Life Could Change in a Second

We hear that line all through life when something dramatic happens to someone else and we reflect. A friend gets sick. We lose a job. A family member dies. An act comes out of the blue on a bright day when the future seems secure.

But imagine if someone literally pulled the plug on our world, where there was no electricity, all cars die and every single modern convenience we have enjoyed ceased to function. ATM's wouldn't bring access to cash, no all news television or Facebook.

The rudimentary comforts - clean water, prescription drugs, fresh vegetables all would be in short supply. Within weeks, critical personnel would fail to come to work. The elderly and frail would die from lack of medicine and care and roving gangs of vandals and mercenaries would emerge, roaming the land searching for food, fuel and shelter.

That is the landscape one is placed in the new book - "One Second After" by William Forstchen, who takes us to a small community in hills of North Carolina one day when a EMP attack hits the United States. EMP - electromagnetic pulse - is the product of a nuclear attack which would debilitate the electronic infrastructure of our society. The people of Black Mountain originally belief it is a minor power outage but quickly realize it is something more when all communication is lost. Within a few days, nursing homes are abandoned and people start raiding grocery stores for provisions.

The town comes together, through the leadership of a few ex-soldiers who organize the town into bands of militia's, issue ration cards, create a barter system, forge for food, form an alliance with a nearby town and repeal refugees and bands of marauders. It is a chilling tale about how dependent our abundant society has become on technology and the ease of modern living and what happens when order descends into mob rule.

How would people react in such a circumstance? With the federal government knocked out and no lines of communication available, the local people improvise and allocate - return a time of basics. The weak die. Modern ethics is thrown out the window so that society can simply live another day.

A lot has been written about EMP and how the country is not sufficiently "hardened" against such an attack - in this case from missiles launched from cargo ships off the east and west coast. For many decades we worried about nuclear annihilation and its aftermath. Now, we worry about a lone terrorist setting off a dirty bomb in downtown Manhattan or in this case, sending a tremendous short circuit through the spine of our society.

After turning the final page last night, I thought of how much water one could save and whether there was enough fire wood in the garage or baked beans in the pantry. Simply things like bandages, soap, aspirin and vitamins or whether I had a saw or axe came to mind.

Should one worry about it? Read the book. Forget about your 401-K. I am worried.

Sine Die Hard

Call this the J. Fredd Muggs Legislative session. The House approved a bill Wednesday that would outlaw the ownership of certain wild animals, in response to the tragic attack of an 200-pound orangutan against its Stamford owner a few months ago.

Muggs was a trained chimp who appeared with host Dave Garroway on the old Today Show back in the 1950's. Back then, we believe, wild animals didn't need a union card to appear on television.

The bell rang last night on the Connecticut Legislature without a budget or a vote on a budget. The Democrats had proposed a $3 billion tax increase to cover the $8 billion deficit with no budget or program cuts. So there is no wonder they didn't try to vote on it, even when House Republican Leader Larry Cafero, R-Norwalk, tried to serve it up as an amendment last week. House Republicans had tried their plan and the Democrats didn't bite nor did they even debate Governor Rell's proposal.

Now, we are reduced to a series of "Special Sessions" where only a few know what is going on until the all clear is given. The Democrats, with their 114 votes in the House and 24 in the state Senate, couldn't run one of the chow stands in Bushnell Park. They have reduced a three-century institution into an adult day-care center where the biggest mystery is what will be served for lunch and inner and whether the Red Sox or Yankee game will be aired in caucus lounge.

Some of the Legislative accomplishments by the Democrats include an attempted takeover of the Catholic Church, the abolition of the death penalty on the anniversary of execution of serial killer David Ross, a health care bill that would destroy health care and attempts to regulate paintball tournaments and require transgender bathrooms in public places.

Is anyone out there? Most people are too worried about being financially ruined to care what the Democrats are up to. But since few people can afford vacations now, they might start to tune in and see what they have elected.

At which point, the Democrats will do what they always do - blame the wealthy or George Bush, or both. Meanwhile, SEBAC, the state employee organization, is running absurd television ads saying it's time to kill the rich with more taxes so the status quo can be maintained. There is even a comical file picture they use showing a bunch of middle aged white guys around an shiny oak table with their arms folded and tea cups at their elbows. This is the rich, you understand, those two income earners who make over $100,000.

The liberals talk a good game, but when it came time to actually vote on what they believed in, they didn't. They know the public won't buy it and they are stalling - hoping the public will blame Gov. Rell for any disruption of services. Not a good bet. But, hey, it's their funeral.

Remembering An Uncle I Never Knew

A few years ago, I was trying to complete a chapter in the family history. For years, Jefferson A. Healy was a ghost, a distant memory made real by a fading sepia tinged photo of him wearing his U.S. Army uniform in a muddy field in France in 1917.

Jeff Healy (pictured left) was an all-American hero. Born in Brooklyn, the Healy family had migrated there from New Haven where the original clan had hit the beach during the potato famine from County Cork in 1853. He was the oldest of three boys. The second son, Edward, was completing his commission to join his brother against the Kaiser. The youngest, Charles, my grandfather, was too young, but later served with Office of Strategic Services in World War II.


Jeff went to Columbia University, was Captain of the football team, and had the whole world in front of him. At that time, there was no Reserve Officer Training Corps. (ROTC), but simply boot camp where recruits trained with broomsticks due to a shortage of arms. Jeff Healy went to Plattsburgh, N.Y. and like many college men, were deemed suitable as leaders in the field of combat. He was commissioned a First Lieutenant and shipped off to France with 38th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division. There, like many of the dough boys, there was much to learn quickly, and coordination of the war effort was disorganized at best.

During the Battle of Chateau de Thierry, Jeff Healy was wounded by gunshot and taken to a nearby hospital. He lived for a few weeks until sepia took his life on August 11, 1918. He was 24. The Armistice was called three months later. One can still wonder if he had lived, would he have come home to great honors, owning an Ivy education and a country that would have had to live through the 20's, the Depression, Prohibition and a Second World War. How many cousins would I have now, or other Healy's wandering around the east coast telling stories about Lt. Healy and his life?

Edward Healy was on transport to Europe when World War I ended.


When World War II broke out, Ed Healy was commissioned a Captain and served throughout the war, including the Battle of the Bulge. During that desperate fight in the frozen forests of Belgium, Capt. Healy was huddled with four other soldiers, pouring over a map when a German 88 air burst killed everyone around him. Ed Healy came away with a headache but soldiered on. He came home, owned and ran Androscoggin Camp in Wayne, Maine successfuly for decades while keeping a winter home in Clearwater, FL.

My father, Timothy J. Healy, used to joke that we had one relative who still lives in France that we could visit, - Uncle Jeff - lying in a American graveyard.

It seems so easy to think of our military in a theoretical sense - the men and women we see on TV doing extremely valiant and selfless work in the mountains of Afghanistan. Instant communication, which can take us to small village near the Hindu Kusch, has made us oddly more remote from what war really means to the survival of our country. And when one of our brave soldiers falls, families go through the same unbearable thoughts of doubt, anger, anguish and the "what if's" of lives never realized. It is these sacrifices, whether in trench in No-Man's Land or the Khyber Pass, that separates our nation from others. It is always an American who is willing to lay down his or her life for strangers so they can breath the air of freedom.

After some searching, I managed to find where 1st Lt. Jefferson A. Healy was buried - at the Oise-Aisne American Graveyard in Fere-en-Tardenous. A non-profit group which maintains all of the American War Cemeteries, sent me a Polaroid of his tombstone, a simple concrete marker and a large print of the cemetery grounds. I had it framed and gave it my Dad for Father's Day. My father's middle name is Jefferson.

Let us all hope we never forget the sacrifices thousands have made over this last century so they we Americans can jog afternoons away, lounge in the backyard or hit a bucket of balls without a care in the world.


This is truly a blessed land. Happy Memorial Day, Uncle Jeff.

Jack Kemp's Gift

Jack Kemp was the man to work for in the early 1990's. He was "it." Then President George H.W. Bush had signed his infamous tax deal with the Democrats, Dan Quayle couldn't catch a break and Ronald Reagan had sailed off to California. Jack Kemp was still throwing tight spirals. Despite having to run the immovable and often corrupt Department of Housing and Urban Development, Kemp did it with flair, honesty and energy.

The career people at HUD liked him and worked hard for him. Kemp shamed Democrats into thinking differently about poverty. He campaigned vigorously for Republicans running everywhere. He came to campaign for John Rowland and Gary Franks in 1990 and gave a speech in Waterbury on Election eve that knock the roof off the Elk's Lodge.

I was hired as a Special Assistant in early 1992 to work in the Public and Indian Housing section, and occasionally had to write papers on local jurisdictions when Kemp traveled to cities to spread his "empowerment" message to people that had little hope or life plan to pursue. Kemp was often seen by conservatives as Bush's "affirmative action" hire for the right.

But Kemp never turned on Bush or even complained behind-his-back. The Bushies loathed Kemp and were often derisive of his style and love of supply side economics. Kemp had a message that the Democrats saw as dangerous - opportunity, responsibility and ownership. He never was intimidated about taking that call into places where Republicans had rarely tread - the cities, before African American and Hispanic audiences. Every political appointee had that drilled into his or her head, no matter where they worked.

When the Philadelphia Housing Authority had become totally dysfunctional, Kemp worked with then-Mayor Ed Rendal to initiate a federal takeover - a radical step at the time. Rendal welcomed it and praised Kemp everywhere he went. When HUD dynamited old projects in Newark, the local people cheered because Kemp was going to offer homes and scatter them in the city. No more isolation or shame - just a shot at the American Dream.

Kemp never forgot his linemen. He would often hold a brown bag lunch next to his office and have all the Special Assistants and Deputies in for a free wheeling chat. He quoted Churchill and called us his "desert rats," who were doing something important to change the image of Republicans by going out a proving we could offer a new way up and out of the ghetto.

Then, the Rodney King riots happened. Burning and looting in Los Angeles had pulverized the Bush White House. During one meeting I attended, the LA regional HUD manager was calmly giving the DC brass an update on an open mic conference call. In the background, you could hear gun fire and yelling.

Kemp took over and put a trip together for Bush to see the damage and assure the public. Kemp moved easily among African Americans and he knew many in California where he grew up, played football at the college and professional level and once worked for Gov. Ronald Reagan. Everyone at HUD was put on non-stop war footing. In the end, it mattered little but it showed how Kemp reacted when the moment required him to shine. He did.

When Election Night came in 1992, all the HUD people had their Kemp '96 buttons under our lapels. He frowned on it. Kemp knew Bush had given the public little reason to support him and his breaking of the tax pledge had killed the President's credibility with conservatives. Kemp was also a good sport - probably learned from all those moments after a tough loss when he searched out the opposing linebacker who had buried him in the sod.

Ironically, Bill Clinton would take many of his programs and run with them. In 1996, when Bob Dole tapped him to run as Vice President. Many Kemp alums were thrilled. But old No. 15's heart wasn't in it and the Dole people kept him under wraps, keeping him in second tier locations to pump up the base.

As he moved into Senior Statesman and private citizen, Kemp maintain his optimistic manner that he learned from his mentor, Ronald Reagan. Never a cross word, always upbeat, always looking to promote opportunityand freedom. Because of Kemp, I have almost a dozen friends from those days - all of whom have enriched my life, and in one case, actually saved it.

That was Kemp's great gift. He made you feel like no matter what the score or odds, we would get to the end zone eventually if you remain faithful to the cause and loyal to the person next to you.

The Upside Down World

Right now, the country really is heading into that counter clock wise swirly thing we used to see when the old Batman series on TV shifted scenes. President Obama spends the next two generations of Americans into paupers then asks his cabinet to come up with $100 million in cuts.

The absurdity of this premise wasn't tolerated by the usually responsive White House press corps who challenged spokesman Robert Gibbs about it to the point where you almost thought he would pull out a check a cover it himself.

Then, Obama announces that the Congress and anyone in particular are free to investigate and sue anyone who may or may not have used interrogation methods deemed over the top. The left figures the more than can keep Americans hating themselves over Bush, the less likely they are to notice the reemergence of inflation, continued layoffs and Fidel Castro saying he wouldn't be opening a Wendy's franchise soon in downtown Santiago. So, let us now ruin patriots and others who were given the orders. Let us absolve all of the Congressmen and Senators who were briefed from the start on the manner of interrogation and string up intelligence officers who did what they had to at a time when the country demanded timely information.

It can be argued that the CIA never recovered from the hearings held by then Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho, who took particular self-righteous pleasure in outing deep cover spies while revealing trade craft that even John LeCarre didn't know about. Human intelligence all but vanished and was one of the reasons our embassy in Teheran was taken in 1979 without any warning from the field. Even Ranking member Barry Goldwater, R-AZ, couldn't stop Church as he blew ever cover and ever operation. Finally, in 1980, Ronald Reagan helped sweep Church out. By then, the damage was already done.

Today , under Obama, terrorism is no longer a word in the government lexicon. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano thinks the Saudi's who took the airplanes trolled through checkpoints along the Canadien border and that we better keep an eye out for those hair-trigger, angry Veterans who may blow at any time. McVee, you know, he was a Veteran.

Nickle and dime leaders with 10-cent egos are given the royal carpet and traditional allies who have shed blood and other treasure are given DVD's. Everything George Bush did was un-informed, arrogant and short-sighted. Obama has the long view - and he will mold the minds of all who are too dense to comprehend what his election means to the family of man.

Government will ascend accordingly to negotiate and reconcile the inconsistent whims of nature and the marketplace. Government will provide, no matter what freedoms are abridged or what financial requirements it may demand.

We should all be grateful that such a refined steward of thought has been placed in our presence to figure out what role our country will play in the ongoing struggle for truth and justice. Now all we have to do is say "thank you," and wait our turn in line.

Viva Obama, Viva La Revolucion!!!!

One can assume that President Obama, having now bent over for Raul Castro, will now apologize for the sinking of the Maine. He will tell Raul that William McKinley had set the whole thing up as a pretense to control the America's.

Allowing for a unilateral discsussion with Cuba, with no pesky requests, like the release of political prisoners, is just the begining of the new Obama-Clnton world accomodation tour.

Today's picture in the New York Times, a pool effort, shows our Commander-in-Chief giving a "hail fellow well met" greeting to none other than Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan dictator who has wed petro dollars to the Castro management style. When Chavez isn't supporting leftists groups through the southern hemisphere, he is supporting half-assed leftists in America, including Joe Kennedy, Jr. the nimrod ex-Congressman who shills for the Venezuelan oil company, Citgo.

Chavez now has a propaganda coup - a photo showing him the equal of the leader of the free world - which he can run on the state-dominated media in his home country. In less than 48 hours, the Big O has allowed two thugs from countries that export destabilization throughout the world, to become legitimate regional leaders.

Fidel Castro must be mumbling to himself. If this was so easy, Castro is thinking, I wouldn't have faked a coma.

Sen. Chris Dodd must be loving this. He can now get down to Havana and look for another cottage for nickels on the dollar.

Big O to Help Dodd in His Hour of Need

President Barack Obama officially rode to the rescue today, saying he would do whatever he could to reelect Chris Dodd to the U.S. Senate in 2010.

"I can't say it any clearer: I will be helping Chris Dodd because he deserves the help," Obama said to Brian Mooney of the Boston Globe. Chris is going through a rough patch. He just has an extraordinary record of accomplishment, and I think the people in Connecticut will come to recognize that. . . . He always has his constituencies at heart, and he's somebody I'm going to be relying on and working very closely with to shepherd through the types of regulatory reforms we need."

Yes, we will really need Chris Dodd to close that regulatory barn door after trillions of dollars of wealth has run for the hills.

You have to hand it to the President, he harbors no grudge after Dodd threw his Treasury Secretary under the bus over who was responsible for granting AIG Executives millions in bonuses under the $675 billion federal bailout bill. Dodd shifted blame for including the language toward Tim Geitner, the guy who failed to pay his taxes, after the Senator claimed he wouldn't allow any bank big wigs to cash in on the taxpayer's dime.

Sen. Dodd hasn't let his lousy poll standing stop him from shaking down corporate donors for campaign cash. He has been busy fundraising, but found little support at home - receiving five donations from Connecticut natives but amassing over $1 million in the last quarter alone. And again, most of it coming from the very financial institutions which Dodd is supposed to oversee as the chairman of the Banking and Urban Affairs Committee. Peter Urban of the Connecticut Post actually read the Dodd FCC report and noticed the few Connecticut zip codes.

According to Urban, the report showed that Dodd raised less from state residents than he did in 18 other states and the District of Columbia, according to campaign finance documents filed Wednesday.

He took in $90,795 from Massachusetts residents, $81,550 from Texas, $56,150 from Maryland, and $53,400 from New York.

Dodd also collected $437,407 from political action committees, including two based in Connecticut that contributed $7,000. He took in $2,271 from individuals contributing less than $200 each.

And to show you that Dodd is not above criticism from the left, Jonathan Stein and Joel Schulman of Mother Jones offer a whithering profile of the people who are feeding the Senator's coffers.

The MJ article notes the amount of financial PAC money Dodd has received so far:

Financial industry PACs were particularly generous to Dodd. PACs controlled by UBS and Ernst & Young each chipped in $5,000. The Mortgage Bankers Association added $4,500. H&R Block gave $3,000. Goldman Sachs, Vanguard, Charles Schwab, and US Bank kicked in $2,000 each. And the Futures Industry Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America donated $1,000 a piece.

Among Dodd's donors is a who's who of finance industry heavy hitters. They include Leon Black ($2,400), the billionaire founder of private equity firm Apollo Management; Mark Fetting ($2,000), the chairman and CEO of asset management firm Legg Mason; Alan Leventhal ($1,500), chairman and CEO of Beacon Capital Partners; and Rodger Lawson ($2,300), the president of mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments. (Along with Lawson, at least a dozen other high-level Fidelity employees donated $1,000 or more to Dodd, and the company's PAC gave $5,000.)

Also appearing on Dodd's donor list are dozens of top executives at various firms including Citigroup, Citizens Financial Group, and D.E. Shaw & Company, the New York-based hedge fund.

As maddening as all this seems, it shows how formidable an opponent Dodd is and how many of these financial interest want to keep him around. After all, it has worked so far, hasn't it?