JUDICIAL WHORES - IT'S TIME TO CHANGE THE METHOD OF HIRING EXPERT WITNESSES

Expert witnesses in criminal trials are one of the best examples of the inequality in our criminal justice system. Criminal defendants who can afford to hire the best attorneys that money can buy can also afford to hire the best expert witnesses that money can buy. The vast majority of criminal defendants can neither afford a good attorney, nor an expert witness. In many instancs, the poor are flushed down the criminal justice system's toilet. In jurisdictions that fund a Public Defender system, the poor are likely to get a better defense than in a system of court appointed attorneys.

In cases where an expert witness could be helpful to a defendant, the Public Defender's office may not always have enough funds to obtain expert testimony. Except in capital cases, court appointed attorneys are notorious for providing only the most minimal defense allowed under the law. More often than not, they encourage their clients to accept a plea bargain, not because that is best for their client, but so they can get another appointment sooner. Worse yet, many court appointed attorneys are so inept that the only way these BOTTOM FEEDERS can make a living as lawyers is to hustle for such appointments.

Expert witnesses, in both criminal and civil trials, are often referred to as "Hired Guns" because they usually hire themselves out to the highest bidder in our adverserial judicial system. I prefer to call them JUDICIAL WHORES, because that is what they are. For criminal cases, there are established lists of experts who will testify favorably for the prosecution and lists of those who will testify favorably for the defemse. Of course, there are those who will testify for either side, depending on who offeres them the most money. These judicial whores do not come cheap, with many commanding more than $400 per hour, including research and preparation time in addition to time on the witness stand, plus all of their travel, lodging, and meal expenses.

There are many kinds of expert witnesses for both criminal and civil cases. Just to name a few, there are those in medicine, structural engineering, accident reconstruction, chemistry, physics, income loss, long-term care, etc.. In medicine alone, there are experts for every specialty, such as forensic pathologists, surgeons, Ob-Gyn physicans, neurologists, orthopedists, plastic surgeons, and of course, psychiatrists. In the O. J. Simpson trial, there was contradictory testimony given by prominent forensic pathologists and by prominent forensic scientists, depending on whether they were paid by the prosecution or by the defense.

The psychiatrists, as well as psychologists, are the worst of the judicial whores, testifying for the prosecution that the defendant is sane or testifying for the defense that he is insane. If medicine is an art, then PSYCHIATRY IS A FANTASY. When Sirhan Sirhan was tried for the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, there was so much conflicting testimony by the psychiatric experts, that the jury wanted it entered into the trial record that they were thoroughly disgusted by it and considered it absolutely worthless.

The Andrea Yates case is another example ot the psychiatric shenanigans perpetrated by these judical whores. During the first trial the defense presented several psychiatrists and psychologists, all of whom testified that Yates did not know right from wrong, the Texas standard for insanity, when she drowned her five children in a bathtub. The prosecution relied mostly on the testimony of Park Dietz, a California-based psychiatrist who has not practiced psychiatry for 25 years and who earns his living strictly by testifying as an expert witness for prosecutors. Dr. Dietz has testified for the prosecution in the trials of John Hinckley (for attempting to assassinate President Reagan), "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, as well as in many other headline-making trials.

In the first Yates trial, Dr. Dietz testfied that Andrea got the idea for killing her children, and how to get away with it, by watching a TV episode of "Law and Order" in which a mother was found not guilty by reason of insanity after drowning her children. The only problem with that testimony was that there never was any such episode. Because of Dr. Dietz's false testimony, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned her conviction and ordered a new trial. In the second trial, Dr. Dietz again testified that Yates knew that killing her children was wrong, contrary to the testimony given by the defendant's mental health experts. Ironically, in between the two Yates trials, Dr. Dietz testified at the trial of a nearly identical case in Northeast Texas.

In May 2003, Deanna Laney bludgeoned her children with a stone, killing her six and eight year old sons and critically injuring her 14 year old son. Both Yates and Laney had a long history of psychotic episodes prior to the killings. Both reported the killings to the police by calling "911." The only differences in the two cases were the method of killing and that Yates claimed the Devil told her to do it, while Laney claimed that God told her to do it. The Smith County District Attorney, knowing in advance how Dr. Dietz would testify, nevertheless called him to the witness stand where he testified that Laney was "crazy" because she did not know right from wrong. Apparently, Dr. Dietz believes you are sane if the Devil tells you to kill your children, but you are crazy if God tells you to do it.

In both Yates trials the prosecutors, unlike the District Attorney in Smith County, were hell-bent on obtaining a death sentence in the first trial and a life sentence in the second trial. (Since she was sentenced to life in the first trial, the prosecution was barred from seeking the death penalty in the second one.) In the second trial the prosecution again relied on Dr. Dietz's expert testimony, as well as that of Dr. Michael Weiner, a psychiatrist from New York. Dr Dietz was paid a total of $142,000 for his testimony in both trials.

It is alleged that Dr. Weiner first approached the defense and offered to testify that Yates was insane. When the defense refused to meet his price, he turned around and offered his services to the prosecution. Unaware of his overtures to the defense, the prosecution called Dr. Weiner to the stand where he testified that Yates knew the drownings were wrong and that she was motivated to kill the children by her selfish needs. If, as alleged, he solicited both sides in the Yates case, offering each the testimony he believed they wanted, Dr. Weiner is a shoo-in to win the RED LANTERN, my award for the JUDICIAL WHORE OF THE YEAR. Dr Weiner and his consulting firm were paid $242,966.74 for their work in the second trial.

Is there a way that we can level the playing field between the rich and the poor in our criminal justice system? One way would be to establish a Public Defender's office in every judicial jurisdiction, thereby eliminating the court appointed "bottom feeders." A Public Defender's office, like those in several states and that with the federal government, is funded in the same way as a District Attorney's office. Thus, the Public Defender's office would be staffed with conscientious attorneys and investigators, and be funded to hire expert witnesses which, except for capital cases, are not likely to be available for the defense of indigents under a system of court appointed attorneys.

In order to provide real equality in the criminal justice system, it is just as important to eliminate the present system of hiring expert witnesses. The state legislatures should pass a law to establish a STATE POOL of distinguished experts who are willing to serve if needed in criminal trials. This pool would be chosen by a commission appointed by the Governor, consisting of the Attorney General, a State Senator, a State Representative, a judge, a District Attorney, and a Public Defender or prominent defense attorney. The expert witnesses in the pool would be put on a generous annual retainer funded by the state. Their expenses for travel, lodging, and meals would be paid for by the court wherein they testified. They would receive no other compensation for testifying. Neither the prosecution nor the defense would be allowed to use their own expert witnesses.

With such a pool in place, if the judge trying a criminal case has been convinced that an outside expert witness is needed to interpret crime scene evidence and police laboratory analyses, he would select only one expert from each specialty, subject to the approval of both the prosecutor and the defense attorney. The jury would be advised that the court has determined that the case requires the services of an expert witness and that the expert is testifying for the court, and not for the prosecution or for the defense. This system would not only level the playing field, but it would free a jury of having to decide which contradictory expert testimony is correct, as is the case with the current "hired gun" system.

The jury in a criminal case should never be placed in the position of having to decide whether a defendant was sane or insane, based on the contradictory testimony given by mental health experts who were hired by each side in the trial. Nor should a jury of lay persons be subjected to conflicting scientific and technical testimony from experts paid by one side or the other. In criminal cases, equal justice for all would best be served by providing the poor with good attorneys and by eliminating the current practice of hiring the best experts that money can buy. It is high time for us to throw the Judicial Whores out of the Criminal Justice system.

ISRAEL - DOOMED TO DISAPPEAR OFF THE MAP

Israel, a flyspeck on the global map. is slightly smaller than the State of New Jersey. It has a population of 7.1 million living within its pre-1967 borders of 8,550 square miles. Its "gooseneck," which borders the occupied West Bank and includes Tel Aviv (Israel's largest city), is less than nine miles wide. With the Mediterranean on one side, Israel is surrounded on three sides by hundreds-of-millions of Muslims who dream of pushing Israel and its Jews into the sea. The two largest Muslim sects, Sunni and Shiite, hate and kill each other, but both are united in their hatred of Jews and of Israel, which they prefer to call "The Zionist Entity."

Israel's war with Hezbollah in Lebanon has shown that the State of Israel is very vulnerable to destructive attacks. During the "Six Day War" of 1967, Israel's army defeated the combined armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and other Arab countries. Since then, Israel's military has been considered one of the best in the world for fighting a conventional war. However, Hezbollah - the Army of God - is a guerrilla force, not a conventional army. (The political wing of Hezbollah is the Party of God.) As we have learned from Viet Nam and from Iraq, you cannot defeat a guerrilla force by conventional war tactics. Guerrillas do not maintain definitive battle lines and they have the ablility to meld in and out of the local civilian population. Civilian casualties cannot be avoided whenever a military force engages in battle with a guerrilla group.

Hezbollah, a Shiite militia which was formed in the early 1980s, is highly disciplined, well trained, and well armed with anti-personnel and anti-tank weapons. During the 18 years that Israel occupied a 15-mile deep buffer zone in Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah was able to fight a war of attrition which resulted in Israel's withdrawal from that country in 2000. Because Lebanon's army is laughable, Hezbollah has been able to establish a state-within-a-state in Southern Lebanon, with its leadership ensconced in Southern Beirut. It has been funded by Iran and supplied with weapons by Iran and Syria. Israel's air force has destroyed much of Lebanon's infrastructure in an attempt to weaken Hezbollah. However, these air attacks cannot, by themselves, defeat Hezbollah. A full-scale invasion of Lebanon will be needed to defeat the Army of God, but the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States will not allow that.

Until now, Israel had to worry only about attacks by Palestinian Shuhada (suicide bombers) and by very inaccurate homemade Palestinian Qassam rockets, as well as occasional Katyusha rocket attacks by Hezbollah. While one Shahid (suicide bomber) can kill scores of innocent civilians, the Qassams and Katyushas cannot do that. They are short-range unguided missles without any accuracy and often fall harmlessly in areas unoccupied by civilians. They have no military value and their sole purpose is to terrorize the civilian population. Now, however, Hezbollah has been able to expose Israel's soft underbelly - an easy missle target with a population quick to panic and with its superior military forces failing to defeat a guerrilla militia.

During the first twelve days of Israel's war with Hezbollah, the guerrillas have been able to fire some 2,000 rockets, mostly Katyushas, into Israel. However, Hezbollah has also fired a number of mid-range Iranian FAJR-3 military missles which have been able to strike as far south as Haifa (Israel's third largest city) and Nazareth, both over 20 miles from the Lebanese border. While these rocket attacks have killed only around 35 civilians (during the first twelve days), they have created panic throughout Northern Israel, with some 300,000 plus Israelis fleeing to other parts of the country. The Israeli air force has been unable to destroy Hezbollah's mobile rocket launchers. Fortunately for Israel, Hezbollah does not appear to have any sophisticated guided missles and so, for now, it is immune from attacks by missles capable of causing severe damage and a high number of casualties.

Now, to the "Road Map to Peace," the plan for two states living side by side - Israel and Palestine - which was cooked up by the European Union, Russia, and the United States. This is really a "Road Map to the Destruction of Israel." That plan will serve only as a rest stop on the road to Israel's annihilation. Once a Palestinian state has been established, it will not be long before guided missles will find their way into that state. Those people, including "experts" on the MIddle East, who believe that "moderate" Muslims are willing to live in peace with Israel, are dreaming. Let's not forget that the Palestinians consider Israeli Jews to be living on land stolen from them. And, several analysts have noted that the Islamists want to kill all Christians and all Jews, whereas the moderate Muslims only want to kill all the Jews.

Even if Israel eventually neutralizes Hezbollah, the fierce resistance it has been meeting while trying to uproot that Shiite militia, and Hezbollah's ability to continue with its rocket strikes on Haifa and other Jewish towns while battling Israel's powerful army, will only embolden the multitudes who are intent on destroying "The Zionist Entity." When a Palestinian state is firmly in place, tiny Israel will be vulnerable to missle attacks from three sides, and the Muslim dream of driving the hated Zionists into the sea will become a reality. In all likelyhood, by the end of the next decade there will be Islamic nuclear bombs and that development will neutralize Israel's nuclear arsenal. When Islamists finally launch a massive attack on Israel with powerful sophisticated missles, only military intervention by the United Sates and the European Union will be able to save the Jewish state, and that will never happen. Thus, there is a good chance that by mid-century, a doomed Israel will have been wiped off the map.

KEN LAY EULOGIZED AS A LYNCHED JESUS

Paraphrasing Shakespeare: "Friends, Houstonians, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to praise Enron's Caesar, not to bury his good name." And so it went, when public luminaries and family members spoke during Ken Lay's recent Houston memorial service.

The most ludicrous eulogy was given by the Rev. Bill Lawson, pastor emeritus of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Chruch, one of Houston's largest black churches. It must be noted that Ken Lay has contributed significant amounts of money to Rev. Lawson's church and to a charitable organization which the good reverend founded. Also, Rev. Lawson was often seen at Ken Lay's side during his fraud trial and accompanied him to hear the jury's verdict. His frequent appearances with Ken Lay during the trial and the eulogy he presented can only be seen for what they were - paybacks to his patron saint.

What did Rev. Lawson say during his eulogy? Well, for one thing, he compared Ken Lay to Jesus, to President John F. Kennedy, and to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., explaining that all had been villified during their lives only to be judged by History as great men. For another, he likened Ken Lay's trial to the lynching of James Byrd, the black victim of white racist thugs who tied him to their vehicle, drove off, and dragged him to his death. The good reverend said, "Ken Lay was neither black nor poor, as James Byrd was, but I'm angry because Ken was the victim of a lynching." During several subsequent television appearances, he explained that Lay was lynched because the trial judge refused to grant him a change of venue, refused to separate his trial from that of Jeff Skilling, and refused his lawyers' requests for more trial preparation time.

I'll say this for Rev. Lawson. By comparing them to Ken Lay, he trashed Jesus, JFK and MLK, demoting them from saints to crooks with a single stroke of the brush. As for the "lynching," Rev. Lawson should know better. James Byrd did not hire the best defense lawyers that money could buy, and he never received a jury trial. Lynching, which constitutes punishment absent of a trial, has a long history in Ameirca. In our early history many people were "tarred and feathered" for what was considered unacceptable behavior. In the Old Wild West, many miscreants were whipped or hanged without benefit of trial, or after a quick trial by a "kangaroo court." And, during the years from the Civil War to Dr. King's assassination, many blacks were beaten to death, shot, or hanged by white mobs, sometimes for crimes, but more often for the most innocuous of perceived offenses. Thus, by any conceivable measure, Ken Lay was not the victim of a lynching.

Ken Lay was a good man who turned bad. Consumed by greed, Enron's Caesar was instrumental in wiping out the life savings of his loyal employees, while defrauding Enron's investors out of 65 billion dollars. He touted Enron's stock to his employees and other investors, even after the impending collapse of Enron became apparent, while enriching himself by dumping his shares. Neither history nor Rev. Lawson will resurrect his reputation as a good man. Ken Lay's legacy will be that of a greedy corporate crook who was defiant and unrepentant to the bitter end. Sorry, Rev. Lawson, but there will be no second coming of your patron saint Ken's honorable reputation.

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND PARANOIA - INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS ARE TARGETING ICE CREAM PARLORS IN INDIANA

The Department of Homeland Security has released a database which lists more than 77,000 potential terrorist targets in the United States, including ice cream parlors, popcorn factories, children's petting zoos, and flea markets. Indiana is listed as the state with the most terrorist targets - 8,591 - as compared to New York with 5,687 and California with 3,212. Have the bureaucrats at Homeland Security lost their minds? Or, are these PARASITES ON THE PUBLIC PAYROLL merely trying to justify their jobs by coming up with this ridiculous list? Ice Cream parlors? Indiana with the most targets? Incredible! Come on - they've got to be kiddidng. If these people really believe that every gathering place for a handful of people is a target for international terrorism, they have got to be paranoid.

Most terrorism analysts agree that the primary objectives of internatioal terrorists are to disrupt the financial community of the United States in order to cripple, if not destroy our economy, and to disrupt the ability of our government to function. That is why the World Trade Center was attacked, not once, but twice. The 9/11 attack on the WTC was an attack on the financial center of the United States and, in addition to killing 3,000 innocent peoiple, it did cause great harm to our economy. The recent uncovered plot to destroy the tunnels between New York and New Jersey was clearly designed as another attack on this coujntry's financial center and, had it been carried out, would have created further economic havoc throughout the United States. The 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and the failed attack on Congress or the White House were clearly designed to disrupt the governance of our country. And recently, seventeen Muslim terrorists in Canada were arrested while planning to disrupt its government by blowing up Parliament and by beheading the Prime Minister.

The recent bombing of trains in Bombay was also designed to disrupt India's economy and, because that city is one of India's financial centers, it succeeded in its objective. The bombing of trains in Madrid and London had the same objective and succeeded in disrupting the economies of Spain and Britain. While civilian casualties may terrorize and demoralize people, a secondary objective of the bombings, they are seen only as collateral damage in the effort to destabalize the economy and government of the target nation. The bombing of ice cream parlors, popcorn factories, petting zoos, and flea markets will in no way achieve the objectives of internatioal terrorism. I'll probably catch a lot of flack for saying this, but if terrorists blew up the whole state of Indiana, it would not cause nearly as much harm to our econmy as did the 9/11 attacks on the WTC.

The Department of Homeland Security was formed to correct the pre-9/11 lack of cooperation between competing agencies by placing the CIA, the FBI and all other federal law enforcement agencies, the Coast Guard, and FEMA under one umbrella. It is just another feel-good government agency with a huge bureaucracy. It buried FEMA within its bowels to the extend that FEMA was ineffective in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. While FEMA's former director, Michael Brown, was scapegoated for the Katrina debacle, the fault was really that of the Homeland Security administration.

The database of more than 77,000 targets was the determining factor in allocating the hundreds-of-millions of dollars in anti-terrorism funds to the states and cities of our country. Thus, Indiana received a disproportionate amount of funding, as did several cities in the Midwest, while New York and the District of Columbia lost 40 percent of their funding, and funds for other primary target sites were also reduced. One target was listed as an unamed "Beach at End of a Street." Wow ! Those bureaucrats have really earned their money. Some Arkansas hillbilly's outhouse seems to be the only target left off their list. If they actually believe that those listed are all potential targets, including that beach at the end of the street, then they have truly taken leave of their senses and we ought to rename that part of the President's Cabinet, the DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND PARANOIA.

KEN LAY: DID HE CHEAT JUSTICE BY HIS DEATH?

Now, people are complaining that justice has been cheated by the death of Ken Lay because his conviction will be vacated and he will not be going to prison. Furthermore, his death has brought the conspiracy nuts out ot the woodwork. Some believe that he really did not die and that he used his wealth to fake his death and have another body substituted for his. Others believe that he committed suicide by ingesting some drugs to bring on a fatal heart attack, thereby preventing the government from seizing his wealth so that it would be preserved for his family. And then, there are those who believe he was murdered.

To begin with, Ken Lay's death has not cheated justice. Ken Lay has been a pillar of his community. He had been involved in a number of notable civic activities and has made many generous contributions to various charitable organizations. He appeared to be sincere in the practice of his religious faith. He was a loving family man - a husband, a father and a grandfather - and he was loved by his family. But all of his love and good works will be offset by his legacy as a GREEDY CORPORATE CROOK who brought about the demise of Enron, wiped out the life savings of Enron's employees, and defrauded Enron's investors out of 65 billion dollars.

Ken Lay is an example of a good person being consumed by greed. It happens all too often. There have been too many instances of corporate corruption in recent years. In some ways, our government encourages wrongdoing by corporations. There are loopholes in our tax codes which allow corporations and wealthy individuals to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. By establishing bogus headquarters in foreign countries with extremely low tax rates, American corporations are able to legally evade billions of dollars in federal and state taxes.

With Ken Lay's history of heart disease, Enron's downfall, the long criminal trial, the guilty verdict, the numerous civil lawsuits, and the prospect of facing the rest of his life in prison, all together probably piled up enough stress to bring on his fatal heart attack. Ken Lay's uncharacteristic arrogant and angry demeanor on the witness stand was indicative of a deeply troubled stressed-out man. He brought all this stress on himself. He has been utterly disgraced and now he is dead.

Even Ken Lay's one-third of a page gushy glorifying obituary in the Houston Chronicle, which detailed his family, education, military and government service history, his good civic, culturual and charitable deeds, and his family's love for each other, all sprinkled with references to his Christian faith and a certainty that he has joined his Lord in Heaven, cannot restore his ruined reputation as it was designed to do, and led only to laughter or derision by all but his friends and family. Ken Lay paid the ultimate price and it would be preposterous to say that, by his death, he has managed to cheat justice.

GOD BLESS AMERICA - LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT !

As we celebrate this Fourth of July, our Independence Day and 230th birthday, it is a good time to reflect on how fortunate we are to live in such a great country with its freedoms and opportunities, and to never take these for granted. Back in the '60s, when we had a bunch of scruffy hippies and left-wing academics praising and supporting the North Vietnamese, those of us loyal to the United States coined the phrase LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT. That phrase quickly became politically incorrect.

Yesterday (July 3rd), Tucker Carlson, host of THE SITUATION on MSNBC, revived the phrase LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT. He was critical of those people in this country who constantly express their hatred for the United States and suggested they pack up and leave. To that I say AMEN !

For 23 years, until I retired in 1993, I had the unpleasant experience of having to teach at a good college with several avowed Marxist professors on its faculty who constantly berated our government and our free market economic system. These Marxists had, and still have a controlling influence over the college's administration. They have been successdul in electing their choice of candidates to the college's Board of Trustees with the help of the local labor unions. They try to INDOCTRINATE students by teaching them WHAT TO THINK, rather than educate students by teaching them how to think. They pervert the content of courses in American History, United States Government, Sociology, and Economics, by teaching their students that America exploits its workers, oppresses the masses, designs its foreign policy in order to enrich our oil companies and other conglomerates, and sponsors FACIST Israel's state terrorism against the Palestinians and other Arabs. They insist that America is an imperialistic and terrorist nation reponsible for millions of deaths in the Middle East and other parts of the world, and that we have only OURSELVES TO BLAME for the "9/11" attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The problem is that we have subversive Marxist and other ultra-leftist academics on most college and university faculties throughout this country. who constantly express their hatred for America to highly impressionable students. They resort to half-truths, inaccuracies, distortions, deliberate omissions of opposing facts, and cite only "authorities" favoring their viewpoints to the exclusion of those holding opposite viewpoints. They try to undermine support for our government by destroying patriotism and pride in our coudntry. These professors are guilty of intellectual deceit and dishonesty, and they are DISLOYAL if they refuse to pledge allegiance to our flag and country. The poisoning of young minds by this subversive "Fifth Column" of Marxist and other ultra-leftist academics constitutes a greater threat to the United States than international terrorism.

I would not object if colleges offered courses entitled "Corrupt Exploitative Capitalism," or "The Marvelous Workers Paradise of Marxism," or "Glorious Godless Communism," or "American Imperialism and Terrorism," or even "Evil Oppressive American History," because then students would know in advance what kind of courses they were enrolling in. However, colleges and universities do not have the guts to offer such entitled courses. Instead, they allow the Marxists and other ultra-leftists on their faculties to pervert the content of courses they teach which are required of all students seeking a degree, and they protect these subversives by proclaiming that, under the Principle of Academic Freedom, they have the right to do so. THAT IS PURE UNADULTERATED HOGWASH ! Those principles CLEARLY PROHIBIT professors from advocating a particular agenda.

Despite our history of slavery and discrimination against minorities, the corrupting influence of powerful special interest lobbyists, and the recent scandals of collusion between corrupt corporations and their crooked outside accountants, bankers and lawyers, this is still the greatest country in the world. The critics of capitalism conveniently overlook the fact that corruption has been endemic in every communist "workers paradise." We, and that includes Marxist academics, are free to criticize our government and its policies. We enjoy a free press. We are free to practice the religiion of our choice. While not everyone is wealthy, this is really the land of opportunity. The poor in this country are wealthy when compared to most of the people who live in Third World countries. That is why so many people throughout the world want to immigrate to America. And, what about the workers paradise? Well, there are only five communist countries remaining in the world - Cuba, China, Vietnam, Laos, and North Korea - and both China and Vietnam have started moving toward a free market economy.

As a grateful immigrant, a proud naturalized citizen, and a patriotic WWII veteran, I have an abiding love for this country. To those who have nothing good to say about this country and who express their hatred for the United States, I say GOD BLESS AMERICA - LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT !

LIMBAUGH'S DITTOHEADS IN SERIOUS NEED OF HELP

Hey, Dittoheads! Now is the time for "you people" to admit yourselves to a hospital for a long overdue treatment of your Limbaugh addiction. When are you going to wake up and realize that you have been conned by your hero, that pompous buffoon of a blowhard? Considering his oxycontin and Viagra escapades, you are really in need of help if you continue to believe in that clown.

Dittoheads are like professional wrestling fans. I used to live in the same Times Square area hotel where pro wrestlers stayed while in New York. The hotel had a small gym where I watched them rehearse for their coming matches. There is no way anyone will ever convince rabid pro wrestling fans that the matches in their favorite sport are nothing more than well rehearsed theater, starring very good athletic actors who, on occasion, may experience a real, but accidental injury. Likewise, there is no way anyone will ever convince Limbaugh's rabid fans that their hero's broadcasts are really nothing more than theater, starring a good four-flushing phony actor.

Let's start with the latest episode, in which he was detained at the Palm Beach International Airport when he was found in possession of Viagra pills without a prescription. He laughs it off by saying that "I got my blue M&Ms at the Clinton Library gift shop." Ha, ha, ha! But, that's really no laughing matter. While Rush Limbaugh may not have violated any Florida laws, the laws in many states make it a crime to be in posession of prescription drugs which have been prescribed to another patient and they make it a crime for a doctor to facilitate such prescriptions. Most certainly, the possession of Viagra in another patient's name and a doctor's complicity in this scam constitute unethical behavior, even though those acts are not illegal in Florida.

Now lets go back to the oxycontin episode. Oxycontin, a controlled substance, is a powerful narcotic which is known on the streets as "hillbilly heroin." Limbaugh, who claims to have been addicted to this drug for years, was initially prescribed oxycontin to treat a recurring pain problem. However, once he became addicted, he started committing "doctor shopping" felonies by fraudulently obtaining amounts of oxycontin and other narcotics far in excess of that which would be prescribed to treat his pain problem. Limbaugh, who was arrested and charged with several felonies, avoided a trial by accepting placement in a pretrial diversion program, which requires him to adhere to a number of conditions, including the completion of a drug addict treatment program. If he successfully completes the terms of his pretrial diversion program, the felony charges will be dismissed.

I don't have a problem with Limbaugh being placed in a non-punitive pretrial diversion program and I do wish him well in any effort he makes to overcome his drug addiction. What I do have a problem with is that this strong law and order advocate obviously believes that laws exist for everyone but Rush Limbaugh, and that he considers himself to be above the law.

For a long time I enjoyed listening to Limbaugh on the radio. However, after a while I discovered that he often played loose with the facts. Because many of his factual presentations were simply incorrect, I tuned him out and thereby, thankfully, avoided becoming a Dittohead Limbaugh addict. It makes just as much sense, if not more, to listen to that foul-mouthed, but non-pretentious shock-jock, Howard Stern. Shame on the Republicans for pandering to Limbaugh's legions by continuing to invite this charlatan to address their conferences. If "Roach Limburger" (oops, my mistake) is representative of conservatives, then I will have to call myself - ugh, God forbid - a liberal.

As for the Dittoheads, "you people" better seek treatment for your Limbaugh addiction before it is too late. If "you people" still believe in this loud-mouthed jerk, you obviously don't know it, but some of you are very stupid, while most of you are sick and in serious need of help!