TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

A Plethora Of Bad News

ADVERTISEMENT

By J.G. NASH Hernando Today columnist

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 11, 2008

Senator Obama advises that the economy will get worse; so does my barber. I am not therefore surprised by daily reports of business failures, or by overpaid CEOs lined up with hands held out for government charity. But I was saddened and disturbed to read, this morning, that the venerable Tribune Co. is "at the edge of bankruptcy."

I can get along without our carelessly managed automobile companies, but the failure of still another group of once-great newspapers really ruins my day. The Tribune Co. owns the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Orlando Sentinel, among others. For those not familiar with our major papers, the first two of those have been giants in the industry. They will be sorely missed, and our nation significantly impoverished by their passing. I have been privileged to have had several of my travel stories published by the Times and Tribune, so I feel a personal connection to, and sympathy for, their current troubles and possible termination or consolidation. I'd rather see them survive this economic disaster we're in than witness billions handed out to the likes of FNMA, FHLMC, AIG and the rest of that irresponsible gang of losers.

Then there's that page 4 news report about how poorly our Departments of Defense and State are handling things in Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to a New York Times report, "... 160 (fully loaded) vehicles were destroyed," while parked in a marshalling yard in Peshawar, Pakistan. No one has estimated the dollar loss, nor the potential impact on U.S. forces in Afghanistan, which depends upon them, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that billions of dollars worth of vital supplies and trucks were lost in that preventable incident. Golly, should it be a surprise to our generals and politicians to learn that there are folks in Pakistan that don't like us a whole lot? Didn't a handful of them just raise hell in Mumbai! Why weren't adequate measures in place to secure those supplies and vehicles? Politicians, in and out of uniform, are the unfortunate answer. We're sure slow learners, aren't we!

And aren't you happy to learn that our personable governor (that's Charlie Crist, Hillary) squandered about half a million, of our already overspent state budget on a boondoggle to Europe, to which he invited a couple dozen of his cronies. The happy travelers relaxed in first-class luxury while flying to/from France, Spain, Russia and England, then ran up room service and bar tabs while occupying elegant suites in pricey hotels. Of course there is no possible excuse for that tax-payer funded vacation for Charlie and his party pals, - not even when the economy was booming! But Charlie's gang makes the usual weak excuses and justification for their playtime (e.g., we're promoting international trade with Florida, and coordinating other State relations with foreign nations). The trouble with that tired excuse for charging taxpayers for luxurious foreign vacations is: the federal government has always had that responsibility, and does it as well as Florida's politicians could or would. Then look, for example, at just one Crist party member's charges for his time while in England: Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey billed taxpayers $5,135 for less than 12 hours during four days in London (that's $428 an hour) for work that likely didn't need to be done, and that's on top of the costs of getting him there in luxurious comfort, and paying for his caviar, bubbly, and whatever else he charged.

Sure, European nations do business with Florida, but, in this age of instantaneous, secure communications, which include real-time visual images, just about any relevant and necessary meetings could have been handled without any travel. Even in prosperous times, there has been no real excuse for states handling international relations, which are the responsibility of Washington. Seems to me that Charlie and company ought to be required to repay every dollar of that inexcusable waste of tax dollars. Their misconduct is every bit as reprehensible as was AIG's scandalous, lavish company vacation, and the auto maker's private jets, obscene salaries, and other bloated and unjustifiable benefits. Why is it that so many of us seem to feel that we can continue to live like Arab oil sheiks, even though we're headed to the poorhouse on a bicycle.

Finally, I simply can't resist tweaking Lynn Schnumberger's nose for her sophomoric piece about "Finding Family at the Holidays," as run in Parade, on Dec 7. In typical liberal fashion, Mizz Schnumberger attempts to not only praise broken families, but to anoint them with a new, more politically correct name ("blended families"). Well Lynn, no matter how you re-name them, broken families, which are expected to become "the most common type of family in America," are not something to be praised, lauded nor even encouraged. No, they are the tragic result of an overly permissive society that has lost its moral compass. Now please don't point out that some of them are a result of spouses that died: Most are created because we treat marriage far too casually - if indeed we marry at all when conceiving children. Your "blended families" are a tragic example of the destruction of the human society needed to make this nation a success. What we need is greater emphasis on marriage, and especially on its vow of "for better and for worse; till death do us part." Broken homes and "blended families" are an indication of moral and national decay: not something to be celebrated.

Now, on to the good news. OK, that's it. Good night.

Hernando Today columnist

Senator Obama advises that the economy will get worse; so does my barber. I am not therefore surprised by daily reports of business failures, or by overpaid CEOs lined up with hands held out for government charity. But I was saddened and disturbed to read, this morning, that the venerable Tribune Co. is "at the edge of bankruptcy."

I can get along without our carelessly managed automobile companies, but the failure of still another group of once-great newspapers really ruins my day. The Tribune Co. owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Orlando Sentinel, among others. For those not familiar with our major papers, the first two of those have been giants in the industry; they will be sorely missed, and our nation significantly impoverished by their passing. I have been privileged to have had several of my travel stories published by the Times and Tribune, so feel a personal connection to, and sympathy for, their current troubles, and possible termination/consolidation. I'd rather see them survive this economic disaster we're in than witness billions handed out to the likes of FNMA, FHLMC, AIG, and the rest of that irresponsible gang of losers.

Then there's that page 4 news report about how poorly our Departments of Defense and State are handling things in Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to a New York Times report, "...160 (fully loaded) vehicles were destroyed," while parked in a marshalling yard in Peshawar, Pakistan. No one has estimated the dollar loss, nor the potential impact on U.S. forces in Afghanistan, which depends upon them, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that billions of dollars worth of vital supplies and trucks were lost in that preventable incident. Golly, should it be a surprise to our generals and politicians to learn that there are folks in Pakistan that don't like us a whole lot? Didn't a handful of them just raise hell in Mumbai! Why weren't adequate measures in place to secure those supplies and vehicles? Politicians, in and out of uniform, are the unfortunate answer. We're sure slow learners, aren't we!

And aren't you happy to learn that our personable governor (that's Charlie Crist, Hillary) squandered about half a million, of our already overspent state budget on a boondoggle to Europe, to which he invited a couple dozen of his cronies. The happy travelers relaxed in first-class luxury while flying to/from France, Spain, Russia, and England, then ran up room service and bar tabs while occupying elegant suites in pricey hotels. Of course there is no possible excuse for that tax-payer funded vacation for Charlie and his party pals, -- not even when the economy was booming! But Charlie's gang makes the usual weak excuses and justification for their playtime (e.g., we're promoting international trade with Florida, and coordinating other State relations with foreign nations). The trouble with that tired excuse for charging taxpayers for luxurious foreign vacations is: the Federal Government has always had that responsibility, and does it as well as Florida's politicians could or would. Then look, for example, at just one Crist party member's charges for his time while in England: Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey billed taxpayers $5,135 for less than 12 hours during four days in London (that's $428/hour) for work that likely didn't need to be done, and that's on top of the costs of getting him there in luxurious comfort, and paying for his caviar, bubbly, and whatever else he charged..

Sure, European nations do business with Florida, but, in this age of instantaneous, secure communications, which include real-time visual images, just about any relevant and necessary meetings could have been handled without any travel Even in prosperous times, there has been no real excuse for states handling international relations, which are the responsibility of Washington. Seems to me that Charlie and company ought to be required to repay every dollar of that inexcusable waste of tax dollars. Their misconduct is every bit as reprehensible as was AIG's scandalous, lavish company vacation, and the auto maker's private jets, obscene salaries, and other bloated and unjustifiable benefits. Why is it that so many of us seem to feel that we can continue to live like Arab oil sheiks, even though we're headed to the poorhouse on a bicycle.

Finally, I simply can't resist tweaking Lynn Schnumberger's nose for her sophomoric piece about "Finding Family at the Holidays," as run in Parade, on Dec 7{+t}{+h}. In typical liberal fashion, Mizz Schnumberger attempts to not only praise broken families, but to anoint them with a new, more politically-correct name ("blended families"). Well Lynn, no matter how you re-name them, broken families, which are expected to become "the most common type of family in America," are not something to be praised, lauded, nor even encouraged. No, they are the tragic result of an overly permissive society that has lost its moral compass. Now please don't point out that some of them (<1%?) are a result of spouses that died: most are created because we treat marriage far too casually>-if indeed we marry at all when conceiving children. Your "blended families" are a tragic example of the destruction of the human society needed to make this nation a success. What we need is greater emphasis on marriage, and especially on its vow of "For better and for worse; 'till death do us part." Broken homes and "blended families" are an indication of moral and national decay: not something to be celebrated. <252>Now, on to the good news. Ok, that's it. Good Night!<252><italic> J.G.Nash writes and photographs from his East-Central Florida office. He invites rational comment, sent to him at john@have-eye.com.</italic><252><footer></footer><252></body>

J.G.Nash writes and photographs from his East-Central Florida office. He invites rational comment, sent to him at john@have-eye.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT