Are you wearing red today?

Join me on BlogTalkRadio for The O Word – today I’ll be going through the paper, and talking about pets.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I don’t know where to start.

Yesterday afternoon (as TMBWitW was working from home, right before a Very Important Conference Call/Online Meeting) the connection was lost to the Internet. Where’s Al Gore when you need him? Several hours and many, many reboots and conversations with Cox later, and we are back online.

What a time frame to not have access – Shrillary basically hands the DemocRAT nomination to the Obamanation and then begs for the Veep slot. (I don’t know about BHO, but I would be remembering Vincent Foster when considering any dealings with Her Royal Pantsuit)

Ann Coulter has a lovely little piece on the whole affair, with some commentary about hypocrisy, in her weekly article.

I’ve added a link to my blogroll – her name is Samantha West, and she stores her thoughts here. She is very pro-military. I like her already.

I have three cats that need to find a new home – they are picking on the older two, and TMBWitW is not going to put up with that for much longer. Adopting them out is going to be much more humane than putting them on the street.

Speaking of pets – Logan is not doing real well. I introduced you to him here and for comparison purposes, here’s a recent photo:

Well, his polyneuropathy is starting to affect his bladder control. He has left a couple of puddles this week, and last week there was a bit of a BM issue by the back door. (when I went to help him stand up, it happened. I think he already needed to go, and my lifting him kind of added to the pressure.) We were told he would live between three and five years, and he just turned three. We might be losing him sooner than later. I am not looking forward to this stage of his life with us.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

I know, it’s Tuesday. I had a weird Monday, is all.

And, being the lucky person you are, I’ve selected YOU to be the one who gets to hear about it!

It all started about the normal time – no, wait. Monday started Sunday afternoon, when, for no apparent reason, the left front tooth in TMBWitW‘s mouth chipped. Not a big chip, but enough that there was a rough little line at the bottom of the tooth. TMBWitW, being the tooth-conscious gal that she is, was very concerned.

Bright and early Monday morning, the dentist was called. Actually, the receptionist was called. She could be worked in at 1015, and it would be the other dentist, not her regular one. Meanwhile, a certain blogger husband of hers woke up with a dull pounding in the back of his head. TMBWitW started working on the computer, getting done what she could without going into the office. For whatever reason, MEG slept until 0900. Blogging husband, not sure what was going on with his head, decided to take two Tylenol and sit quietly so as not to bother his head. He thought to himself, “This is why I quit drinking; why go through all that expense and sloppiness when I can get the hangover headache without even trying?” He took two Tylenol and sat at the breakfast table, reading the morning paper.

Once MEG woke up and had breakfast, she was quickly dressed and the entire crew was off. Not sure if numbing methods were going to be used, TMBWitW requested a back-up driver, just in case. Not sure if he would live until the end of the driveway, the husband took two Tylenol and said “Sure!” with a cheery grin. Relieved that TMBWitW wanted to drive, the husband sat in the back seat and gave the appearance of entertaining MEG while secretly wishing he had taken the entire bottle of Tylenol with him, as a snack for the road.

At the dentist’s office, it was determined that it would not take very long at all; in fact, by the time MEG had walked her father from one end of the compound to the other, climbed and descended two sets of stairs, discovered a pigeon nesting on a landing, played in three of the eight fountains in the courtyard and determined that there was a fountain under repair, TMBWitW was finished and waiting for the return of her support crew.

No numbing methods were used, as it was only an edge fill.

It was decided that lunch was in order, so TMBWitW headed home. (quick side note here – TMBWitW, pre-baby, had an unerring sense of direction. now that she is a mommy, she needs maps and directions to anywhere that is not work or a mall. the trips to and from the dentist office were amusing – or at least, I would assume they were amusing – due to the fact that the person giving directions had a forty five piece drum corps playing in his head during the entire ride and directions were monosyllabic at best.) Once there, a quick lunch was generated, TMBWitW went back in the office, and once MEG had finished her repast she was laid down for a nap. At that time the husband decided it would be a good time for a nap, also, so he took two Tylenol and laid, gently, on his side with a pillow covering one ear and blocking most of the light.

There was a huge ruckus, and the husband was jolted awake almost as soon as he had laid his head down, or about two hours later. TMBWitW needed to go to her chiropractor visit, and would be taking MEG with her, would the husband like to take a migraine pill? No, no – too late for that. He’ll settle for a couple of Tylenol and maybe a bit more of a nap before the HOA board meeting that evening.

Pizza was ordered for dinner, and consumed. The husband operated in a slight fog, and decided to forego the meeting; what use would he be if all he could say was “Turn off the light, it’s too bright”?

Husband decided that in order to sleep off the nagging wisps of migraine still clinging to his skull fragments, he would need to take a small sleeping pill. Sleeping aid acquired, he promptly lay down at 2030 and discovered that his mind was now wide awake and not nearly as pained as it was earlier in the day. Instead of tossing and turning fitfully, he decided to do something constructive that would make his mind shut down so he could sleep.

Ninety three expert games of Minesweeper later, he decided that wasn’t going to work, and maybe laying down would be OK after all. Going back to bed at 0245, he promptly fell asleep. At 0635, he awoke with a start, thinking that TMBWitW had left without a word, taking the baby and the dogs, leaving him to fend for himself with the cats.

I hate migraines that sneak up on you. I hate drugs that affect you in ways they aren’t designed to. I love Tylenol because my body know what to do with it. I need someone to research me and figure out why my threshold for pain and drugs is so weird.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

On this day of weird internet connections, slow loads, and dropped lines, I pray you are having a good day and that you have the time to stop over and listen to the latest show on BlogTalkRadio.

Oh, and that you are wearing a red shirt to show any troops that happen to see you that you support them!

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Remember back last week when I posted this?

No, that’s all right – go ahead and read it while the rest of us wait here…

OK, are you back?

The weekend following that posting, I received this e-mail:

Hello Mr.Cartter,
I do not believe that you are a bad American, only a little self centered because you are appear to be unable to see things from someone else’s point of view. I believe that you were totally correct about your entire ” Bad American” post. I am a young black woman who is a U.S. Army Combat Medic. I love this country and will kick the ass proudly of anyone who opposes what is morally right. I do not believe in reparations or illegal immigration. There were a few things that I did see that, maybe you should look at from a different point of view. The police statement, I have never been so much as pulled over. I drove from Texas to Georgia, 17 hours to see my family for the first time in years because I was serving my country and as you know medics are constantly needed. We were pulled over in a small town by the police shortly after crossing a 4-way stop. He asked where I was coming from what I was doing in his town with Texas plates. He claimed that my fiance looks like he smokes drugs. He said we were speeding -a lie- but we complied everything checked out but it wasn’t enough for him. he got out with his dogs to check my car then claimed they alerted him to cocaine inside. I knew this was a lie I complied. He tore my car apart, my black hawk bags, he broke the latches on my door handles tore through my bags while I stood there and did nothing. All he found was an asthma pump which belonged to my fiance who has lung disease. He claimed the pump was the reason for his dog alerting him. Then wrote a false ticket claiming he’d clocked us at 65 in a 30. I was due back to go to court in a month just one more thing they had no courthouse for me to dispute it in. The officers father was the sheriff and refused to allow me to file a grievance. I drove all the way back to this town for court and the said that the building they usually have it in was closed so they’d have it behind someones house the directions they gave me to get there led me to on old dirt road and no one was there so I drove back to the office but the police station was closed. I met a man a black man claiming the exact same story who was looking for the place they hold court so I took his name and number and got on the road to head back home. They told me the ticket was over half a grand and wanted me to pay it in cash at the police station or their judge would suspend my fiance’s license. The clerk also refused to give me documentation of the ticket and why it was so high…Long story short I never went back but I was hurt deeply to know this is what I fight for what I risk my life for. On a good day I had 500 brothers of all races. I went to III Corps NCO Academy at Fort Hood Texas you may remember last summer a soldier died in training. We were taught to keep an open mind to what another person is going through always! We all go through our struggles and have a reason for what we believe in. Thats what I would like you to understand. Can you see things from another person’s point of view before you pass judgement now that would make you a Great American!

Well, I couldn’t help but notice a few things about this e-mail. First, and I’m sure you noticed it too, is the lack of detail. Little things – like which state, exactly, this supposedly took place in. The name of the town. The “highway” they were traveling on. Kind of reminded me (and a couple of trusted advisers) of a certain movie plot.

In today’s political environment, not reporting this to people higher in the chain than the local sheriff or justice of the peace is a form of enabling the crime. By not reporting the treatment received, the “victims” become an implicit part of the crime, making their actions criminal in nature also. Not being able to file a grievance in the jurisdiction in which the action took place sure shouldn’t have kept this person from filing a grievance at the state level – whatever state in took place in. Also by not reporting it the “victims” have allowed the crimes to continue – by not blowing the whistle, they have told the people who are responsible for this activity that it’s OK, they won’t tell anyone…

To top it off, if it had been me, I would have been talking to the media folks as soon as I got to where I was going. The media types love to jump all over this kind of story – perceived mistreatment of the black folks, over-reaching Johnny Law types, keeping the law in the family, that sort of thing – in fact, it tends to lead on certain newscasts.

The physical evidence alone should have been enough to take to somebody who could do something. Gosh, I would think that broken door handles and damaged personal belongings would draw some pretty good fines, fees, and reparations to the victims, wouldn’t you?

I sent the person a reply, and have yet to hear back from her:

Good morning:

Thank you for your service. It is the spirit of those who serve that embodies what I stand for.

The posting stands – I am a “Bad American” because, unlike a very vocal liberal left group, I don’t believe that the United States is guilty of anything but being a free country.

I am not a lawyer. I do, however, have the nasty little habit of applying common sense and critical thinking to a situation.

Now, as for your episode: I sure hope you have more notes and details than what you provided me. And, I hope you took pictures of the damages incurred by this rogue lawman. Beyond that, I certainly hope you have filed charges in that state’s supreme court, and I hope you have been very vocal about the incident both in that state’s papers and your home state’s papers and other media outlets as well.

Without some basic information (the name of the officer, the date(s) involved, the name of the town, the name of the state, the time of day, the names of the people you spoke to/with) you have allowed yourself to become victimized. If you have all this information, you need to be sharing it with that state’s prosecuting attorney. If you believe that whole state to be involved in this very “Deliverance” -like scam, then the next level is the national Attorney General.

By standing by and not resisting at the time, you did the right thing. By standing by and not doing anything NOW you are allowing a crime to continue. If you continue to stand by and do nothing NOW, you move out of the realm of victim and into the realm of enabler – enabling this scenario to be repeated on others.

My prayers are with you as you continue to serve. My prayers are also with you as you move to resolve this injustice.

Cary

Let’s see how this develops, shall we? I get the feeling that it will be much like the time I tried to engage the “moderate muslim” a while back – no response, because there was nothing to stand on. I’m not calling you a liar, Ms. Nayas, I’m just saying there seems to be more to the story and I would love to see it resolved with you coming out on top, so to speak.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!