October 8, 2008

John McCain wanted to hold a joint Town Hall Meeting each week with Barack Obama following the conventions, but last night’s lone debate in that format will have to suffice.

In retrospect, it may have been one Town Hall too many.

Because of the economic crisis and his own standing in the polls, McCain tried to make news by making a dramatic policy announcement: his idea that the Federal Government would buy up” bad mortgages” (and work out payment plans, presumably) to keep those with the “bad mortgages” in their homes.

Well.

Rather than assail the Republican nominee in full-throated fury, let me put this charitably: in his attempt to announce something dramatic, McCain sounded erratic.

Your humble blogger has long opposed the notion of quotas, but to rationalize and gently dismiss what is so obviously a campaign gimmick, think of it this way: in this long presidential race, each candidate is allowed to advocate one really dumb idea.

Senator McCain filled that quota last night.

Senator Obama filled his long ago, with the absurd notion that he would sit down face-to-face and negotiate with Iran’s “President” as well as North Korea’s “Dear Leader.”

The difference?

President McCain’s “mortgage misadventure” would not be pursued, while President Obama’s (God Forbid!) “dramatic negotiations” would be the centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy.

October 6, 2008

You have been calling and e-mailing…asking ( and in some cases demanding) guidance on the Arizona Ballot Propositions.

Since voters also have the right to “judge Judges,” a helpful guide to that important responsibility can be found here.

Now…for my perspective on the Props:

Prop. 100–”Protect Our Homes” YES

Blocks the Legislature or any subdivision from imposing a real estatetransfer tax.

Prop. 101– “Medical Choice for Arizona” YES

Insures that citizens have the right to choose a private health care plan and the right to pay directly for medical services. The Governor and the usual suspects in her socialized medicine cabal are using tax dollars and disinformation to discredit this worthy initiative…that alone merits its passage.

Prop. 102– “Marriage Protection Amendment” YES

Amends the Arizona Constitution to recognize Marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

Prop. 105– “Majority Rules” YES

Any initiative that establishes higher taxes or spending would require support from a majority of qualified electors to pass.

Prop. 200– “Payday Loan Reform Act” YES

Business sponsored reforms and consumer safeguards for Payday loans.

Prop. 201–”Homeowners Bill of Rights” NO

Should really be titled “Trial Lawyers’ Right to Bill.” This proposition would essentially mandate that a lawsuit is necessary to correct any home defect.

Prop. 202–”Stop Illegal Hiring” NO

DON’T BE FOOLED!!! The Open Borders Crowd dreamed up this deceptively named measure to destroy the Employer Sanctions Act, passed by the Legislature and signed into law by an outmanuvered (for once) Governor. Passage of this proposition would mean business as usual for the unscrupulous “anything for money” bunch, who want to keep hiring illegal workers. In this instance, “STOP” really stands for the acronym “Surrender To Our Priorities”–the desires of a deceptive group who want to ignore and invalidate existing enforcement of immigration law in the workplace.

Prop. 300–State Legislative Salaries NO

Raises the salary of Arizona Legislators from $24,000 to $30,000 a year. With Arizona’s budget mess, legislators must lead by example with their own payroll.

July 21, 2008

Your humble blogger has related on-air the unfortunate aspects of a flight aboard Air Force One to Yuma in the Spring of 2006.

In the parlance of “State Department-speak,” President Bush and I had “a candid and frank discussion” about U.S. border policy.

Needless to say, I didn’t change Mr. Bush’s mind about supporting my “Enforcement First” bill, and my private prediction to him about the 2006 Mid-term election was later proven sadly accurate.

Yet something else occurred on that trip that is worthy of mention, because it demonstrates that our President is just as gracious as he is stubborn. As Air Force One was taking off from Yuma International Airport en route back to Andrews Air Force Base, the President placed a call to the Yancey residence in Yuma, to speak with my father-in-law.

After the two chatted for about ten minutes, the President hung up, and then said to me, “J.D., Mr. Yancey is a great guy! He’s a man who loves his country, and served her well as a Marine. We’re blessed as a nation to have so many men like him.”

In a subsequent note I wrote the President, I thanked him for making the call: “you not only made my father-in-law’s day by phoning him; you made his life.”

Last Tuesday, that earthly life ended.

William L. “Buck” Yancey, a retired Marine, died of lung cancer at the age of 77.

To say that Buck Yancey loved being a Marine is a classic understatement. Though he looked more like the veteran character actor Charles Ruggles than the rough, tough square-jawed warrior type Hollywood so often puts on the silver screen, Buck’s service in the Corps lends credence to Ike’s observation that “its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog.”

To hear Buck Yancey’s voice in your mind, think of a southern twang a la Ross Perot as you read of his exploits in his own words: “I wanted to be a Marine so bad that I ran away from home and joined the Corps at fifteen! Made it to the final week of Boot Camp before my folks tracked me down and hauled me back home. When I was old enough, I joined again–and this time at Boot Camp, my drill instructor couldn’t believe it…thought I was the smartest country boy he ever did see…he didn’t realize I’d been there once before!”

Service in the Marine Corps took Buck far from his rural Mississippi home–all the way to the battlefields of Korea. He was one of the “Chosun Few,” the Marines who battled not only the Communists but the severe cold at Chosun, and while he got a bad case of frostbite, he saw others die.

Returning stateside, he married Gail, and they started a family. Bill, Mary, Melinda, and Debbie each “reported for kid duty” along the way at postings in Washington, DC; Atlanta, Georgia; Camp Lejuerne, North Carolina; and finally in Yuma.

As it has for so many Marines before and since, Yuma became home for Buck Yancey. When he retired from the Marine Corps in 1970, he built a successful career in car sales, developing a loyal clientele largely through his Marine connections.

My connection to the Yancey clan came nearly twenty years ago, when I married Mary. I asked Buck for his permission and blessing to wed his daughter, and he was typical Buck Yancey: right to the point. He asked if I loved his daughter, and when I said yes, that was enough for him. The Father of the Bride is often asked if he believes that he is gaining a son rather than losing a daughter, and in Buck’s case, it must have been the former, because he was like a second Daddy to me.

When he made the transition to eternity last Tuesday, Mary said he did so peacefully, and he left his home for the final time in fitting Marine fashion–covered by Old Glory, with his wife and children forming an aisle through which he passed, to the strains of a recorded version of the Marine Hymn.

My departure from Yuma aboard Air Force One two years ago can’t begin to compare with Buck’s departure last Tuesday. My father-in-law took his leave, borne up on angels’ wings.

William L. “Buck” Yancey: 1931-2008.

Semper Fidelis, Marine…Rest In Peace, Daddy.