the national Proglibocrat press and from our otherwise unoccupied politicians.  Haven’t heard much from Native Americans though, have we ?  Well, I don’t take my ethical cues from those two sorry groups, so hard as it is to say as a loyal Cheesehead,   Hail to the Redskins !

Hall of Famer and generally tough guy, Iron Mike Ditka captured my sentiments precisely yesterday: “What’s all the stink over the Redskin name ?  It’s so much horse_____, it’s incredible.  We’re going to let the liberals of the world run this world.  It was said out of reverence, out of pride to the American Indian.  That’s the way it is .”                      WHAT THE HECK !

Sitting at my desk tonight scared to death to put money to work in our markets tomorrow.     Why in the world do our bond and stock markets completely ignore the rapidly deteriorating world political landscape ?  Need that ostrich with his/her head in the sand from my last post.            WHAT THE HECK !

The politically correct story goes something like this : Islam is a peace-seeking religion, the Koran teaches/preaches love and cooperation, and it’s only a slice of the Muslim world that is crazed with hatred, intolerance and bloodlust.  Let’s see, 10% of 1.5 billion Muslims equals 150 million (yes million) kooks that all hate Israel and the USA.    Oops, forgot that since 1948, 11 million Muslims have been killed violently, 99.3% by fellow Muslims who don’t like your particular brand of Islam.

So where is the uproar among the remaining 90%.  How often have you heard Muslim leaders in our country or worldwide decry the activities of the crazies that give the religion a bad name ?  You know the answer.  If 10% of my faith body went off a  deep violent end, they would be exorcised and publicly ridiculed ASAP.    The Amish wisely excommunicate those not interested in a positive representation of their faith.   So why don’t we hear from the mullahs ?     WHAT THE HECK !

While Emperor Barrack lounges on Martha’s Vineyard for two weeks, he might want to spend some beach time identifying in his mind who the good guys and bad guys are in this world today.  Benjamin Netanyahu is a good guy, proactively attempting to protect his nation from rockets launched against his population by looney tunes from the Gaza Strip.   The aforementioned looney tunes, the duly elected Hamas leaders of Palestine, are the bad guys, shamefully using their women and children as human shields, then turning over their sometimes bloody demise to CNN.   Verbally and forcefully support Netanyahu, and roundly and regularly condemn the Palestinian crazies.  You cannot negotiate with fanatical bad guys.

The morons in parts of Germany , Paris and Chicago waving signs last week in support of Hamas are the bad guys Mr. President.    Publicly condemn their activities. Speak up – you represent the good guys.

Vladimir Putin is a bad guy, taking advantage of our nation’s weakened leadership and threatening his neighbors.   The Ukranians are the good guys.  Arm them to the hilt.  Support them logistically.

Boko Haram in Nigeria are really, really bad guys.  They continue to kidnap, rape and enslave Christians in Northeast Nigeria.   Now that our nation’s trendy social media campaign has lost its steam with regard to the May kidnapping of several hundred girls,  work with the flawed, but still good guy Nigerian army to track them down.   Do it today.

Courageous Christian pastors, like Saeed Abedini, imprisoned in an Iranian prison since 2012, are good guys.  Work like heck, Mr. President, with the bad guys in Iran to free people like Mr. Abedini.

What will it take Mr. President, to get you off your duff and confront the reality that the bad guys are flourishing and running rampant because the good guys (us) are sticking our heads in the sand ?    You can’t keep ignoring the bad guys like the civilized world did in the 1930s with Hitler, saying we didn’t know.   We see the bad guys on TV and on the internet every day.   The good guys (us) have no excuse today.    WHAT THE HECK !

Earlier today, I accidentally spilled some spot remover on my dog, and now she’s gone.   WHAT THE HECK !

Caught the beginning of the Baltimore Ravens preseason football game on Thursday night from M&T Bank Stadium at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.   Fresh off his two game suspension for spousal abuse, Ray Rice’s pregame introduction appeared to be met by a standing ovation from the crowd, I guess “for all he’s been through”. Also looked like a lot of women and kids busted out  their Ray Rice official NFL jerseys for the occasion.   What’s wrong with those people in Baltimore ?                              WHAT THE HECK !