More than just a costly mistake.

Out here in Aggieland, home of Texas A&M University, we have a bit of an embarrassment on our hands.  Now  TAMU is known for its military history and a creed that in the first sentence states, an Aggie does not lie....

So you can see how this might piss some folks off when the number 3 man at the university, the Senior Vice President of Administration, is found to not only lied about having a Masters, but a PhD.  But wait....and here is where the fun begins....he told students - Corp of Cadets no less - that he was an ex-Navy SEAL.

Oh the poor man....he made a "costly mistake."  A 'mistake' me says! How do they define a mistake?

1. a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
2. identify incorrectly
3. an understanding of something that is not correct
4. err
5. error 

OK, so 1 and 3 apply, 2, 4, and 5 do not since he knew what he was stating was incorrect.  So he did, in deed, make a' mistake'.  What else did he do while he made that 'mistake'? (oh the list could go on and on about the damage his 'mistake' caused, but we're just going to look at one incident):

Kemos mentored prospective SEALs, told detailed stories about his supposed exploits during his time with the elite fighting unit, and in April even spoke at a dinner for cadets about ethical dilemmas he faced while he was a SEAL.

At some point I just can't give the guy any benefit of the doubt.  At some point it moves past a mistake into something else entirely.  How does one talk about "ethical dilemmas he faced" when he is -at that very moment - being unethical?  Didn't the guy see the irony in this?  If he did see it why did he continue, if he did not, then how did he get where he is?

I mean, at some time didn't he understand what was taking place because of his own actions?  I mean he is described as "extremely knowledgeable" a "problem solver" and a "competent guy."  He must have had something going for him to allow the smart people at TAMU to promote him to a $300K job as the number 3 guy.

So what does this say....I mean if you look at it from a distance?  You don't need an advanced degree to be good at your job and a lie can move your forward quicker than honesty.  Oh, c'mon Jeff, the guy just lost his job!  He is now disgraced and all that stuff.  Yeah....that is true, but for one year he made as much money as an honest janitorial worker makes in 12 years.  For most of my coworkers - educated, competent, problem solvers as well, it will take us 5 to 6 years to make that.

Now, by choice, I have decided to live by a different set of standards which has cost me.  Honesty, integrity, and ethical behavior has not paid off - I know this - and I accept this.  And if I had it to do all over I would have adopted these core values earlier in my life, not later as I did.  What I have received is beyond any monetary reward or career boost that could ever be offered.  I do not live a life of irony through my choice of behavior.  I can look my kids in the eye and tell them what you see is exactly what I am.

So Sorry....Not!

Yea, one of my least favorite people - Bill Byrne, Texas A&M's Athletic Director - was in the news.....again.

Seems everyone has an opinion on the Aggies leaving or staying with the Big 12 and one of them upset our highly paid AD with their comments.  From the Eagle: A profane e-mail to Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne prompted him to respond with an angry voice mail.

"Someone who has the guts to write something like that needs to have his [expletive] kicked," the 65-year-old Byrne said in the call, which was posted on Youtube.com. Byrne later issued a 1,700-word statement defending the Aggies' decision to stay in the Big 12 and apologized for the outburst.

Now we all lose our tempers, but someone making the salary that Mr. Byrne's makes should have learned over 45 years of being an adult how to keep it to himself.  But stuff happens and people lash out, so if an apology was needed, it's good to see that he owned up to it.  Well at least that's what the paper says he did.

"After reading over 200 similar e-mails the other night, I finally had one set me off and I called the writer. I'm a very competitive person and like many of you, I was raised not to back down when challenged. I've also got a bit of an Irish temper which came across in my voicemail. I regretted what I said as soon as I hung up. I should have been above that, and I made a mistake. For those of you who were offended by my response, I apologize, and I assure you that it will not happen again," Byrne wrote.

You see, it's not an apology when you state "for those of you who were offended."  You either did the offense or you did not.  How I feel about it has nothing to do with whether or not an apology is appropriate.  If you were truly sorry for your actions you would have just said "....and I made a mistake for which I apologize.

By this statement you are not sorry, only sorry that it ended up on YouTube.  It is tantamount to when as a kid your mom tells you to apologize to your brother for hitting him.  I'm sorry comes out of your mouth but without your mom standing behind you - or YouTube in this case - an apology would never had been forthcoming.

And that's why you are still one of my least favorite people.  Consider this a challenge to your not-so-sincere hands-caught-in-the-cookie-jar apology.  I'm calling you on it.

A Fox in the Hen House

The head of Fox News, Roger Ailes spoke on Friday at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas. Now I was not there to hear the speech and I may be taking things out of context since all I have to go by is a newspaper article in The Eagle which I have now come to find out was written by a pagan.

Now, I don't like getting painted with a broad brush nor do I like it when it is done to someone else. So I am going to focus on the utter illogical nature of his comments which included:

Ailes said a Pew Study from four years ago found 60 percent of Americans expressed the belief that God is essential to morality, but that more than 90 percent of national journalists didn't think so and don't attend church.

I fact checked that - what he said was not entirely true. What the study found was 91% of those who work at national news organizations say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral; 78% of local journalists agree. Why he thinks 90% don't go to church is probably just a made up statistic to support the other nonsense he let out of his pie hole, such as this gem:

"But they're all environmentalists," the 69-year-old said. "And I have a theory that environmentalism, to some degree, is replacing religion with those people...."

Oh Really? All of them? Even the ones who work at Fox News? Or does Fox News not use journalists? Hmmmmm it's all starting to make sense now.

• Pew study finds 91% of Journalists" say it is not necessary to believe in God to be moral."
• CEO of Fox News believes Journalists don't go to church and are pagans.
• President Bush (41) says Fox News "the most trusted sources of news in America today."
• Fox News is number one without apparently using journalists to write their news stories.
• Texas Conservatives vote in Republican Primary 95% to pass "Acknowledgment of God."
• Texas A&M is home to the Bush Library.
• Texas A&M is a conservative leaning school.
• A conservative value is "recognizing the media for its bias, bullying, deception."
• Texas A&M closes its Journalism department.
  

Damn, this is not where I was going with this blog, but it is all starting to fit together. Don't counter bias with truth, kill the messenger. Without journalists there will be no scrutiny, no skeptics, no one to call someone out, no voice for the downtrodden, the under-served, the forgotten, the meek, the poor, the average Joe/Jane without connections.

It is really starting to make sense now.....and its kind of chilling how their plan is all coming together. It all starts with demonizing the profession and putting in its place what appears to be an alternative, but one more to their liking..... another Fox to guard our hen house.

Proof of Guilt? Not on My Watch!

So in Texas, apparently, the law says I can shoot someone on my property if they are stealing from me – or if I feel threatened. This, I did not know and am kicking myself for the potential risk I have put my family in - that is- by allowing strangers to enter willy-nilly onto my property.

Now the risk if a stranger causing me harm is small those Lilly-liver liberals state, but all it takes is one bad apple to cause me harm. So it is better to be proactive than retroactive in my book, so I will shoot first and ask questions after.

“But what if you are wrong?” the cowardly liberals will squeal. Well. what if I am right? There is always a ying and yang, a positive and a negative, a good person and a bad. To not act would send a message to the bad guys that it is OK to break the law, to cause harm, to take from me those things that I earned through my own toil.

Now this doesn’t mean I am going to shoot Girl Scouts and tricker-treaters when they come to the door. No I am a little more qualitative in my formation of guilt than that. If they look like they might be bad, if me and my friends would come to the same conclusion as to our belief in their guilt, then I will plug them.

Yea, yea, yea, they could be innocent – could – that is, well think of all the guilty ones that get away with it. Besides, most of my pals feel the same way with this course of action, so what’s the big deal if a few accidentally get taken out? As long as there is a law that gives me the right to do it then by golly I will carry it out. Better to err on my side then anyone else’s.

So I hear tell that my method for ascertaining guilt my come into question by a group that obviously doubts my right to pass judgment and act on it. Good thing I have the power to nip that little foray into the truth in the bud. I have a lot of friends that think like me, all I need to get is them to “look” into it, or, better yet, to ignore it completely!

I like things the way they are, no need to go messing around in this business of protecting the innocent and proper justice crap like that. I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of about my course of action. I believe they were guilty so I shot them. Don’t you dare go looking to show me wrong. Oh, don’t show up on my doorstep either, unless you are with me, you look awfully like a bad guy.

Well got to go, me and Governor Perry are heading down to the boarder to help the Feds out.

Lock and load!

Eggsactly what was their point?

Over at Texas A&M University the Young Conservatives of Texas had an Anti-Obama carnival last Wednesday to demonstrate Sen. Barack Obama's economic policies. Their choice of message deliverance was to have students throw eggs at a big poster of Obama tacked to a piece of plywood. Needless to say, it did not go over well with those students who support Obama, and things got a little bit heated.

When I went back to College at Humboldt State University in Arcata California Regan had just recently been elected president. HSU is the polar opposite of A&M in terms of political persuasion and the new policies he was initiating were not going over well with a lot of my fellow classmates. One particular issue was his Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, who according to the Audubon Society was "arguably the most anti-environment secretary ever."

So it was only natural that during HSU’s annual Lumberjack Days celebration one student organization, which I can’t recall, decided to have as their booth’s fundraiser event:

“Throw James Watt into the Volcano”

They built a small volcano with a mouth large enough to engulf a Ken doll dressed up to look like James Watt, including glasses and bald head. Not to be sexist, they also had a Barbie dressed up as Anita Bryant that could be thrown in as well. So for 25 cents we could show our frustration with both these individuals while helping the organization earn a few bulks.

The only difference between this event and the one at A&M was ours was actually kind of funny when you think about it without partisanship. They were both exercises in free speech, and for me, actually helped me learn what James Watt was all about. This is the same response the YCTs were trying to accomplish along with a little “in your face” thrown in to spice it up a bit (pun intended).

We have nothing to fear when we hear views that are contrary to our own. The kid that stood in front of the sign attempting to stop the eggs from being thrown probably learned more about himself and his convictions then at any other time in his life.

Was it in bad taste? No more so than throwing Mr. Watt and Ms. Bryant to a fiery doom.

Did the YCT change anyone’s mind on who to vote for? Doubtful.

Did the students who participated, witnessed, or read about it become more enlightened about the world they live in? Yea.

And that’s a beautiful thing my friends, all brought to you courtesy of the First Amendment


http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2008/10/30/News/Obama.carnival.Turns.Into.Protest-3515201.shtml