Four years later, without raising anybody’s taxes, Mississippi has a balanced budget, has rebuilt its Rainy Day Fund to the amount called for in law, and important priorities like education and law enforcement have received record funding increases. How?

Working with the Legislature, Governor Barbour controlled spending and increased revenue through economic growth, not tax increases. During the previous Administration, state spending increased 36% faster than General Fund revenue. In the five budgets under Governor Barbour, the opposite has occurred; General Fund revenue is growing 29% faster than General Fund agency spending, without raising anybody’s taxes. In the budget just adopted for FY ’09, for the second time in Governor Barbour’s tenure, appropriations will increase by less than 1% compared to this year.

When Governor Barbour took office, the State’s savings account - the "Rainy Day Fund" - had been depleted to pay for increased spending. In Governor Fordice’s last year, Mississippi had $233 million in its Rainy Day Fund. During the Musgrove administration, the state spent that down to just $22.6 million. At the end of the current fiscal year (June 30), Governor Barbour’s fourth budget, the Rainy Day Fund will contain $378 million, an amount equal to the statutory cap of 7.5% of the General Fund budget.

Although Mississippi’s bonded indebtedness exploded between 1990 and 2004 - increasing from $589 million to $3.1 billion - Governor Barbour has stopped State Government from swiping its credit card at every opportunity. In 2005, for the first time since 1987, the State paid off more debt than was issued, providing financial relief for generations to come. In the last five years, State debt has increased by only 1.6% after increasing 44% in the previous five years. This year, the Legislature approved only $8 million of net new debt available for future issuance.

A conservative governor, committed to fiscal discipline, can implement Republican principles.

By LTC (RET) Dave Grossman, author of "On Killing."

"Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? "

William J. Bennett (in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997)

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.
 

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people, who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep. I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep.

To me, it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators."

"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy. Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial."

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf." If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools.

But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.
 

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."

Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.
 

Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.

There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population. There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.
 

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.
 

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. - Edmund Burke

Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.
 

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.
 

During the training of a group of police officers in Texas, during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?"
 

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for "heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.
 

Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have and idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.
 

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.
 

Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling."

Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level.

And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes. If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself...

"Baa."

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth

With it now being a short time to Christmas, I thought I would list my five favorite Christmas Movies. All of these movies I can recommend as great entertainment. I know many are in "Black and White"; but they are all worth watching!

1. Miracle on 34^th Street (1947; Rated G): This is my favorite Christmas movie of all time. Edmund Gwenn is convincing as Kris Kringle; and Maureen O’Hara is believable as a woman who has lost her faith in the "wonder and magic" of the "real" world. (When I was twelve years old, I knew I was no longer a child because my parents allowed me to stay up Christmas Eve night and watch this wonderful movie.)
2. The Lemon Drop Kid (1951; Rated G): I have always had a fondness for Bob Hope. This movie is very funny; and the singing of "Silver Bells" by Hope and Marilyn Maxwell is worth watching this movie if only to see this rendition of this song.
3. Three Godfathers (1948; Rated G): John Ford and John Wayne are at their "Western Story-Telling" best. The photography is beautiful; and this is Director John Ford’s best movie concerning redemption.
4. Christmas in Connecticut (1945; Rated G): Barbara Stanwyck is a "fake" housewife who writes "homemaking" articles for a nation-wide magazine. Her boss invites himself and a WW2 veteran to her non-existent home for Christmas. Then the fun begins. Hollywood is missing a bet in not re-making this movie with a returning Iraq war veteran. (By the way, this is my wife’s favorite Christmas movie.)
5. A Christmas Carol (1984; Rated PG): George C. Scott is magnificent as Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge. His "Scrooge" is not some money-grabbing miser; but a man who has lost faith in everything. To me, this version of "A Christmas Carol" is the best made in the last sixty years.

                          Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Patrick Cleburne immigrated to the United States of America from Ireland approximately eleven years before the start of the War Between the States. He settled in Helena, Arkansas, on the Mississippi River to the South of Memphis, Tennessee. In Helena, he became an attorney, and was a highly respected citizen.

Cleburne had military training, having served in the British Army. At the start of the war, he helped raise an infantry regiment in Eastern Arkansas for the Confederate States of America. His "baptism of fire" during the war occurred at the Battle of Shiloh. His leadership qualities were quickly recognized by the Confederate States Army; and by 1864, he had risen to the rank of major general and was a divisional commander in the Army of Tennessee.

Patrick Cleburne was also known for his bravery. Confederate newspapers during the war called him the "Stonewall of the West". In the Confederate Army (both in the Eastern Theater and the Western Theater), his by-name was the "Ney of the Confederacy, the bravest of the brave". (This comparison to Marshal Ney of Napoleon’s Army was a high honor for the day and time. Marshal Ney was literally "worshipped" by the Confederate Military.)

At the Battle of Spring Hill on November 29, 1864, due to confusing orders by Confederate General John Bell Hood (and in one case, the absence of any order), a small Federal Army was allowed to escape. This small Federal Army consisted of two corps (under the command of Major General John M. Schofield). During the night of November 29^th and the morning of November 30^th, Schofield and his little army fell back to Franklin, Tennessee. During this small affair at Spring Hill, Cleburne’s favorite mount (a chestnut colored horse named "Red Pepper") was wounded, giving General Cleburne a bad fall.

Early the morning of the 30^th, when General Hood realized that Schofield had escaped, he severely reprimanded his corps commanders. This included Cleburne’s corps commander, Confederate General Benjamin Cheatham. Cleburne, and fellow divisional commander Major General John C. Brown, tried to defend General Cheatham with General Hood, but to no avail. General Hood was so mad (and probably not thinking correctly due to his liberal use of opium based painkillers) that he called both Cleburne and Brown a "pair of mincing toe-dancers". (In 2007 this would be the equivalent of calling a US Army Ranger a "limp-wristed p*ssy". In 1864, duels were fought for less.)

The affair almost went to pistols, as both Cleburne and Brown were both known for their courage. However, in the end both sides just let everything pass. General Hood moved on Franklin, and ordered a "Pickett’s Charge" type attack on the Federal Army. Again, one has to wonder if General Hood was thinking straight. Intelligence reports by no less than General Nathan Bedford Forrest showed that Schofield’s flank could be easily turned. A quick flanking movement by Hood and his army could capture or destroy the entire Federal army. For whatever reason, Hood decided on a massive frontal assault, with no artillery preparation against the Federal lines.

Cleburne went into the battle on a new horse; but he expressed anxiety about the attack orders with his staff. Almost to the Federal lines during the attack, Cleburne’s new horse was killed. He again received a nasty fall. A staff officer (Lt. James Brandon) dismounted and gave his horse to General Cleburne. As Cleburne tried to mount, this horse was also shot and killed. Cleburne was last seen on foot with his sword drawn and moving towards the Federal lines.

After the battle, General Patrick Cleburne’s body was found directly South of the Carter family’s cotton gin, about 50 yards East of the Columbia Pike. He had been shot once in the chest. The bodies of Confederate soldiers from his division surrounded his body.

His remains were first buried, after the Battle of Franklin, at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Columbia, Tennessee. A short time later, his remains were moved to the cemetery at St. John’s Chapel in Ashwood, Tennessee. In 1870, they were finally moved to the Evergreen Cemetery in Helena, Arkansas. His loss was a severe blow to the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

On a personal note, in early November of 1989, a Pizza Hut and its parking lot were located in Franklin, Tennessee, on US Highway 31 (formerly the Columbia Pike). The site of this restaurant was the exact spot of General Cleburne’s death. The writer and his best friend had eaten supper in this restaurant. While the writer was paying the bill, my friend walked out to my automobile, parked in the parking lot. When I got outside, I saw that my friend was noticeably shaking. I asked the reason for this (the night was chilly but not cold). My friend said that he had seen a "misty figure" walking besides the parking lot. This apparition walked towards the North, and slowly vanished.

My friend later said that when this figure was very close to him (no more than ten feet), he felt a profound sadness and a feeling of deep impending doom. (Others, who have visited the Franklin Battlefield, have voiced similar stories.)

It should be noted that my friend’s entire knowledge of the War Between the States could be expressed in three words: The South Lost. He had never heard of General Patrick Cleburne, much less knew where he died. I do not believe that he made up this story that he told me almost twenty years ago.

For several weeks, I have been trying to understand what actually happened on September 6, 2007. The Israeli raid on Dayr AZ-Zawr in Syria was breath taking. Even more breath taking has been the lack of talk in all the major newspapers, main stream media, and news organizations of the world. This news "black-out" would appear to be significant. Something big happened.

Since the second week in September, I have been examining all the data I could find. I have looked at reports from such varied sources as: The Washington Post, the Pakistan Daily Times, the Jerusalem Post, the IMRA, the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, the AXIS Global Research and Analysis web site, and the Global Security.org web site. I have "haunted" such sites as the "The Middle East Media Research Institute" trying to find any shreds of information on what happened. Sadly, I could find little.

As an engineer, I was trained to look at a problem, acknowledge the facts, and postulate a solution that meets the facts. Here are the Facts that I have:

1. Israeli aircraft, with US help, destroyed a Syrian military facility at Dayr AZ-Zawr.
2. The freighter, Al-Hamad, (flying a North Korean flag) had recently docked at a Syrian port. It was supposedly loaded with cement. What it actually off-loaded was not clear. The freight it carried originated in North Korea.
3. The Syrians have at least 50, North Korean "No-Dong" missiles. These missiles were obtained in the last 7 years, and are capable of striking deep into Israel.
4. North Korea is facing all types of sanctions if it does not stop its nuclear arms program. Some type of inspections will probably be a part of any agreements reached in any settlement.
5. In the last 2 weeks, the top 3 Democrat presidential candidates for the 2008 presidential race have changed their position on the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. (They do not see withdrawing all troops until at least 2012.)

I didn’t include Fact #5 in my list until a few days ago. I didn’t include it because I didn’t believe it was relevant to the problem. However, what if this fact is related to this problem?

Assumption: Let’s assume that the cargo delivered by the Al-Hamad was either nuclear bombs or radioactive material. With North Korean technical help, Syria could arm its "No-Dong" missiles and become the 2^nd nuclear power of the Middle East. Suddenly, the current US Middle East policy (and Israel) becomes untenable. Syrian nuclear strikes on Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi oil fields would cause a worldwide economic nightmare. Syrian nuclear strikes on Israel would cause World War IV to begin.

I am a Conservative, and do not support or agree with anything the top three Democrat presidential candidates say, do, or support. However, these three people are not stupid. If my Assumption is correct, perhaps Fact #5 is the proof.