Biden Visits Albuquerque

The Vice President visited Duke City Monday to help raise money for Representatives Martin Heinrich and Harry Teague. We know that this worked oh so well for Obama's efforts with helping governors back east, so it is apparent why this strategy is continuing. Our executive electees are now in the business of raising money and support constantly for governors, representatives, senators, and the like instead of, I don't know, maybe running the country?

The cost of the luncheon was $1000-a-plate. Meanwhile, the foreclosure rate continues to climb along with the unemployment rate, and food banks are starting to feel the crunch just as much as any other part of the economy. But I don't imagine the participants of this luncheon would feel inclined to leave $1000 where it might really matter - say with Roadrunner Food Bank, Joy Junction, or other such charities.

To add insult to injury, it is not just the Representative from our OWN district who were on the fundraising wagon yesterday. No, Teague also joined in the money-raising. Now, don't we elect people to represent us? Doesn't it seem reasonable, then, that these people should be more concerned about catering to our interests, raising money from us, and not to other people outside our district? Harry Teague should be down in the southern part of the state, as Ryan Cangiolosi (New Mexico's GOP executive director, in case you didn't know - I certainly didn't until today) was quoted by the ABQ Journal. And I agree. The same goes for all politicians. Mayors should campaign and fundraise in the cities where they are running, governors in their states, and presidents in their countries for crying out loud! Representatives and senators need to do the same in their districts. How would YOU feel if the candidate you voted against won because of support from outside the area they will be representing? That person is not representing YOU, they are using you as a means to accomplish their objectives, nevermind what their job is.

Why did Teague attend this? Because the southern district has a largely conservative base that on the whole does not agree with his principles and the way he intends to vote. If he is going to win the Congressional race in 2010, he is going to need support from outside the 2nd Congressional District. Is this the kind of man you want representing you, if you live in his district?

Furthermore, I was astounded that while legitimate protesters outside this luncheon did receive a nice large picture in the paper, the only mention of them in the article itself came in the form of an insult made by Biden at Republicans in general.

-- For the record, not all people protesting this mishandling of government are Republicans - it is simply a convenient label. "Oh, those darn Republicans got in the way of progress again." --

Biden said: "I know what Republicans are against, I haven't figured out what they're for."

I find it fairly straightforward. Republicans are for keeping to ways that have worked, and keeping government small. People are at their core resourceful; if you turn a problem over to a caring person - not an agency, not a committee, and certainly not a government program - they will find a way to get it done, get it done well, and get it done within the budget. This becomes even more true if you add an incentive. This is the core of free market capitalism, and a part of the core of conservative, Republican values. Republicans value hard work, traditions, and family, and individuals guided by laws and by some kind of religion - or failing that, an internal moral code of conduct. It is the idea of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps", making your own way in the world, do-it-yourself. Yet it is also a sense of family and community, of neighbors watching out for one another and helping each other back up on their feet when hard times come. Republicans are actually a very accepting people as a whole, with a live-and-let-live creed - don't get in their face about something, and as long as it isn't immoral, unethical, or illegal they don't really care.


Unfortunately, there was a quite sad note to this whole ordeal - Sgt. Brian Lindley was wounded in a car crash while taking part in the official motorcade for Biden. The actions of the woman who caused the crash - whether they came from ignorance, apathy, intoxication, or anger - are deplorable and completely unacceptable. My thoughts and prayers are with Sgt. Lindley for a speedy recovery.

-Daine

Of Computers and Code Talkers

November 11, Veteran's Day

Today is a day to honor all veterans. It is recognized in some fashion by most countries involved in WWI as Armistice Day, when on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" 1918, that terrible war was finally brought to a close.

On this day I salute all veterans, and all those currently serving in the armed forces.

But we must not forget those whose efforts were instrumental in achieving victory either. Among these are two groups sadly forgotten in the shadows of the war: the Navajo Code Talkers and the engineers who worked on the Colossus.

In the Pacific theater during WWII, Allied transmissions were being regularly decoded by the Japanese. The Navajo language was very complex (and, ironically, was in the middle of being purged from the Navajo nation), and so approximately 400 young Navajos were taught an incredibly complex code using their native language that the Japanese were utterly baffled by. They then were deployed with every Marine assault in the Pacific between 1942 & 1945. They were present at the historical attack on Iwo Jima. In fact, they were one of the reasons for the turning point in the war in the Pacific. Today, only 50 of these brave people are thought to be alive. Let us not forget their contribution to the war.

In Europe, the Nazis were transmitting messages via the Enigma machine, which the Allies were unable to decode in time to be useful. A number of engineers - including Alan Turing, Tommy Flowers, Allen Coombs, Sid Broadhurst and Bill Chandler - worked on creating the Colossus computer, which was eventually able to crack the Enigma code in minutes instead of days. This helped turned the tide of the war in Europe, and shortened the conflict by up to two years.

The contributions of these people is sadly neglected, and like the Navajo Code Talkers and engineers themselves, the stories are fading away. The stories of many more may already be lost forever. As we honor all veterans for their service and sacrifice, remember those whose work behind the scenes helped to save our soldiers lives.

Thus beginneth the pithiness.