C.C., Ichiro Should Get Hall Call Leading Class of '25

C.C.,  Ichiro Should Get Hall Call Leading Class of ‘25
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
January 6, 2025

While a snowstorm is blanketing the overwhelming majority of these United States, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) is staying warm determining who will be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This year, the announcement from Cooperstown to determine the Class of 2025 will be made on Tuesday, January 21. And the Hot Stove season has been in full bloom as the ballparks enjoy the winter slumber and solitude.

Still at issue, those ballplayers tainted by substance allegations. The only way steroid/HGH-addled balloteers should be admitted to the Hall of Fame is with a paid ticket for admission to the museum.

“We hope the day never comes when known steroid users are voted into the Hall of Fame. They cheated. Steroid users don’t belong here,” wrote late Hall of Famer Joe Morgan in a November 2017 letter to the BBWAA, hoping to influence their Hall votes in 2018. Hopefully Morgan’s letter continues to resonate in 2025 as cheaters such as Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez (A-Roid) may inch closer to the magic number of 75 percent - the required minimum to grant one admission to the Hall.

The cloud of controversy has been dark and heavy, while initially eliminating some from Hall of Fame contention. In the cases of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa, the BBWAA voters rejected those candidacies, and after 10 years, their eligibility expired. Votes for Ramirez, in his eighth year on the ballot dropped slightly to 32.5 percent in 2024 from 33.2 percent in 2023, while Rodriguez checked in with 34.8 percent of the vote in his third year on the ballot, down from 35.7 percent of the vote in 2023. Perhaps the shrinking vote totals for Ramirez and Rodriguez is a good sign the BBWAA voters understand how wrong it is to reward a player for cheating, and the use of such substances is cheating. 

(That said, the Classic Baseball Era Committee, on December 8, 2023, announced the election to the Hall of Dick Allen and Dave Parker. Parker, caught up in the cocaine scandal of the 1980s, should not gain induction into the Hall of Fame.)

I remain a consistent and virulent opponent of the steroid players and will continue to do so for the next seven years as Alex Rodriguez is on the ballot for the fourth year. The last thing to be said about A-Roid speaks volumes as to why he should never earn a plaque in Cooperstown. Admitting his use of steroids/banned substances, Rodriguez found himself suspended for 211 games from August 2013 through the entire 2014 season - a suspension well merited.

Ramirez, while expressing some sense of contrition during a 2019 interview with Boston 25 News, still should not be admitted to the Hall. On getting caught using steroids Ramirez said, “it was a good thing for me because it made me grow up. Maybe a lot of people didn’t get caught and they were doing maybe some crazy stuff and they’re not learning from it. So I think everything happens for a reason and everything is working for the good. I’m in a better place than I’ve ever been, even when I was playing, so I don’t regret it because it made me grow up.”

Players like Bonds, Clemens, Ramirez, Rodriguez, and Sosa, almost certainly would have been enshrined in Cooperstown sans steroids.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has a so-called character clause. “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contribution to the team(s) on which the player played.” So-called because it has existed since 1945 and more than a fair share of miscreants have found their way to Cooperstown. (https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/bbwaa-rules-for-election)

With voting in mind, were I a privileged member of the BBWAA charged with the task of electing the Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2025, three former major leaguers would earn my votes - two rookie balloteers and one holdover. Fourteen retirees are on the ballot for the first time with another 14 holdovers. Candidates who do not attain 75 percent of the vote must receive at least five percent of the vote or will be eliminated from future consideration.

Carsten Charles “CC” Sabathia pitched 19 seasons - 11 with the Yankees, eight with the Indians, and part of one with the Brewers. Sabathia posted a 251-161 win-loss record, a 3.74 ERA, 38 complete games, and 12 shutouts - stats for the current generation that are considered solid. The six time All Star averaged 6.4 innings pitched per start. Sabathia won 21 games once, and 19 games three times, including 2007 when he earned the Cy Young award. In addition to winning one Cy Young, Sabathia was named on five Cy Young ballots, five MVP ballots, and finished second for Rookie of the Year in 2001.

Sabathia is one of six pitchers with at least 250 victories, a .600 winning percentage, and at least 3,000 strikeouts. The other five are Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Tom Seaver, and Justin Verlander. His 251 victories rank Sabathia 47th all time, tied with Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Al Spalding. Sabathia’s 3,093 strikeouts rank him 18th all time, nine ahead of Hall of Famer John Smoltz, and 24 behind Gibson. Sabathia is one of three southpaws with more than 3,000 strikeouts, trailing Hall of Famers Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton who amassed 4,875 and 4,136 respectively. Sabathia’s 560 games started rank him 28th all time, two behind Hall of Famer Kid Nichols, and six ahead of Hall of Famer Eppa Rixey. Sabathia would have my vote, and if he is not elected on his first ballot, he won’t have long to wait thereafter.

One sure-fire Hall of Famer to be who won’t have to wait beyond January 21 for his call from Cooperstown will be Ichiro Suzuki, known simply as Ichiro. Ichiro debuted in 2001 as the first Japanese-born position player, manning rightfield masterfully enough to win 10 Gold Gloves in a row, out of the gates starting as a rookie. Ichiro, in 2001, became only the second Major Leaguer to win both the Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Fred Lynn accomplished the feat in 1975 with the Boston Red Sox. in that amazing rookie year, Ichiro batted .350 with 242 hits, and 56 stolen bases. That batting average lead the American League, while the hits total and stolen bases lead all of Major League Baseball. And in the era of massive strike outs, Ichiro struck out an average of a paltry 66 times in a 162 game season.

In his first 10 seasons, all played with the Seattle Mariners, Ichiro earned 10 All Star game appointments, batted over .300 each season, collected more than 200 hits each season, as well as stole more than 30 bases each season. Ichiro led all of Major League Baseball in hits seven times in that 10 year span, including a Major League record 262 hits in 2004. Ichiro surpassed the 257 hits collected by Hall of Famer George Sisler in 1920.

For his 19 year career which included 14 seasons with the Mariners, as well as time divided between the Yankees and the Marlins, Ichiro batted .311 with 3,089 hits, and 509 stolen bases. Including his years in Japan, Ichiro played 28 seasons amassing 4,367 hits, surpassing the all time hit king, Pete Rose, by 111. For his American hits total, Ichiro ranks 25th all time, 21 hits behind Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, and 29 hits ahead of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio. Ichiro’s 509 stolen bases tie him with Hall of Famer Fred Clarke for 35th place all time, and put him three ahead of Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio. Without reservation, Ichiro would have my vote to enter the Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

Omar Vizquel, the quintessential shortstop of a generation, won 11 Gold Glove awards during his 24 year career, second most at that position all time. Vizquel, also the oldest shortstop to win a Gold Glove, did so at age 39 in 2006. After five years with the Seattle Mariners, Vizquel took his talents to Cleveland continuing to be the defensive gem that will vault him into Cooperstown.

Vizquel was three times an All Star, overshadowed by Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees, elected to Cooperstown in a near-unanimous vote in 2020. On the field, Vizquel led the league in Fielding Percentage six times as a shortstop and is the all time leader in Fielding Percentage at .985. Vizquel shares the season record with Cal Ripken, Jr. for committing the fewest errors by a shortstop playing in at least 150 games with a paltry three. Additionally, Vizquel is first all time in double plays turned by a shortstop, third all time in assists at shortstop, and 11th all time in putouts made by a shortstop.

At bat, Vizquel compares rather favorably to Hall of Fame shortstops Ozzie Smith, Luis Aparicio, and Luke Appling. Vizquel hit more home runs than Smith and Appling, trailing Aparicio by only three. Vizquel drove in more runs than Smith and Aparicio, stole more bases than Appling, hit for a higher batting average than Smith and Aparicio, while collecting more hits than all three. This is the eighth year on the ballot for Vizquel, having dropped from 19.5 percent of the vote in 2023 to 17.7 percent in 2024. Vizquel’s numbers may dip even further in 2025 due to allegations of a rather serious nature. Until they are adjudicated, I will not traffic in rumors and/or innuendo. Should Vizquel be found guilty, I will withdraw my support of his entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Two other former players on the ballot of note are Billy Wagner and Francisco Rodriguez. Wagner and Rodriguez are an interesting study because of their similar stat lines. Both closers pitched in 16 seasons and played for five teams each. Wagner’s record is 47-40 with a 2.31 ERA and Rodriguez’s record is 52-53 with a 2.86 ERA. Wagner’s 422 saves ranks him sixth all time and Rodriguez’s 437 saves ranks him fourth all time. Wagner is in his 10th, and final year on the ballot, having fallen five votes short of induction in 2024. Wagner rose from 68.3 percent in 2023, to 73.8 percent in 2024. Wagner, a seven time All Star, appeared in 853 games, pitching 903 innings, and striking out 1,196 batters. Rodriguez, a six time All Star, appeared in 948 games, pitching 976 innings, striking out 1,142 batters. Rodriguez received 10.8 percent of the vote in 2023, as a freshman on the ballot, dropping to 7.8 percent in 2024. Wagner should be receiving a call from Cooperstown on January 21.

While it is important to not sully the Baseball Hall of Fame with the likes of Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez, the focus must be on the greats who may be enshrined this July 27 and how they will continue to be the true ambassadors to the game of baseball as so many before them have been. Sadly, this is an ever shrinking community as four Hall of Famers passed away during 2024.

Orlando Cepeda (09/17/1937 - 06/28/2024) gained admission into the Hall of Fame in 1999 via the Veteran’s Committee. Known as the “Baby Bull,” the pride of Puerto RIco won Rookie of the Year honors in 1958 with the Giants in their first year in San Francisco, batting .312, and leading the National League with 38 doubles. In 1967, with the Cardinals, Cepeda won the MVP batting .325 and driving in a NL leading 111 runs. Cepeda’s most prolific season came in 1961, also with the Giants, as MVP runner up leading the NL with 46 home runs and 142 runs batted in. For his career, Cepeda batted .297, hit 379 homers, and had 1,365 RBI.

Rickey Henderson (12/25/1958 - 12/20/2024) earned his first ballot ticket to Cooperstown in 2009 by being the most prolific base stealer of all time. His 1,406 thefts far surpassed the 938 by Hall of Famer Lou Brock. At times a shameless self-promoter, on May 1, 1991, upon stealing third base against the Yankees, for career steal 939, Henderson pulled the base out of the ground and declared, “Lou Brock is the symbol of great base stealing, but today I am the greatest of all time.” Those stolen bases certainly helped Henderson set a new record for runs scored in a career with 2,295, eclipsing Hall of Famer Ty Cobb’s 2,245. Of Henderson’s 297 home runs, 81 came leading off a game, also a record, far above George Springer’s 60. Known as “the man of steal,” Henderson’s career stretched 25 seasons, from 1979 through 2003, 14 with the A’s and the rest spread over time with eight other teams. He led the league in stolen bases 12 times, runs scored five times, earned one Gold Glove, three Silver Slugger awards, made 10 All Star teams, and won the MVP in 1990.

Dorrel “Whitey” Herzog (11/09/1931 - 04/15/2024) gained admission into the Hall of Fame via the Veteran’s Committee in 2010. Herzog managed for 18 years (1973-1990), including 11 for the St. Louis Cardinals where he achieved his greatest success winning three National League pennants, the 1982 World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, and Manager of the Year in 1985. His Cardinals teams lost the World Series in 1985 to the Royals, and in 1987 to the Twins. As manager of the Royals, his teams won the AL West three years in a row from 1976-78, only to lose the playoffs each year to the Yankees. Herzog’s managerial record tallied in at 1281-1125-3 and a .532 winning percentage.

Willie Howard Mays (05/06/1931 - 06/18/2024), the “Say Hey Kid,” possessed the five tools of a ballplayer before they were called the five tools. The oldest living Hall of Famer at the time of his death, Mays began his professional career with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League in 1948, at age 17 playing in 13 games in his only season with the team. He made his Major League debut in 1951 with the New York Giants, remaining with the team through the move to San Francisco, until traded to the Mets in 1972. Mays ended his career in New York following the Mets defeat at the hands of the A’s in the 1973 World Series, where it started 23 years ago. In 1979 Mays earned election to the Hall of Fame overwhelmingly on his first ballot.

In the interim, Mays, considered the greatest baseball player of all time by many, became Rookie of the Year in 1951, earned universal praise for “the catch” during the 1954 World Series sweep over the Indians, and won his first MVP that year. Mays hit .345, hit 41 home runs, drove in 110 runs, scored 119 runs, and cracked 195 hits. In winning his second MVP in 1965, Mays hit .317, hit 52 homers, drove in 112 runs, and scored 118 runs with 177 hits. Mays appeared on 15 MVP ballots, won 12 Gold Gloves, led the league in home runs four times, in triples three times, and in stolen bases three years consecutively.

The Mays stat line includes a .301 batting average, 6,080 total bases, fourth all time,  660 home runs, sixth all time, 2,068 runs scored, seventh all time, 3,005 games played, ninth all time, 1,909 RBI, 12th all time, and 3,293 hits, 13th all time. Mays also earned selection to a record 24 All Star games.

Although Pete Rose (04/14/1941 - 09/30/2024) is not in the Hall of Fame, the all time hit king certainly deserves his plaque in Cooperstown, even posthumously. Rose holds claim to the most hits in MLB history with 4,256, most games played with 3,562, second all time with 746 doubles, sixth in runs scored with 2,165, ninth in total bases with 5,754, a .304 batting average, and a 44 game hitting streak - the longest in NL history. A 17 time All Star, Rose earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1963, won the NL MVP in 1973, and found himself in the running for MVP 14 other seasons. 

I’m not dismissing the gambling scandal, but with all the gambling advertisements throughout the entire sporting landscape, including college sports, that the world of professional sports has embraced online gambling, legal sportsbook betting, and the like, it seems Rose’s scandal might likely not be much of one in this climate. 

May their memories be for a Blessing. May 2025 be a better, healthier year for one and all, and may the baseball season continue to excite its fans while gaining new fans to discover the greatness of America’s national pastime.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He has been a Patron-level member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame since 2007.

Closing Arguments

Closing Arguments
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
November 3, 2024

“And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain…” (“My Way,” lyrics by Paul Anka)

In 24-48 hours, the polls in the thousands of voting precincts across the fruited plain will be open and ready for business. From Harrisburg to Honolulu and from Albany to Anaheim; from Detroit to Denver and from Birmingham to Boise, American voters will most certainly state their case. And who remembers entering a voting booth and actually drawing a curtain closed? I absolutely remember voting in one of those booths.

Of course by that time millions of Americans will have already cast their ballots via a number of early voting options. I prefer voting on Election Day, which should be a national holiday - but that’s an argument for another column. My wife and I vote together, and then, depending on the time of day, go out for breakfast or dinner.

Hopefully any legally registered voter will be able to arrive, vote, and depart their voting precinct unmolested by those who would commit the crime of voter interference. American elections must be easy to access by legally registered voters with photo identification, who should then cast their ballot, receive a print out receipt of their votes, and have the confidence that their vote will be appropriately counted. This is the United States of America, after all, and should be a beacon setting the standard for elections around the world, not a third world laughing stock where voters don’t know the official results for days, or even weeks into the future. The process from start to finish must be chicanery free.

Sadly, the process of selecting candidates did not lack chicanery. Noting there are myriad minor party candidates sprinkled throughout the ballots in all 50 states, the focal point is on the Republican and Democrat candidates, former President Donald Trump and sitting Vice President Kamala Harris, respectively. While Trump opted not to face his 10 GOP opponents in any of the numerous debates held, he did face the voters on primary ballots in all 50 states, even after several challenges to his candidacy failed in places like Colorado and Maine. 

One by one the Trump challengers dropped off the radar and out of the race. Former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley remained the last woman standing until March 6 when she finally bowed out. Although tensions between Trump and Haley continued down a path of contentiousness through the spring and into the summer, Haley gave an excellent speech at the Republican National Convention in July in Milwaukee helping to coalesce the party. The RNC was a patriotic love fest with America and Trump - especially just days after the first assassination attempt on Trump. He appeared on the first night triumphant with a bandage on his gunshot wounded ear like a red badge of courage.

On the flip side, the Democrats lacked courage and confidence. They lacked the courage to keep their renominated candidate on the general election ballot who actually faced the voters, sitting President Joe Biden, who received more than 14 million primary votes. The Democrats lacked the confidence to stand by their legally renominated candidate because they knew the addleminded Biden had slipped too far from being capable of running and serving for another four years. A palace coup, or in this case, a White House coup, orchestrated by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former President Barack Obama, and a cast of other undemocratic Democrats didn’t even bother to stab Biden in the back; they plunged the knife into his chest as they anointed Harris the party nominee.

This from the party calling the Republicans and Trump a threat to democracy. That has been part of the Harris mantra as to why she should get the votes of the people - she’s not Trump (or Biden), and Trump is a threat to democracy. Harris stood for exactly zero primaries and earned exactly zero primary votes. And while not being Trump is satisfactory enough for some of the lemmings, what case has Harris made for herself?

Harris has announced more flip-flops on issues than could fit into a shoe store - and in her own words filmed and used in Trump commercials. First Harris is against fracking, then she is for fracking. First Harris wants to defund ICE, then she is calling for increased border patrol and supports building the very wall she castigated as being stupid and a “vanity project” of Trump’s. First Harris wants to confiscate the guns of American citizens, then she brags about being a gun owner.

Harris supports abortion through birth and is seeking to codify it federally - at taxpayer’s expense, as well as transition surgeries for prisoners and illegals - as she bragged about changing the law in California to support these insane ideas. Harris accuses Trump of seeking an all out total ban on abortion, which he has said repeatedly is untrue. Trump does take pride in orchestrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade during his first term in the White House, appropriately returning abortion policy to the several states, where it should have remained in the first place. Trump has repeatedly said he supports the traditional exceptions regarding abortion - rape, incest, and the life of the mother, much to the chagrin of more than a few Evangelicals. So much so, there’s a fair contingent of Evangelicals who plan to stay home on Election Day. What they seem to have forgotten is Ronald Reagan’s 80-20 Rule. Just because a group of voters disagree with a candidate 20 percent of the time, does not mean they should discard that candidate when they still support that candidate the other 80 percent of the time.

Of course abortion is not the only issue at hand in the 2024 presidential election. The struggling economy and the border invasion are huge - the two biggest issues confronting the voters. Harris talks about all the changes she will make once she is inaugurated, yet has had just short of four years in the White House as VP to effect change. Why should she be believed now? And yet, when asked repeatedly what she would do differently than Biden, Harris responded, “nothing specific comes to mind,” on numerous occasions. 

Trump oversaw a solid economy, save for the Covid period, where prices of food, automobiles, gas/oil, housing, interest rates, inflation, and energy independence all experienced positive trends. Trump posed the same question Ronald Reagan asked the American people during the 1980 campaign: Are you better off today than you were four years ago? The answer then, as it is today, is a resounding NO.

The “better off” question is not just about the economy. The United States has been under invasion since Biden-Harris took office in 2021, ending Trump’s building of the border wall, shutting down the Keystone Pipeline while supporting Russia’s pipeline, and just about any other Trump policy that had been helping the American people. The invasion of upward of 12-20 million illegal aliens, depending upon which government source one wishes to believe, has created an increase in crime - gang related and non-gang related. The number of innocent young women and children raped and murdered at the hands of illegal aliens continues rising exponentially. People simply do not feel safe in the United States.

People, specifically, Jewish students do not feel safe on their college and university campuses. The marches and protests supporting Hamas and other terrorist organizations, the call to boycott Israel, the extreme rise in antisemitism on and off campuses are making Jewish students and non-students alike feel as though they are living in 1938 Germany. Biden and Harris have done practically nothing other than provide disingenuous lip service attempting to placate Jewish voters - failing miserably - while attempting to handcuff Israel at every turn. Harris has gone so far as to say she understands the emotions and feelings of the campus denizens supporting Hamas. 

Harris has repeatedly called for ceasefire after ceasefire when it is not in Israel’s best interest. She wants the war to end regardless of who wins or loses simply to tell voters she is responsible for the ending of the war. More than likely, the invasion by Hamas on October 7, 2023 slaughtering more than 1,200 innocent Israeli men, women, and children would not have occurred had Trump been in office. This was the greatest loss of Jewish life in any single day since the Holocaust. 

Nor would Putin have invaded Ukraine during a Trump administration. From the embarrassing Afghanistan exit which witnessed the murder of 13 American servicemen and women, to the wars that have begun during the Biden-Harris administration, the financial support of the Islamic Republic of Iran, America looks and is weaker at home and abroad. Military recruitment is down, there is support for social and cultural engineering within the military which Harris seeks to continue. While Harris calls for more spending on Ukraine, she has made threats of withholding aid to Israel. There is a lack of respect for America not seen probably since the Vietnam era.

Under Trump no new foreign wars exploded. His relationship with Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu was and is strong. The Abraham Accords brought new peaceful alliances to the Middle East after the successful move of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to where it belongs in Jerusalem. Trump will continue down that path.

Then there’s the culture of castigation. The Democrats like to deflect when they accuse Trump and the GOP of doing what they themselves are doing. There has been a constant barrage of insulting voters en masse by the Democrats. From Hillary Clinton putting Trump supporters in her “basket of deplorables,” in 2016, to Biden just last week calling Trump supporters “garbage,” to Harris surrogate Mark Cuban denigrating and insulting women - surprising the Democrats could even define what a woman is - saying Trump has never surrounded himself with smart, strong, accomplished women. Apparently Cuban has never heard of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kayleigh McEnany, Kellyanne Conway, Linda McMahon, Alina Habba, Tulsi Gabbard, Elise Stefanik, Kristi Noem, among many others. 

Harris even took to insulting a Christian attending one of Harris’s rallies. At a recent rally, an audience member shouted out “Jesus is L-rd.” Harris responded, “you must be at the wrong rally,” to a huge burst of applause. And after all the Democrat insults, including calling Trump Hitler and his supporters Nazis, there’s Harris calling for national unity. Pure hypocrisy.

Clinton, Kamala, Cuban, and others have repeatedly deprecated and defamed all Trump supporters while Trump saves his barbs for specific Democrat candidates or officeholders, not an entire group of supporters. Disparaging Harris, Biden, Pelosi, Doug Emhoff, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, is standard fare in politics. Would it be better if no one insulted anyone? Yes, in politics and in life in general. But we live in the real world - political insults are as old as politics themselves. Perhaps a bit more sophisticated, but maybe not. Political opponents maligned Grover Cleveland for allegedly fathering an illegitimate child, with “Ma, Ma, where’s my Pa?” during the 1884 campaign.

The Kamala Harris campaign runs on not being Biden, not being Trump, and so much word salad, extra ranch dressing has been ordered. She picked a buffoon of a governor in “Tampon” Tim Walz of Minnesota who watched Minneapolis burn after the death of George Floyd. Makes sense, Harris supported the rioters offering bail money. He earned the nickname for signing into law the placement of feminine hygiene products in boy’s and men’s bathrooms. This ticket is so incompetent, even the liberal media, safely ensconced in the Democrat’s pockets, have taken to shedding some light on this frightening pair.

Trump is about as transparent as they get. He has outlined his plans for the new administration, starting with putting America first. Closing the border - again, returning to the days of energy independence, renewing good relations with allies - but still demanding they pay their fair share for what the United States provides them, supporting allies like Israel, working to bring down inflation and interest rates to where they were during his first term in office, restoring a strong military, ensuring biological males do not invade women’s sports, locker rooms, bathrooms, and spaces, including not allowing them to take scholarship and economic opportunities away from women.

Trump is a microcosm of America. His opponents have attempted to remove him from office - twice, indict him, imprison him, and even assassinate him - twice, and yet, like the Phoenix, Trump rises from the ashes, as will the United States when Trump is reelected on November 5, and sworn in on January 20. As he ends all his rallies, Trump will make America safe again. He will make America strong again. He will make America healthy again. He will make America wealthy again. He will make America proud again. He will make America free again. And, Donald Trump will Make America Great Again! (Cue “YMCA,” by The Village People.)

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Charlie Hustle's Slow Walk to Cooperstown

Charlie Hustle’s Slow Walk to Cooperstown
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
October 10, 2024

Years ago I said I believe our great national pastime of baseball will exact its final revenge on Pete Rose by posthumously inducting him into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY a year or two after his ultimate demise. That clock began ticking on Monday, September 30, 2024, when Rose’s heart stopped ticking.

I did not like Pete Rose. I told him as much upon meeting him in, of all places, Las Vegas. In late December 2006 I was in Caesar’s Palace, outside the confines of the physical casino. Walking around the shopping area of Caesar’s Palace I spied a note, inconspicuously taped to a wall, handwritten on lined notebook paper, in pen, not even a dark marker, announcing an autograph signing that very day, featuring Rose and former Dodgers and Padres All Star Steve Garvey.

Noticing the poorly advertised event was slated to begin in about 20 minutes, I made my way to the sports memorabilia shop within Caesar’s. A small shop with terribly overpriced items only a naive, gullible faux sports fan with more money than he or she knows what to do with would make a purchase, had a folding table and two chairs set up for the event. About 10 minutes prior to the start of this event, I remained the only potential customer in the shop. A few minutes later, Rose and Garvey entered together and unassumingly set up a few items on the folding table no bigger than a restaurant table for four.

I don’t pay for autographs - never have, never will, thus I had no intention of getting in line. That said, I still remained the lone possible patron in the shop. I seized the moment and my opportunity to approach Pete Rose. I walked up to the table, we exchanged greetings - I had no reason not to remain polite. Then, again politely, I said to Rose, “I don’t like you.” (How many thousands of times had he heard that, he probably didn’t even hear it any longer.) “I don’t like you, and I’m going to tell you why,” I continued. “I’m a lifelong Mets fan.” Before I could utter another syllable Rose smiled knowing exactly why.

Game Three of the National League Championship Series in October 1973 and the brawl between Rose and New York Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson, who sadly, also died this year, on January 10. That is the reason for my animus. During game three of the best of five playoff series between Harrelson’s Mets and Rose’s Cincinnati Reds, in the top of the fifth inning at Shea Stadium, Rose singled.  On a ground ball from Joe Morgan, Rose slid hard into second base and Harrelson to break up a potential double play, and thus the eruption of fisticuffs between Rose and Harrelson. The Mets emerged victorious that afternoon, and defeated the Reds in the playoffs three games to two, only to lose the World Series in seven games to the Oakland A’s.

Rose, who earned the nickname Charlie Hustle dating back to spring training 1963, when opposing players from the New York Yankees, Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle, noted Rose’s all out hard-nosed play - even in spring training. The name stuck, and infamously in the 1970 All Star game Rose’s full steam ahead attitude destroyed the career of American League All Star Ray Fosse. In the bottom of the 12th inning following a Rose single, two batters later, in a close play at the plate, Rose bulldozed Fosse to score the winning run for the National League at Riverfront Stadium, the newly opened home of Rose’s Reds. Fosse remained flat on his back for several seconds while manager and teammates checked on the injured catcher. While Rose missed three games with a thigh bruise, Fosse would play the remainder of the season with a fractured and separated left shoulder which healed in the wrong place.

Fosse’s career would never be the same. Rose would continue on his trajectory toward record-breaking status. On September 11, 1985, in the first inning of a home game against the San Diego Padres, Pete Rose laced a single off pitcher Eric Show, into left-center field. That hit gave Rose 4,192 - the most hits ever in Major League Baseball history, surpassing Ty Cobb, who held the record since 1928. Rose would retire as an active player after the 1986 season while continuing his role as Reds manager. His record 4,256 hits remains intact. Rose, Rookie of the Year in 1963, MVP in 1973, played 24 seasons with the Reds, Phillies, and Expos, winning three batting titles, leading the league in hits seven times, winning two Gold Gloves, and selected to 17 all star teams, yet is still plaqueless in Cooperstown.

Mired in a gambling scandal, Rose found himself banned from baseball - permanently. Players banned from baseball are not eligible for the Hall of Fame - the fate suffered most famously by eight players from the Chicago White Sox 1919 World Series fixing season. While not splitting hairs, the infamous Black Sox, as they were dubbed, earned their banishment for agreeing to accept bribes in exchange for throwing the World Series, while Rose’s transgression had been betting on baseball games. And, yes, there is a difference.

The White Sox players conspired with a criminal element to throw a World Series, intentionally performing in a deleterious manner to impact the outcome of the games. Rose gambled on, but did not impact the result of games on which he wagered. This includes games in which his team played. Anyone even slightly familiar with Rose would understand that Rose and his level of competitiveness simply would not have allowed him to wager against his own teams.

While gambling on baseball had been frowned upon for more than a century, it seems that Major League Baseball has a much more relaxed stance on gambling. So much so, to not consider Rose for enshrinement in the Hall would be hypocritical. Stadiums have advertising from casinos and gambling websites on outfield walls and elsewhere. Television and radio advertisements also include casinos and gaming sites such as FanDuel and Draft Kings. Betting lines typically appear on the bottom of television screens for fans. Each of these betting services include a disclaimer for those in need of help if they are gambling addicts, but it sure seems that professional and even college sports are comfortably in bed with legalized sports betting.

“I don’t like you,” I reiterated, before adding, “but I do think you belong in the Hall of Fame.” Rose thanked me, I exchanged greetings with Garvey, then departed the shop feeling satisfied. 

I don’t condone gambling in sports either Rose’s way, or that of the 1919 White Sox. I don’t condone philandering and unfaithfulness either; yet how many Hall of Famers fall into that category? I don’t condone racism or antisemitism; yet how many Hall of Famers subjected Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Hank Greenberg and myriad others to such unwarranted abuse - either verbal or physical? The Hall of Fame has been a player’s final reward for a great career on the field of play. As long as Major League Baseball has embraced gambling, it should shed its hypocrisy and give Rose his due in Cooperstown.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He is also a Patron-level member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Importance of 10/7 During the Holiest of Days

The Importance of 10/7 During the Holiest of Days
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 26, 2024

“On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.” 

These words are part of the solemn High Holy Days liturgy “Unetanneh Tokef,” (Let us express the mighty holiness of this day) a most powerful poem credited to the martyr Rabbi Amnon of Maintz more than 800 years ago. The advent of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year observing the Day of Creation of the World, or the Birthday of the World, ushers in a 10 day period of spiritual introspection and repentance culminating with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

In part, the poem asks unanswerable questions that are more than thought provoking about the existence of man in G-d’s world.

“On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.
How many shall pass on, and how many shall be born;
Who shall live, and who shall die;
Who in his time, and who before his time;
Who by fire, and who by water;
Who by sword, and who by beast;
Who by hunger, and who by thirst;
Who by storm, and who by plague…;
Who shall rest, and who shall wander…;
Who shall be at peace, and who shall suffer;
Who shall become poor, and who shall become rich;
Who shall fall, and who shall rise.
But repentance, prayer, and charity revoke the evil decree.” (www.Chabad.org) 

This passionate poem was penned during a dark time for the Jewish people, rife with antisemitism, forced conversions, pogroms, and massacres. More than a thousand years later the Jewish people are once again being confronted with unprovoked massacres, deadly assaults, kidnappings, rapes, bombings, and college campus antisemitism that has reached a level heretofore not seen before. We approach the first year remembrance of the dastardly acts perpetrated against the Jewish people on October 7, 2023 in Israel right between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

For many, October 7, 2023 will be remembered with the same reverence and magnitude as September 11, 2001 - its heinousness as barbaric as September 11, and with an even greater proportionality than September 11. That’s how horrific and diabolical October 7 is felt in Israel, and quite frankly amongst Jews the world over, as well as the Christians who support Israel.

On that clear Shabbat morning, Hamas, a Gaza-based terrorist organization, funded and sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran invaded Israel unprovoked and slaughtered upwards of 1,200 innocent children, women, and men. This would be the largest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust of European Jewry. Hamas terrorists launched a surprise, sneak attack from Gaza across the border into southern Israel. Hamas perpetrated ground attacks on Ashkelon, Be’ eri, Erez Crossing, Kfar Aza,  Magen, Nir Am, Nir Oz, Ofakim, Re’ im Army Base, Sderot, and Zikim Base. Additional assaults found their targets in Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest city, and Jerusalem, Israel’s capital, as well as Be’ er Sheva, Kerem Shalom, Kibbutz Re’ im, Kibbutz Sufa, Kissufim, Nahal Oz, Netiv Haasara, and Yakhini. Within 24 hours the militant, radical, Islamic terrorist group Hezbollah launched a dozen rockets into Israel from Lebanon. To date, Hezbollah has launched more than 10,000 rockets at Israel. This is now a three front conflagration with Hezbollah attacking from the north along with Hamas invading from the Gaza Strip, and the Houthis from the east. 

Kfar Aza saw perhaps the most unconscionable measure of depravity one could imagine - or not imagine - 40 babies slaughtered, many beheaded - decapitated, left strewn about, among the more than 200 corpses discovered by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). Some of the parents witnessed the executions of their babies, just before Hamas terrorists killed those very parents. More stories of man’s inhumanity to man could be witnessed on the very videos shot by the Hamas terrorists themselves as acts of pride. (It seems Hamas took a page out of the Nazis playbook as there are films of Nazis slaughtering Jews en masse.) Entire families burned alive. A murdered woman with her newborn baby still attached to the mother’s umbilical cord could be found. These reports were multi-sourced. 

Israeli soldiers invited the media to bear witness to the unspeakable carnage and report the truth. A truth including what many said featured the “smell of death.” Additional atrocities as reported by i24 News Israel included 70 Hamas terrorists butchering their way through a town of 700. And the taking of hostages - women and children of all ages from infants to the elderly and infirmed in wheelchairs, even an 85 year old Holocaust survivor - victimized again, for the second time in her life, this time by Palestinian Nazis.

Videos of kidnappings, shootings - bodies found with a dozen, 20, or more bullet holes. These Hamas terrorists kept killing the Israelis even after they were dead. These soulless ghouls pulling people out of their vehicles, invading their homes, dragging people out of their beds, conducting house to house and apartment to apartment searches reminiscent of the methodical searches for Jewish people masterminded by the Nazis during the Holocaust. And there was the wanton massacre of 260 young people simply attending and enjoying a music festival in the Negev Region near Kibbutz Re’ im as bullets rained down upon them.

Israel does not start wars, but Israel will do everything necessary to ensure its survival. The day Israel loses a war, is the day Israel ceases to exist. Israelis would prefer not to enter into armed conflict. They don’t suffer from the same maniacal bloodlust as Hamas, Hezbollah, Isis, the Taliban, the Houthis, and al-Qaeda, among, sadly, many others who have mastered deviance and moral turpitude to an art form.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir said it best more than 50 years ago. “When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons. Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.” Meir’s sentiment continues to ring true in 2024.

This should not be political, but Kamala Harris and most of the Congressional Democrats have made this political - supporting Hamas, demanding a ceasefire from Israel specifically, condemning Israel for killing Palestinians, and not giving enough aid to the Gazans. There continues to be a double standard where Israel is concerned. Only Israel provides humanitarian aid and warns their enemies of pending retaliatory military strikes. What other nation at war behaves with such benevolence? And yet, the so-called squad and myriad Democrats have, time and time again, consistently voted against support of Israel, and even against condemning antisemitism. 

Israel stands for, and desires peace. “Israel was attacked on October 7 by Hamas, and October 8 by Hezbollah. Israel never would have fired a single rocket, or shot, or killed a single person in Gaza or in Lebanon if they [Israel] hadn’t been attacked,” said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tis past week. “Israel chooses the blessing of peace,” he added.

This should not be political, but Harris and her far left Democrats have supported the  egregious antisemitism on numerous college campuses. Jewish students and even faculty are not safe on or near their campuses. Harris has said she understands the emotions of the Hamas supporters, the antisemites, the anti-Zionists - they burn both American and Israeli flags as they parade around campus chanting “death to America, death to Israel,” as well as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” These are serious threats against Jewish students on campus, and Jewish communities at-large.

This should not be political, but it is when supporting a two-state solution is supporting terrorism and the right of terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran, to continue in their quests, as written in their charters, calling for the evisceration of Israel and the slaughter of the Jewish people. Hamas vowed after October 7 that there would be not 10, not 100, but 1,000 more October sevens. When terrorists speak of their plans of death and destruction, take them at their word. It’s ironic that when Israel rejects a two-state solution they get lambasted by the Biden-Harris administration, the progressives, and the media. Yet when the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis reject a two-state solution, which to them means the destruction of Israel and the elimination of the Jewish people, nary a word of pushback is uttered.

This should not be political, but it is when Harris and others say they support the right of Israel to defend itself, but want to handcuff that defense. Threatening to withhold vital military aid is not evidence of supporting Israel’s right of self defense. Israel is a sovereign nation and does not need permission to defend itself. It is political when Harris and the Democrats demand that defense be tempered and scaled back. Was the October 7 invasion of Israel and slaughter of 1,200 innocent men, women, and children tempered or scaled back?

Immediately following the Hamas incursion of Israel there was a global demand for a ceasefire. A ceasefire existed on October 6, until violated by Hamas with its invasion of Israel and massacre of 1,200 people and the taking of more than 250 hostages, many of whom are dead or status unknown. The hostages, like the murdered, are from the United States, Israel, and dozens of other countries. And let the record show, Hamas has rejected all overtures for a ceasefire, and Hezbollah is now also rejecting calls for a ceasefire.

This should not be political, but it is, as on the American homefront, the war initiated by Hamas is a key debating point in the campaign for president between former president Donald Trump and VP Harris. Trump is a proven strong supporter of Israel as evidenced through his words and deeds, while Harris offers campaign rhetoric and lip-service in a failed attempt to placate both Jewish and Muslim voters.

And as the campaign presses on toward November 5, Jewish communities are observing the first High Holy Days since October 7, 2023. Shuls/synagogues have typically been protected for a number of years now during this period of high traffic at shuls by visible law enforcement. (Thank them for their presence while heading into services.) Unfortunately the shuls, Chabads, and campus Hillels must take extra precautions to keep their students and buildings safe. Students must not allow themselves to be intimidated or prevented by protesters from entering these buildings to observe the High Holy Days. These protesters - some fellow students, some imported agitators - are ignorant of the truth and real history.

This period of introspection and repentance must not be marred anywhere by protesters. The protesters certainly have the right of free speech, as afforded by the First Amendment. They do not have the right to elevate that speech to threats of violence or actual violence. They do not have the right to prevent anyone from freely observing their faith. Shortly after these 10 days of solemnity there is another nine days for Sukkot, the celebration of the harvest where people enjoy their meals in a festive hut, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah which celebrates the completion of the yearly cycle of the Torah, and immediately begins anew, reading the first portion of the Torah, and dancing with the Torah scrolls. Anyone and everyone participating in these observances and celebrations must be able to do so unmolested by protesters in a free and open manner without fear of retribution or for one’s safety and well being. Let not the United States of America become Germany in 1938.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Trump's 2nd Would Be Assassin Nabbed - Dems Victim Blame

Trump’s 2nd Would Be Assassin Nabbed - Dems Victim Blame
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 17, 2024

For the second time in 64 days former President Donald Trump’s life stood in the crosshairs of a would be assassin. Fortunately no harm came to the former president, but the hypocritical Democrats or Hypocrats, have been victim blaming since news broke from Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday September 15.

In the ultimate victim blaming, so-called journalists on MSNBC’s “Alex Witt Reports” asked if the TRUMP team would finally tone down the rhetoric and violence. The Trump team is not promoting violence - political or otherwise nor are they prompting anti-Trump behavior. Both would be assassins - on July 13, and September 15 voiced anti-Trump sentiments in one form or another, clearly influenced by the Democrats. Apparently it’s more than acceptable to victim blame when it fits the liberal, progressive, Democrat narrative. Otherwise, they are the first to shame the shamers.

“Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy and our most fundamental freedoms,” said Democrat nominee for president Kamala Harris on July 24.

“Are they [Trump and JD Vance] a threat to democracy? Yes? Are they going to take our rights away? Yes,” said Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), nominee for vice president, on July 27 in St. Cloud, MN.

“He’s [Trump] a genuine danger to American security,” said Joe Biden. He also said, “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye,” during a private telephone call with donors, just days before the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump. Of course nothing remains private for long in the world of politics, and such words could be terribly influential to a would-be assassin.

“He [Trump] is destructive to our democracy and has to be eliminated,” said US Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) on “The Inside Interview” on MSNBC in November 2023. That is most certainly an emboldening statement offered by the Congressman.

Donald Trump is not the threat to democracy as so many Democrats claim. They are simply deflecting off of themselves, as it is the Democrat Party that is the true threat to “democracy.” (The United States is a republic.) Consider that the Democrats selected, not elected, their party’s nominee - Kamala Harris - a person who entered not a single Democrat primary, who earned not a single vote during said primaries. Harris received a modern day coronation after participating in the palace coup that removed Biden from his candidacy.

In addition to the incendiary language used against Trump by a number of very high ranked Democrats, there has been a breach in security provided by the Secret Service, which falls into the rather incapable hands of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Secret Service handled the first assassination attempt with all the skill and ineptitude of the Keystone Kops. Yet, it turned out to be no laughing matter, as in addition to Trump getting shot, two other rally attendees suffered wounds, and a third, retired firefighter Corey Comperatore suffered fatal wounds while protecting his family at the rally in Pennsylvania. 

Trump’s security detail should have been doubled, tripled, whatever it takes to keep a presidential candidate alive and free to travel the country from coast to coast campaigning before the American people. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw should have been fired following the potential assassination at Trump International for glibly saying that Trump is not the current president and thus has all the protection he needs. If the events of the last two months are any indication, Trump clearly lacks the security he requires, and as a veteran sheriff, Bradshaw should know  better.

Adding insult to injury, as if the tendentious remarks made by myriad Democrats weren’t enough, many more are suggesting that Trump should be limited in his travels and especially his outdoor activities. Of course they want Trump as incapacitated and inconvenienced as much as possible to keep him off the campaign trail, to prevent him from holding the enormous rallies that are so popular with his supporters. These Democrats want Trump to hunker in the bunker, a la Biden in 2020. The only difference being Biden wanted to hide in the basement and run out the clock. That is not how Trump operates. Witness, following the debate on September 10, while Harris attended a debate party, Trump took to the spin room in a very unprecedented manner, and fielded questions from the media.

Trump requires as much security as any sitting president would command, after all, Trump is a former president, making his circumstances a bit more extraordinary, something Bradshaw should have remembered when suggesting Trump had all the security he needed. And not because it is Trump. All major party candidates for president should have as much security as is necessary to keep them properly protected. This is not about Trump - this is about the sanctity of the American electoral process. We the people, as Americans, don’t go around eliminating political rivals - assassinating political leaders. This is the United States of America. Not Haiti, not Libya, not Guinea-Bissau, not Serbia and Montenegro, not Nepal, not the Democratic Republic of the Congo - all of which have seen their leaders assassinated this century.

This is the United States of America - the supposed leader of the free world - the nation by which all others measure their freedoms, rights, and body politic - a republic with supposedly free and fair elections, not some banana republic floating around the deepest recesses of some enormous body of water. After the first assassination attempt, the Democrats, at their convention in August, at the very least, their nominees Harris and Walz should have expressed thankfulness that Trump is alive and physically well and that political violence has no place in the United States; lead by example in front of the thousands of convention partisans and the millions watching around the country. 

Harris and Walz failed to seize the moment for a conciliatory gesture. Instead they continue to lead by antagonistic, contentious, and truculent language creating a more divisive union - the same brand of divisiveness the Democrats employ via DEI and CRT in the workplace and the schools. And these are just some of the myriad reasons Donald Trump must be returned to the White House. The people have to deliver a strong message that they will not be intimidated, nor will they succumb to the lies, half truths, and misinformation spread by a party and people so desperate to retain their power even at the risk of permanently destroying the union.

Abraham Lincoln, in his 1838 speech before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois spoke of a potential downfall of the republic. “At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

As a nation, the United States of America is at a crossroads. It is up to we the people, in the quadrennial occasion of our presidential election to determine the direction the nation will traverse - maintaining the republic or a more sinister direction toward our own destruction led by hypocrites who are the true threat to the future of America. Look at the records of the last two administrations - they speak for themselves. The time is now as the Ronald Reagan campaign said in 1980, as it also asked the people if they were better off than they were four years prior. Reagan helped make America great again then, and Trump can help Make America Great Again now.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

9/11 at 23 - Are We Too Far Removed?

9/11 at 23 - Are We Too Far Removed? 
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 6, 2024

On Wednesday, September 11, for the 23rd consecutive year the names of the 2,977 innocent souls, murdered by 19 Islamic extremist terrorists who skyjacked four American airplanes with the express purpose of inflicting as much damage as possible against people, property, and the body politic, will be read.

The reading of those names will only be interrupted by the peal of bells serving as a reminder of the exact time the deeds of unconscionable evil were perpetrated. But most of us need no reminder - we bore witness to these homicidal tragedies, lost friends and/or loved ones. Undoubtedly there isn’t a person who was alive on that fateful September 11, 2001 who hasn’t a connection to that day and who doesn’t carry the scars of history with them.

For the 23rd year we will, and we must, pay homage and respect to the fallen who were murdered by Islamic extremist terrorists on that clear, crisp, Tuesday morning when the screaming airplanes permeated the sunshine, penetrated their steel and glass targets, plunging the world into darkness and chaos.

But are we too far removed from that calamitous and fateful day?

On August 23, 2023 DailyMail.com reported that the “architect of 9/11 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and fellow co-conspirators may be spared the death penalty under a new plea deal being considered by the federal government.” They would plead guilty - actually admit their guilt in exchange for having their lives spared.

Just a couple weeks shy of a year later, this plea deal, which still had not yet been resolved, ended up on the cutting room floor, thanks to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. On Friday, August 2 of this year, Austin “issued a terse memo canceling the agreement prosecutors had concluded was the best - and perhaps only - way to resolve a case marred by allegations that the U.S. tortured the defendants. The deal would have kept the defendants in prison for life, taking the death penalty off the table in exchange for guilty pleas,” according to The Wall Street Journal (08/05/24) Is it more important to get an admission of guilt and keep these miserable excuses for human flesh alive? And on the backs of the American taxpayers? In revoking the agreement, Austin stated the three would, in fact, face the death penalty - as they should, especially after 23 years of life beyond that which their victims have been denied.

Yet, also according to The Wall Street Journal, “the defendants have at times claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks.” (08/05/24) 

These criminal terrorists have been given more rights than they gave their victims. This legal minutiae and a game of legal Twister© has contorted and even mocked the judicial system in the face of protecting the so-called rights of admitted terrorists; of admitted murderers. This alleged treatment of the admitted terrorists is what initially prompted the plea deal. If they have already admitted to their heinous acts under alleged questionable circumstances, what makes this deal acceptable simply because they admit guilt before a military tribunal? Guilty is guilty. If the terrorists have admitted guilt on more than one occasion, a plea deal should never have been entertained in the first place.

How, after 23 years, are any of these stains on humanity still breathing air? Walid Bin Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawasawi, and of course Mohammed should have been executed two decades ago. Instead, we the people, the American taxpayers, have spent millions and millions of dollars keeping these G-dless bastards alive, fed, and reasonably comfortable. All while the families of the 2,977 victims continue to mourn and grieve their loved ones as this gaping wound remains open, still fresh, and astoundingly painful.

“When we tell the world that America is not prepared to bring justice against terrorists, we’re going to get more terror,” said former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Fox News Live, August 3. “Just like when we trade terrorists for hostages, we’re going to get more American hostages. These things are all deeply connected. The bad guys can see weakness, and they smell it today - and we’re in a dangerous place the next few months with President Biden,” said Pompeo, who served during the Trump administration.

A brief timeline of the harrowing and disturbing events of September 11, 2001:

Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights depart Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and                 Newark airports, headed for Los Angeles except the Newark flight, headed to San Francisco.

        8:46 AM: American Airlines flight #11 is flown into #1 World Trade Center - the North Tower - by         five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the 11 crew, 76 passengers and hundreds inside the                tower instantly. 

9:03 AM: United Airlines flight #175 is flown into #2 World Trade Center - the South Tower - by            five Muslim extremist hijackers murdering the nine crew, 51 passengers, and hundreds inside the            tower instantly. 

9:05 AM: President George W. Bush is alerted to what is now believed to be terrorist attacks.                  “Terrorism against our nation will not stand,” said Bush.

9:37 AM: American Airlines flight #77 is flown into the Pentagon in Arlington, VA by five Muslim         extremist hijackers murdering the six crew, 53 passengers, as well as 125 military and civilian                personnel on the ground.

        9:59 AM: The South Tower collapses in 10 seconds after burning for 56 minutes. More than 800            civilians and first responders are murdered. 

10:03 AM: United Airlines flight #93 crashes into a field in Shanksville, PA when passengers and           crew storm the cockpit. There are no survivors of the seven crew and 33 passengers due to the                 murderous plot by the four Muslim extremist hijackers. Flight #93 was 20 minutes from                         Washington, DC where the White House or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets. 

10:15 AM: The damaged section of the Pentagon E-Ring collapses.

        10:28 AM: The North Tower collapses after burning for 102 minutes. More than 1,600 civilians             and first responders are murdered. 

8:30 PM: President George W. Bush addresses the nation.

Tunnel to Towers (www.t2t.org) is a most worthy charity which to contribute. Frank Siller is the founder and Chairman/CEO of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Frank’s youngest brother, Stephen, served as a firefighter who, having just come off the previous night’s shift, heard about the towers being struck and he did what any loyal firefighter would do - headed right back to work. Upon reaching the closed to traffic Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Stephen Siller strapped on his gear and ran the remaining three kilometers through that tunnel. He successfully made one trip in and out of the South Tower. Unfortunately, his second trip into the South Tower was less successful. Stephen Siller, 34, was one of more than 330 firefighters to lose their lives on and since September 11, 2001.

I do not work for the charity. I do not benefit in any way from this charity other than to know that as a contributor, my donation and yours, should you make one, is used at a rate of 95.1 percent for the programs, such as paying the mortgages of disabled first responders and veterans, along with those of the widows and widowers of first responders and veterans. Don’t take my word for it - visit www.charitynavigator.org. 

May the memories of the 2,977 murdered on September 11, 2001 always be for a Blessing. This must never be forgotten.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He grew up in northern New Jersey in the shadow of the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, he was writing for a newspaper in northern Virginia, 10 minutes from the Pentagon. His annual 9/11 column is dedicated to the memory of the 2,977 murdered that day and the hundreds who have died since due to its unhealthy aftermath.

IDF Recovers Bodies of Six More Hostages

IDF Recovers Bodies of Six More Hostages
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
September 1, 2024

With much sadness, but little surprise, the deaths of six hostages held in Gaza, including one American, are confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as reported on Fox News, and in The Epoch Times. It is believed Hamas murdered the hostages within the past day or two, also according to the IDF.

The six most recently murdered hostages include Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, kidnapped by Islamic extremist terrorist group Hamas from the Nova music festival in southern Israel last October 7. Goldberg-Polin attended the music festival with friends in celebration of his birthday. The other five murdered hostages are Master Sergeant Ori Danino, 25, Carmel Gat, 40, Alex Lubnov, 32, Almog Sarusi, 25, and Eden Yerushalmi, 24.

Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, spoke on August 21, Day Three of the Democrat National Convention. “This is a political convention. But needing our only son - and all of the cherished hostages - home, is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” said an impassioned Polin.

This tragic news broke on Sunday morning, 330 days following the October 7, 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel, the slaughter of more than 1,400 people, and the kidnapping of 250 men, women, and children ranging in ages from, on that date, a few months to over 85 years of age. Of the eight Americans among the hostages, at least four are known dead. The status of more than 100 hostages, including up to four Americans, remains unknown. What is known, is that the IDF recovered the bodies of the six murdered hostages from an underground tunnel in Khan Yunis, Gaza. This is a tunnel the IDF recently captured from Hamas in Rafah. 

“A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by IDF troops in an underground tunnel in Rafah. According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” said IDF spokesperson Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Hamas is responsible for the October 7 invasion of Israel and the massacre of more than 1,400 innocent men, women, and children - the largest massacre of Jewish people in a singular incident since the Holocaust of World War II where the Nazis murdered more than six million Jews. Hamas didn’t simply murder more than 1,400 people, they recorded many of their atrocities including the rape of women and children, the slaughter of children in front of their parents - only to murder the parents, the burning alive of children, also in front of their parents before murdering the parents.

Included in the October 7 massacre by Hamas were more than 200 people from foreign countries outside of Israel, most of whom carried dual citizenship with Israel. The following countries lost the denoted number of nationals - murdered at the hands of Hamas, according to The Times of Israel: France (35), Thailand (33), United States (31), Ukraine (21), Russia (19), United Kingdom (12), Germany (10), Nepal (10), Argentina (9), Canada (6), Romania (5), Austria, China, Philippines, Portugal (4 each), Belarus, Brazil, Italy, Peru (3 each), South Africa (2), and Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Turkey (1 each). Most of these same countries had or still have hostages held by Hamas of indeterminate numbers.

Addressing his nation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Whoever murders hostages does not want a deal,” in Hebrew.

Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris expressed their outrage regarding the murder of the six hostages by Hamas. “It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages,” said Biden. Quite frankly, for a  man who has been AWOL from the White House the past two weeks, Biden’s words ring hollow. How will he make the Hamas leaders pay for their crimes? He has done nothing since October 8.

Harris’s words carry no more confidence than Biden’s. “I strongly condemn Hamas’ continued brutality, and so must the entire world. As Vice President, I have no higher priority than the safety of American citizens, wherever they are in the world,” said Harris.

Yet, it continues to be the feckless “leadership” of the Biden-Harris administration that emboldens not just Hamas, but Hezbollah, another Islamic extremist terrorist group, to continue their bombings and shootings in their attempts to destroy Israel, the world’s lone Jewish nation on the planet. They have attempted to handcuff Israel at every turn in an attempt to secure a ceasefire, which will only make the administration look good, keep Hamas alive and breathing, without making Israel one bit more secure.

Biden and Harris have blood on their hands. While attempting to walk both sides of the street in telling Israel how they have the right to defend themselves, as if Israel needs permission from anyone as an independent sovereign nation, Biden and Harris are also attempting to placate the Hamas wing of their Democrat Party. The ever-growing radical, far-left of the Democrat Party, thousands of whom voted uncommitted during the primaries, have not only demanded an immediate ceasefire since October 8, but don’t even support the right of Israel to exist - taking their marching orders from Hamas and Hezbollah, who in turn are taking their marching orders from the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is the same Iran that during the Trump administration, could not lift a finger against either the US or Israel. Now, thanks to Biden and Harris’s funding of Iran and lifting of sanctions against Iran, has returned the Islamic Republic to its former strength in efforts to build nuclear weaponry to be used against the “Great Satan,” and the “Little Satan.”

Both Biden and Harris continue talking out of both sides of their mouths. Calling for an immediate ceasefire since October 8 supports Hamas, gives Hamas new life, while endangering Israel further. Telling Israel they have the right to defend itself, while also demanding Israel exercise caution and limit their response to the terrorism intended to end the very existence of Israel, certainly is not terribly supportive.

Harris in particular has demonstrated more support for Hamas and the Palestinians by approving the pro-Hamas, anti-Israel, antisemitic rallies, marches, and violence on myriad American college campuses since October 8. Harris has repeatedly said she understands the outrage of their venomous and criminal behavior. She has, on numerous occasions, relied upon statistics provided by Hamas in condemning Israel for the alleged number of Palestinians killed since the Hamas invasion of Israel and slaughter of 1,400 Israelis. The sad reality is Hamas hides among its own people, intentionally putting them in harm’s way and actually killing many of their own people in an effort to curry global support via the media. Hamas, receiving 80 percent of the vote among the Gazans for Hamas to be the elected rulers of Gaza, in addition to hiding among their own people, hides and stores their weaponry in elementary schools, hospitals, residences, and yes, even mosques. 

Additionally, Biden and Harris accuse Israel of withholding food and medical supplies from the people of Gaza, when in reality it is Hamas that hijacks the thousands of trucks rolling into Gaza, and keeps those supplies from their own people, starving them and allowing them to die.

Harris has specifically warned Israel against moving on Rafah, which would be strategically important for Israel to end the war sooner rather than later. “We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way, that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake,” said Harris on ABC, on March 24. Is she dictating to Israel? And let’s not forget, Harris, the sitting vice president seeking a promotion this November, boycotted PM Netanyahu’s address before Congress in July.

Biden and Harris simply want to end the war. Israel wants and must win the war. There is an enormous difference. Ending the war allows Hamas to live another day and continue its terror campaign in its effort to eliminate the only Jewish nation on the planet. Winning the war allows Israel to exist, and its people to live and thrive peacefully. Hamas is a terrorist organization hell bent on ending the existence of Israel and killing the Jewish people, while Israel is a legitimate sovereign nation. Hamas and Israel should under no circumstance ever be equated with one another. The fact is, if Hamas puts down their weapons, there will be no more war. If Israel puts down its weapons, there will be no more Israel. May the memories of the hostages forever be for a Blessing.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.