The Leftist Spin has begun!

Isn’t it odd that just when New York Governor Elliott Spitzer has introduced the RHAPP Bill — the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act — which guarantees women the right to choose or refuse birth control and abortion, he is simultaneously the subject of a highly publicized sex sting that threatens to destroy his career and possibly send him to prison?

Surely, what Spitzer is accused of — an interstate tryst with an expensive prostitute — is egregious for a family man and a high ranking public servant. Nonetheless, it’s striking that the Governor comes under attack NOW when he’s proposing the country’s most comprehensive protection for women.

Right from the Clinton era play book, yeah?

Elliott Spitzer “may” have committed an act that is shameful for a husband and a father, but how many other politicians and powerful leaders are guilty of the same? The only difference may be that those other leaders aren’t launching sweeping legislation to protect the rights of women, and in so doing, mobilizing the powerful and vengeful forces of the conservative religious right.

Well, I guess that makes sense. As long as Spitzer is doing something you agree with, we should ignore his illegal activities.  I get it.

Now that fingerprinting is used to identify and segregate illegal immigrants apprehended in the Tucson Sector, a great deal more is known about many of the illegal immigrants crossing the border.

“The Tucson Sector gets a lot of sex offenders and we average at least one or two a week throughout the sector.”  Gonzalez references a man wearing a blue t-shirt.  “He served 2 1/2 years in jail for sexual conduct with a minor.”

Agents knew that because they ran his fingerprints. “He could have told us whatever we wanted and that’s what we have to go on.  But with his fingerprints you can’t hide that,” said Gonzalez.

I have always said that the importance of an secure border and enforceable immigration laws is based upon the need to know who is coming into the country and whether or not we want them here. We have enough of our own sex offenders in the United States without importing them from other countries.

Governor Corzine is being hailed by many for a “historic” move, which “saves the lives” of 8 killers. One of the killers is the reason for Megan’s Law - yeah a child killer.

The US Supreme Court overturned a federal ban on capital punishment in 1976. In 1982, New Jersey re-instated capital punishment, but has not carried out the threat of death as punishment since 1963. So, what has Corzine done that is so historic? What has he done to deserve this kind of praise?

The state’s move is being hailed across the world as a historic victory against capital punishment. Rome plans to shine golden light on the Colosseum in support. Once the arena for deadly gladiator combat and executions, the Colosseum is now a symbol of the fight against the death penalty.

“The rest of America, and for that matter the entire world, is watching what we are doing here today,” said Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, a Democrat. “New Jersey is setting a precedent that I’m confident other states will follow.”

Corzine has done nothing more than remove an idle threat of death as punishment. This is the most empty victory against capital punishment one could possibly manufacture. You have a state, which creates legislation to ban a practice they do not use. What exactly has been “won” here?

You want to create a historic victory against death? Create legislation to ban abortion in New Jersey and then go to the Supreme Court and fight for your state’s right to make its own laws. In the past 30 years, abortion has killed about 45 million people - the death penalty about 1000.

Antiwar.com has an interesting post relating to what it calls the “hidden cost” of the war. Here it is in it’s entirety:

Two recent articles in USA Today illustrate the hidden costs of the war.

The first is about an Army study that found mental issues in 25,000 troops that came back from Iraq, including “post-traumatic stress disorder and depression to substance abuse and family conflict.” 7,000 soldiers admitted to having a drinking problem.

The second is about police officers who come home from Iraq with symptoms of PTSD “that law enforcement and mental health authorities fear could put their judgment and public safety at risk.”

Americans who served in the military and those who have the misfortune of being in their family or otherwise dealing with them will be suffering from the effects of this evil war for years to come. When will this madness end? Will it have to drag out as long as Vietnam did?

Getting soldiers safely home, and then safely reintegrated into society and a garrison mission is nothing new. The army has been evolving better ways of doing this since the Korean war. I would not call the military establishment expert in handling these issues, but it is obvious that the Army is well aware and addressing the issue. this is certain a concern, but it is not a hidden cost. There is absolutely nothing new about PTSD, depression, substance abuse, and family conflict in the military.

The other “hidden cost” of the war relates to PTSD symptoms in police officers returning home from Iraq. A “poll” of 103 mental health counselors is cited with 16% responding they were counseling someone who is returned from combat zones. It is likely these are not only returnees from Iraq. We have troops deployed in several combat zones. We should be well aware that PTSD symptoms are present among police officers regardless of whether they served in Iraq or not.

Eleven percent of officers reported no mental health symptoms at all. Twenty eight percent reported having between one and two complaints and 32% had between three and five symptoms. What is most startling is that 68 % of officers report frequently being irritable for the past six months.

Sixty six percent of officers report being fatigued and 57% report sleep difficulties. Depressions, restlessness, a sense of numbing/detachment and muscle tension were also reported by approximately a third of officers. Many reports have commented on the poor health and wellness behaviors and relative lack of attention to comprehensive wellness within law enforcement organizations. Previous research has found similar results in terms of depression and anxiety (Biggam, 1997; Ansen, 1995).

For example, an analysis of the data from Wilson, Poole and Trew indicated that 25% of officers reported symptoms consistent with at least mild to moderate depression (Wilson, 1997). The ability to replicate these statistics with multiple protocols is astounding.

What the antiwar crowd does not seem to recognize is that our first responders are at war daily, even while the military is not engaged in combat activities. I don’t hear a lot of concern about the mental health of these brave men and women, except as a means to denigrate their performance.

The bottom line is this is not a “hidden cost of the war”. It is an historical cost of having to deploy troops to protect America and its interests. It is an historical cost of having to police our streets and clean up the mess from the violence in our society.

The “concern” for harm done to the mental health of our heros home and abroad seems a bit misplaced, considering how much many antiwar folks contribute to it.