The Courts Get One Right

In what has to be one of the soundest decisions from the judicial system in recent months, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that descendents of slaves do not deserve reparations from U.S. companies, including banks, insurers, and transportation firms. This case should have been dismissed in its infancy on the lack of merit alone, but thankfully, the lower court and the appeals court both agreed the plaintiffs had no standing to sue any of the defendants.

The reparations argument has existed for years, with descendents claiming injury from products and services made by companies that had any interest in slavery or had previously benefited from it in the past. This is an absurd contention. Any injuries suffered by these individuals were figments of their own greedy imaginations. This is no different from sham mass tort litigation. Citing expired statues of limitations, the lower court correctly held reparations to be a political issue rather than a legal one, and subsequently the judge dismissed all claims. On appeal, the plaintiffs’ claims were again bounced out based on the same conclusions.

Reparations claims are nothing more than an attempt to rip off companies based on some ridiculous historical basis. So what if JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Aetna profited from slavery? It’s been 140 years since the end of the Civil War. If slaves’ families wanted redress, the time to sue and recover from any company earning profits from slavery related operations was in 1865. Allowing nearly a century and a half to pass before deciding to seek legal recourse effectively barred these descendents from pursuing their cases, and the courts agreed. “Statutes of limitations would be toothless if descendents could collect damages for wrongs against their ancestors,” cited Judge Posner of the 7th Circuit. No honest descendent of a slave could look me in the eye and expect me to believe they’ve suffered some wrong requiring repayment and maintain any credibility whatsoever. Reparations are just an extension of government-sponsored entitlement programs taken to the absurd while trying to extort funds from reputable corporations.

Kudos to the courts for showing what reparations really are – fraud, pure and simple, and hooray for the companies who decided to fight rather than settle, which is most likely what the plaintiffs’ lawyers were hoping for when they took these cases. Pending another appeal, all that’s left now is for the Supreme Court to deny writ of certiorari, and we can put this issue in the trash bin of history where it belongs.

Our Own Neville Chamberlain

Once again, Sen. John Kerry is leading the appeasement lobby for the Middle East. According to the failed presidential candidate, "I think it's important to talk...but you don't give up your principles and you don't make deals that are against your larger interest." The talk in this instance is referring to those most pro-American of countries, Syria and Iran. Yes, Iran -- the same Iran who'd rather lob a nuke at Israel than sit down and "talk" with Jews. What exactly is he proposing we discuss with Mr. Whackjob? How the U.S. could completely sell out our only true ally in the region, or how about preventing Israel from participating in the Iraq Study Group's recommendations? Wow, those both seem like great suggestions to me. What I don’t hear is anything substantive coming from Senator Kerry, but then again, that’s no different from the entire 2004 presidential campaign. Democrats are quick to criticize, yet scared or unable to provide any concrete plans, other than say we need a new direction. Is the situation in Iraq a losing cause? It is if the administration fails to implement strategies leading to victory but instead opts for short-term solutions.
Kerry’s remarks come on the heels of Kofi Annan’s comments echoing the same sentiments. "Bush should talk to these two [Iraq and Syria] countries," the UN chief said to France Radio International (anyone else snickering now?), "but I have no idea about what form the discussion will take." That’s akin to a marriage counselor accepting a warring couple as clients, then telling them they’ll have to choose how they want to communicate during therapy. It’s amazing the UN accomplished anything productive the last 10 years with that kind of decisive leadership. Kind of leaves you scratching your head, doesn’t it? Given the UN’s track record in recent years, there’s nowhere to go but up with the new Secretary-General.
All this posturing lends credence to the liberals’ theory that the word is always mightier than the sword. I’m not advocating another Operation Rolling Thunder, but I think it’s pretty clear that America is not going to be able to talk its way out of the Iraq "situation." Trying to negotiate with opponents who are either overt (Iran) or covert (Syria) antagonists is not going to work. The U.S. is the Great Satan to these people. Read the Koran; it’s convert or die, and there is no middle ground. The appeasers from the American left are consistent in their assumption that we bring our own woes upon us and it’s up to the government to show the world we can change, admit our faults, and play nice. The machismo inherent in Islam regards weakness as behavior to be reviled. They understand strength, and expect as much in confrontations. With a new political party in power, I hope the Democrats recognize the same and move to protect America’s interests. Theodore Roosevelt’s big stick and soft speech would serve well in these times.

Global Warming Is Ruining Sports...

Recently, World Cup Skiing leaders and athletes have been bemoaning the cancellation of several competition events due to a lack of snow. You've read my title -- you know who their usual suspect is: global warming. Yes, this insidious geographic menace is now threatening the livelihood of the world's best snow skiers. According to SignonSanDiego.com, "The season-opening races in Soelden, Austria, in October were wiped out because of heavy rain, and the women's events set for St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Dec. 9-10 were canceled because of lack of snow and warm temperatures. The men's races in Val d'Isere, France, on the same weekend were scrapped on Wednesday." That's right, San Diego, the mecca of U.S. downhillers and giant slalom skiers. What's next, the Prague outlook for west coast surfing?

Something caused this aberrant weather. Hmmm, what could it be? My guess is that October, while perhaps a historically cold month in Europe, is a FALL month. So is December 9th, according to my calendar. Why not wait until winter? Blaming global warming for the canceled fall events would be like the New Delhi Cricket Association scheduling the championships during a monsoon month and blaming the weather for matches that get rained out. I confess this is a rather simplistic way of looking at this issue, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Besides, World Cup skiing probably has a smaller American audience than the ESPN Dominoes Championships anyway. No one watches skiing unless the Olympics are on, and that's only if the curling matches aren't televised. Also, there's no ball involved in skiing, and therefore (if I am paraphrasing George Carlin correctly), skiing isn't a sport but instead is an activity. Hey, he said it, not me.

What I don't intend to do is debate the pros and cons of global warming, or even if it actually exists. Al Gore claims it's the biggest threat to our national (ok, world) existence. His former boss echoed the same sentiment. What a convenient truth for them. Call me crazy, but I'll take World Terrorism for $400 Alex. I'm truly more afraid of some fanatic wearing a Dior dynamite vest (as opposed to a dynamite Dior vest...) ruining my day while I'm Christmas shopping at the mall than I am of an iceberg that's 6% smaller than a year ago. That's the world I live in, and Al can join me if he wants.

I just can't stand by and let the environmentalists use the global warming argument in sports as a way to make it more acceptable. I'm waiting for Yogi Berra to say something about climactic change. It's sure to be more believable than anything I've heard so far.