Monthly Archive for May, 2008

Going to Town? Got Your Keys, Your Money, and Your Gun?

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Wilson
on May 30, 2008
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Everytime I do an interview about guns and the Second Amendment, some gun-ho person always accuses me of not having a clue what I am talking about. Never said I did! That is why I do interviews.

However, that should not detract from this interview with John Monroe, Founder of Georgia Carry.org in which we discuss HB 89 passed by the 2008 Georgia General Assembly. Effective July 1, 2008, Georgia will allow someone owning a gun to get permit to carry a concealed weapon into a restaurant or on MARTA or some other form of public transportation or into Walmart. Nevertheless, as John points out, you still can’t tote your gun, concealed or not, at a “public gathering.” A few other places, as well.

If you read HB89, you will know for certain that you can get a permit to carry a concealed weapon but you will probably have a lot of questions as to exactly where you can carry it. The law is really not clear, and frankly, it even gets a little confusing in this interview. For example, the definition of a “public gathering” is:

For the purpose of this Code section, ‘public gathering’ shall include, but shall not be limited to, athletic or sporting events, churches or church functions, political rallies or functions, publicly owned or operated buildings, or establishments at which alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the premises and which derive less than 50 percent of their total annual gross food and beverage sales from the sale of prepared meals or food. Nothing in this Code section shall otherwise prohibit the carrying of a firearm in any other public place by a person licensed or permitted to carry such firearm by this part.

The law makes it very clear that you can carry a concealed weapon, with a permit, in a park, but what happens if you are in the park and come upon a church picnic? Are you now in a public gathering and violating the law? And exactly how the heck do you figure out if the bar or restaurant you want to go into with your gun concealed earns more than 50% of its income from food? You could literally leave your home carrying a concealed weapon legally and travel through alternating zones of legality and illegality just depending on what and who you pass.

John emphasizes that the uncertainty of the law is not good. I agree. Regardless of whether you like the law or not, there is really no reason to make it so confusing and uncertain that an honest law-abiding citizen can violate the letter of the law without knowing it. If you think this is no big deal, you need to understand that carrying a concealed weapon in violation of the law is a midemeanor the first time you are charged. But the second time it is a felony and carrys a mandatory minimum sentence of 2 years. (BTW, this is another example of stupid mandatory sentencing required by a legislature that does not have a clue as to the evils of mandatory sentencing.)

This is one side of HB89. There is another side!

 
 John Monroe, Georgia Carry.Org [29:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (497)

Bob Barr for President! Is This for Real?

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Wilson
on May 28, 2008
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I did something the other day that I have never done before: I watched some of the Libertarian National Convention from Denver. Interesting! One thing that struck me was that even in a relatively small political organization there were factions and disagreements over what they should stand for. If they ever become as big as the Democratic or Republican parties, they may make the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago look tame. And remember, they all tote guns!

I heard a lot of pleas that the delegates vote for a real “Libertarian” which supposedly alludes to the recent and convenient conversion of Bob Barr from defeated Republican to Libertarian. Well, I know Bob Barr and he ain’t no John Kennedy!!

Of course, no one believes Barr or any Libertarian is going to be elected in ‘08. The purpose of the Libertarian campaign is to spread the Libertarian message of freedom and less government, much less government, as in no government, save the army. Gain some support, convert some dissatisfied Republicans or Independents, and build the party brick by brick until, at that magic moment in the future, a Libertarian is elected. Sounds like a plan.

By the way, if you read the Libertarian Party Platform (at least the one from 2006), you will find it much clearer and easier to understand than the Democratic or Republican platforms.

I will give Bob Barr the benefit of the doubt, since, after all, I disavowed the abusive Republican party and became a Democrat overnight. It can happen! People can change parties on a dime and be sincere and earnest. Having said that, Bob, can I get an interview? I want one real bad. But, I don’t want an interview as part of some ego trip. No, no, no! I want to interview Bob Barr, now head of the Libertarian Party, to ask him one, simple question. Bob, can you give me some idea when the Libertarian Party will enter the 20th Century?

Bob, I don’t understand how the LP can damn the government and worship business. Oh, I don’t mind damning government, but damn bad business practices, too. Right now, in many areas, laws and government agencies are the only protection ordinary citizens have against business misfeasance. Business in the form or lobbyists and the US Chamber of Commerce are buying up all the government they can so that they can get a law that lets them screw me and forbids me from suing them when they do so. Bob, I need a law in my favor.

Clean up government. Make it more efficient. Radicalize it. Let heads role. Kill the lawyers, I mean bureaucrats, but lets not turn the country over to the uncontrolled greed of big business. Dear Lord, Bob, while I want more and more individual freedom, big business is doing all sorts of evil things in the name of capitalism. I don’t understand how the LP can talk about the free market and economics as if little Johnny is selling lemonade on the street. That is the kind of economy we had before WWII. It’s like the LP never heard of Walmart or all the other multi-national corporations that have a lot more negative influence in the daily lives of Americans than the government.

Tell me Bob, if you abolish the Food and Drug Administration and other government agencies, who is going to protect me from big business that would sell me toys with lead in them, drugs that will kill me, and expose me to all sorts of deceptive advertising in the pursuit of a buck.

And that is why the Libertarian Party is at its peak. Maybe one more presidential cycle, 2012! But until the LP finds a way to oppose government and protect us citizens, it is going to be composed of misguided souls who have a job and feel they can take care of themselves. Until the LP can figure out a way to actually solve a problem, rather than denying it needs to be solved, I am afraid it is doomed to a diminishing role in American politics.

Preachers, Religion, Politics and Hispanics

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Wilson
on May 28, 2008
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Rev. Samuel Rodriguez is one of those preachers that understands what it means to be a Christian in a political world. I watched his interview on Bill Moyers Journal and knew this was someone who had come to terms with the concept of the separation of church and state. As President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Rev. Rodriguez helps serve 16 million Hispanic born-again Christians.

I have no patience for most politically active preachers, at least the ones with regard to which I am most familiar, those of the religious right, the ones with big mouths, small minds and million dollar homes, who tend to have agendas that are anything but Christian. And yet, thousands of thinkless sheep follow them down the path to destruction, destruction of American institutions and destruction of true religion. Such leaders are willing to pervert our political institutions, our courts, our legislatures, in order to motivate their flocks to keep giving them money, money, money. But enough about them!

I was curious about Rev. Rodriguez after I saw the Moyers’ interview, primarily because he obviously recognizes the growing political power of Hispanic Americans. And yet, listening to him it was apparent that his message is significantly different than that of the religious right. For one, he believes in the separation of church and state, not the attempted manipulation of the state by religion, such as we have seen in the last 8 years. He seems to understand that if religious faith motivates political activity, it does so within the confines of political discussion in a free country, not as a religious discussion where God supports one side and the other is going to hell.

I also wanted to know what Rev. Rodriguez thought about immigration and illegal aliens. He believes we need to stop secure our borders and stop the flow of illegal aliens. At the same time he believes that we need to find a solution to deal with the illegals who have been in America for years. I realize that many people, including me, want all the illegals to leave the country and enter legally, but, my point is that Rev. Rodriguez’ position is, in the very least, just might provide a basis for resolution of a difficult issue.

What I like and appreciate about Rev. Rodriguez is that his Christianity encompasses much more than abortion, gay rights, etc. He believes that fighting poverty, taking care of the environment, decent wages, affordable health care and all sorts of similar things should be on any Christian’s political agenda. A discussion with Rev. Rodriguez is like a breath of fresh air compared to the bigoted, braggadocio of the kind of preachers that support John McCain.

Even more importantly, although I cannot put it into words in this short post, he makes you understand, almost intuitively, that a Christian can be involved in the political process without demanding that the separation of church and state be abolished. If there is any hope for America, religiously and spiritually, it lies with men like Rev. Rodriguez, not the Hagees and Parsleys and similar Pharisees.

 
 Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference [29:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (364)

“A Nation of Wimps” by Hara Estroff Marano

Published
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Wilson
on May 25, 2008
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Noboby likes to be called a “wimp.” The Urban Dictionary defines “wimp” as: “A person who is scared or WEAK or cowardly.” I am not sure that definition encompasses all that Hara Estroff Marano envisions in her book “A Nation of Wimps.” Hara is an Editor-at-Large for Psychology Today and has an intense desire for parents to understand what it means for a child to grow up.

When I was a child, if you complained to your parents about how someone treated you, you might have gotten a spanking. Oh, there were some parents that were always going to the PTA meeting or to the principal to get something fixed, but even the kid thought their parent was a nut. As Hara emphasizes, those days are gone. The new phenonmenon: growing numbers of parents who are not only determined to fight their children’s battles, but whose goal is to make the road to adulthood and success paved and smooth for a bump-free ride.

Of course, that kind of parent could never be–me! Before you exclude yourself, I suggest you take a few minutes and read Hara’s article, A Nation of Wimps, which appeared in Psychology Today in 2004 and which led to the book. If you don’t see yourself, read it again! Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Parents need to abandon the idea of perfection and give up some of the invasive control they’ve maintained over their children. The goal of parenting, Portmann reminds, is to raise an independent human being. Sooner or later, he says, most kids will be forced to confront their own mediocrity. Parents may find it easier to give up some control if they recognize they have exaggerated many of the dangers of childhood — although they have steadfastly ignored others, namely the removal of recess from schools and the ubiquity of video games that encourage aggression.

Then, listen to the interview and hopefully, you will have a deeper appreciation for why kids binge drink, why teenage suicide is on the rise and why college kids experience depression and other aspects of mental illness at ever increasing rates.

For the most part, all of our kids that are wonderful, highly intelligent, and brillant are average and mediocre. That “B” in English is their fault, not the teacher’s. They don’t know what to do, because we have never let them decide what to do without telling them what to do. When they call to talk to mommy on the phone for an hour every day, feeling their pain is one thing, trying to eliminate it is another.

The bottom line: grow up, so your kid can, too!

 
 Hara Estroff, Author, A Nation of Wimps [30:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (364)

Blowing the Whistle in America!

Published
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Wilson
on May 25, 2008
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When you were growing up, did anyone ever tell you “No one likes a tattletale!” Dictionary.com defines “whistleblower” as “a person who informs on another or makes public disclosure of corruption or wrongdoing.” The truth is, no one likes a whistleblower. That is why we have to have laws and programs to protect them.

Michael Sullivan is an Atlanta attorney with Finch McCranie, LLP who specializes in representing whistleblowers. In this interview Michael discusses several of the whistleblower statutes and what it takes to qualify as a whistleblower generally.

There are more than a dozen federal laws that encourage whistleblowing and they all have different and specific requirements. Some of them make sense and some of them don’t. Like most federal laws, they are confusing as hell and take an expert, such as an attorney like Michael, to interpret. After talking with Michael, it seems pretty obvious that if a person working for or with the government believes they have information concerning some aspect of fraud or corruption, the first thing to do is contact a lawyer who handles whistleblower cases. Not all lawyers do.

The idea behind whistleblower statutes in general is that people need encouragement and protection in order for them to be willing to expose fraud and corruption. Whistleblowers always put their jobs on the line because in many instances they are getting their bosses and/or fellow employees in trouble. When a whistleblower comes forward, the reality that no one likes a tattletale becomes very personal. Sure, whistleblowers are entitled to protection from retaliation on the job, but that is a difficult thing to accomplish.

In addition to offering whistleblowers protection, the laws generally provide financial incentives to those who become whistleblowers. Generally, if they are fired, they are entitled to reinstatment and back pay, maybe double pay. They may also get their attorney fees paid. And in the right case, they might actually be entitled to receive various sums of money, kind of like a reward, based on the dollar value of the corruption they expose. The problem is that none of this is guaranteed and it takes a strong, determined person to be a whistleblower.

Pray for the whistleblowers among us—-and their attorneys.

 
 Michael Sullivan, Attorney, Whistleblower Statutes [28:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (469)

Mr. Pye Goes to Denver!

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Wilson
on May 24, 2008
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If you are looking for Jason Pye this weekend, don’t. He’s gone. Gone to Denver as a delegate to the Libertarian National Convention.

I caught Jason just hours before he left to change the world. I hope he is as excited when he returns as he seemed to be before leaving.

I obtained press credentials for the Democrat and Republican conventions, but the LNC slipped my mind. My biggest question is why the Libertarians went to the same city the Democrats will be going to in August, Denver? Maybe they have asthma and need fresh air? Maybe they just need fresh air.

Much of the interview was about Bob Barr, Jason’s choice for the Libertarian Party’s nomination for President. Jason thinks Barr has the best name recognition among the potential candidates and would garner more national attention than someone otherwise unknown.

You can keep up with Jason’s libertarian adventure at his blog, JasonPye.com.

 
 Jason Pye, Delegate, Libertarian National Convention [29:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (453)

The Cost to Taxpayers of Fragmented Families in Georgia: $1.4 Billion-Annually

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Wilson
on May 24, 2008
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We know that broken families are not a good thing. We know divorce is on the rise. We know that single parent families are increasing. But, we may not realize the cost to the taxpayer of someone else’s divorce or single parent family.

Leah Ward Sears is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia. In this interview Chief Justice Sears and Dr. Ben Scafidi, Professor of Economics, Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville discuss the findings and significance of a recent study by Dr. Scafidi.

The cost for Georgia taxpayers: $1.4 billion annually. The cost to taxpayers nationwide: $112 billion annually.

You can read the report or a summary at American Values.Org or at the Georgia Family Council.

If you wonder why taxpayers pay such a high cost, the answer is simple, while the solution is difficult. We all know that it costs more to support a family living in two separate places, whether that is due to divorce or they just never got married. Families that might be living just above the poverty level when they live together, get thrown into poverty when they live separately. Once that happens, one parent and the kids now become eligible for all sorts of government benefits at taxpayer expense. Whether it is food stamps, medicaid, or whatever, these services cost money.

Now the point of all this is not to pick on divorced people or single parent families. The point is that we, the citizens and taxpayers, have a stake in trying to keep families together. It is a question of a dime of prevention being worth a pound of cure. Would we be better off if we invested funds in programs that provided marriage education and counseling, programs geared to keeping families together?

The Supreme Court of Georgia is the appellate court with primary jurisdiction over cases involving divorce and many family matters. It has a substantial concern in improving the success of families and reducing their need to resort to the courts. In 2006 the Supreme Court of Georgia established the Georgia Supreme Court Commission on Children, Marriage and Family Law. The press release announcing the formation of the Commission states:

The Commission will be chaired by Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears and will be comprised of two committees: the Advisory Committee on Healthy Marriages, chaired by Chief Justice Sears, and the Committee on Justice for Children, chaired by Justice P. Harris Hines. Both committees will study the legal consequences associated with the growing fragmentation of Georgia families and make recommendations for addressing their root causes.

Chief Justice Sears has been working on this initiative for over a year and believes that this Commission will make a positive difference for Georgia families. According to Justice Sears, “We must make some drastic changes to prevent further family fragmentation in this state. Moreover, it is crucial that the judiciary establish a clear vision of court procedures and research-based best practices to ensure justice for children now and in the future.”

The Commission, which will be appointed by the Chief Justice, will be composed of leading experts and scholars in law, family dynamics and child welfare, as well as other 2 selected leaders from the public and private sectors. Members will also include (though will not necessarily be limited to) representatives from the following disciplines: members of the Georgia General Assembly, judges from the Court of Appeals of Georgia and the superior, juvenile, probate and state courts of Georgia. In addition, the Commission will include members of the Family Law Bar, educators, social workers, representatives of the Division of Family and Children Services, sociologists and psychologists, and a member of the Georgia Commission on Family Violence.

********

The goals of the Advisory Committee on Healthy Marriages are to protect children and improve child welfare by fostering healthy marriages in Georgia as well as to reduce the statewide domestic relations caseload, including cases involving child support enforcement, child custody, paternity establishment and alimony. The Committee on Justice for Children has three primary goals: to establish outcome measures for children within the court system, to improve the quality of legal representation for all parties to juvenile court cases, and to expedite the appeals process for termination of parental rights matters.

 
 Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears and Dr. Ben Scafidi [28:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (310)

The Shame of Forsyth County, Georgia

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Wilson
on May 24, 2008
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Tom, just like most of us trusted his doctor, Dr. John Robert Stripling, III. In this case, Dr. Stripling performed laser surgery on Tom’s prostate and within a few hours Tom was having significant problems. A few days later Tom was dead. Why did he die? What do you think? He had two holes in his bowel, which allowed feces to leak into his abdomen, which caused an infection to set in, which killed Tom.

With just these facts, who or what would any rational person think is responsible for the holes in Tom’s bowel? The laser surgery! What else! Ah, but a medical malpractice case is not so easily made. Logic does not necessarily govern the rules of law as applied the the negligence of doctors. The law requires proof. And to get that proof, you have to do two things that doctors and insurance companies hate: you have to hire a lawyer and and you have to sue the doctor.

And, I might add, based on what happened in the malpractice suit filed by Tom’s widow, the people of Forsyth County hate it, as well.

What Dr. Stripling did to Tom was negligent. What the people of Forsyth County did to his widow is shameful.

All the experts agreed that if Dr. Stripling burned the holes in Tom’s bowel, he was negligent. The only thing is, Dr. Stripling took the position that something other than his laser surgery caused the holes. And to “prove” this, Dr. Stripling’s insurance company hired an expert who testified that Tom must have swallowed Advil or Ibuprofen pills, because that is the only thing that could have done it. Imagine coming up with something that stupid!

Doctors, their lawyers and insurance companies do it all the time because they believe that jurors will believe something stupid before they will rule against a doctor. Fortunately, most jurors are not that stupid, at least not unless they come from Forsyth County, Georgia.

Twelve citizen jurors of Forsyth County, sworn to be fair and impartial, believed (against all logic) that there must have been such a “magic pill.”

Those good people of Forsyth County thought it was much more important to rule in favor of the doctor. than to do their sworn duty to decide the issue based on the “preponderance” of the evidence. The sad truth is that those misguided, pathetic citizens of Forsyth County would probably never award money to an injured person or family against a doctor. That is how deep their hatred of lawyers and lawsuits and courts and justice really is. What is worse, they are basically proud of their bias and prejudice. They admitted it when they were questioned during the jury selection process.

I don’t know any of those misguided jurors (thank goodness), but if any of them claim to be Christian, they really need to read the Bible a little more closely, particularly Deuteronomy 1:17 or Exodus 23:6 or Leviticus 19:15.

In this interview, Steve Lowery, the lawyer who represented Tom’s family, tells the story much better than I can summarize it hear.

Steve’s law firm had to file the lawsuit against Dr. Stripling in Forsyth County because that is where he lives, even though his office is in the metro Atlanta area. They would have preferred to have been in some other county, but the law requires you to sue people where they live.

I do not know what disease infects the people of Forsyth County. I don’t really care. All I know is that they made a mockery of everything the courts and our system of justice stands for. They cheated justice and truth. They cheated Tom’s family as well. They cheated all of us because they put their bias and prejudice above the law and justice. Jurors have the power to ignore their oaths, but they don’t have the right to do so.

The good citizens of Forsyth County have sown injustice. Now, the question is, when and how will they reap it.

 
 Steve Lowery, Attorney [30:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (375)