Catholic Voters

With the Papal election in the news I came across an interesting analysis of the trends in Catholic voting. At one time it was heavily Democratic. This was true for a variety of reasons, starting with the fact that Catholics tended to be on the outside of mainstream and power tended to rest with Protestants.

John F. Kennedy was narrowly elected president in 1960 on the back of 83 percent of all Catholic votes cast. LBJ and Hubert Humphrey won similarly high percentages in 1964 and 1968.

But in 1972, George McGovern's campaign produced then-uncommon Catholic support for a Republican presidential candidate, Richard Nixon. The trend away from the Democrats has largely continued for three decades.

In 2004 they provided President Bush with his winning margin, voting for him over fellow Catholic John Kerry.

In 1960, 82 percent of Catholics identified themselves as Democrats. By 1980 it was only 46 percent In the mid-1980s, Democrats led Republicans among white Catholics by 7 points in party identification, today more say they are Republican.

Another interesting note, Catholics are the bellwether voters: as go Catholics, so goes the nation. Since 1972, they have always cast their votes for the popular vote winner.

Cleaning Movies

A bill currently pending before Congress would partially legalize a process known as movie cleaning. In essence, this involves taking movies and editing out scenes that might be offensive or innapropriate to families.

I think this is another they don't get it issue.

Clearly there is a need for families to have good movies to watch without having to worry about sex, violence, nudity, etc. And while there are good family films out there, perhaps Walt Disney and Spongebob get a little old after a while.

So since Hollywood insists on making movies the way they do, there has to be some way of getting clean movies for families to watch.

There are a couple of methods for accomplishing this goal.

One system, which is the subject of the current bill, involves special DVD players that are programmed to skip over offensive scenes automatically.

I don't see any problem with the machines. You are free to watch a movie any way you want, you could click on the skip button yourself without anyone objecting, so I see no problem with an automated system.

There are also editing services which allow the DVD to be played in a normal machine. This area is not the subject of the pending bill but is worth discussing.

A company called Family Flix sells the service. You purchase a DVD, then you send it to them for editing. They disable your original and send you an edited copy.

This seems ok to me. You paid for the DVD, it's your property, you can do with it what you want. If you wanted to watch scenes in random order, or watch it with Spanish subtities then the studios wouldn't object. So if you want to have it edited, then it is up to you

Clean Flix is a rental company, they purchase the DVD's and edit them, then they rent them. Again, it seems no different than Blockbuster renting you a movie. The studio gets paid.

None of these companies advocate illegal copies. In each case a DVD has been purchased.

They also recoginize that there are some films that cannot be edited. For example the Kill Bill series is not offered because it is recognized that to edit those movies would defeat the point of the movie.

As to the movie industry, some are ok with the system as long as each DVD is properly paid for.

But many others have adopted the traditional elitist view that we must watch the movie in the way they made it or else. They complain that we mere mortals aren't capable of properly editing a film.

Movie producer Marshall Herskovitz is typical:

"Someone with no knowledge of the film fiddles with an artist's work, "Copyright laws existed for hundreds of years to protect artists' works," he said.

"If someone buys the DVD, they have the right to do whatever they want with it. But what we're talking about is companies that commercially edit and then distribute someone else's work without permission."

Now I'm not sure why he cares who does the editing, if I pay for the DVD I can have whoever I want edit it for me.

But on a broader sense, this seems to me to be another sign of Hollywood not getting it. If they get their money for the movie then it's my business to do as I wish with the film.

As a writer I do understand the artistic concerns. But if I sell a book that doesn't mean that every person who reads it is forced to read every page. Once they buy the product, it is up to the buyer to use it as they see fit.

In short, if they don't want the movie edited, then don't sell it.

And they also don't seem to understand that this means that they will sell MORE movies. Generally speaking the people who go to sanatizing services are not going to buy or rent an unedited version.

In case you are interested, a couple places to look

http://www.familyflix.com

http://www.cleanflicks.com/

Cool New Site

Ok folks, time for a fun new web site to check out.

http://maps.google.com

Now I know many have used Google maps before, but they have bought control of Keyhole, a satellite mapping company.

So when you type in an address, you can click on satellite and get an image of your house (or anywhere else) from space.

Cool.

Election 2004 Analysis Bad News For House Dems

An interesting analysis of the 2004 Presidential Election does not bode well for Democrats.

The firm Polidata has issued a detailed and interesting report.

It shows that in 2000, Bush won 228 Congressional districts compared to 207 for Gore.

By 2004 that had grown to 255 for Bush, or 59% of the total.

It also showed a sharp drop in split districts, those that voted one way for President and the other for Congress.'

In 1996 there were 110 of them, in 2000 there were 86, now just 59.

Even worse, most of the splits were won by Bush. Kerry won just 18 GOP held districts while Bush won 41 Democratic ones.

This is important because one sign of a possible pickup district is if the other party won it in a relatively close Presidential race like 2004.

Only 5 Republicans represent districts where Bush was under 47% of the vote while 31 Democats represent pro Bush districts. While these Dems may hold on as incumbents, it won't be easy to hold the seats when they retire.

Democrats need to gain at least 15 seats to retake the House, but the pickings seem to be slim.

Also bad for Dems is the Hispanic vote, which is clearly trending Republican. Bush went from 35% in 2000 to 44% in 2004. The traditional math is for Democrats to win big with minority voters, but this is going to be harder.

Medal of Honor

Seems like this is the week for heroes.

Today at the White House, President Bush awarded the first Congressional Medal of Honor for service during the War on Terror.

The medal went posthumously to Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith. His young son accepted the medal for the family.

This is the exact wording of the official citation, I couldn't improve on it.

"On April 4, 2003, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, attacked to seize Objective Lions, the Baghdad International Airport.

As part of the Brigade scheme of maneuver, Task Force 2-7 Infantry was tasked to establish a blocking position against a brigade-sized counterattack on the main entrance to the airfield. Task Force 2-7 had been fighting for three consecutive days and had moved through the night before reaching the blocking position. Morale was high, but Soldiers were experiencing fatigue.

B Company, 3rd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment (Knight) was in the east-most position oriented along the main avenue of approach ready for the main enemy counterattack. A Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment (Rage) was attacking to the southeast of the Highway.

Iraqi troops were firing from the tower on the left, and climbing over the wall in front.The main entrance to the airfield was a four-lane highway with a median to separate incoming and outgoing traffic.

Large masonry walls with towers approximately 100 meters apart bound the highway. On the morning of April 4, 2003, more than 100 soldiers from the Task Force 2-7 Forward Aid Station, mortars, scouts and portions of B Company, 11th Engineer Battalion were in the median behind the forward most blocking positions.

The B Company, 11th Engineer Battalion 2nd Platoon Leader was on a reconnaissance mission with the B Company, Task Force 2-7 Infantry Commander. During his absence, 2nd Platoon received the mission to construct an Enemy Prisoner of War holding area. Sgt. 1st Class Smith was in charge of 2nd Platoon.

Sgt. 1st Class Smith assessed the best location to be behind the masonry wall bounding the highway. Two guard towers along the wall were ideally situated to provide overwatch to the holding area.

An M9 armored combat earthmover (ACE) knocked a hole in the wall to create an opening to a large courtyard with a louvered metal gate on the north side. With the help of a squad leader and team leader, Sgt. 1st Class Smith checked the far side of the courtyard for enemy, found none, and posted two guards.

From the guard post at the gate small groupings of buildings were 100-200 meters to the northeast. To the northwest, a large white building with a white dome was visible. The location seemed perfect as the courtyard was along the northern flank of the blocking position and enemy actions to this point were mostly from the east.

Iraqi troops were firing from the tower on the left, and climbing over the wall in front. .While an engineer squad began to clear debris in the courtyard, one of the guards saw 10-15 enemy soldiers with small arms, 60mm mortars, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPG).

These were the lead elements of an organized company-sized force making a deliberate attack on the flank of Task Force 2-7. Sgt. 1st Class Smith came to the position and identified 25-50 more soldiers moving into prepared fighting positions. Sgt. 1st Class Smith instructed a squad leader to get a nearby Bradley Fighting Vehicle for support.

While waiting for the Bradley, Sgt. 1st Class Smith had members of 2nd platoon retrieve AT-4 weapons and form a skirmish line outside the gate. By this time, the number of enemy identified rose to 100 soldiers, now a confirmed company-sized attack. Three of B Company’s M113A3 armored personnel carriers (APC) oriented .50-cal. machineguns toward the opening in the wall and the surrounding guard towers, now occupied by enemy soldiers.

Sgt. 1st Class Smith’s actions to organize a defense against the deliberate attack were not only effective, but inspired the B Company, 11th Engineer Battalion Soldiers. He then began to lead by example. As the Bradley arrived on site and moved through the hole in the wall toward the gate, Sgt. 1st Class Smith ran to the gate wall and threw a fragmentation grenade at the enemy.

He then took two Soldiers forward to join the guards and directed their engagement of the enemy with small arms. The enemy continued to fire rifles, RPGs, and 60mm mortars at the Soldiers on the street and within the courtyard.

Enemy soldiers began moving along the buildings on the north side of the clearing to get into position to climb into the towers. Sgt. 1st Class Smith called for an APC to move forward to provide additional fire support. Sgt. 1st Class Smith then fired an AT-4 at the enemy while directing his fire team assembled near the front line of the engagement area.

Iraqi troops were firing from the tower on the left, and climbing over the wall in front. Running low on ammunition and having taken RPG hits, the Bradley withdrew to reload. The lead APC in the area received a direct hit from a mortar, wounding the three occupants. The enemy attack was at its strongest point and every action counted. Not only were the wounded Soldiers threatened but also more than 100 Soldiers from B Company, the Task Force Aid Station, and the Mortar Platoon were at risk.

Sgt. 1st Class Smith ordered one of his Soldiers to back the damaged APC back into the courtyard after the wounded men had been evacuated. Knowing the APC ’s .50-Cal. machinegun was the largest weapon between the enemy and the friendly position, Sgt. 1st Class Smith immediately assumed the track commander’s position behind the weapon, and told a soldier who accompanied him to “feed me ammunition whenever you hear the gun get quiet.”

Sgt. 1st Class Smith fired on the advancing enemy from the unprotected position atop the APC and expended at least three boxes of ammunition before being mortally wounded by enemy fire. The enemy attack was defeated.

Sgt. 1st Class Smith’s actions saved the lives of at least 100 Soldiers, caused the failure of a deliberate enemy attack hours after 1st Brigade seized the Baghdad Airport, and resulted in an estimated 20-50 enemy soldiers killed. His actions inspired his platoon, his Company, the 11th Engineer Battalion and Task Force 2-7 Infantry.

Sgt. 1st Class Smith’s actions to lead Soldiers in direct contact with a numerically superior enemy--to personally engage the enemy with a fragmentation grenade, AT-4, and individual weapon, to ultimately assume the track commander’s position to fire the .50-Cal. machinegun through at least three boxes of ammunition before being mortally wounded--demonstrates conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty.

His actions prevented a penetration in the Task Force 2-7 sector, defended the aid station, mortars, and scouts, and allowed the evacuation of Soldiers wounded by indirect enemy fire."

Sgt. Smith saved the lives of over 100 men while sacrificing his own. As commander he could have assigned anyone to do the job but he instantly made the choice to risk, and give, his own life.

Reserve Soldier Wins Silver Star

This story is so amazing that I don't think I could expand on it other than to say that I wish I had half the guts and character that Jeremy Church does.

As the 724th Transportation Company arrived home from Iraq Feb. 25, Pfc. Jeremy Church was awarded the Silver Star, the Army’s third-highest medal for valor.

Church earned the medal when his convoy was ambushed April 9 by more than 150 insurgents in an ambush

Church was the convoy commander’s driver in the lead vehicle. The convoy was taking fuel to Baghdad International Airport when they were ambushed by several hundred insurgents.

Church’s actions are attributed with saving the lives of at least five Soldiers and four civilians.

Church drove aggressively through the “kill zone” to dodge explosions, obstacles and small arms fire.

Now it's worth noting that most attacks in the past involved a few dozen insurgents, this one was several hundred. Most of the time the "kill zone" was a few hundred yards long, this one was several MILES.

When the convoy commander was shot, Church grabbed his first aid pouch, ripped it open, and instructed the platoon leader to apply a bandage. He fired his M-16 at the enemy as he continued to drive through the barrage.

When a tire blew out, he continued driving for four miles on only three tires, all the while firing his M-16 out the window with his left hand.

He finally led the convoy into a security perimeter and safety. he then carried his platoon leader out of the vehicle to a casualty collection point for treatment. Now you'd think this was enough for a good days work. But not for PFC Church.

Knowing that there were men left behind, he rallied the troopers to launch an immediate recovery mission and escorted them back into the kill zone.

According to the official citiation:

“Pfc. Church identified the assistant commander’s vehicle amidst heavy black smoke and flaming wreckage of burning fuel tankers to find two more wounded Soldiers and four civilian truck drivers,”

It goes on to say that after treating a sucking chest wound, he “carried the Soldier over to one of the recovery vehicles while exposing himself to continuous enemy fire from both sides of the road.”

When all the wounded were loaded in the truck, there was no room and Church volunteered to remain behind. He climbed into a disabled Humvee for cover, according to his citation, and continued firing at and killing insurgents until the recovery team returned.

He then loaded up several more wounded before sweeping the area for sensitive items and evacuating.

All I can say is that this country is lucky to have men like PFC Church.