I’m a true product of the American melting pot, but like a lot of Americans, I have an Irishman or two in my woodpile.  I married my beloved Irish Woman, and have been re-introduced to all that comes with it – Irish laughter, Irish whisky, and Irish tempers.

I’ve never gone in for using St. Patrick’s Day as an excuse to get blotto, but I’ve been known to drown a few shamrocks in my day.  Whatever your way of celebrating it, I hope you enjoyed the day!

Me, cheering on Boo as he plays Lego Star Wars as a treat – Uh-oh, you opened the door!  Get those robots!

Boo, pausing the game and looking at me very seriously – Daddy, those are droids, not robots.  Say it with me – d-r-o-i-d-s. drah drah droids.

I’ve never been so proud.

Innocent people in Los Angeles have been shot at by police in California because the police thought they were Christopher Dorner, the man who has killed several people, including police officers, in the past week.  Dorner has posted his grievances with the LAPD on-line, and promises to keep killing policemen and their families until he is stopped.  A massive manhunt is underway and a large reward for his capture has been offered by the city of Los Angeles.

In these incidents, police have shot at people in vehicles that resemble Dorner’s truck, which is now known to have been driven up into the mountains, then abandoned and set on fire.  Police maintain that the officers involved were justified in their actions because of the dangerous nature of the situation.  Apparently being a slender Caucasian or a Hispanic grandmother makes it easy for you to be mixed up with a heavy-set man of African descent.

These police officers have abandoned their roles as enforcers of the law.  Rather, they’ve decided that because some nutjob is making threats against LAPD, they have the power to be judge, jury, and executioner. Know your target and what’s behind it doesn’t come into play if what you’re shooting at doesn’t present a clear and present danger to you or other innocents. Even if Dorner was the person being shot at, if there isn’t a reason to believe that innocent life is in peril, then shooting at him isn’t justified.

Thanks to the policy of qualified immunity, they probably have very little to worry about.  I sincerely doubt that a prosecutor will charge them, and if they are sued for their actions, even if they lose, the taxpayers will pick up the tab.

If the rest of us can’t be justified in preemptively murdering someone who scares us, then neither should the police.  I want this whackjob locked away as much as everyone else, but shooting him on sight, and even worse, shooting anyone that the police think is him, is beyond the pale.

For those of you who wanted to see my high school pictures, here you go.

I don’t know where MicroSoft found them, but I wish they hadn’t Photoshopped all that text and stuff onto it.

If you’re in the Louisville area and want to get involved in the Friends of the NRA, the meeting tonight is at the Heart of Fire Community Center, 5101 Bardstown Road in Louisville.  The meeting begins at 6:30.  Hope to see y’all there!

How many of you all heard about this anniversary in today’s sermon?  Bueller?

This was originally published on February 3, 2011

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On this day, in 1943, the USAT Dorchester, a troop transport taking soldiers across the Atlantic, was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-Boat.   On board were four chaplains:  Reverand George Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Father John Washington, and Reverand Clark Poling.  These saints in the flesh not only provided a calm hand to guide men to lifeboats and assisted the wounded, but they also gave up their own life vests so that others might have a better chance at survival.  Soldiers and sailors who survived the sinking remember watching these men pray together on the deck of the ship as it went down.  Their sacrifice probably saved more than a few lives that night, and has been an inspirational example to me since I first heard their story.

Military chaplains are the quiet heroes among the rough men and women that make up our armed forces.  They provide moral guidance to leaders, comfort the wounded in body and spirit, and remind all of us that there are better things than the heat, cold, sand, mud, and heartache that comes with the military.  They act as staff confessor, conscience, and counselor to most military units.  Any soldier knows that if he has a problem, he can go to the chaplain, if for nothing else than to find someone who will listen attentively and make suggestions that are reasonable.  On more than one occasion I have taken Holy Communion from the back of a truck, with the Father just as wet, cold, and miserable as the rest of us.  The difference was that he chose to leave the relative warmth and comfort of the TOC to make sure that the soldiers in his flock were taken care of.

I have known chaplains that were saints walking among men.  I have known chaplains who were only slightly more holy in their manners than the men and women they tried to guide to a better life.  One Catholic chaplain I served with was Airborne, Air Assault, and Ranger qualified, could drink like a fish, would flirt with waitresses as much as the rest of us, and was as viciously loyal to Notre Dame football as anyone I ever met.  He was also the man who baptized my oldest son, blessed my marriage to his mother, and helped to bring me peace when I came home from a particularly hard assignment heartsick and broken.

To all of our chaplains, I say thank you.  There are some debts that can never be repaid, but I hope that my words have some worth in that process.  Even though a good minister can always find a comfortable, safe posting if they look hard enough, they go into the wilderness to preach to and care for the men and women who need them the most.

The following was originally posted on September 17, 2011.  I thought it might be a good thing to think about today.

The Code of Conduct was brought into military doctrine in the 1950’s.  It is a reminder of what is expected of American servicemembers if they are captured.  I’ve used it as a reminder of how to conduct myself in the bad times.

It’s December 22 21, 2012.  If you all are still reading this, then the Maya were wrong.   Hopefully no-one repeated the Y2K mistakes.  Me?  I’m probably sleeping it off.

It is much easier to burn men than to burn their opinions. – A Child’s History of England

My Take – So long as I draw breath, I will have my mind.  I may be broken and humbled, but what happens between my ears belongs to me, and I will always use that to do the right thing.  Like the old saying goes, “You cannot conquer a free man.  The most you can do is kill him.”