Right from Wrong

A woman who noticed two bikes that were in her garage and knew they didn't belong to her family, called the police today. She turned in her son (an accomplice) and his friend, the main perp. They had seen the bikes, stole them from a garage, went on to commit arson or start fires in various places, then stashed the bikes in one of their mommas' garage.

Turns out they were the bikes stolen from our house that I mentioned in my last post.

I don't know the woman's name, nor would I want to print it as I'm certain she will be considered a rat, but she is teaching her children right from wrong..and to be accountable.

I know one person in our respective families once took something from a retail store, and the manager caught that person--age around 9. This was 45 years ago. Told his parents what he did, was marched back to the store to return the items, and apologize to the store manager. Since then, he has never stolen anything from a store. In fact, the person was mugged when catching someone stealing something from a Five and Dime, and had the perp by the collar, but his accomplice used an iron rod to knock him unconscious for awhile in order to enable the thief to run on and not get caught.

I hope whoever stole the bikes understands that "this is NOT OK." Meantime, our bikes are back, spouse feels fortunate, but I think the momma who did her duty must be feeling some pain tonight.

Thank you, whoever you are.

And we thank the Champaign police for catching this very quickly, despite a huge outbreak of crime. I'm pretty certain part of it is summer pranks, but also some desperate "acting out" for various reasons in a country of rising inflation, folks losing their homes, and worse, their jobs.

We don't get to know our neighbors very well, and I think it gets harder to meet folks as one gets older if one doesn't have children or cliques of friends in place. It's time the homeowners had a conversation about it.

Iowans Worry about Things Others May Not

This morning I was cruising through the Des Moines Register. In a poll conducted this past week, many of them think that the US is ready for a woman or African-American president. That bodes well for Madam Clinton and Mr. Obama.

But the same poll revealed their top 5 concerns: Iraq war, Social Security, immigration, health care policy and the last one, which bears some merit: moral values.

The results of that poll are surprising for two reasons: (one) those were key issues that were brought up first at the Town Hall I attended in Des Moines at John Edwards' kick off campaign, but (second) Charles Grassley is viewed more favorably in job approval than Mr. Harkin, also according to the DMR this morning. Mr. Grassley has been on record in supporting the Mc Cain Doctrine, privatizing Social Security, and I wouldn't doubt he supports the President's new health insurance tax on everyone considering he pushed forward the bankruptcy bill, making it easier for credit card companies to jack up their rates and try to squeeze the small business man who may depend on that kind of credit, or the single mom who had a child with a major illiness and couldn't afford her house payments anymore.

Moral values. I guess Mr. Grassley doesn't see poverty as a moral issue as many evangelicals do.

Then there is this editorial in the LA Times: that was lead off for the WJ segment of C-SPAN this morning:

Anyone but a Bush or a Clinton
The U.S. needs a leader in 2008 who doesn't inherit the office because of a last name.

The nation needs today, as it got in Ford then, a president respected by both Republicans and Democrats who can restore trust in politics. It needs new faces and new ideas if it is to confront advancing crises of war, debt and entitlement reform. And it needs a president who can assume office in 2009 swimming in the political capital that only a mandate can bring. The nation needs a candidate who can win 55% or more.

And that will not happen with a Bush or Clinton on the ballot.

LINK

Edwards has said many times that the world is looking to us to be the leader again. It takes intellect, backbone, and courage, and moral conviction. It takes someone to say "I was wrong", not just "I'm responsible for my vote", as Madam Clinton did yesterday in Des Moines. It takes a loving family in which there is no doubt that the husband and wife are best friends and have the kind of loving trust that is born out of the heart, not just for political reasons. That BW readers, is one of many things that separates Madam Clinton from John Edwards: moral values. Mind you, I like President Bill Clinton, but I am very suspicious of another Clinton administration that favors more corporate welfare while saying saying they worry about those whose wages are stagnant. Lest Madam Clinton forgets that it was John Edwards' speech in the hearings that swayed enough people from a "guilty" vote for lying to a grand jury about his indiscretions.




I never wonder whom John would rather be at home with at night. I don't think Iowans do either.







Photo credit: Joshua Brown, taken at TH in Iowa City, 1/20/2007