The architect who so carefully designed the much feared Tampa Bay Buccaneer defense will grace Raymond James Stadium with his presence one last time this Sunday as the Raiders travel to Tampa to face the Bucs. Monte Kiffin will leave the Bucs after this season to join the staff at the University of Tennessee where his son Lane was recently named head coach. During his thirteen year tenure as the Buc's defensive coordinator, no other team in the NFL has allowed fewer points.
Monte will pass the torch to defensive backs coach Raheem Morris who, at 32 years of age, is younger than players Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber. Although young and with big shoes to fill, Morris' high energy attitude will fit nicely into the Tampa defensive scheme, especially if he continues with Kiffin's legendary Tampa 2 defense.
The Bucs will honor Kiffin during half time of Sunday's game in a bittersweet ceremony. Good luck Monte, you will be sorely missed, and SEC quarterbacks and running backs, beware!
Approximately 2040 years ago, far from Florida in the small village of Bethlehem, a young, frightened teen aged girl gave birth to a baby not conceived by her husband. She had not the luxury of a beautiful birthing suite at the hospital and a kind attending physician, but through a series of unfortunate events, found herself laboring in a smelly barn. This apparent illegitimate birth proved itself the most legitimate conception in history.
This young girl carried not only the privilege but also the heavy burden and responsibility of raising no ordinary baby, but the son of God himself, a baby fully human and paradoxically, fully God. We've all failed at times raising and mentoring our offspring but imagine the weight of raising a God-child.
The mighty God and creator of all existence enveloped himself in flesh and blood and entered our reality to serve as a surrogate for the sins of all the earth so as to nail them to a cross and permanently defeat evil.
So during this holiday season, rather than dwell on your own misery and burdens, focus on others less fortunate and how you may serve them. Remember the overwhelming sacrifice made for us by our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and their families at home. God Bless all and Merry Christmas!
P.S. Keep in mind that Jesus never celebrated Christmas but observed Hanukkah so a special blessing to God's chosen people! Thanks for the greatest gift of all.
It saddened me last Wednesday to learn of the death of football legend Sammy Baugh. The 94 year old Baugh passed from the many complications associated with old age.
A three sport athlete at Texas Christian and signed to professional baseball and football contracts, Sammy played for the Washington Redskins from 1937 until 1952 as quarterback, defensive back and punter. Baugh earned the distinction of the Redskins highest paid player when he signed a 1937 contract for $8,000 per year.
Sammy led the league many years in passing, interceptions and punting and still holds several records, including most seasons leading the league in passing and most seasons with the lowest interception percentage. Baugh entered the Football Hall of Fame in 1963 as part of the original 17 man inaugural class. Arguably, the best football star ever, Sammy played during a time when men were men and not prima donnas. I feel somewhat connected to the man since I possess an old leather helmet signed by "Slinging Sammy" himself.
In heaven, I'm certain Sammy was greeted by the Minister of Defense, Reggie White, who will help him become acclimated! Thanks Sammy for what you've contributed to America's favorite sport.
Earlier today, Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court denied the application for a stay pending the filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, filed by attorney Orly Taitz on behalf of Gail Lightfoot, the vice presidential candidate on the Ron Paul ticket. Ms. Taitz, a rare combination attorney and dentist, claimed that Barack Obama fails to qualify as President of the United States because he lacks status as a natural born citizen. Similar lawsuits filed earlier by Phillip Berg, Leo Donofrio, and Cort Wrotnowski met with the same fate. Although Justice Kennedy denied the application for a stay, Ms. Taitz still retains the option to resubmit to another justice of her choosing. Ms. Taitz also serves as co-counsel representing Alan Keyes and others in another suit challenging Obama's citizenship. That suit still awaits a hearing in California Superior Court.
For those not in the know, many question whether Barack Obama is eligible to be President under the qualifications stated in Article II of the U.S. Constitution:
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President
There are several possible scenarios that put Obama in a situation where he may not qualify as "natural born".
a) Obama's mother Stanley Anne Dunham was American but his father was from Kenya which at the time was part of the British Protectorate. So at birth, young Obama was a citizen of the United States, Kenya, and Great Britain. Many legal experts feel that this caused divided loyalties preventing one from being natural born according to the intent of the original framers of the constitution.
b) Obama's parents divorced when he was two years and his mother married an Indonesian national, Lolo Soetoro. Some records indicate that Soetoro adopted Obama when the family moved to Jakarta, where he lived and attended school under the name, Barry Soetoro. Some feel that when Soetoro adopted Obama, he automatically forfeited his U.S. citizenship.
c) Others claim that Obama was born in Kenya rather than Hawaii as he contends. Much of this argument stems from a rather questionable interview conducted in Swahili of Obama's paternal grandmother. It also relies on a strange interview with a mysterious forensic expert who feels that the birth certificate that the Obama campaign posted online is a forgery.
I'm no legal expert but in my opinion the Lightfoot lawsuit, a Berg clone with elements of Donofrio thrown in, appeared hastily prepared and poorly written. Ms. Taitz managed to ram the case through the legal system blazingly fast. Hopefully she will be better prepared when the Alan Keyes suit comes to fruition.
Enjoy the two accompanying YouTube videos of Orly explaining the details of both cases. It's interesting to note that Orly Taitz, who escaped the totalitarian Soviet regime, cannot claim natural born status either.
Excitement erupted in a press conference during George Bush's surprise visit to Iraq. An Iraqi journalist, evidently unimpressed or enraged by what the President had to say, tossed not one, but two shoes directly at Bush. The smiling Bush ducked the assault as security and secret service subdued the angry Iraqi.
I already miss John McCain. He's a sincere, genuine man filled with integrity, and has a sharp, witty sense of humor. Enjoy this clip from the Late Show with David Letterman featuring McCain doing a Blagojevich imitation and also voicing his opinion of the corrupt governor.
Utilizing frantic damage control tactics, President Elect Barack Obama must now expend a tremendous amount of effort, better spent on structuring a transition, on distancing himself and staff members from the controversy surrounding Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. FBI agents pulled Blagojevich from his bed early Tuesday morning charging him with a multitude of federal corruption charges including attempts to sell the Senate seat recently vacated by Obama.
How interconnected and entangled are our new President Elect, described as the messiah by Louis Farrakhan, and the foul mouthed corrupt governor of Illinois?
Obama served as a senior advisor and one of the chief architects alongside both Rahm Emmanuel and David Axelrod to the successful 2002 Blagojevich campaign. Blagojevich endorsed Obama for Illinois state legislature, U.S. Senate in 2004 and for the 2008 presidential race, and Obama reciprocated during the 2002 and 2006 Illinois gubernatorial races. Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel and senior advisor, David Axelrod, played key roles in the campaign electing both Obama and Blagojevich. Additionally, Emmanuel filled the congressional seat vacated by Blagojevich when he was elected as governor. Tony Rezko served as chief fundraiser for both Blagojevich and Obama before being federally indicted for bribery.
David Axelrod began his career as a Hyde Park journalist so I'm sure it won't be long before we realize that neighborhood heavyweights Bill Ayers and Louis Farrakhan are also entangled in this capacious web. We watched as Jesse Jackson, Sr. wept during Obama's acceptance speech and then hear later that his son Jesse Jackson, Jr. attempted to buy Obama's vacant senate seat from the perfidious Blagojevich.
After observing the close connection between these devious characters, one must ask how long before the teflon candidate Obama becomes entrenched by his own trail of deceit and corruption? It appears that Obama has already exceeded the controversies surrounding Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and Bush before his own presidency has even commenced.
If tradition holds true, the lawsuit filed by Cort Wrotnowski vs. Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut Secretary of State, and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, questioning the natural born citizenship and presidential eligibility of Barack Obama was dismissed without comment earlier today as the nine justices met in private conference. The court granted three certiorari today indicating that Wrotknowki's suit was summarily denied.
Wrotnowski presented a well written and documented, concise case aided by attorney, Leo Donofrio, whose case had been rejected days earlier by the court. The basis of both suits alleged that Obama could never declare status as a natural born citizen due to his father's Kenyan citizenship which also fell under British jurisdiction.
Rather than entertain the merit of Wrotnowski's case, the court ruled that he does not hold legal standing and is therefore unable to bring civil action against Obama.
Although not as well prepared, another case on behalf of vice presidential candidate Gail Lightfoot also sits before the court and should be able to prove standing.
After 54 years of printing hot gossip and randy rumors, the Globe apparently published it's very first true story this week concerning the mystery of Barack Obama's birth. The supermarket tabloid's cover dated December 9th states "Obama Election Illegal" in huge type. In another history breaking moment, that headline alone may prove to be enough to cause this crazed conservative to shell out the $2 or $3 necessary to see what's on the inside because their website only posts this teaser.
The smelly, corrupt ties to President Elect Obama continue as Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich finds himself in FBI custody for conspiring to sell the Senate seat vacated by Obama as well as other federal corruption charges. When will we tire of the stench emanating from Chicago? Regardless of any ties between the two, certainly the teflon candidate will escape another near disaster.
