Wisdoma

President Obama just met members of the world champion Green Bay Packers.

That is, all but one Packer, because he forgot his ID on the plane.

No ID = No admittance into the White House.

Hellooo??

There are 40+ teammates, plus all sorts of club officials, plus a zillion photos online that can ID the player.

Since when does a piece of plastic called an ID trump common sense?

So the day after Obama is President, they won’t allow him into the White House without an ID?

What about now? Does Obama have to show an ID to get into the White House?

Apparently not. Why? Because we use our brains and common sense.

Something that seems to be lacking at the White House.

As Obama, the Democrats, and Republicans in Washington dither, engage in class warfare and political warfare, none of the proposals seems to offer a real solution to the deficit and mounting debt.

Obama is currently running a $1.5 trillion deficit PER YEAR – over a trillion dollars worse than the worst deficit under Bush.

Obama’s debt is, simply, out of control.

And yes, it is appropriate to call it Obama’s debt. Out of control spending and a stimulus seemingly almost entirely wasted on pork instead of making an effort to create jobs and induce businesses to create jobs.

The debt proposals talk about reducing the deficit by a trillion dollars over TEN YEARS.

Please. They are still just kicking the can down the road. Like everything else from Washington, in a decade the savings will not be seen. It’s always phony and fraudulent.

I’m getting old, as I’ve seen this over and over and over. It’s ALWAYS a solution that happens to be right after the next election or after someone else will be President.

Is a balanced budget amendment a solution?

Yes, but I’m not in favor of it because you never know what emergencies and crisis will occur in the future – which may require an unbalanced budget. I am thinking of WWII. Not that it will be repeated, hopefully, but the point is you never know what will happen in the future and what you’re straight jacketed into.

On the other hand, maybe it is necessary to force irresponsible “leaders” in Washington from continuing to promise things to get elected – without paying for them.

Wow. I saw this quote from LeBron James after he choked in another 4th quarter and lost the NBA Championship to the Dallas Mavericks:

“All the people that was rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today,” James said. “They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that.

“They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they have to get back to the real world at some point.”

Basically. I’m still the king. You’re a loser with a sorry life. Take that if you rooted against me.

Not exactly going to get more people to root for him.

Has there ever been a more universally despised pro team than the Miami Heat?

If you’re not happy about LeBron’s statement:

* Don’t buy his NBA merchandise

* Don’t buy anything he promotes

* Let any sponsors of his know you’re unhappy and not buying their stuff

Guess what LeBron? When you wake up today, tomorrow, and the next day, you’re going to have the same personal problems that you did before.

You’re not going to be happy.

You’re going to have even more people against you.

You’re still not going to have a championship.

You’ll still be a loser.

What if you’re at home having dinner in Indiana and a police officer decides to bang down your door, walk into your den and have a “look” around, maybe see what is on your computer, maybe join you for dinner, see if your teenage daughter taking a shower needs help shampooing her hair, etc.

So you “resist” and say no, get out of my house. You don’t have a warrant so you cannot come into my castle.

For the last 800 years legal systems based on English Common Law, including the US, would agree: No warrant. No emergency. Means no government entry into a private home.

Until now, in Indiana, where the Supreme Court has ruled there is NO RIGHT to resist an unlawful entry by a police officer into your home.

You cannot resist entry and you cannot resist being arrested and sent off to jail to be fingerprinted, have your mug shot taken for TMZ, being tossed into a cell with Bruno, trying to scrape enough cash together to post bail, etc.

Story and PDF copy of the court’s ruling can be found here.

Although the case arose out of a domestic violence situation, the Supreme Court said there is no right to resist government entry into your home. Period.

Why? Because resistance can escalate into violence (no kidding).

And there are remedies. When you get out of jail you can later hire a lawyer and sue – and in the process be subjected to in terrorem depositions and a mauling of your personal life, psychiatric and medical history to determine if your claimed emotional distress actually arises from being Bruno’s buddy.

Or since there is a “police department internal review and disciplinary procedure” there is no reason for you to protect your home, family, and person from invading police.

I’m not kidding about this. Bin Laden didn’t get to resist, and neither do you.

There was a post here based on an Orange County Register newspaper story that quickly spread like fire online. But with the Kings staying in Sacramento, and other developments relating to this story, I’m going to change this to mainly focus on the media.

Here is what happened:

The Orange County Register ran a sensational story that made it appear an attorney for the Sacramento Kings owners showed up at the personal residence of one of the paper’s reporters trying to persuade her to release an audio recording of the Los Angeles Lakers’ coach making comments about the Maloofs.

This was in the midst of the Maloofs deciding whether to stay in Sacramento for the next year or move the team to Anaheim. Kings fan went nuts over the implication that the Maloofs had decided to move the team and were seeking evidence against the league for a potential anti-trust lawsuit in the event the NBA did not approve the move.

Turns out the OC Register story was not quite accurate.

Hearst would have been proud.

Apparently, this was a pleasant, convenient, pre-arranged meeting. No attorney just “showed up” at a reporter’s personal home. There was no attempt to “persuade” the reporter to turn over the tape.

There is more to this story in the comments at the bottom, so make sure you read those. Everyone makes mistakes.

But the OC report was originally no mistake – a personal story about an attorney for the Maloofs that was not just a newspaper story, but came with a bold, boxed, second attention-grabbing headline about the Maloofs sending an attorney to the home of a reporter to “persuade” her to give up a tape.

Lessons to be Learned:

1. Ask an employer or company for documents, tapes, videos, etc., Don’t go behind their back trying to get that from an employee. Certainly don’t “show up” at their personal home. Go to their place of work. Whatever advantage that could be gained from this – always weigh and consider ramifications if your actions are discovered.

2. No matter how friendly the reporter, there is a trust issue. This is a lesson I have learned over the past 20 years in dealing with newspaper, radio, and television reporters. Your goal is not their goal. Your story is not their story. I do not recommend ignoring media requests, but be prepared, have your talking points, and stick to them. Hard. Because if you stray from your talking points you can be sure that is what will be reported, to your embarrassment. At the same time, be cooperative. That can be a difficult balancing act, but is something that must be done.

3. Nothing is “off the record.” Even if a reporter asks for a comment “off the record”, it is extremely dangerous to assume that will occur.

4. If you’re going to use fake names and try to communicate anonymously, be computer savvy or don’t bother. “Patricia” below is apparently a fake name. Unfortunately for this person, unbeknownst to them an early message to the blog showed they were from the law firm. At a minimum, their computer IP address gave away their law firm name.